BUY AN AMP FOR A WEEK IN THE AXE 3

Steve Williams

Steve Williams

Member
One of the things I love doing is "buying" an amp for a week in the AXE 3. I pick an amp just like in the old days and take it home to ONE cab. Remember when we set our amps on our beloved 4x12 or 2x12? That was our cab and couldn't be changed. I put a Friedman HBE on a York Audio GB IR. One tap delay (Vintage delay) and my trusty old phaser for a week. All in AXE 3. I then use only the traditional controls. But. if you BUY the JP2C you get the graphic, ha. I have had many rewarding hours using the guitar volume, pickups, and rate changes. I used a medium spring reverb ONLY. Try this if you are getting option fatigue. Or just to simplify. BTW, the sound is incredible. Best to all.
 
A good strategy. I have 2 IR’s I use for every amp. So many of the models sound similar. But you’re right, in the old days most people only had 2-3 speaker options.
 
Good idea.

I sometimes buy other gear in multiples - i.e. a few pedals or rack pieces - around the same time, but think to myself perhaps months later 'I really need to just sit down and spend some serious time with that one piece of equipment' and see what it can do.
 
2-3 years in owning the AX3 and I still haven’t made a good dent in properly trying out all the available IR’s and amp models (not that anyone has to)

And I’m sure I’m not the only one in this boat…

I will try to adopt this “try one amp model/channel for a week” thanks for the idea….though that’ll still take me 4-5 + years lol
 
I have this approach for many years. I 'bought' two amps and two cabs, 2 months ago. Tucana and Bludojai gives me everything I need for the 4 tones I use, from clean to mean. And about cabs, I switch between Recto Straight and 1960TV. While the first one seems to be a bit tighter/clearer, the second seems to sound a bit more pleasant to the ear. These are all I need for electric guitar, in addition to a single SM7 dynacab mic :)
 
Steve Williams said:
One of the things I love doing is "buying" an amp for a week in the AXE 3. I pick an amp just like in the old days and take it home to ONE cab. Remember when we set our amps on our beloved 4x12 or 2x12? That was our cab and couldn't be changed. I put a Friedman HBE on a York Audio GB IR. One tap delay (Vintage delay) and my trusty old phaser for a week. All in AXE 3. I then use only the traditional controls. But. if you BUY the JP2C you get the graphic, ha. I have had many rewarding hours using the guitar volume, pickups, and rate changes. I used a medium spring reverb ONLY. Try this if you are getting option fatigue. Or just to simplify. BTW, the sound is incredible. Best to all.
Click to expand...
I´m doing exactly this.

I own fractal for years, but I am still only at amp no. 140 or so :)
 
When I started playing guitar, the thing I enjoyed the most was taking a sound and creating a part that brought the voice to life. Switching through the presets in the GSP21 always felt like a pleasant surprise and both my friends and I enjoyed seeing what we could create on the spot. Focusing on making something with what you have is IMO where the rubber meets the road.
 
The “one cab to rule them all” is also a great way to meld a group of amp types into one cohesive sounding presentation when playing live. Try it if you are using a bunch of amps in your presets, but getting unacceptably wide EQ jumps between them… using the same cab(s) with all of your various amps still allows the amp character to come through, while grafting something familiar and connecting through your sounds. As the OP says, it’s the way we used to do it, and still makes a good reality come from this fantasy equipment we have in 2023!
 
I kind of think with Dynacabs, the process has become even easier and more streamlined.

I was noodling around the other day with the Solo Rhythm model, and then felt I needed to try another more high gain amp. But I had already dialled in my Dynacabs for a Soldano cabinet.

With the new Dynacabs, it’s so much easier to retain a mic position and just switch an amp out or even a cab out of you need to, as it retains that information even if you change one element.

IMHO, that opens up far more avenues to experiment with different cabs and amps with the same cabinet “micro settings”, if you’d like to call them that. Just so much more practical to work with than swapping out IR after IR which might have drastic changes in mix positioning.
 
I have a template preset that I’ve set up to audition amps on while keeping everything else the same.

This post inspired me to spend some more time on a single amp rather than jumping around and I really enjoy hearing others stories on their similar journeys of enjoying what FAS has to offer.

So OP @Steve Williams thank you and everyone else for sharing your varying experiences.
 
Coming from tube amps that’s my way to make my tones in the fractal world. its even easier now with dynacab :)

there is so many options that it’s important to focus on one thing and Just say “ok that's it, let make this work”

i Installed the dynacab new firmware yesterday on my fm3 and it took me 15 minutes to get that kind of base tone.


i mean come on, that’s just unbelievable for me.

those units are so great I will never have enough time in my life to test all the amps lol.
 
Hi all. I BOUGHT another Friedman. It's my York Audio in the cab setting but I recommend one of the topham GBs if you don't have YA.
C45 with foot switch gain boost. 2290. Vintage Delay. Old ass chorus to keep it real. Great block phaser I use at every gig. Flange because I really have one. And copy of my old 535q wah. And a cool octave divider. Should keep you busy for a week! Its attached. I played this amp a lot in LA and have always wanted one. It was the house amp at gig and they had one at GC Hollywood. ROCK ON!
 

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