After years of dreaming, I've finally got my hands on one of these. Now how the hell do I use it?

Brandon Storm

Brandon Storm

Member
Hey folks,

A very generous friend has saw fit to lend me his Axe-Fx II after finally hearing enough of my whining.

When I had some hands-on time with it at his place, he was always at the helm and steering the ship while I just messed around.

Now that I'm flying solo, I could use a video tutorial. Anyone care to point me towards a youtube video series or something close to "The Axe-Fx II for Dummies"?

My previous amp experience was regular ol' heads with maybe a pedal or two, so I'm a bit overwhelmed here.

Thanks!
 
This is your first moments with an Axe-FX?

You poor bastard.

In all honesty? Wing it. There's no secret to AFX goodness. It just comes down to fucking with it until things start to sing how you like.

Step #1) Choose an amp that you like.
Step #2) Choose a cab that you dig.
Step #3) Choose a drive pedal
Step #4) Mess with all of the above.
Step #5) ???
Step #6) PROFIT!

When messing with amp settings, for the time being? Just stick with your basic Gain, B\M\T\P\Volume settings. Mess with the cut\fat\boost\bright switches. Don't bother with any of the advanced stuff until you're in the ballpark of something that you dig.

With your cab, I prefer set and forget. Find a cab that makes your amp sound awesome, then mess with the proximity. Most people like to turn it down a fair bit (or even off). What a lot of people forget is that your cab is almost definitely the most important part of your sound. Your cab selection is the difference between Jens Bogren micing up your amp, Andy Sneap micing up your amp or...erm...me. However, choose appropriately. If you're running a Peavey 6505, don't run it into a 1x8 speaker :p. Find a 4x12 that you like.

With your drive pedal: I've found that generally speaking, they add more gain than you would expect. Be conservative. Find a drive pedal that you already like and use the same settings, then dial back the gain\level a smidgen.

ALSO:

#1) You definitely do NOT need that much gain. Yes, I know it's HUGE. It's great. Mhmm. Now dial it back. See? Isn't that much better?

#2) You definitely need some more mids. If you're going to scoop your mids, check out the GEQ in the Amp settings (under "Basic") and use that to scoop 'em. Keep turning up those mids until it hurts, then back it off a smidge.

Now the difference between say, your first sounds and Devin Townsend's sounds? About a year of tweaking. Good luck!
 
All of the above. This process could range from a learning curve that is steep and never-ending (with updates) to getting lucky early on and finding something that won't let you stop playing. Enjoy the journey.
 
The Cooper Carter videos are well worth the money. You'll find the course both inspiring and enlightening! Well worth every cent of it.

The basic stuff isn't that hard to get used too -- but if you really want to understand some more in-depth details of the axe. Go and buy the Cooper Carter videos.

You should also study the wiki (in combination with the user manual) and pay attention to Amp, Cab and how to use settings (Bass, Low Cut-Freq, GEQ(advanced), PEQ(advanced) and Amp switches). Check out:

http://wiki.fractalaudio.com/axefx2/index.php?title=Amp:_all_models

http://wiki.fractalaudio.com/axefx2/index.php?title=AMP_block_parameters

http://wiki.fractalaudio.com/axefx2/index.php?title=Cab:_all_models

Basically, if you don't understand what a control is - just disregard it - the default settings works fine for the most part.
 
Brandon Storm said:
I don't feel so dumb now that the process possibly warrants a paid course to figure it out.

Thanks a lot, gang! If I survive, you'll see me pop up from time to time with more questions.

If I don't survive, then I died the way I lived; Confused and trying to make a guitar sound good.
Click to expand...
IMHO the basic functions are trivial enough to figure out without any instructions if you have used traditional gear before. The reason there is so much instructional material is because it is so deep. But the basics are dirt simple.
 
The video resources already mentioned are great.

I recommend learning the basics: setting input levels, setting output levels, and connecting blocks together to make a preset.

Then stick with amp -> cab -> reverb blocks using mostly defaults.

Learn to tweak the basic amp block page. The page with the tone and gain controls. And learn how to swap out IR's in the cab block to change speaker cabs.

With the above you can create very realistic and playable tones.

From there branch out into the different efx blocks and more advanced parameters.
 
The 'Factory' presets are a bit out-of-date for the 'Quantum' firmware. Even when they are updated, they don't always work well with all guitars. AFAIK the 'Factory' presets are created using single-coil pickups?

'Gain Staging' seams to be one of the first big hurdle for any new user (myself included). Read the relevant sections of the manual several times, Check the 'Wiki', and the forum.

Each amp model has specific 'quirks' (just like their real-world counterparts). You have to spend some time with them, just like if you owned the 'Real' amp. Researching the 'Real' amp's suggested settings is very useful.

The effects of pre-amp EQ and post-amp EQ can not be understated, especially when playing through an over-driven amp. The Mesa Boogie's are a prime example of this, but this pertains to most amp models to various degrees.
 
Brandon Storm said:
I don't feel so dumb now that the process possibly warrants a paid course to figure it out.

Thanks a lot, gang! If I survive, you'll see me pop up from time to time with more questions.

If I don't survive, then I died the way I lived; Confused and trying to make a guitar sound good.
Click to expand...
It's very helpful to start by scrolling through the factory presets with Axe-Edit running on your computer. Start by just enjoying the sounds, and look at the signal chains. It'll give you some idea of the components that create those initial favorites.
 
H13 said:
This is your first moments with an Axe-FX?

You poor bastard.

In all honesty? Wing it. There's no secret to AFX goodness. It just comes down to fucking with it until things start to sing how you like.
Click to expand...

H13 -

Wow.

