Buying presets or going with original AX8 presets?

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So in the Atomic and Helix universes it's fairly common to critique the presets that come with the units as being either horrible or meh, causing the buyer to end up spending significant time seriously tweaking the presets or just buying presets from someone else (like Michael Britt, for example), and then either just using those or making small adjustments to them.
Is that pretty common with the AX8 too, Or do a lot of users more or less stick with the original presets, with a minor amount of tweaking?
 
So in the Atomic and Helix universes it's fairly common to critique the presets that come with the units as being either horrible or meh, causing the buyer to end up spending significant time seriously tweaking the presets or just buying presets from someone else (like Michael Britt, for example), and then either just using those or making small adjustments to them.
Is that pretty common with the AX8 too, Or do a lot of users more or less stick with the original presets, with a minor amount of tweaking?
personally, I thought a few of the presets were quite useable, and the preset palate in general did a good job of showing what the AX8 can do. It really took no time for me to be up and running, writing my own presets which for me I gig with every week.
 
The best presets I have are those retweaked with my own instrumenr connecred to the unit; whatever be the source (factory, axechange, bought). There's a lot of good things on axechange and on the forum. No particular need to invest in paid patches IMHO.
 
So in the Atomic and Helix universes it's fairly common to critique the presets that come with the units as being either horrible or meh, causing the buyer to end up spending significant time seriously tweaking the presets or just buying presets from someone else (like Michael Britt, for example), and then either just using those or making small adjustments to them.
Is that pretty common with the AX8 too, Or do a lot of users more or less stick with the original presets, with a minor amount of tweaking?
I'm a veteran user and no stranger to building my presets from scratch. The factory presets are good but they exist to showcase the unit more than as a base for jumping off and building more complicated presets around good, core sounds. Once you leave the standard amp-cab setup factory presets things get weird.

If you're not inclined to build from scratch the @austinbuddy preset pack is a fantastic value. You'll get every amp model in the unit dialed in with a cab block and selection of useful effects around it all. They're already leveled so preset to preset you're not reaching for the output knob on the unit. And they're logically arranged and ready to gig. I don't think you'll find you've wasted the $99 at all once you've had a chance ot dig into the pack.
 
I agree iwth unix guy for the most part. I also think the factory presets get a bad rap. I wouldn't buy anything until you get used to the Axz8. Axe Exchange and finding some factory presets to tweak is a good approach imho.
I would learn and play and experiment long before I bought a preset.....Ymmv of course.
 
So in the Atomic and Helix universes it's fairly common to critique the presets that come with the units as being either horrible or meh, causing the buyer to end up spending significant time seriously tweaking the presets or just buying presets from someone else (like Michael Britt, for example), and then either just using those or making small adjustments to them.
Is that pretty common with the AX8 too, Or do a lot of users more or less stick with the original presets, with a minor amount of tweaking?
i don't think any unit can have presets that immediately work for everyone in every situation. it's just impossible to know your speakers, guitar, pickups, etc. and most importantly, preferences.

any preset - factory, free, paid - are great starting points. you can get routing ideas, block ideas, setup ideas, general tone ideas.

but from there, you probably need to make your own at some point. it's quite possible that many presets can be slightly adjusted to work for you. but those same presets can't for other people. so it's a moving target and an average sort of thing.

start with factory. learn how it works. adjust things. make your own eventually. it's a natural progression.
 
Unless you plan on using the same set up as the preset creators, I would build your own. It sounds very basic, but there are so many ways to run the AX8 it is easy to get lost in trying to make something work, that was built for another set up.
I have purchased packages and never loaded a single one and was done. Presets created through a friedman will not be plug and play for a matrix/cab or FX loop/4x12, or even a different frfr. That is just the start. With hundreds of ways to set up footswitches, what someone else likes might not be what you like.

There are allot of great presets out there and they are all reasonably priced, but I found learning to create what I wanted was a better way for me to move forward. There is nothing sonically lacking in the factory presets IMO.

Good luck.
 
I started using the factory presets. That gave me a few useful clean, crunchy rhythm, and leads. I then started tweaking the presets so they were more to my liking. From there I started building my own presets. Now I use all of my own stuff. I now have great tone in a very portable box. Best of all is that I no longer need to lug a backbreaking amp.
 
