mortega76 said:
I should be able to connect a great sounding amp like a 5150 to a cab... adjust the knobs and get a great tone... then I should be able to (through the same speaker cab) connect my Axe-fx/SS-amp and go to the PVH 5105 amp sim and dial in using the same (virtual) knobs (including cranking the master volume) and get a similar sounding and feeling tone... no?
Yes, you should. After all, that's what Yek's reference to the manual implies. And yet, we get users' replies like...
Beat things all you want, if you are not willing to learn how to utilize the tools at hand, no one else is going to come along and do it for you. Learn from the presets presented and shared. You come off as someone complaining about buying and using a professional level piece of equipment and then you don't want to learn to use it. It has such a deep pool of professional level tools. Learn them. Use them.
I don't know why, but that kinda puts me in a kick-in-the-nuts mood because it's so freaking far from the freaking point and it makes dismissive and insulting assumptions about how we roll with the Axe-Fx. The point is Basic parameters (BMT, Drive, Volume, Presence) VS Advanced parameters, not the willingness to learn the tool. As far as I'm concerned, Advanced parameters should be used if you want to experiment on, or mod if you will, the amp model you're working on AFTER you dialed in what it should sound like with a basic amp and its proper cab sim, using only the basic parameters you find on almost every amp faceplate in the universe.
Look at it this way: The basic parameters are the like the hammer and the nail. The advanced parameters are like the compressor and the nail gun. If you smashed your thumb/got a crappy sound because you handled your hammer/amp knobs like a retard, then it is really your own damn fault. But in everyday situations, you will nail that nail/tone by using only your basic, run of the mill hammer/amp knobs. However, there is absolutely nothing stopping you to use a nail gun/advanced parameters for special jobs/amp mods. So why should it be different with the Axe-Fx?
This weekend, a friend of mine came over and we tried to create a good Tweed Bassman patch, using only the basic parameters and the stock 4x10 cab. We couldn't do it, it just wasnt' there. So what am I doing? Same thing I did when I created my Twin patch, that I also couldn't nail using only the basic parameters and stock 2x12 cab by the way: Audition Redwirez cabs like crazy, playing around with Advanced/Amp Geek parameters. In short, using a freaking nail gun to nail one simple nail. I don't have any problem doing that with the Ultra. But I still think I shouldn't have to do it.
Addendum:
I just read Cliff's latest long reply and it's a good read. However, I'm pretty sure that what Cliff and others call complaints would never have been an issue if the passage I quoted from Yek's post wasn't in the manual. Perception is reality gentlemen, and people will expect that "the Axe-Fx’s amp, drive and cabinet simulations are very faithful reproductions of the originals" will reflect that reality. Unless I'm mistaken, in the originals, you didn't have to open the chassis and deal with XFormer Hi Freq and Hi Freq Resonance to get the trademark sound of that amp. Simple twists of knobs on the faceplate was all it took. It is what is is...
But using the Axe-Fx as a creative tool and not a direct replacement to existing amps? Sure, I can roll with that, no problem.
Oh yeah, about my Bassman patch attempt:
FractalAudio said:
I adjust little more than the basic controls and it sounds just like my real amps.
Well, my friend and I didn't use this as reference this weekend, but for your own amusement, can you guys make a patch with a 59Bassguy + 4x10 Bass cab block and use the settings you see in the following video? Just the basic parameters. And then compare what you hear. Don't forget that according to the wiki, the drive knob will be your main volume, so your master should be between 4 o'clock to full on with this type of amp. Here's the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHYHYzcqBOY