AM4 Rookie

Randybob

Randybob

New Member
Hi everyone,

I'm new to the Fractal family having just purchased an AM4 a couple of weeks ago on recommendation from a couple of friends who are also Fractal guys. I'm fairly new to the amp modelling world actually and have been using a Headrush MX5 for the past 18 months. In my touring bands I've been a Marshall/Orange guy my entire life but I was recently asked to join a duo where very low volume is required. My budget was limited so I bought the Headrush MX5. Although it's a good unit, the duo I play in plays straight Top 40 tunes from all eras, so I need quite a variety of tones and effects although generally my needs are simple...clean crunch, lead. The spice comes from delays and modulation, using my volume knob, etc.

I found the Headrush to be a bit clumsy navigating between presets/scenes, etc. It also lacks the processing muscle to switch between rigs and scenes seamlessly. If I had to go from a crunch patch to a lead patch for example, even though the only difference would be the amp and delay, there was a noticeable delay which I found annoying. I ended up buying a Midi controller pedal (Chocolate M-Vave) so I could use one rig for the entire evening by switching the effects on and off via the Chocolate and then using the 2 scene slots attached to each foot switch to move between rigs. I found that using the same amp for different settings didn't work for me so I attached a different amp to each switch and worked from there.

I wasn't entirely happy about this arrangement so I spoke to my buddy who'd been using a Fractal for years (I can't recall the model). I admit I was skeptical about the whole amp modelling field initially, but I had mixed his band at a gig last summer and was quite impressed with his tones. It was he (and another friend) who simultaneously alerted me to the AM4 because I couldn't afford a full blown Fractal unit.

Anyway, I've had a couple of spins around the AM4 presets/scenes/effects, watched a bunch of videos from Rosh Roslin, etc. (very helpful) and am now getting ready to build my first gigging set up. I'll be using the same basic format as I did with the Headrush (clean, crunch, lead) but because I prefer different combinations of delays and modulations, I'm uncertain if I should be in 'Gig' mode and use banks of presets for given songs, or if there's a way in Scene mode to achieve the same result.

For example, in Scene mode, S1 would be a straight clean tone with a compressor in Block 1, but in S2 I'd prefer to have an overdrive in Block 1 but this doesn't seem possible, or is it? It seems that whatever the choice is for Block 1, that same effect must remain the same in all 4 scenes. Is that correct? If that is so, then I'm guessing Gig/Preset mode would be the way for me to go where I'd have a dedicated preset for a song like 'Faith-G. Michael' and another for 'Wanted Dead or Alive' etc.

I hope this is making sense and would be grateful for input from anyone on the matter. So far I'm very impressed with the unit and am excited about putting it on stage in the shortest amount of time.

Thanks and cheers!
Randybob
Montreal, QC
 
Welcome to the forum and Fractal.

You are correct, scenes are simply saved settings of the effects blocks in the preset. For different block arrangements you need different presets.

While you can’t change a comp into an OD, you can get creative with many of the effects. For instance, if I need some chorus in a preset that is drive-amp-delay-reverb I use the modulation in the delay block.
 
Hi, thanks for responding so quickly and for shedding light on the matter. I have yet to explore the effects side of things but what a great tip re. modulation in the delay. That might save some space lol. I would never have thought of that. There’s a great deal to learn but I’ve got a much better idea of how I’ll proceed. Thanks again and cheers!
 
Yes, what you want to do is not possible, but there are so many varied ways to gig with this unit, what you want to - in GENERAL - can be done. The Preset switching is gapless, so you could do it that way... Or, alternatively, you could gig in "effects mode", and have two separate blocks in a given preset, yet set up a different preset for the other tones you want.

I personally gig in Amp Mode, and have 3 different presets set up with 2 mod effects in each. It might require some added tap-dancing or using a midi-controller or external switch.

Finally, there is a decent compressor in the deep edit mode that enables noticeable compression without using a block.
 
I'm also new to the AM4 but have been long time Fractal user (coming from the FM9 just now).

I have similar requirements to yours; Clean/Crunch/Lead and the "spice" are mostly different modulation and reverb/delay settings for different songs. I just had one kitchen sink preset on the FM9 that gave me all those possibilities in one preset (I play in a Pearl Jam tribute band).

On the AM4 I decided to use Scenes mode, generally: S1 Basic Clean, S2 Clean with some modulation, S3 Crunch, S4 Lead. I have to use different presets to vary what S2 does, and I also have variants where instead of an altered Clean (S2) I have an altered Crunch. Use Long Press switch 1/4 to go up/down presets (only between songs though). So far only need 3 presets (taking a few shortcuts compared to the FM9 though).

On theory this should do it for me, but due to band members' vacations it will take me a bit to test this in practice.
 
GenoBluzGtr said:
Yes, what you want to do is not possible, but there are so many varied ways to gig with this unit, what you want to - in GENERAL - can be done. The Preset switching is gapless, so you could do it that way... Or, alternatively, you could gig in "effects mode", and have two separate blocks in a given preset, yet set up a different preset for the other tones you want.

I personally gig in Amp Mode, and have 3 different presets set up with 2 mod effects in each. It might require some added tap-dancing or using a midi-controller or external switch.

Finally, there is a decent compressor in the deep edit mode that enables noticeable compression without using a block.
Click to expand...
Thanks for chiming in and this is great info. Yes, there’s so much to dive into here, it’s going to take a while. However, first things first, the basics. I’ll work in preset mode for starters and move along from there. Cheers!
 
Henry said:
I'm also new to the AM4 but have been long time Fractal user (coming from the FM9 just now).

I have similar requirements to yours; Clean/Crunch/Lead and the "spice" are mostly different modulation and reverb/delay settings for different songs. I just had one kitchen sink preset on the FM9 that gave me all those possibilities in one preset (I play in a Pearl Jam tribute band).

On the AM4 I decided to use Scenes mode, generally: S1 Basic Clean, S2 Clean with some modulation, S3 Crunch, S4 Lead. I have to use different presets to vary what S2 does, and I also have variants where instead of an altered Clean (S2) I have an altered Crunch. Use Long Press switch 1/4 to go up/down presets (only between songs though). So far only need 3 presets (taking a few shortcuts compared to the FM9 though).

On theory this should do it for me, but due to band members' vacations it will take me a bit to test this in practice.
Click to expand...
And thank you for sharing. This is all helpful info to access when I get up and running.
 
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