Muffled Tones

Kyloc

I play through studio monitors, but can relate to what you describe.
Straight out of the box, presets (stock or otherwise) did not sound like the great recorded tones you hear from others.
For me, the setting of the global EQ was the difference that brought everything to life.
My settings are quite severe, but they work for me across all stock presets, cabs etc.
It's quick and easy to try them and they may serve as a good starting point for you:
31Hz = -12
63Hz = -7
125Hz = -5.8
250Hz = -2.1
500Hz = -7.8
1k = -8.6
2k = -4.3
4k = +8
8k = -7
16k = -12
Gain = +8
 
How did your guitar sound through your amp? If you were able to dial in tones on your amp before without having to lower your pickups, you should be able to use similar settings on the amp block and as long as you have a good IR chosen, it should sound pretty similar overall.
I used to play through an actual Diezel VH4. Naturally, I gravitated toward that amp block when I got the Axe. I got a tone that came pretty close to the real deal, but still had a muffled sound over top. It's like I was playing my Diezel with a thick blanket over top.
 
Kyloc

I play through studio monitors, but can relate to what you describe.
Straight out of the box, presets (stock or otherwise) did not sound like the great recorded tones you hear from others.
For me, the setting of the global EQ was the difference that brought everything to life.
My settings are quite severe, but they work for me across all stock presets, cabs etc.
It's quick and easy to try them and they may serve as a good starting point for you:
31Hz = -12
63Hz = -7
125Hz = -5.8
250Hz = -2.1
500Hz = -7.8
1k = -8.6
2k = -4.3
4k = +8
8k = -7
16k = -12
Gain = +8
Thanks a lot brother. I'll try these out in the morning once I get back at it.
 
Kyloc

I play through studio monitors, but can relate to what you describe.
Straight out of the box, presets (stock or otherwise) did not sound like the great recorded tones you hear from others.
For me, the setting of the global EQ was the difference that brought everything to life.
My settings are quite severe, but they work for me across all stock presets, cabs etc.
It's quick and easy to try them and they may serve as a good starting point for you:
31Hz = -12
63Hz = -7
125Hz = -5.8
250Hz = -2.1
500Hz = -7.8
1k = -8.6
2k = -4.3
4k = +8
8k = -7
16k = -12
Gain = +8

If these work for you, great.

But it makes no sense recommending or applying such (quite drastic) overall EQ settings, because sound depends on so many factors.
 
I used to play through an actual Diezel VH4. Naturally, I gravitated toward that amp block when I got the Axe. I got a tone that came pretty close to the real deal, but still had a muffled sound over top. It's like I was playing my Diezel with a thick blanket over top.

Cool. So my point is that I wouldn’t change pickup height, which would then affect your ability to play through your amp. Instead, there are a ton of shaping options in the AxeFX that I’d go to first. Some of my favorites are
1. Ignoring what I think the tone knobs ought to be set to. Bass is often set really low on some amp blocks for me. Treble and mid are often higher than I’d expect.
2. Using the input EQ and blocking the lows by ear
3. Using the output EQ if I need to preserve the feel of an amp with bass driven hard
4. Cutting myt cab block lows off at 80Hz as a starting point by habit.

There is also a “definition” parameter on the input EQ that you may want to try.
 
As I stated previously, cutting the lows in the cab block will make one of the biggest differences. The default starts at 20Hz. Guitarist don't need frequencies that low. I raise mine to around 105Hz in most of my presets. This makes a HUGE difference.
 
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I also find I like the bright switch on many of the amp models. I don't usually turn up the bright cap value that high.
 
Give this patch a try, there’s 4 amps, one on each channel. I didn’t set up any scenes so just cycle through them manually. These are definitely not muffled & I’m using a JBjr in the bridge & two lil 59’s in the neck & mid. All four are high gainers, which I’m assuming you were after considering the amp you were using. ?
 

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Also use a JB/59 HB combo (ESP LTD EC-1000) and it sounds generally pretty good, although some amps/presets can sound muffled.

