Roland
Experienced
It started with a chance posting on another forum. An Axe FX II was for sale, close to where I would be at the weekend. Why should I upgrade from an Ultra? The chance to get a better acoustic sound is part of the story. Running out of memory is another. The incremental cost over a two or three years is far less than I spend on other pleasures in life, like alcohol or coffee. So Andy and I arranged to meet.
Mistake 1: Whilst Andy was counting the cash I played his PRS SC through the 59BassGuy pre-set. Now, I hadn’t played a PRS since before the Single Cut was first made. There is no doubt that the Bassman through headphones contributed to its outstanding sound. All the same, I’m now GASsing for a wide thin Custom 22 or 24.
A weekend with friends can be very relaxing. There are few household chores to distract you. I planned out how I was going to configure the II, and compiled a list of Decisions to be made:
• How to use XY – I still haven’t decided
• Whether to use Scenes – Not yet
• Whether to re-programme my FCB1010 midi configuration to match the II’s defaults, or change the II – Changing the II is less work.
• This time around I’m going to link a volume pedal to the Cab block, instead of the Amp block.
and Actions:
• Download the latest firmware and software tools
• Load my favourite Ownhammer cabs (Shiva and Blackbird 2x12s)
• Tone Match my Parker Fly to my Taylor 414 – Easy, and I’m very pleased with the result.
• Tone Match my Les Paul – Less successful. The voice of a Les Paul comes from more than tone matching.
• Take a quick run through the amps, and choose no more than three to work with – Mistake 2:there is no such thing as a quick run through the pre-sets.
• Create a base patch with my normal routings and effects.
My final choice of Amps for the Ultra were the ODS 100 and the Shiva. They worked well with the brightness of the Parker, and sounded authoritative in the band mix. For clean sounds I spent a long time auditioning the 59 and 65 BassGuys, various AC30s and Fenders, and the Shiva clean. In the end I settled on: ODS clean; ODS lead, toned down to almost clean; and the Bludojai Lead pre-set, which is a very close match to the ODS lead tone that I’ve been using on the Ultra.
Cabs were a revelation. Ownhammer IRs brought a lot of clarity to the Ultra. I’d settled on the Jenson P12N with M200 for the ODS, and the Jenson Alnico Blackbird when I used the Shiva Lead amp, both in Shiva 2x12 cabinets. The II is so clear that I actually need a fatter, warmer cab, and the default stereo cab from Fractal’s recording session is ideal. I can understand why some people say that the II is brighter than the Ultra, and the later firmware is brighter than earlier versions. Well it might be, but it’s also more articulate.
The rest of my settings I’ve transcribed from the Ultra, using the front panel. I’m still using Scott Peterson’s trick of a PEQ to cut frequencies below 125Hz and above 6.5Khz, and because I like a touch of mid-range honk. Some people have said that Gen 2 modelling doesn’t need as much EQing. In my case it’s more to do with compensating for the speakers. I use an SRM450 for monitoring, and our PA for FOH. Now I know there are better sounding FRFR monitors than the SRMs, but we don’t have a soundman, and if I’m EQing for FOH I’m better off hearing what I’m doing through a similar quality monitor. There’s also a foot-switchable peaking filter to add 5db at about 725Kh if I need to cut through the mix for a fill without stopping playing.
I’m going to add a 600ms delay on solos now that I’ve got the memory to do it. Studio Comp, Wah, Fat Rat, Quad Chorus and a touch of Reverb make up the rest of the picture.
So, after eight hours work, and four happy hours auditioning amps, my five base pre-sets are ready for Monday’s rehearsal, and my Ultra is ready for sale. I'm really happy with the acoustic pre-set, and the clarity which I'm getting from the electrics. Next step is to get the pre-set volumes balanced, and for that I need an empty house.
Should I keep the Ultra for back-up? Will this be Mistake 3?
Mistake 1: Whilst Andy was counting the cash I played his PRS SC through the 59BassGuy pre-set. Now, I hadn’t played a PRS since before the Single Cut was first made. There is no doubt that the Bassman through headphones contributed to its outstanding sound. All the same, I’m now GASsing for a wide thin Custom 22 or 24.
A weekend with friends can be very relaxing. There are few household chores to distract you. I planned out how I was going to configure the II, and compiled a list of Decisions to be made:
• How to use XY – I still haven’t decided
• Whether to use Scenes – Not yet
• Whether to re-programme my FCB1010 midi configuration to match the II’s defaults, or change the II – Changing the II is less work.
• This time around I’m going to link a volume pedal to the Cab block, instead of the Amp block.
and Actions:
• Download the latest firmware and software tools
• Load my favourite Ownhammer cabs (Shiva and Blackbird 2x12s)
• Tone Match my Parker Fly to my Taylor 414 – Easy, and I’m very pleased with the result.
• Tone Match my Les Paul – Less successful. The voice of a Les Paul comes from more than tone matching.
• Take a quick run through the amps, and choose no more than three to work with – Mistake 2:there is no such thing as a quick run through the pre-sets.
• Create a base patch with my normal routings and effects.
My final choice of Amps for the Ultra were the ODS 100 and the Shiva. They worked well with the brightness of the Parker, and sounded authoritative in the band mix. For clean sounds I spent a long time auditioning the 59 and 65 BassGuys, various AC30s and Fenders, and the Shiva clean. In the end I settled on: ODS clean; ODS lead, toned down to almost clean; and the Bludojai Lead pre-set, which is a very close match to the ODS lead tone that I’ve been using on the Ultra.
Cabs were a revelation. Ownhammer IRs brought a lot of clarity to the Ultra. I’d settled on the Jenson P12N with M200 for the ODS, and the Jenson Alnico Blackbird when I used the Shiva Lead amp, both in Shiva 2x12 cabinets. The II is so clear that I actually need a fatter, warmer cab, and the default stereo cab from Fractal’s recording session is ideal. I can understand why some people say that the II is brighter than the Ultra, and the later firmware is brighter than earlier versions. Well it might be, but it’s also more articulate.
The rest of my settings I’ve transcribed from the Ultra, using the front panel. I’m still using Scott Peterson’s trick of a PEQ to cut frequencies below 125Hz and above 6.5Khz, and because I like a touch of mid-range honk. Some people have said that Gen 2 modelling doesn’t need as much EQing. In my case it’s more to do with compensating for the speakers. I use an SRM450 for monitoring, and our PA for FOH. Now I know there are better sounding FRFR monitors than the SRMs, but we don’t have a soundman, and if I’m EQing for FOH I’m better off hearing what I’m doing through a similar quality monitor. There’s also a foot-switchable peaking filter to add 5db at about 725Kh if I need to cut through the mix for a fill without stopping playing.
I’m going to add a 600ms delay on solos now that I’ve got the memory to do it. Studio Comp, Wah, Fat Rat, Quad Chorus and a touch of Reverb make up the rest of the picture.
So, after eight hours work, and four happy hours auditioning amps, my five base pre-sets are ready for Monday’s rehearsal, and my Ultra is ready for sale. I'm really happy with the acoustic pre-set, and the clarity which I'm getting from the electrics. Next step is to get the pre-set volumes balanced, and for that I need an empty house.
Should I keep the Ultra for back-up? Will this be Mistake 3?