Bedroom Players Vs. "Pros" & the Blanket complaint

Preset's not terrible. You're on the right track. I'd lose the drive though. If you can't get enough gain from a Mark IV, you're probably doing something wrong. Boogie amps can be tricky to dial in. The pre-gain tone stack needs low bass settings to stay tight. Somewhere in the 1 to 2 range works ok. Turn on the bass cut switch if your guitars are bass heavy too. I also prefer the Mark IV with the presence knob on about 3.5 and pulled (presence shift on). Gives a smoother, less harsh high end. The graphic EQ makes a huge difference too. It's post gain so you can push the bass back up there an not make it flabby. Use the tone stack to shape the texture of the gain and use the graphic EQ to shape the tonal response. Beyond that it's finding the right cab. The right cab is everything. Advanced parameters are not really needed IMHO. Some folks also find the USA Pre LD2 Ylw model easier to dial in. It's the Mesa TriAxis version of the Mark IIC+ sound, which JP also used on tour for years.
 
mr_fender said:
Some folks also find the USA Pre LD2 Ylw model easier to dial in. It's the Mesa TriAxis version of the Mark IIC+ sound, which JP also used on tour for years.
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I'll second mr fender's suggestion. I forgot all about the Pre models. I'm going to make it a priority to revisit them myself once I load up Q7
 
OwenTheBrit said:
...many posts that mention the "Blanket" issue...Do you think the Blanket Issue is experienced mainly by people like myself, who are OK musicians, been in a band or two & play out twice a year, but have spent most of their lives playing in the bedroom using cheap solid state amps (dreaming of wearing chains and a cool bandanna).
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I'll assume that by "blanket issue" you mean muffled sound. You didn't exactly say. It would help if we could hear a clip of the tone you're dissatisfied with.

There is no recurring "blanket issue" of which I'm aware. There have been a couple of people who reported feeling like they had a blanket over their speakers. If you follow those threads to their conclusions, you'll see that it usually came down to user error, inferior monitoring gear, or unrealistic expectations of how much punch you can get at bedroom volume.



OwenTheBrit said:
The reason I bought the Axe Fx is I want more. more Sustain...
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If you want more sustain, you need some combination of more gain, more compression, or more volume. This is true of all gear, all the time.


OwenTheBrit said:
...more HiFi...
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You are officially the first person I've ever heard who's looking for a hi-fi guitar tone. Help us understand what that means to you.


OwenTheBrit said:
...more creamy smoothness...
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An example of a tone you like would help here.


OwenTheBrit said:
...more Tightness at the bottom end..
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Lighter low end often means less low end at the input to the amp.


Take a quick spin through the first 50 factory presets. If they all sound like crap, there's something wrong with your setup.
 
I could be wrong here, but it sure does seem like the folks who are the most disappointed are the folks who come to the Axe looking to replicate a specific sound (either from an amp, an artist, a track, etc.). I've so many incredible sounds created by folks here that I don't doubt someone could create a patch that sounds exactly like the sound you're looking for. That said. I don't get why you're picking up a device that is designed to sound like many amps.

My 2 cents. Forget about trying to dial in "that" sound. Go through the presets and see if there are any that you enjoy. Try it with a couple guitars so you can experience the difference in the pickups. I've had certain combinations of guitar + version of firmware which made some presets sound "muddy". You can usually dial that out with some EQ or just adjusting the bass, treble, etc. Sometimes it's as easy as plugging in another guitar or just spinning the dial.

The Axe is simple to use, but complex to master. I suggest seeing if you can have some fun with it first and as you get more familiar with it, then work slowly towards creating your own unique sound.

Cab packs, presets and all those other options will change the sound of the unit, but it's not necessary to really enjoy it.
 
What you are playing through makes a massive difference. Rokits are basically DJ speakers, scooped and boomy. The PA you are using is probably similar. Try some studio reference headphones or monitors. Hell, even my crappy JBL LSRs sound awesome when set up right, you just need options to flatten them and get the input settings right. I have played through tons of rigs over the last 30+ years, and the Fractal gear does it right once you know how it works.
 
