AFIII 80s Hair Metal Infusion!

Guitarjon

Guitarjon

Fractal Fanatic
Sometimes the stars align and an amp and IR just match perfectly!
This happened when I was trying out some amps for my new 80s hair metal track.

I used the Fractal LB-2 X-Load to capture the amp and that goes back into my Axe Fx III in which I'm doing all the IR loading and most of the effects etc.
So the amp + loadbox are in a loop.
This setup is super flexible because I can put FX before and after the real amp and I can also record DI's that can be used to reamp with the amp or via the Axe FX III again.
Killer setup for people who also want to use their real amps alongside of the modeling.

My EVH 5150 III EL34 50W was an obvious choice but then I started browsing through my OwnHammer libraries and I tried the V70 speaker option from the UBKF (Uber Duo) and it was a magic pairing.
This tone just sounds like 'a record'.
Nice and deep but not dark sounding.

The UBKF is based on a front loaded 412 Bogner Ubercab with a nice pair of vintage 30's.
The mids are warm and full and the top end is rounded of very nicely.
There is a nice lower midrange resonant sound to this cab, very woody so to speak, and this paired up super well with the sort of scooped nature of the EVH amp.

Thought I'd share it here with you guys:

 
Guitarjon said:
Sometimes the stars align and an amp and IR just match perfectly!
This happened when I was trying out some amps for my new 80s hair metal track.

I used the Fractal LB-2 X-Load to capture the amp and that goes back into my Axe Fx III in which I'm doing all the IR loading and most of the effects etc.
So the amp + loadbox are in a loop.
This setup is super flexible because I can put FX before and after the real amp and I can also record DI's that can be used to reamp with the amp or via the Axe FX III again.
Killer setup for people who also want to use their real amps alongside of the modeling.

My EVH 5150 III EL34 50W was an obvious choice but then I started browsing through my OwnHammer libraries and I tried the V70 speaker option from the UBKF (Uber Duo) and it was a magic pairing.
This tone just sounds like 'a record'.
Nice and deep but not dark sounding.

The UBKF is based on a front loaded 412 Bogner Ubercab with a nice pair of vintage 30's.
The mids are warm and full and the top end is rounded of very nicely.
There is a nice lower midrange resonant sound to this cab, very woody so to speak, and this paired up super well with the sort of scooped nature of the EVH amp.

Thought I'd share it here with you guys:

Click to expand...

Great track! Which ESP Eclipse is that?
 
Guitarjon said:
Thanks!

Don't get me wrong, I love the FAS amp modeling.
The LB-2 does help to make the Axe Fx III incredibly flexible when it comes to using real amps.
So many cool options to get great tones these days :)
Click to expand...

We live in a great time for options for sure! Now how about a tone match of that EVH ;)
 
I LOVE those tones! I wish I could dial that in...I always seem to make it a little too boomy when I get a relatively thick tone like that.
 
Guitarjon said:
Cheers!
It's a ESP LTD Elite Eclipse-I.
They made these for a while before renaming them to the E-III series.
Made in Japan!
Amazing guitar!
Click to expand...
Actually they were renamed to the E-II series and yes they are fantastic guitars.
The ESP LTD AS-1 is also killer if you snag a good one. I have one that I preferred over a $3K Gibson.
Great flame on top too.
 
nhgtrman said:
We live in a great time for options for sure! Now how about a tone match of that EVH ;)
Click to expand...

That would be interesting!
I could do that and then compare it to the 'regular' Fractal model but with the power tubes changed to EL34's!
Maybe I'll do that soon.

warlockII said:
I LOVE those tones! I wish I could dial that in...I always seem to make it a little too boomy when I get a relatively thick tone like that.
Click to expand...

With these amps it's a matter of getting the eq right and to dial in the resonance just right.
Also, the IR's you use will have a huge impact on the overall frequency response of course.
Then if in the mix you feel like there still is too much low end you can try to out a subtle compressor after the amp that tames the low end resonant peaks.

King’s X - Jason said:
Actually they were renamed to the E-II series and yes they are fantastic guitars.
The ESP LTD AS-1 is also killer if you snag a good one. I have one that I preferred over a $3K Gibson.
Great flame on top too.
Click to expand...

You are right, I was a little tired, will edit that!
And Yeah, I prefer this LTD over all my old Gibsons that I have owned over the years.
 
Guitarjon said:
That would be interesting!
I could do that and then compare it to the 'regular' Fractal model but with the power tubes changed to EL34's!
Maybe I'll do that soon.
Click to expand...

Awesome! I love that this incredible piece of technology gives us that option!
 
Hey there,
Cool tones and nice tune all around.
I would be interested in doing something similar as far as set-up. Currently I just run things into my Apogee Duet and directly into Logic.
The idea you have is great, yet I've never done anything like that.

I have an Axe III and some great amp heads that I'd really like to be able to integrate as you seem to have been able to do. I just don't exactly know about recording direct tracks for re-amping, although I've heard about it and it sounds like a great idea. Nor have I ever tried to use a "real" amp head with my Axe III.

If you would be willing, I would appreciate a little help here. I’ve been a Fractal user for a long while and tried many configurations, just nothing like what you’ve mentioned.
Could you outline the set-up a bit more clearly so my NEWB (to reamping) brain can understand??

If you could help me understand the routing on the amps, Axe III, etc...I would be grateful.

Thanks in advance!!
 
GtarLover said:
Hey there,
Cool tones and nice tune all around.
I would be interested in doing something similar as far as set-up. Currently I just run things into my Apogee Duet and directly into Logic.
The idea you have is great, yet I've never done anything like that.

I have an Axe III and some great amp heads that I'd really like to be able to integrate as you seem to have been able to do. I just don't exactly know about recording direct tracks for re-amping, although I've heard about it and it sounds like a great idea. Nor have I ever tried to use a "real" amp head with my Axe III.

If you would be willing, I would appreciate a little help here. I’ve been a Fractal user for a long while and tried many configurations, just nothing like what you’ve mentioned.
Could you outline the set-up a bit more clearly so my NEWB (to reamping) brain can understand??

If you could help me understand the routing on the amps, Axe III, etc...I would be grateful.

Thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...

Sure thing! :)
I'll explain my setup:

From my guitar I go into a simple Valeton true bypass switcher.
I have this set up so that I can switch my dunlop wah, whammy pedals and freqout in and out with signal loss when I don't use those pedals.
That's just the front end, pretty simple.

From there I go into the front input of my Axe fx III.
I always use that as my USB audio interface so I record all the audio via USB.
This means I can also record DI tracks straight from the front input via the 5/6 USB input channels.
I recommend checking out the manual for more info about the DI tracks and reamping.

So with that setup I can already record my Axe fx tones along with DI tracks for reamping which is super convenient.

Then I have output 3 and input 3 in use as a loop for my tube amps.
So output 3 with the level up all the way (unity gain) goes into the input of my tube amps.
The tube amp's speaker output (8 ohms always) goes into the Fractal LB-2 loadbox which then goes back into input 3 of the fractal.

With this setup I can either record my Axe Fx III tones OR the real tube amps, or even both at the same time!
I can put effects in front of the amp and after, that's how I like to run my OwnHammer IR's.
So I run those in the cab block of the Axe Fx and I have about 2000 of those in there so I have anything I need whenever I need it.

One of the other loops is dedicated for another effects pedal I own in which I can run stereo effects, which is great too!

Super flexible!

One thing to keep in mind is that I do have a ground loop going on with all my amps but I'm killing that with the ground/lift switch on the LB-2.

Hope this helps man!
Just curious, what kind of amps do you own?
 
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