Hi everyone,
Sorry late to this thread. Thanks for all the feedback. Here are a few miscellaneous things to add or clarify, that may help on some of the topics above...sorry the sequence order is random, but it covers questions from the thread...
In 700+ Naked Amps TonePack versions 8.02 and 9.02, the LO CUT in Cab Block was set pretty low, like 40Hz or 50Hz. When 10.0 came out, the bass response was much enhanced in that new firmware. So, for the 10.x version I went to a LO CUT between 70Hz (usually minimum 100Hz) and 176Hz in Cab Block. The bass content is highly dependent on the amp and the IR being used, as well as the guitar and pickup too.
Some IRs have a lot of bass built in (like the Uber V30 cab). So do some Modern amps (ENGL, Uber). For professional live stage use for most genres, your sound guy at the board is likely going to cut everything below 100Hz to 150Hz for your guitar to sit in the mix, and probably everything above 8kHz or so. You don't get much audible guitar frequency stuff above 7kHz except for "Air" and maybe sparkle, so 10kHz HI CUT in Cab Block works fine, but I'll sometimes go down as low as 5kHZ to 6kHz to tame any harsh high end, or even for a Tweed amp that doesn't put much out frequency above 5kHz anyway - it helps focus the mids mainly by doing these things.
I do 700+ tones in the TonePack precisely because I personally wanted a preset version for every amp model in multiple gain stages. I knew not everyone will like every amp, but they could find amps they would like at their own pace if I covered them all. Could have broken this up into smaller pieces, charging less for each piece, but it the process becomes harder to manage overall and update.
The idea is, you get a good example of what EVERY amp in the Ax8 sounds like -- whether you care for those amps or not -- you can try and find what you like, or just go right to ones you know. I personally have discovered awesome amps I would have never have tried but not for this collection. I just recently re-discovered the Splawn Quickrod JCM with a factory IR cab pairing with added more mids I had not considered before that totally changed my opinion of that amp, its now in my top ten of killer amps. This kind of exploration happens and yields results and surprises!
Hundreds and hundreds of hours went into the 700+ AX8 TonePack, and I have done two firmware updates for free. I think $59 - the cost of a single pedal -- is more than a fair price, and agree with some here that it's actually a steal, but I also wanted this product widely adopted among AX8 users. Too many people struggle to program good sounds or get frustrated, and this TonePack saves you hours of time, you get great tones in a "plug and play" format. If you think about what your own time is worth on a hourly basis and the amount of time theTonePack saves you making/dialing in tones, the TonePack pays for itself in a single day's work for yourself.
Also I'm limited by the preset space and the architecture in producing these preset collections with the 16 subbanks & 8 presets per bank structure. One thing I love about the Axe-Fx III is being able to label/name up to 8 scenes/tones inside a single preset!!! That helps a lot in making a variety of sounds and being able to convey to the user WHAT the tones is supposed to be -- "edgy" "grindy" "snarly" "arpeggios" "Medium gain" "lead tone" etc. I did that all over the 1000+ Axe III version. Wish I could have done it for 700+ Naked Amps pack, but it's not an option...
The gain presets are dialed in for medium-output humbuckers, although the cleans had a single coil focus when dialed in (with the MicroBoost drive engaged), especially the 9.x and 8.x versions where I used my Tele neck pickup to dial in the cleans. For 10.x I re-did for humbuckers. So you have access to old firmware "cleans-only" for Tele/single coils if you like...
There are some amps that do not get along with single coils but work great with humbuckers -- think of a 5000pf bright cap value Plexi Marshall (the Hi-1 model) which is screechy -- while some amps were designed specifically to favor single coils over humbuckers -- like the Ruby Rocket. There are also lots of ways to dial in most amps, especially master volume amps or then using different drive pedals.
I can get 12 awesome sounds from a Fender 59 Bassman easy. A Dumble can be tricky to dial in, the interaction between the input gain, the overdrive, and the master gives a lot of tonal options for sure. Some amps are mostly one trick ponies. Drive blocks change it all again , which is why I mostly stick with boosts and let YOU figure out what drive block you like best.
And amp overall tone can vary just by guitar pickup strength for sure -- a darker PRS style humbucker versus low output Gibson PAF versus Tele. That's just the nature of this. A dark sound on a humbucker can still end up being shrill or ice-pick with a Strat bridge pickup. So sometimes a balance is what you try to get in dialing it in.
The "last mile" is always about the player's hands, their guitars and pickups, and genre of music. Through the TonePack, I'm just helping getting you really close -- if not spot on -- to iconic tones from each amp, and saving you hours of time.
Definitely trying User IRs can make TonePack presets better. I used the Factory Cab IRs in the presets so you don't have to, but sure, experiment. There is a way to "pin" the Cab Manager page open and you can play and just click on different cabs until you find what you love.
Some of the high gain settings are definitely going to sound compressed -- because that's what adding lots and lots of gain does, it thins out the tone. I'm finding I'll sometimes lower the bright cap to tame the gain and harshness in Marshalls for example. You can always back off the gain or overdrive. Use the amp gain and volume controls like you would in the real world.
So this is a kind of sneak announcement...but it is germane to the thread topic of using AX8 presets live. While a lot of attention is being paid to the AXE-Fx III deservedly, I've not forgotten about the AX8.
I've spent the last few months and hundreds of hours developing a NEW special
"Dream Rigs" TonePack.
It's aimed specifically for AX8 LIVE playing, with most presets all dialed in new, under firmware 10.1 from scratch, so includes new sounds not covered in 700+ pack. It will include various effects and a few special tricks.
I've been dialing it all in loudly/stage volume, in mono with my Atomic CLR behind me (to me back) about 12 feet away just like on stage, so it feels and responds like a real amp. I've been using my Zappa SG, but also using a Suhr Strat and aa Tele to check single coils sounds as I go. Also using a detuned PRS for the modern/heavy amps...
This new pack will give you a clean, low gain, medium/rhythm, and high gain or lead tone for almost every amp model, along with various boosts built in plus a "Kicker - single coil boost" to compensate for a guitar change on a presets, and include a nice albeit limited extra effects block library to try out.
I'm hoping to have it ready before Thanksgiving for you. My beta testers are very pleased with it. Anyone who bought a 700+ Naked Amps Pack will get a price discount as well. This TonePack is much better organized, uses X/Y effects blocks, and is designed so there is a methodology to follow to help you more easily assemble your own "dream rig(s)" from the preset choices, designed for Live use.
It also records nicely too. I can't say much more just yet, but will soon, so stay tuned! Now, back to the studio...
