Acoustic Guitar through the Axe FX III?

Dave McDowell

Dave McDowell

Member
In my gigs, I switch back & forth a lot between a couple electrics and an acoustic (and occasionally, a bass). I wanted to have the master volume control work for all the instruments (since I will obviously only be playing one at a time). I've tried it, inserting as few blocks as possible in the chain, but I still hate the acoustic tone when run through the Axe FX. It definitely "colors" the sound somehow, and not in a good way. I thought the Axe FX would be more transparent than it seems to be. I've had to revert to running the acoustic directly to the P.A. (via DI), and using the volume control on the guitar.
Is anyone doing this "successfully", while keeping the acoustic sound pure? Any presets or suggestions out there?
Thanks,
Dave
 
Can you post a comparison of the recordings between your DI and Fractal? I'm doing a tone match to make mine sound like it's mic'ed and I think it sounds great, but DI should be pretty similar. What type of DI are you using?
 
In my experience, piezo pickups can have very sharp transients. Make sure you're not clipping the input or output. That does sound horrible.

I get the best acoustic tones I ever had thru my AxeFX much better than all the DIs I've tried, but I use quite a few blocks to get there.
 
Smittefar said:
In my experience, piezo pickups can have very sharp transients. Make sure you're not clipping the input or output. That does sound horrible.

I get the best acoustic tones I ever had thru my AxeFX much better than all the DIs I've tried, but I use quite a few blocks to get there.
Click to expand...
Mind sharing your preset(s) for acoustic?
 
Dave McDowell said:
In my gigs, I switch back & forth a lot between a couple electrics and an acoustic (and occasionally, a bass). I wanted to have the master volume control work for all the instruments (since I will obviously only be playing one at a time). I've tried it, inserting as few blocks as possible in the chain, but I still hate the acoustic tone when run through the Axe FX. It definitely "colors" the sound somehow, and not in a good way. I thought the Axe FX would be more transparent than it seems to be. I've had to revert to running the acoustic directly to the P.A. (via DI), and using the volume control on the guitar.
Is anyone doing this "successfully", while keeping the acoustic sound pure? Any presets or suggestions out there?
Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...
Search the G66 videos for a Cooper Carter video where he sets up the Ax FX 3 for an Acoustic Guitar.
 
I run both of my acoustics through my Axe all the time and they sound great. One with an LR Baggs Anthem and the other with a K&K Pure Mini. I find the compressor block helps early in the chain.

What pickups are in your acoustic? It could be they don’t get along with the impedance at the input of the Axe. I also run my acoustics into Input 2, which conveniently has the nominal impedance for the K&K.

Maybe try changing inputs to see if the auto impedance setting on Input 1 is affecting the pickups.
 
I use Input1 for Electric and Input 2 for Piezo.
I'm using 3sigma's acoustic IR(it has many variations for pickup options) and then EQ and COMP and REVERB.
Maybe using IR is not fit in your taste, but for me it heard better than tandem EQs.
 
I am switching between electric and acoustic at gigs as well. Running a Martin HD28 with a Fishman piezo (can't remenber the exact model) directly in to the Axe, and it always sounds great. I have never been a fan of using acoustic CAB IRs in a full band context or using the Axe fx preamp block with an acoustic. Sure, running just a DI to front of house feels a little more immediate and maybe sounds marginally better, but the options you have running it through the Axe outweigh the differences IMO. I have attached my patch. This one originated from a patch that Burgs posted a few years back, and I have been using it ever since. I have made some small tweaks to it over the years but it essentially remains the same. Thanks @Burgs ! :) Hope this helps you in some way.
 

Attachments

  • Acoustic.syx
    48.2 KB · Views: 71
Last edited:
I just re-watched @Cooper Carter 's video, and what he does is very much in line with what I like to do.

A few differences:
I really like using an IR of my own acoustic guitar. You can buy or download IRs for acoustic, but to me it's a lottery to find a good one. I have had better success making my own, although that can also be a lengthy process, before you are happy with the result.


I run my IR in the cab block, where I also use the pre-amp features - hence I have no amp block in my acoustic preset, but I do the same in the cab block as Cooper does in his amp block.

I also apply healthy amounts of EQ to the acoustic signal.

Reverb and a sense of space is crucial, if we want to re-create our own experience sitting with an acoustic guitar. Out of Cooper's examples, I liked the Enhancer best. In my own presets, I like the "Warm Stereo Chorus", and yes the effect needs to be dialed back quite a bit. I like Rich Hall too. If you are in a dense mix, and all you are really adding with the acoustic guitar is a driving rhythm, you may need to remove all that reverb and space, so it is just dry and mono.

I use my multi-band a bit differently than Cooper - I am more aiming for re-creating the body resonance of the guitar (which not all piezo systems are good at picking up), so I am targeting a band of ~150-400 Hz that is being compressed quite a bit, when I hit the guitar hard, but then as the volume reduces, this frequency is being brought back in with a vengeance :D

I would probably also always have an optical compressor in my acoustic presets.

Finally, if I feel like the tone is a bit spiky, I would try a Drive block with the tape distortion selected. That is quite effective at removing these nasty little peaks.

We recently got this new 'frequency dependent' drive - I've forgotten the block name - that I really want to try in my acoustic presets, but I never got around to it.
 
Budda said:
Fan of 3sigma audio acoustic IRs but I do not gig them.
Click to expand...

Based on your comment, I made a purchase today to try their Taylor 614 pack.
I am also trying out a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI in the effects loop of the Fractal.
Fishman has a pretty good size library. Their recommended method is to blend their IR's with your guitars output.
So far I'm not satisfied with the Fishman.
Cool thing is using the looper, so when I audition the IR's I don't have any ambient acoustic guitar do deal with.
 
Satch4u3 said:
I am switching between electric and acoustic at gigs as well. Running a Martin HD28 with a Fishman piezo (can't remenber the exact model) directly in to the Axe, and it always sounds great. I have never been a fan of using acoustic CAB IRs in a full band context or using the Axe fx preamp block with an acoustic. Sure, running just a DI to front of house feels a little more immediate and maybe sounds marginally better, but the options you have running it through the Axe outweigh the differences IMO. I have attached my patch. This one originated from a patch that Burgs posted a few years back, and I have been using it ever since. I have made some small tweaks to it over the years but it essentially remains the same. Thanks @Burgs ! :) Hope this helps you in some way.
Click to expand...
Nice preset. Works quite well with my Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster with some fairly minor tweaking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom