clear sounding big chords???

gelati

Member
ok so recently i got my axe fx 2 mk2
and ive been messing around with it quite a bit, but one thing that is frustrating me to no end is the rhythm stuff! lead is amazing, cleans are unreal, ambient stuff if absolutely unrivalled, but i just cant seem to nail a decent rhythm tone. now im using a MusicMan JP12, (crunch lab/liquifire PUPs) and no matter how much tweeking i do i can never hit a big lush chord and hear all the notes clearly like i did on my old tube amp! now this is not me saying 'hey axe fx isnt as good' its me saying im not good enough at tweeking it, so wondering if anyone else has had the same trouble? or any real good patches out there?? or worst case scenario, now this is a big deal for me cause i love my note definition in chords, should i return to tube amp???

thanks guys!!!

PEACE
 
what amps/cabs are you using? can you post a patch?

you will get 1000 replies to this with everyone telling you to tweak this or that advanced parameter, but my guess is you're simply using too much gain. it's easy to do on the axe fx...much easier than on real amps, because volume isn't a consideration. try knocking back the gain a little. mids are also very important, so if you're using a very scooped tone, or a scooped sounding cab, try adding some mids back into the amp, or even adding another cab in parallel to the first that has more midrange.
also, if you haven't tried it, have a quick go with the triptik moden, which is a fabulous amp with incredible note separation. judging from the gear you're using, i guess you're probably a mesa fan, but have a try anyway
 
yeah i dont use too much gain! and i dont scoop either, which makes me think i should be messing with one of these advance parameters more! and yeah haha im a mesa fan, not for the rectifier but the Mk2c+ and IV and so on hhaha ill give the triptik a go! suggest any cabs?
 
hmmm...well i would say it was your pickups, but you're using very good quality dimarzios, so it won't be that. can you post a patch?

as for cabs with the triptik - it's essentially a marshall clone, so the basketweave mix cabs would be a good starting point, but it will really depend on your personal taste...
 
tried the patch. having saturation "on" certainly doesn't help. i also think your amp choice isn't the best. euro red modern is really for crushing compressed gain, not for the sort of sound you're looking for. also having the drive volume set quite low makes the amp do weird things, imo. motor drive in the cab block will also muddy things up a bit. i just tried this...

turn the drive block off
change the amp type to fas brootalz and put pres on 3.5 and input drive on 3. leave everything else as is
put motor drive in the cab block at zero

same kind of gain level, but a bit nicer to my ears
 
FAS Modern w/ low gain is the ticket! I run a compressor before the amp block so that I can run the gain lower but still get the sustain I want.
 
IIRC Periphery I was T808 with high tone, high volume, low gain -> FAS Modern -> 4x12 German/Metal with SM57 / MD421 (depending upon who you ask). This was also on the Ultra so I'm sure some sauce will be necessary with the II.

I find that cab to be very bassy which may not be what you want for this style, unless you are cutting some lows after the fact. Sounds like a pretty large boost around 100-200Hz.
 
A great trick is to use two amps. One for gain plus a clean one, just audible, which provides the notes separation.

I've never used this setup on a distorted metal patch, but I do implement it on all of my overdrive patches. Very pleasing and opens many possibilities. This was actually precisely why I bought the axefx. Always wanted to do it with real amps, but it's just not practical for me. Anyways, I will try this on a metal patch, thank you for the suggestion. Any amp combination recommendations?
 
thanks for all the interest guys! still having trouble so i thought maybe is there someone out there that can actually help me create a few patches!!! i know i can get the tones i want! but i just need to learn how to!!! anyone know of someone that does that sort of thing?
 
I am a guitar collector and own over 50 guitars and have spent way more time trying them all with the axe fx 2 versus focusing on getting better.

I completely understand your chord issue because I have dealt with it repeatedly. What I have learned is it all depends on what guitar you use with what patch. I have patches that ring magical pure distorted chords with one guitar but sound like mud with others. However there are patches where the muddy guitars sound clear and vice versa.

I seriously have a handful a guitars that never get that incredible chord but those are either guitars meant for soloing or perhaps just not setup right.

All I can say is keep trying patches until you find the magic formula. I suggest you try out a few different guitars too with the axe to see what I mean. Its amazing how I think something is great until I try another guitar out and suddenly my standards are raised. If I stuck with just one guitar I could have been stuck with a mediocre tone my whole life without knowing any better.

Good luck my man!
 
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