Axe-Fx III Firmware Release Version 16.01 Beta 1 Public Beta

Then does that mean perhaps that the preamp gain tapers are different than the real amps likely ?
Something is different. It's not a huge deal. The block letter sim sounds fine and useful as it is. It's just not the same at least as the specific amp I have here, so it's fun to tinker with the Fractal model.
 
It’s neither of those. ;)



I LOVE the normal gain input on that amp! On mine, it sounds awesome with the gain at 5 (massive and open sounding) and it’s bonkers if you go past that. I wouldn’t be surprised if our gain tapers are a little different than Cliff’s head. Can’t those things have a +/- 20% difference or something? If you’re matching your real head, try lowering your guitar volume and listen to the gain of the 5150, then match the gain level with the model. That can help you dial in the Input Trim level.

I also use fairly high output pickups, very very close to the strings, so that could be some of the difference too.

I'll give the lowered-volume-knob trick a go next time I have the 5150 fired up!
 
Whats your methodology for pairing the 2 amps? Do you dial them in separately and then just balance their levels? I find I tend to feel overwhelmed when trying to do dual amp patches.

My primary high gain patch involves the following:

Guitar signal fed to two amp blocks in parallel.
1. Recto1 Orange Modern
2. Herbie Ch2+

That is then fed from the Recto1 into a Trad 4x12, and from the Herbie into a Dizzy 4x12.

I then sum both into an EQ block for fine tuning, but of course that can be handled in several ways.

To your specific point, I simply back off the output level on the Herbie to taste. That's the best way I've found to make the amps play well together. Treat one as the primary tone source, and the secondary as filling in where the primary is lacking. Like around -5 or so on the Herbie, but YMMV. I also back off the Input gain a bit on the Herbie to 5, while it's 5.5 on the Recto1. That also helps a lot with overall clarity.
 
Last edited:
your specific point, I simply back off the output level on the Herbie to taste. That's the best way I've found to make the amps play well together. Treat one as the primary tone source, and the secondary as filling in where the primary is lacking. Like around -5 or so on the Herbie, but YMMV. I also back off the Input gain a bit on the Herbie to 5, while it's 5.5 on the Recto1. That also helps a lot with overall clarity.
But you're dialing in each of the amps as their own tone before this? Or do you dial them in together from the get go?
 
My primary high gain patch involves the following:

Guitar signal fed to two amp blocks in parallel.
1. Recto1 Orange Modern
2. Herbie Ch2+

That is then fed from the Recto1 into a Trad 4x12, and from the Herbie into a Dizzy 4x12.

I then sum both into an EQ block for fine tuning, but of course that can be handled in several ways.

To your specific point, I simply back off the output level on the Herbie to taste. That's the best way I've found to make the amps play well together. Treat one as the primary tone source, and the secondary as filling in where the primary is lacking. Like around -5 or so on the Herbie, but YMMV. I also back off the Input gain a bit on the Herbie to 5, while it's 5.5 on the Recto1. That also helps a lot with overall clarity.
Got any clips? Sounds interesting...
 
[Nevermind. I solved it. I forgot to change channels to the amp block. Please disregard]]

***
Unfortunately ive been having issues when saving a different amp on a second scene, it changes the high gain amp on scene 1 to the amp I just picked for cleans, then losing The first amp and all the settings I made.
Has this been fixed in this firmware update?
And are threads like this where to bring stuff like this to the attention of Fractal?
 
Last edited:
It sounds like ghost notes. Increase the B+ Time Constant in the amp Power Supply tab. You can make them really prominent by turning the B+ Time Constant down low, if that's your thing (I suspect it isn't).

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/ghost-notes.126903/

One more thing about this: It's in the block manual too, which I read before the Axe FX III arrived, but I had forgotten about this. I'm now wondering what else I read without the context of actually having played through the Axe FX and didn't retain because it was so abstract to me at that point. I'm in the process of re-reading the manuals, but there is so much to learn about this unit, and I love that, and it furthers the feeling I already have that the Axe FX is kind of an investment in your own tonal future; i.e., the future of how you approach tone, and with endless flexbility, what will change about you based on the new power you have to shape what you're trying to say.

It's an adjustment to start to think in this way. As a guitarist, I'm just used to the way you think about it in the real world, you tinker with the knobs on the front to get what you want. If you're still not getting what you want, maybe a pedal will help. But I've never been one to get into mods in the real world, so I feel like, reading and slowly absorbing what the advanced parameters of the amp block do, I'm learning some facsimile of what amp mods in the real world really mean. But that's the real payoff: if you are really specific about tone, every bit you take the time to learn pays off in dividends with your ability to control your tone in an informed way. I've really taken that to heart with my guitar itself, but the inner workings of amps are alien to me. These elements of an amp's workings are axiomatic: you may not understand what makes an aspect of a tone, but you cannot escape that phenomenon's control over the sound you're trying to make; you can either be subject to the inherent limitations of an engineer's design, or you can educate yourself to subjugate an amp's design to your own feeling.

I'm so glad that you pointed to a post that exists in the Tech Notes section of this forum. This is a huge reminder to me to study those posts carefully. I was already planning to take on the wiki in its entirety after going through the manuals again, and I'm sure much of the material in Tech Notes exists in the wiki also, but it's all important to me personally to learn and to understand.

Anyway, I don't want to derail this thread with musings about my novice learning process, but it's a just hitting me as a bigger deal really to study and retain the knowledge delved out in these posts; they're not just fun facts and trivia about the electrical engineering of amps; they also hold the keys to know when and how to use the advanced parameters of FAS firmware. They are the advanced owner's manual. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!
 
Something is different. It's not a huge deal. The block letter sim sounds fine and useful as it is. It's just not the same at least as the specific amp I have here, so it's fun to tinker with the Fractal model.

Have you played with the bias and negative feedback in the preset?
 
I've been confused about something, and I think there may be others who are too. When updating FW, what actions are required to get the benefit of the FW on current presets? Some mentions of "updates upon preset recall" or "resetting amp block" are two different things, resetting requiring the user to re-dial in amp settings/start from scratch.

I'm on the new beta, and did an amp block reset on my main preset, and I think I'm getting the benefit of the new beta, but honestly, I'm not sure if a reset was even required.

New FW with major and significant amp improvements will no doubt affect the workings of the controls.

Improvements on the accuracy of the sound and tone may affect the settings you set on prior FW that you altered to get you the sound you wanted.

Some experience immediate improvements without resetting. Some say it changed the sound for the worse without altering or resetting. Some experience no change. Of course these vary from amp to amp and patch to patch.

Another way to look at it is to take your “run of the mill mini amp combo and have Randall Smith at Mesa pull the same joke stunt he did with Carlos Santana by hot rodding his little amp.

Carlos freaked but loved the sound.

Mesa was born lol.

I’m sure the way Carlos tweaked that amp before for cleans was altered significantly as a result of the changes.

Kinda the same thing with new significant FW. Input trim, BMT, Master Volume and deeper controls may need less or more values.

It’s cool and fun seeing too how the controls work and play differently with the new algorithms!

May apply the same to improvements with drives, cabs...etc

This may not apply as drastic to non-amp FW improvements ...ie...delays, chorus, reverb...etc.

Not so fun when you have tons of patches with many various amps to re-verify and re-tweak.

Touring groups understandably stay away from new FW of course (unless maybe bug fixes).
 
Back
Top Bottom