The more I explore the AXE III, the more I realise the modelling is SPOT ON and even with all the power the unit offers, keeping things simple often works best.
As an experiment I plugged in Petrucci's knob positions and amp channel selections from the photos in the first post in this thread, loaded up my go to combination of YA Factory IR's with some low and high cut, kick on an enhancer block and boom - instant Petrucci (if you use a JP signature guitar, minus the beard e.t.c lol). I remember having to do all sorts of gymnastics with previous units (Standard and AX8) to try and get close. But with the III I am finding if you want to cop the tone of someone, just plug in their settings exactly and it gets you there as long as you use a similar guitar of course.
The real trick now is selecting the right IRs, and as there are so many great ones in the III I find I don't even need to stray very far or take very long to get a great tone.
I have attached a simple patch which includes the exact settings above, plus some scenes with slightly tweaked versions that I prefer for my own use. Have also included an accurate delay block which recreates the sound from the Petrucci video in one of the above threads (this one:
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/john-petruccis-jp2-c-settings.149491/post-1773835) Thanks to
@bradlake I believe for the original settings for this.
I have kept the patch as small and simple as possible and think it sounds great. A little goes a long way in this brave new world - I need to remind myself to not get caught up in all the bells and whistles when simple gets you there.
A note on the eq sliders: I find myself using the same settings (included in the patch) more or less for my Mark Rhythm and Lead tones which don't mimic the look of the Petrucci settings above. But I understand that the taper of the eq sliders are quite extreme so other than the general shape, need to use your ears for the EQ.
@2112 has some good settings he uses for the EQ as well where he boosts rather than cuts 240hz.
A note on pull gain: Petrucci pulls the gain on these amps. In the III, I think raising the Input Drive on the ideal page to 6-6.5 for Rhythm and 8 for leads does the trick to emulate this.
A further note: if you check instagram etc, Petrucci changes he settings a bit from time to time. He mainly seems to ride the treble and presence knobs up and down the most as the mood strikes him. I find myself riding these same two controls and leaving everything the same mostly. He also boosts the mids to about 4 sometimes and changes the bass from about 1-2.
Enjoy.
