Beginner Tips for Noob Axe-FX II Guy

F

Farrestor

New Member
Hey Guys,

Finally ordered my first Axe FX II and will be waiting for the mailman everyday. I was going to ask the collective forum if you have any tips that you have discovered that you wish you knew when you first bought this. What rig setup? What Cab Packs? What quick options that you never knew? what you would have done differently? I hope you guys don't mind me asking such a noob question, I just thought with the collective forum and experienced users in this forum you guys may could give me tips that you wish you knew in the beginning that might help out a beginner on this wonderful processor. I've been reading the forum and trying to soak everything up but just thought there may be some real general accepted practices that everyone generally agrees with that I might not know being a noob.

If you guys see to many posts like this and this is annoying just delete this thread, but thought I might just check to draw on all of the experience in here.

Thanks so much for any feedback!
 
Farrestor said:
Hey Guys,

Finally ordered my first Axe FX II and will be waiting for the mailman everyday. I was going to ask the collective forum if you have any tips that you have discovered that you wish you knew when you first bought this. What rig setup? What Cab Packs? What quick options that you never knew? what you would have done differently? I hope you guys don't mind me asking such a noob question, I just thought with the collective forum and experienced users in this forum you guys may could give me tips that you wish you knew in the beginning that might help out a beginner on this wonderful processor. I've been reading the forum and trying to soak everything up but just thought there may be some real general accepted practices that everyone generally agrees with that I might not know being a noob.

If you guys see to many posts like this and this is annoying just delete this thread, but thought I might just check to draw on all of the experience in here.

Thanks so much for any feedback!
Click to expand...


Start simple with an Amp and a Cabinet block.
 
The Wiki on setting levels was very helpful. I've been using a SPL meter and tweaking by ear. My first gig with the Axe was rough as I leveled my patches via headphones.
 
Welcome to the forum Farrestor

You made an excellent choice purchasing an axe fx .. you will be amazed again and again :)

Chris's videos helped me so much, and Cooper Carters as well .. and just by hanging around here on the forum I've learned so much
and I still consider myself a grasshopper :) Just take your time and explore using axe edit it's so very straight forward, and as far as I know you can't really screw up ..

have fun
 
Farrestor said:
Hey Guys,

Finally ordered my first Axe FX II and will be waiting for the mailman everyday. I was going to ask the collective forum if you have any tips that you have discovered that you wish you knew when you first bought this. What rig setup? What Cab Packs? What quick options that you never knew? what you would have done differently? I hope you guys don't mind me asking such a noob question, I just thought with the collective forum and experienced users in this forum you guys may could give me tips that you wish you knew in the beginning that might help out a beginner on this wonderful processor. I've been reading the forum and trying to soak everything up but just thought there may be some real general accepted practices that everyone generally agrees with that I might not know being a noob.

If you guys see to many posts like this and this is annoying just delete this thread, but thought I might just check to draw on all of the experience in here.

Thanks so much for any feedback!
Click to expand...


Congratulations and you are going to love this thing!

I've had mine a couple months, but I can share a couple.

1. Save your AXE-Edit install files along with the Firmware Update files. Axe Edit and Firmware versions update together it seems.. at least major version changes. For example. My Axe Edit prompted me to update when FW 19 came out. So without thinking, I did. Then it didn't work because I was still on FW 18. So I updated to FW19. Then it worked, but my tones changed a lot and I wasn't ready to re do my patches. So then I had to find a copy of FW 18 in the forum so I could revert... then after I loaded it Axe Edit didnt work (because it was the new version), and I didnt have an installer for Axe Edit 2.9...

you can probably see my point. Just get in the habit of saving those install files.. don't ditch them

2. I agree with last post. There is no need to let the interface intimidate you. Just start with amp-cab or maybe drive-amp-cab and just stick to the basic amp controls at first. The deeper controls like "dynamics" are kind of icing on the cake.. when your ready to ultra tweak, those are the "i cant believe i can control that little element of the tone" controls. You will get great tones before you even touch that screen.

3. All of those guitar teachers advice of "stop playing when you start to feel pain" now comes into play. You will be playing your guitar soo much that heeding this advice becomes important... and don't forget to eat and stuff...
 
