Biggest Axe-Fx III surprise?

Doctor Wu said:
Not sure this is the sort of thing you're looking for, but it was on the AXE FX III, it did surprise me, make me laugh and it also drove home how incredibly flexible this thing is.

I was wandering through the presets and came across "354 W@rped Vinyl" a very clever and humorous patch. What surprised me, was that the pitch block was not engaged. So where did the pitch wobble come from? It had me scratching my head for a while and when I found the answer it really did make me laugh out loud. :D Whoever the creator was, hats off for thinking out of the box.

I won't spoil the fun, if you haven't seen/heard it yet, go and take a look. :)
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I'm pretty sure @Admin M@ is the responsible party ;)
 
My biggest surprise was to get an overwhelming "amp in the room" sound by turning up the volume, using my Marshall preset without effects.
 
The Air control in the cab block can add sizzle if you turn it up... From what I understand it lets some of the signal bypass the amp block and for me it is a very powerful perameter
 
Doctor Wu said:
Thanks UG. That must have been very interesting indeed.
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Most definitely. Watching him and Devin Townsend craft effects and tones to go along with a crazy narrative that Devin was spinning on the spot was quite fascinating and entertaining!

Matt is really good at explaining things in a way that makes them more digestible.

And he's a nice guy, which is always a good thing :)
 
guizmobro said:
To be honest, I’m not at all into effects. Give me a good reverb, a little delay a nice compressor and I’m happy. What amazed me most was the quality of the amp models. I still cannot get over it... had the axe iii since a bit more than a week and I can’t stop playing. And I really mean playing and not tweaking. With the Kemper, I tweaked but didn’t play. It’s a bit weird as lors of people are raving about the fact that the Kemper sounds so great (with the right profiles) with little to no tweaking. That was definitely not my experience. The axe is often considered as a tweaker machine (by people in my musical environment), but for me it’s just super easy to get great sound. A very big difference to the Kemper is that the interaction is better. It really feels like you’re interacting with an amp. Great stuff. Don’t want to bash the Kemper, because I got great sounds out of it. But I spend a lot of time testing out different profiles and always tweaked a bit.

I got a few helpful tips from long time users and pros and maybe they’ll be helpful to you as well:

  • in the amp block under the speaker tab, make sure your impedance curve matches the speaker ir you are using in the cab. I definitely noticed that this is important in terms of feel. But you can always try out different things
  • in the cab block under the preamp tab, increase high cut to 20k. It will give you the most realistic response (you can always cut afterwards)
  • in the amp block under the dynamics tab, try the gain enhancer output compression around 1-2. Works really great for overall playing feel and with volume knob.

For the soon to be owners, prepare to be amazed ;)
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Thanks for the tips! Gonna try the again enhancer right away.

Lots of people seem to get great tones out of the Kemper, but it seems like no contest to me. The AF3 is a dream come true for me. Between the demoing capabilities, tweaking, experimenting with signal chains, and live and studio applications, it's literally everything I need. All my old gear is for sale.
ModelGuitarist said:
Check out Leon's vid for a super squishy Compressor block cascade a la stacked 1176 studio compressors. Awesome trick. (Details around 2:35)

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I always felt like I might've missed out by not getting my hands on a Cali76; those squishy 1176 clean tones are where it's at for me. I'll never feel that way again. The compressors in the Axe are wonderful.
Harm said:
hi, the 2 unexpected easter eggs were for me the pitch follower:choose this as a modifier and the pitch of your playingchanges for example your amount of drive or delay.
second is my recent discovery of the dual detune effect (thank you Leon). Instant van halen sound but it works great in a lot of presets. Very chorus-y. Didn’t know that.
Harm
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I love the pitch follower! Leon is a godsend. I binged his videos before and during my waitlist period. Top notch teacher! He explains everything in a really educational, but approachable way. As a former guitar teacher, I could immediately tell that he has the gift of being able to explain concepts to anyone who will listen. Bless him, Ne Obliviscaris, and everyone else down there!
Doctor Wu said:
Not sure this is the sort of thing you're looking for, but it was on the AXE FX III, it did surprise me, make me laugh and it also drove home how incredibly flexible this thing is.

I was wandering through the presets and came across "354 W@rped Vinyl" a very clever and humorous patch. What surprised me, was that the pitch block was not engaged. So where did the pitch wobble come from? It had me scratching my head for a while and when I found the answer it really did make me laugh out loud. :D Whoever the creator was, hats off for thinking out of the box.

I won't spoil the fun, if you haven't seen/heard it yet, go and take a look. :)
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Wow! I played with that patch my first day with the Axe but never checked the layout. Brilliant!
LiamH said:
It was a couple of years ago for me when I moved from Axe FX II to Axe FX III that I got the biggest surprise. It might not be a feature that anyone would be thinking about as such, but at the same time it's the most "core" feature of any in all amplification for musical instruments, particularly tube guitar amps.

I had thought that the last iteration of Axe FX II firmware "edge of breakup" tone and feel on cleaner amps, and Factory IR sounds were about as good as modellers were ever going to get. Definitely good enough that I wouldn't be buying many more real amps and cabs.

The Axe FX III was a massive surprise for the improved feel and sound of those models, and since then the simulations and interfaces (front panel GUI layout/Axe Edit) have improved incrementally so many times - one day I must set the Axe FX II back to where I started in 2016, or whenever it was, and compare it with modern day Axe FX III models. It has been quite a journey, and it really is hard to imagine the blood, sweat and tears the Fractal Audio team have ploughed into the last few years. Just in case any of them are reading this - a lot of us really appreciate your efforts, you have been amazing and I'm sure you will continue to be. The first surprise was the way your products changed the way I think about modelling amplifiers, but the last few years they have changed the way I think about everything guitar related.

Second biggest Axe FX III surprise? Well it involves another purchase, but FC controllers. Come ON! A new era when I got my FC-12.

Liam
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FC-12 is next on my list. I've been somewhat reserved in making presets for my live stuff, as I feel like I wont really "get it" until I see it laid out on the footswitch in front of me.

I'm not really a huge edge of breakup guy, but I have been goofing with some of the sounds when improvising. My name is up on the King of Tone list, but I dont know if I really have a use for it anymore. The Axe kind of covers everything.
ModelGuitarist said:
Don't forget the oft overlooked speaker impedance in the Amp block settings.
A great level of attention to detail that has a notable effect on the tone. It can swing an IR from passable to preferred with the flick of a switch.
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Interesting! Thanks for the tip, gonna have to try that.
srf399 said:
The Air control in the cab block can add sizzle if you turn it up... From what I understand it lets some of the signal bypass the amp block and for me it is a very powerful perameter
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Might be a good way to liven up some of the amps I didn't bond with at first. I usually like a pretty present sound. Thanks!
PincoTech said:
Wow, so many!

The absolute transparency of the plexverb, or even the London plate. The guitar cuts through, even at high percentages, just like a real room would be.
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The verbs are great! I'm loving the hall verbs for cheesy 80s chorus tones.
 
AJ Vargas said:
Finally getting the Archon has to count for something... 🙃
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A few years ago I saw a local metal band, and the lead guitarist was using a Dual Rec and the rhythm guitarist was using an Archon. After the show I told him how great he sounded; the Archon has such a cool, grindy midrange that works so well with sharper amps like 6505s and Dual Recs. He said he hated his tone that night and was gonna go back to his old amp. I couldn't believe it. You get so used to the usual suspects that anything else sounds off, I guess. I love the Archon, and I'm gonna put together a rhythm tone with it to pair with the Thordendal.

It also doesn't hurt that I'm a PRS fanboy, but it really is a great amp (and model). I'm holding out for an HM-2. Other than that, I think everything I like is covered.
 
Ghast said:
I just got my Mk II about a week ago, and I'm just beginning to scratch the surface of creating presets. Last night I was working through the synth block and was surprised at how many cool sounds you could get out of it. This is my first foray into Fractal gear, so I'm really amazed at the completeness of the unit.

Were there any features, blocks, or controls that surprised you most? Maybe some of you veterans can clue me into some hidden gems.
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Subscribe to @2112 Leon Todd's YouTube channel and you'll get so much useful content. I started taking notes in One Note, where I save links to forum posts or Leon's videos for reference later. It's a lot to absorb at once (you can't...nobody can). So approach it like a fun journey. And the fun never ends. Honestly, if you come up with an idea and want to know how to do it, you'll figure out how from these forums. It seems that 99% of the ideas presented are doable. Sky is the limit as they say.

But don't forget about playing. It's easy to get caught up in tone searches and tweaks.
 
Ghast said:
I just got my Mk II about a week ago, and I'm just beginning to scratch the surface of creating presets. Last night I was working through the synth block and was surprised at how many cool sounds you could get out of it. This is my first foray into Fractal gear, so I'm really amazed at the completeness of the unit.

Were there any features, blocks, or controls that surprised you most? Maybe some of you veterans can clue me into some hidden gems.
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TBH, the biggest surprise is the Fractal team's ability to top the most recent firmware's sound and features with each successive firmware release. Most of the universe goes out of its way to disprove the phrase "it can't get any worse than this". These guys consistently disprove the phrase "it can't get any better than this" with each successive update....
 
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