I learned to make my own presets from scratch right from the start. Since then, I’ve incorporated methods that others have shared to help things sound good.

I personally don’t see a need to buy presets but I am content with a handful of favored presets to get me where I want to be. Also, I’m not usually trying to nail a specific sound for covers tunes, etc.

Beyond my “go to” presets, I’ve got a bunch of presets where I’m trying on different amps or where I AM trying nail a sound but just for the fun of playing with this wonderful device.
 
IMO.... There is nothing not to like about the factory presets. There is so much variety in there, you can take one that sounds like the direction you wanna go in and just mess with it, shape it, switch cabs, add effects. It's all good. Some of my best sounds are based on factory stuff.
 
I think the factory presets give a good idea of the capabilities of the device. Personally I am picky about the tonality of the tones so the factory ones can often strike me the wrong way. Cabinets are such a big factor in the sound so picking different cabs can get me closer to what I want to hear quicker.

I have Austin Buddy's Dream Rigs and Naked Amps packs and the Dream Rigs is a great pack if you want to learn a lot about making sounds. It's like the factory presets expanded much broader and much deeper. The Naked Amps is nice but not nearly as good.

But for me, the investment is better spent on a variety of quality impulses. That's very specific to what I want to hear though. And then building patches around those impulses.
 
Time is money. Being busy work, band, with a family I put a price on time. In my case I charge my overtime rate (because I can work overtime on weekends) and ask the questions, How many hours would this take me to do? How much does it cost to buy?

So being that I’m swamped busy, I’ve opted to buy @Moke presets. They are ready to go for live work and have very unique effects for specific songs for my cover band. I do this because I can easily work an extra two hours of overtime during the week to pay for what I could not do in two hours of my own time tweaking.

With that said, I always look over the patches purchased or downloaded and study how they set everything up, I save effects blocks for other patches, amp settings, controller setups, etc.

Also @2112 Leon has a YouTube channel with ridiculous amounts of excellent free content usually with patches.

And yes paid/downloaded, always get a final tweak from me and my actual guitar.
 
As someone new to amp modelers you should always learn about the tool you are going to be using! Helix, Atomic FAS even a tube amp can have its learning curve. Buying presets can be an easy path for some and it can give you an insight to how presets are built.

Personally I would try to build some presets before I went and spent more money looking for a quick fix.
 
A lot of stuff out on AxeChange is useless as it was created with way old firmware versions. Whatever you choose it will always require some tweaking to match your setup (guitar/amp/speakers). And it might be this little bit that makes the difference between meh and yeehaaw!
 
I've bought a few presets. While they are fun/okay to play, they aren't me. I am much better off making my own, or in some cases modifying factory presets to my own tastes. Unless I do this, I always feel like I'm playing someone else's amp.
 
I got the presets by AustinBuddy and so far they are great. I think is always good to start building your own presets because you will need to do that in the meantime depending on the gig (particularly if you play in a cover band), but it is good to have a reference be experienced people like Buddy about how to organize and create your presets in a professional way.
 
Personally , I’ve enjoyed starting from scratch and integrating hints and tips from online contributors. @2112 has some particularly presets and I’ve found his videos invaluable in showcasing the capabilities of the Ax8
 
Highly recommend the Austin Buddy presets. That being said my gigging presets I built from scratch but they all use the same amp and IR’s so I didn’t have to spend time tweaking multiple amps and cabs. That’s why I got the Austin Buddy presets to have accces to amps and cabs pre marched to them that are tweaked and ready to go.
 
Highly recommend the Austin Buddy presets. That being said my gigging presets I built from scratch but they all use the same amp and IR’s so I didn’t have to spend time tweaking multiple amps and cabs. That’s why I got the Austin Buddy presets to have accces to amps and cabs pre marched to them that are tweaked and ready to go.


Highly recommend the Austin Buddy presets. That being said my gigging presets I built from scratch but they all use the same amp and IR’s so I didn’t have to spend time tweaking multiple amps and cabs. That’s why I got the Austin Buddy presets to have accces to amps and cabs pre marched to them that are tweaked and ready to go.

I totally agree with purchasing AustinBuddy tone pack for $99. Will save you a ton of time. The good news is you can still tweak them if you'd prefer but not necessary on the vast majority. Great purchase and time saver. Have fun.
 
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