Axe Ultra - Feel?

JasonE

JasonE

Inspired
I have had my Axe now for exactly a week today. I really got a chance to dig into it last night. I am doing well at figuring things out. There are a few things that I still don't have worked out just yet but I am sure I will in due time. There is one thing about it that is not quite what I expected though. I am wondering if there is a setting somewhere that I am just not aware of yet that may affect this. Here is my issue.

I read a lot about how the Axe FX sounds and "feels" like a tube amp. I normally play through tube amps. I have a few of them and have been using them for years. I am fully aware of how they operate and what the "feel" of a tube amp is all about. When I either pull up an existing patch in the Axe or start one with nothing more than an amp and cab, I am noticing that it doesn't have the "feel" of a tube amp. When I roll my volume back on a distortion channel on one of my tube amps the amp cleans up with two or three numbers of movement on the volume of the guitar. When I try this on the Axe it takes a lot more movement of the volume, about double or a little more than double, and it doesn't really clean up the way a tube amp will do. I know that the POD Pro will clean up by rolling the guitar volume back so I am sure the Axe will too. I am sure it is just me not knowing what to adjust. Is there a setting that I need to adjust?
 
too_much_power said:
Looks like your input pot is set too high, maybe too much gain.
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I am setting the pot, the one on the front of the Axe, to where the red light is not lighting at all. The yellow light is pretty much lit and blinks but the red light never blinks.
 
Then your input trim is not turned up high enough. You want that red to flicker on very hard transients. That will dramatically change the response in the amp blocks in the Axe-FX.

What amp block are you using and what is your gain and master volume settings on it?
 
The type of amp that you have assigned in the amp block will affect volume rollback as well. A high gain model in the Axe isn't going to clean up any more than it's real world counterpart is.
 
On the subject of the input lights, when you say the red light, do you mean the one at the very top of the group of lights? I cant tell whether its red or not.
 
dirtypurple said:
On the subject of the input lights, when you say the red light, do you mean the one at the very top of the group of lights? I cant tell whether its red or not.
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Yes the very top one has to light up, but only when you strike the strings very hard. Then you input gain is set up at the optimum.
 
dirtypurple said:
On the subject of the input lights, when you say the red light, do you mean the one at the very top of the group of lights? I cant tell whether its red or not.
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Yes, just as DieSchmalle says. JasonE is under driving his amp blocks based on the OP and that will REALLY affect both your tone and the response of the amp in the Axe-FX.
 
Hey Guys, thanks for the replies.

I got to play with this a little more last night. I ran the input higher to the red light blinks when I dig in a bit or hit full chords hard. That did help some. I also hooked the Axe up to a stereo in my room and it responded a lot better running through there. I will be setting up some PA gear in my room today to play with it more. I think the problem is caused by a couple of things. One is not running the input high enough. the other is listening to it through headphones. After I get stuff setup today, it will be more like how I plan on running it.
 
Thought I would post a follow up...

I brought one of my portable PA heads in from the trailer along with one of my smaller FOH speakers and a monitor. I hooked it all up and put the Axe into it running both left and right channels. WOW! what a difference. The feel was a ton better. The sound is about the same as what I was hearing in my studio headphones. This unit definitely sounds good through a PA. I was very happy to hear the sound it has through the PA since that is how I plan on running it.

I think the combination of running the input hotter (thanks for the tip guys!) and running it through some FRFR PA speakers and power really made a huge difference in the sound.

Thank you all for your assistance. You guys rock!
 
Yeah, this unit kicks butt when you run it thru an appropriate system and not just phones !
 
DieSchmalle said:
dirtypurple said:
On the subject of the input lights, when you say the red light, do you mean the one at the very top of the group of lights? I cant tell whether its red or not.
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Yes the very top one has to light up, but only when you strike the strings very hard. Then you input gain is set up at the optimum.
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Thanks! I've had mine too low then.
 
A lot of the "feel" we all like so much has to do with moving lots of air. I used to use a tube head that was loaded down and running in to a cab simulator. It only feels right when you run your monitors at levels similar to what we are used to from real guitar amps.
 
maharzan said:
So, did you get that tube amp "feel" ?

//enthusiast AxeFX buyer. :)
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I would say that it is a lot closer now. I haven't been able to play with it a lot since I hooked it up to my PA gear. I am hoping to be able to do that this week. I am ready to start creating my own patches now. I think that is where the rubber will meet the road.

I am going to be attempting to recreate tones that I get from my tube amps. One thing I am really looking forward to is that I have two main tube amps, one open back and the other closed back. I have been seriously considering dragging both amps to gigs to get the sounds that both of them provide. My hopes are that the Axe will step in and provide both of those sounds form me in one unit that I can run direct. From what I have seen so far with it, I think it will work.

I am just going to have to be patient and spend how ever much time it takes to get the tones I am looking for out of it. I am really working on staying patient. I know this is a big beast that has many parameters to adjust and I don't want to get overwhelmed or discouraged so I am telling myself to be patient with it. I don't get too down on myself if something just isn't coming together at the moment for me. I have heard far too many good sounding clips that have been recorded with the Axe to not believe it will do what I want it to do.
 
Matching the axe volume level to the real amps your using is criticle for both response and tone. Once this is done, you can turn down the axe a little, but too much and you will loose the mojo. Volume and how the ear reacts to it is a big part of the mystery. The axe is actually capable of feeling and sounding better than most of the real amps - imho. This is because of the extensive tweakability and tone shaping tools available. However, I find that simple tone tweeks and gain/master adjustments get you really close to the actual amp tone. The lo and hi cut are also valuable controls. For me, many of the amps sound best with the bright switch off and presence up - especially on gainy tones -ymmv. I find that if I get to tweaking many of the advanced parameters too much, I screw it all up. Again, ymmv. Have fun and realise that there is a fairly steap learning curve with this thing - it is also worth the effort.
 
Clark Kent said:
JasonE said:
Axe Ultra - Feel?
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You need the Axe-Fx Standard for the real amp feel. Didn't you know?
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Dang! That must be the problem. I better see if I can find someone to trade me a standard for this crappy Ultra... :lol:
 
Going off on a little of a tangent here, but relates to one of the statements in this post. When you say it sounds great through your PA gear, what PA gear are you using? This is one thing that confuses me on this forum, as I keep reading "you need quality FRFR" for the Axe Fx to sound good. Are all the PA systems out there that the Axe Fx are being run direct through considered "quality FRFR"? I'm sure all these venues are not supplying Atomic Wedges or QSC speakers. What is the criteria?
 
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