Clean volume

jhsg

Member
hi all

Possibly another noob question... Sorry!

I am running an AxeFx 2 through a Mesa power amp. I absolutely love the sound I'm getting! Running a tube power amp has really made all the difference.

The main problem I continue to have is balancing volume between my clean presets and my gain presets. I have read plenty of material on how to set up levels and gain to ensue it sounds the best and is just below clipping. However, if I try to get a clean tone to a volume to match the great sounding dirty presets it instantly starts clipping. If I pull it down just below clip it's too soft and cannot be heard that well.

I'm thinking the solution is going through and reducing the level of all my gain presets. Before I do that I wanted to put this post up to see if there's any other tricks to get a fuller / louder clean channel.

Thanks.
 
That's exactly what I did. I get the best clean preset and make that my global preset #1 or 000. Then I adjust my gain/dist presets to match the volume of my clean preset. I tend to use compressor and chorus on my clean sound whereas dist I don't use those.
 
First make your quietest patch (with optimal signal to noise ratio), then use that as the reference for setting levels on all other patches.
Also pay attention to how hard you hit the strings when setting levels. I haven't done it yet but I've decided to make separate scenes for finger-picking vs strumming to manage the levels and tone.

In the past I tried mucking with volume boosts, a volume pedal, the vol incr/decr to adjust scenes... then i figured out that I have a "clean" scene that I use both for harder strumming and for lighter finger stuff and I would screw up all my settings when trying to react and fit in a mix at a band rehearsal for the different parts.
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys..

Is there any negatives with having the levels set too low? Although I won't have to turn the gain presets down too much I don't want to screw around with the sounds I'm getting.
 
What's that?
The VU meter in your Axe-Fx.

Dial in all your tones to hit about 0 VU when strumming hard. Then make adjustments by ear to your preset levels as needed. They'll be small adjustments—just a few dB.

Now your presets are leveled, with plenty of headroom to keep away that nasty output clipping.
 
The VU meter in your Axe-Fx.

Dial in all your tones to hit about 0 VU when strumming hard. Then make adjustments by ear to your preset levels as needed. They'll be small adjustments—just a few dB.

Now your presets are leveled, with plenty of headroom to keep away that nasty output clipping.

Thanks Rex!! I'll give it a go.

One other question... Where's the best place to adjust preset levels? I assume the amp menu level on the far right is the way to go?
 
Thanks Rex!! I'll give it a go.

One other question... Where's the best place to adjust preset levels? I assume the amp menu level on the far right is the way to go?
Amp Level for sure, unless you're using scenes. Then use the level in the preset's output mixer. That value gets saved for ever scene.

With Scene controllers, you can use the amp Level, tying it to a scene controller.
 
Amp Level for sure, unless you're using scenes. Then use the level in the preset's output mixer. That value gets saved for ever scene.

With Scene controllers, you can use the amp Level, tying it to a scene controller.


Thanks Rex. Appreciate your responses.

I haven't even started looking at scene's yet... Baby steps for me :)
 
Back
Top Bottom