8 String Presets

J

Josh MacDonald

New Member
Greetings all, I received my Axe-Fx III back in November and today I just received an Ormsby HypeGTR 8. Not my first 8, I've had a Keisel DC800 since 2012 (back when they were still Carvin), but it hasn't seen vast amounts of use as I decided the low string just never sounds quite right even with a 27" scale, hence the Ormsby with a bass side scale length of 28.2".

So, since I haven't been messing with the old Carvin much in conjunction with the Axe-Fx, I was wondering if anyone knew of any free presets specifically tailored (or that just happen to work extremely well) for 8 string guitar tuned in standard or drop E. Or failing that, does anyone have any helpful suggestions on where to begin patching my own preset together from scratch? Looking for a distorted death metal tone that's bright and clear for the lowest notes, but not too shrill and overly trebly for the highs. Ormsby Chameleon.jpg
 
That was some absolutely beautiful playing and some great sounds you have going on in that preset. However, I didn't really get any sense for what was going on with the lowest strings. I'm looking for a good distorted metal tone that's tight and clear for open notes and palm muting on the low strings, but not shrill and still defined for lead playing, or at least as close of a compromise as I can manage between those two requirements. I think your lead work here showcases some of the latter of my desired tone, but I'm not so sure it's quite what I'm looking for. Regardless, thank you for the input and maybe I'll find what I'm looking for by messing around with that amp model! Never actually tried that one yet.
 
The best 8 string amps I've found to be were the Atomica, Das Metal, the diesels/herbies, the Friedmans, brit 800 mod, 5150s and believe it or not, the corford!

Edit - almost forgot my go-to patch on the iii - the JVM.....though that's a VERY tricky amp to get down....you might also have some good luck with the JP2C+ amp recently added as well

Use a looper to audition IRs, and use the low cut to prevent things from getting flubby....these amps are probably the tightest for 8 string but if you don't use the low cut they can be hard to tame.

I too, have found that even the 27" scale is insufficient for the lowest string.....28 seems to sound right
 
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jon said:
The best 8 string amps I've found to be were the Atomica, Das Metal, the Friedmans, brit 800 mod, 5150s and believe it or not, the corford!

Use a looped to audition IRs, and use the low cut to prevent things from getting flubby....these amps are probably the tightest for 8 string but if you don't use the low cut they can be hard to tame.

I too, have found that even the 27" scale is insufficient for the lowest string.....28 seems to sound right
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Great info, thanks a lot! I've not messed much with low/high cut - I know nothing about audio engineering and mostly just use basic amp control (sometimes to poor results when it comes to applications like this 8 string quest). How should I set the low cut?
 
Depends on what you're going for, usually it's in the cab block....I usually set mine pretty aggressive like 120hz and above, but 80 is a good point to start. Some prefer the 'amp in the room' feel with no low cut, but if you are planning to use the patch live, you'll have a hard time.

You can also use the low cut in the amp block, which makes things sound nice and tight.

You can also use it in pre-fx, for eg a tube screamer with the cut set to what sounds best to you before it hits the amp

You can also use the parametric and graphic eq to shape the low end pre and/or post gain, but I'd stay away from that for now until you get a decent tone happening, it is usually not needed anyways.

Also make use of the input noise gate and input trim for your guitar

Usually most people just set up an amp and cab block in the middle of the chain and work from there. Check out Leon Todd's (@2112)YouTube, it's pure gold, that should get you up and running in no time
 
jon said:
Depends on what you're going for, usually it's in the cab block....I usually set mine pretty aggressive like 120hz and above, but 80 is a good point to start. Some prefer the 'amp in the room' feel with no low cut, but if you are planning to use the patch live, you'll have a hard time.

You can also use the low cut in the amp block, which makes things sound nice and tight.

You can also use it in pre-fx, for eg a tube screamer with the cut set to what sounds best to you before it hits the amp

You can also use the parametric and graphic eq to shape the low end pre and/or post gain, but I'd stay away from that for now until you get a decent tone happening, it is usually not needed anyways.

Also make use of the input noise gate and input trim for your guitar

Usually most people just set up an amp and cab block in the middle of the chain and work from there. Check out Leon Todd's (@2112)YouTube, it's pure gold, that should get you up and running in no time
Click to expand...

Just setting some low cut in the amp block has been hugely helpful, thanks. Also I'm having good results with the FAS Skull Crusher thus far. The tone is super tight, but still slightly shrill and thin in the high end for my taste. I'm still finding it quite hard to get a good, heavy "crushing" tone without muddying everything up in the low end, especially with that 8th string, but just setting the low cut to around 85 and tweaking how the amp is dialed in has really gone a long way. Not sure if there really is a "best of both worlds", I can live with the tone as is, but any further suggestions or tweaks for adding some body back in and generally balancing things out is greatly appreciated.
 
Ah yes, the skull crusher :cool:

There is a multibrand compression block that might help a lot with that.....but it's easy to make things get weird with that if you don't know what you're doing, so I'd stay shy of that just yet

The dynamic presence in the amp block might help in that regard as well....but again, it is easy for things to sound and feel weird at extreme values.....

So I'd try first the presence control and the value of the bright cap, and see if those work. Alternatively you can add an eq block in the chain before or after and start cutting back the shrill frequencies....usually about 1k-2k is where I might start at first.

As a point to note as well, a lot of times it's better to fix things at the source too - it may be the guitar itself - I was almost ready to sell one of my 8 strings cuz I just couldn't get it to sound right...decided to change the bridge and that made it perfect.....so don't forget to try stuff at the source too - strings, picks, cap values, pot values....also a very cool trick I've learned over the years to is that you can tame that high end and get a very nice 'round' sound and feel by backing off the volume and tone knobs very slightly.....like 7-8 or so.....cheap and super effective too;)
 
Thanks a lot to everyone for all the helpful suggestions, especially Jon and Leon. Will do some more experimenting when I'm home from work.
 
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