The Mark series are really tough to dial in, and the GEQ is very sensitive. Skip to the 6 minute mark in this video and try the USA 2C+ or C++ model the way JP dials it in here; I find it's a great starting point
 
OwenTheBrit said:
Here is my best effort so far. If any of your guys who have replied want to load it up and tweak it ( and re-post) or comment on it that would be great. ... this is with Factory Cab (but I do have Mikko's Cab Pack 7 also)
I am after smooth, tight sound with enough high end to sound studio like ...but without the fizz
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Try playing with MV Cap and Bright knob.
Also add some Air in the cab block.

In your preset the supply sag is set to PA OFF !

Here's my take with few changes :
 

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Hi @OwenTheBrit

I've attached my Mark IIC++ preset that might help ?

Scene 1 : Clean
Scene 2 : Slight Drive (neck pickup)
Scene 3 : Crunch
Scene 4 : Same as 3 but with a long delay
Scene 5 : Solo

I noticed in your preset you are using Quantum 6.xx where Q7 is now available. I also noticed that several of your blocks are bypassed using "mute ...". When in series just use "through" or the signal will die and you wont hear anything when you bypass the block. I also noticed that you have a lot of bass dialled right back - this might be your speaker position in your room - what are you using ? I have my PA speakers in my room on stands away from the wall to make them as authentic to our PA systems as possible - it helps a lot.

The attached has IA switches for Drive, Pitch, Phaser and Flanger and I've played the preset through my FRFR setup (Yamaha DXR 10s) and through a HK Linear 5 Big Venue Pack and it sounds great.

You can save the individual blocks too if you wish to reuse them at some point.

I hope it helps - the blanket for me has always been overcome by using EQ - on the amp itself (BMT and GEQ) and with the PEQ block.

I'm in Sudbury, Suffolk, UK if your near me your welcome to come over.
 

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Dude the answer to your question is in your very first sentence! You've had the Axe Fx for one week! That's the problem, time to roll up your sleeves and put in the work boy you got a long road ahead! I can promise you if you play with it every day you'll love it in about 4-6 months lol. It can produce amazing tones, once you earn them! Good luck.
 
AlGrenadine said:
In your preset the supply sag is set to PA OFF !
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To me, that suggests to much fiddling, too soon. Start a brand new preset, nothing but AMP and CAB blocks. Don't touch anything but the "Basic" tab on the AMP block. Personally, I'd pick an amp model which is easy to deal with to start with, like a Trainwreck. Just fiddle with the "front of the amp" type controls on the "Basic" tab in the AMP block and get it to sound as open as possible, with a healthy amount of drive.

Then go to the CAB block, and pin the cab type screen. Now you can audition the cabinet types without much work. Start at 001, and work your way through the list. If they all sound like they have a blanket over the amp, then something else is wrong. Maybe check the global EQ on the unit.
 
There are common tricks you can find from posts on this forum. Here are a few that come to mind:
- To get rid of boominess adjust the low cut in the cab block.
- Try some Ownhammer IR's. Some of them tend to be brighter than the stock IR's.
- Try some presets on Axe Exchange. Find one that closely matches the sound you are going for and then tweak it as necessary.
 
The Friedman be and hbe models seems to be the easiest to get a good crunchy sound. For another avenue of exploration start a new patch from scratch, add just amp and cab, be or hbe with stock settings, turn the gain and tone stack to taste and audition some cabs. Try narrowing your eq in the cab block cuts, try 150 low cut and 6k high cut. If the low is not tight add a drive block, tube screamer, drive on zero. If that doesn't sound good something is wrong.
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
The Friedman be and hbe models seems to be the easiest to get a good crunchy sound. For another avenue of exploration start a new patch from scratch, add just amp and cab, be or hbe with stock settings, turn the gain and tone stack to taste and audition some cabs. Try narrowing your eq in the cab block cuts, try 150 low cut and 6k high cut. If the low is not tight add a drive block, tube screamer, drive on zero. If that doesn't sound good something is wrong.
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I pre-agree with all of this.
 
guitvai1 said:
Another thing is to go into the cabinet setup and cut the low frequency's at 100 Hz and high frequenciecs at 15-20KHz.
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I'll go even much further than 15-20K! I'll bring it all the way down to 6-8K depending on the IR.
Above that it's all just sizzle..
A boost between 3-5, (usually around 4K) will bring out enough. Rarely do I use the 4K trick, I look to the amps prescence first then to add note definition.. but again, the IR is paramount to begin with. So important!
 
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