I generally prefer more open sounding amps/OD versus saturated cocked-wah amp tones. So I tend to tweak negative feedback, transformer match and presence while reducing speaker compression, compliance, drive to taste to open up the tone.
 
I'm sure there has been threads about this in the past, but I figured there could be different reasons why different people get muffled tones.

I recently bought the Axe III brand new and run straight into the unit then out to a Friedman ASC-12 FRFR monitor. I have also run it through a Bose PA to eliminate the Friedman as the mud I'm hearing.

I play with PRS singlecuts loaded with Duncan JBs and 59s. I also play through Les Pauls with high output stock pups. I know...I'm a basic b*tch lol.

Every internal preset and every axe-change preset sounds muffled, even though on youtube they sound crisp (yes I realize hearing it via computer is different). But I don't see how guys doing a demo of a preset on youtube can comment on the exact same settings sounding great when all I hear is trash.

I'm not trying to troll, I spent a lot of money on this rig as I believe in the product and I want it to work but it's a bit of a mystery to me as to why it sounds this way.

Before everybody asks; yes my ears work, yes my cable is high quality and functions, yes my strings are fresh so on and so forth lol.

Thanks gents!

Hi Kyloc,

I've got a couple things for you to try, and hopefully we can get you closer to the tone you're after.

Let's start with the easiest. Go to your Cab Block's Preamp page and set the low cut to 80 Hz and your high cut all the way up to 20k. This will get rid of some of the rumble and will open up the top end so you're hearing the top end detail of the IR and everything the mic "heard." The high cut parameter defaults to 10k, so there's a lot of missing information if you're used to hearing a mic'd cab. Try a single 57 like Factory 2 cab #842. It's a Mesa 4x12, but I know that it's honest and accurate with an open top end. Set your Dizzy V4 model just like you would with the real amp since you already know it, and see if that solves the blanket effect for you. I also find that lowering the Master Volume down to 2.5 or so can bring back a little more clarity with certain amps.

If you still feel like you've got the blanket, try this...

Hook up your real VH4 to your cab (if you still have them) and dial in a tone. Then hook up the Axe III with a power amp (if you have one) to the same physical cab (not using a Cab Block, so it's just Amp Block into your real cab) and see if the model sounds like the real thing. If you still have the blanket, try going into the Amp Block's Preamp page and raise the Hi Cut Frequency until you get the air you're looking for. Once they match, you'll know that the model is accurate and then you just have to find the IR that has the voice you're looking for.

Good luck, and hopefully some of this will be helpful.

PS. I just did a test on this very thing last week when I had a hard time getting the Axe to match my real amp head. I just tweaked the Cab Block high cut and the Amp Block Preamp Hi Cut Frequency and have to say they're pretty darn close now.

 
Also I won't recommend the bose at all.....

I've used the Bose F1 812 and my presets sound freakin' awesome. Also bought a Bose S1 Pro for smaller gigs where I just need to monitor myself and it works great too! So I think it depends what Bose model you're talking about. I wouldn't recommend an L1 stick
 
***UPDATE***

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I had a buddy over today who is a little bit more tech savy than I am when it comes to digital guitar. After a lot of trouble shooting both in and out of the Axe, we ended up going into the internal settings and changing from -10db to +4db. This took care of a decent amount of the muffled tones I was hearing. We rounded the day off by discovering the mesa rectifier orange channel and running it through an Ownhammer impulse for an oversized mesa cab.........I firmly believe this is the tone I have been searching for my entire life lol.

Basically, I've learned that the smallest things in the Axe can make a world of difference. But the change to +4db somehow was the kicker.
 
Perhaps Fletcher Munson was at play to some degree, although I would think you would be able to get enough volume out of the Friedman even with the Fractal at -10dB.
 
I definitely found that the +4db greatly assisted my cleans in sounding a lot more brighter and glassy as opposed to muffled. I also noticed that the Ownhammer cab sims I used sounded way more organic and non muffled compared to the stock cabs, at least to my ears.
 
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