Couple things for me, start simple which was mentioned above. Don't go to far down the rabbit hole. It is so easy to start messing with all the advanced. Stuff I don't recomend that until you have had the axe for a bit. Also always build your patches at gig volume to make sure they translate well at volume. There are all kinds of little things people do to their patches so last little bit of advice is read all the threads that pop up every day you learn so much from the questions people ask and the answers they get.
 
Welcome!

KISS - Keep It Simple. It's sooo easy to get overwhelmed tweaking advance parameters and auditioning IRs. As said before, pick an amp and a cab, and dial it in. Experiment with different amp, cab and drive block combinations. You'd be surprised how a drive block in front of an amp can change the entire character of the amp.

Don't worry about the cab packs right away, there are plenty of stock IRs that will do just fine. It took me about 6 months of trying different configurations (Power amp/traditional cabs, 4CM, Direct into an amp, etc.) before I finally settled on FRFR with CLRs. Trust me, I tried them all and FRFR was the only way I could get the best all around tone for all the genres I play. (Acoustic, Jazz, Rock, Funk, Dance, etc.)

Good luck! :encouragement:
 
IR Captures are going to be 80% of the equation.

If you can find an IR Speaker Capture you like, almost any amp/effect/setting will have good tones.

Instead of cycling through all the amps and settings to get good tone. Find a simple amp you may be familiar with and try ALL the IR Captures you can find to try.
 
Thanks so much for the warm welcome and all the great feedback. Lots of great tips already that I would have never thought about. I have a large collection of tube amps and have never been happy with processors but always wanted the easier solution of being able to dial in different tones and being able to just plug into the P.A. without all of the pedals and different amp combinations. I tried an 11 rack and wasn't too happy with it. I had a good friend who is using the axe fx II and he finally sold me on trying one out. Can't wait to receive it and just jam out! Sounds like almost everybody I talk to is happy with the product and that the possibilities are endless with tones. Again I just thanks for all the help! Not used to being a noob on tone but I definatley am when it comes to this new axe fx.
 
Go thru some presets - especially A bank. You will not be sorry and it will give you a good idea of routing, how things are achieved, etc. I'm sorry but jumping right to a cab and an amp to me is bypassing the basics. Well let me rephrase, I think you miss out on a quick learn if you don't look and try some presets. In Axe edit you can click on presets and search for a particular amp - and it will list the presets with that amp - like wrecker express, PLexi, Shiver, etc.
On the wiki you can see the axe name for the amps

Check out some A Bank presets and use axe edit and look at the grid, and how things are set.

IMHO this is the way to start....................
 
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Welcome far Ester!
Mate - you are going to love this thing! Over time, you'll probably amass a bunch of presets & cab packs etcetera... Make a fee directories to store them, that become part of your normal backup routines. It's incredible how over the years, you end up with lots of files that become your go to patches and cabs, with a source you can't quite recall :) anyway, cannot wait to hear your first impressions.

Pauly


Farrestor said:
Thanks so much for the warm welcome and all the great feedback. Lots of great tips already that I would have never thought about. I have a large collection of tube amps and have never been happy with processors but always wanted the easier solution of being able to dial in different tones and being able to just plug into the P.A. without all of the pedals and different amp combinations. I tried an 11 rack and wasn't too happy with it. I had a good friend who is using the axe fx II and he finally sold me on trying one out. Can't wait to receive it and just jam out! Sounds like almost everybody I talk to is happy with the product and that the possibilities are endless with tones. Again I just thanks for all the help! Not used to being a noob on tone but I definatley am when it comes to this new axe fx.
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Be sure to warm up properly.

The factory preset tones generate inspiration, which in turn may cause a hand injury due to the long hours of playing.
 
Good advice here.

Start with presets. Find one you like and start learning the process of tweaking it. After you get the hang of the interface, then start with a clean preset and simple AMP/CAB setup and get that right first. Again GET THAT RIGHT FIRST. Everything else is gravy after that.

It's easy to get overwhelmed, but the simplest configurations tend to work best to begin.

FWIW, there are NO 'I should tweak this first' tips that exist (although many have tried). Everything is about what works for you...and you'll find that along your journey.

Enjoy. And welcome.
 
I have to second.. or third.. or whatever..

the advice of trying the presets.. they are ultimately satisfying out of the gate. You might very easily get several core tones you want right from there. You certainly don't have to tweak anything to start enjoying it out of the box.
 
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