Advice to Liven Up Cab/FOH Sound

[Dino334]

Hi fellow Fractal-ites! Here's my story. Before Fractal, Mesa heads, cabs, wireless and g-major2 in the rack. Pretty simple and I used a Radial Engineering JDX48 for the DI. Killer sound all the way around. Now I still use the Mesa heads and cabs, run fractal output 1 to FOH (have several cab packs..the latest OH is my fav) and output 2 goes into effects return of mesa for on stage. Sounds GREAT on stage and thru in ears. FOH is pretty good too. My other guitarist is now using my JDX48 DI with his 5153 and getting great sounds FOH. So I thought I'd plug it back in and compare it to the DI from the fractal. Have to say, the JDX48 seems to have a little more organic sound, life and presence to it over the fractal. It can't be!!!! No WAY!!!

So I eq'd from the board and got the fractal pretty much there..which made the in-ears sound like ass. EQ'd the global output instead on axefx and same result. EQ'd the amp, which changed my tone on the stage amp. Shit already!

What I am getting at is...what do you uber experienced guys use to make your cabs sound "more lively" or organic? Something in the preamp/eq section of the cab block? Enhancer after the cab block? (I don't run stereo). I just need something with a little more "oomph" and breathe (if the makes sense) as I really don't want to admit defeat and start using a JDX48 for my DI. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[2112]

Is the Axe in the FX loop? If so you're essentially running the preamp of your mesa into an IR and routing that to FOH which means you're eliminating the Mesa power amp from these part of the signal chain, which is why it's going to sound less like a real amp.


Your best bet would be to run the Axe in the loop for effects only and to use the JDX post power amp to send to the PA.

 

[Dino334]

No....no cab sim going into my Mesa, just to foh. And no mesa going into the fractal (?) either. I have a loop in my chain to split that. I'm well versed on the ins & outs of this unit, just can't seem to get the cab ir's to sound as fresh as the jdx. And I've been using the fractal exclusively to foh for a few years.

l

Is the Axe in the FX loop? If so you're essentially running the preamp of your mesa into an IR and routing that to FOH which means you're eliminating the Mesa power amp from these part of the signal chain, which is why it's going to sound less like a real amp.


Your best bet would be to run the Axe in the loop for effects only and to use the JDX post power amp to send to the PA.

 

[2112]

No....no cab sim going into my Mesa, just to foh. And no mesa going into the fractal (?) either. I have a loop in my chain to split that. I'm well versed on the ins & outs of this unit, just can't seem to get the cab ir's to sound as fresh as the jdx. And I've been using the fractal exclusively to foh for a few years.

l

My mistake, so you're using the Mesa as a power amp for your on stage sound?

If you like the sound of the JDX, maybe shoot a tone match with it and then import it as a user cab.

 

[Dino334]

Yep, you are correct....as a power amp Sounds like a good plan. Hope I can capture a tone match and give that a try. Thanks 2112 !

My mistake, so you're using the Mesa as a power amp for your on stage sound?

If you like the sound of the JDX, maybe shoot a tone match with it and then import it as a user cab.

 

[mortega76]

Curious as to what Mesa amp and cab you are using...

One possibility (don't know if it's possible if you're using it in the fx loop and how that works with the Axe-fx) is to run your Mesa head/cab on stage and feed the FOH another chain from within the Axe-fx on separate amp/cab blocks... that way you stay with your desired stage tone and feed the FOH whatever tone sounds best.