What an uneducated response. What a stupid response. What a moronic response. Are you a drummer?

RTFM, and in case you don't know what that means (and apparently you have no issues with language): Read The Fucking Manual.

And if you're too lazy to read the manual, see some of Chris's tutorials:

http://axefxtutorials.com

- or as suggested above, Cooper Carter's video(s).

The last thing you should be doing is 'helping' someone else with what is obviously an extremely poor grasp of the Fractal family.

Do you know about SAG? Do you know about speaker delays in the millisecond range? Do you know about how to manage Input Trim, or what the BOOST switch does? Do you know about the secret of running a 1x6" speaker in parallel with a 4x12 that sounds huge?

I'm betting 'no' to all of the above. You should be asking, and not telling. Where's a good 'noise gate' when you need one?
 
Start with the manual. I knew it cover to cover before I even ordered my Axe-FX, because it let me know the logic and workflow complemented what I was looking for. It's a little out of date these days (pokes M@) but the core of the unit is still the same as the last update to the manual. There's also lots of "how to set up a preset" free videos on youtube. Search function should dredge some up.

I recommend starting with using Axe edit until you understand the operations, then get familiar with the front panel. Start with the most basic of presets, using a serial chain of guitar->amp->cab. (assuming FRFR) Once you have that to where it sounds good, add reverb at 15-20% mix and just step through the presets until you find one you like. then adjust it. Once you get that where you like it, then experiment with adding other effects. Once you can dial in a good basic chain the other stuff becomes super easy.
 
Was this seriously necessary? H13 actually gave some really great advice after his initial humorous opening. There is no one secret and just as he advises, stripping things back to a very basic amp/drive/cab/verb level is an excellent place to start. You don't need to memorize the manual to get a great sound.
Plenty of players have done it with a guitar, their fingers, ears and a decent amp. Let's not turn this place acrimonious. We're all just trying to get great sounds out of the gear we love.

plyall said:
H13 -

Wow.

What an uneducated response. What a stupid response. What a moronic response. Are you a drummer?

RTFM, and in case you don't know what that means (and apparently you have no issues with language): Read The Fucking Manual.

And if you're too lazy to read the manual, see some of Chris's tutorials:

http://axefxtutorials.com

- or as suggested above, Cooper Carter's video(s).

The last thing you should be doing is 'helping' someone else with what is obviously an extremely poor grasp of the Fractal family.

Do you know about SAG? Do you know about speaker delays in the millisecond range? Do you know about how to manage Input Trim, or what the BOOST switch does? Do you know about the secret of running a 1x6" speaker in parallel with a 4x12 that sounds huge?

I'm betting 'no' to all of the above. You should be asking, and not telling. Where's a good 'noise gate' when you need one?
Click to expand...
 
I must be old because why the hell would you pay money for a course on learning to use the Axe-Fx?!? In the 80's when we had refrigerator racks of effects, we learned that shit on our own. Goddammit, I know that this is revealing my age. Just excuse the old guy rant. :confused:
 
Sorry MikeyB59 -

Yep. Absitively. Someone transferring 'knowledge' to someone asking for help should actually provide real help, and possess such knowledge instead of the detritus that was offered ("Wing it. There's no secret to AFX goodness. It just comes down to fucking with it until things start to sing how you like"). I just loathe it when misinformation is propagated, especially to new folks that need help the most.
Years ago I used to be a forum manager for an operating system in my spare time. I have always had issues with mis/dis/non-information, especially where neophytes are concerned. I rarely rear my ugly-assed head (see avatar!) here, but erroneous drivel in the guise of assistance tripped my trigger.
 
Lionheart said:
I must be old because why the hell would you pay money for a course on learning to use the Axe-Fx?!? In the 80's when we had refrigerator racks of effects, we learned that shit on our own. Goddammit, I know that this is revealing my age. Just excuse the old guy rant. :confused:
Click to expand...

Ha! My wife accused me (back then) of buying stuff just to read the manuals. And I used to. I did stop at my Kurzweil PC3 manual (tome), but I still read most of them. Heck - I used to read the MIDI spec for devices and write Ed/Libs in the 80's/90's. And age... er... I just turned 61... Rant away!
 
Yeah, I'm a self-admitted Manual-Freak. Read the entire manual a few times to make sure that it was for me, before I got on the first 'Axe-Fx ll Waiting List'. Then read it maybe a dozen more times before my 'invite to buy' came. Had it opened up and ready when I first powered up the Axe-Fx. Still go back to it every so often.

I really must have a good handle on the gear that I'm using.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yek
My 2 cents - a bit of everything that's been mentioned above in this thread:

  • Read the manual
  • Watch every YouTube tutorial you can find
  • AxeFXtutorials.com - Chris is amazing
  • Coooper's lessons I bet are a great insight into the internal workings and possibilities of this box of tricks
  • The Axe FX Forum - such a cool place with tons of info and some really, really helpful and way cleverer folk than I..!
  • Axe FX Wiki - another great source of info and tips
  • Plug in and play and see if it sounds good to you. If so - continue. If not, do some of the above

I got mine mid Dec and began downloading patches, altering, tweaking, etc. I've fired it up with the band twice and am still tweaking patches for levels, turning gain down, altering eq, auditioning new IR's, etc, etc, etc. What sounds good to me at home/headphones ends up being way different when you crank the up the volume at rehearsal/gigs

It can be a monster learning curve and I suspect that some of the cool cats on here who have heard theirs years are still finding out new stuff and parameters....not to mention when there's a firmware update!

It really is a great time to be a guitarist with this level of technology. Once you get it to start sounding good - it only gets better.

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom