Clever ideas abondoned

scarbodave

scarbodave

Experienced
This thread is about having abandoned an idea you initially had about how you would be using your Fractal...typically because experience has shown you a different/better way.

When I first got my AxeFXIII I was very keen on having a Scene in each Preset called "Pedal Gain" which used an expression pedal to smoothly transition from clean to dirty. I had modifiers on Bass, Mid, Treble, Gain, Amp Level, and in some cases Boost level. I thought this would be preferable to using mutliple Scenes (Clean, Grit, Dirt). with discrete Amp settings in multiple Channels. However, over time I found that selecting the right amount of overdrive was easier/better using 3 Scenes (corresponding to 3 Amp Channels at different gain settings) instead of using the Pedal Gain Scene. This also left my expression pedal free to control the Tremolo depth which I really like on my Cleaner Scenes. I have since removed the Pedal Gain Scene from most of my Presets as I really never used it.

I am curious what similar experiences others have had in abandoning initial ideas/methods over time.
 
sprint said:
- Lower IR lengths (512) are just fine for me on Ax3, I don't need to spend a load of CPU on "Max" IR length in cab blocks like I used to do thinking if I brought it down I was somehow doing my sound a huge disservice.
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IR length is something I have never paid any attention to...I just audition them and choose whatever sounds best to me at the time. I have also never purchased 3rd party IRs. I am just using the factory IRs or dynacabs.
 
Somewhere in my phone notes I have a list of sounds I wanted to try creating. I have kept my first presets when I got my unit, but I havent done a serious effects dive in a few years. I’ve bought some pedals to do things the axe doesnt have as yet though (see the granular/glitch delay wish).
 
ApocalypticKatana said:
#1 Clever abandoned idea: tweak lots of parameters to make me sound good to others

#2 Clever abandoned idea : higher reverb and delay mix to sound awesome and hide imperfections

#1 Better idea : play and practice guitar more

Best idea : if it sounds and feels good to you , it is good.
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I also find that my Presets are getting more simple over time. I used to blend multiple IRs in the Cab block but lately I am typically using just one and it tends to be a SM57 based IR/dynacab.
Definitely the best way to improve the sound is to practice playing guitar as much as possible!
 
I thought it was a good idea to have my axe III making the mix for my in-ears by mixing my FOH output signal right in the grid with the external signal coming from the console delivering the rest of the band without my guitar. It basically worked the way it should and I got a great sound on my in ears. However the total signal drop outs when changing presets drove me crazy and made it unusable for me. So back to a separate mini mixer for that task.
 
Henry said:
I played in a classic rock cover band when I first got my II . I had a preset per song :eek:

I had an originals metal band afterwards with the III and I think I had about 5 presets.

Now in my Pearl Jam tribute I just have one live preset on my FM9.
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I can't imagine having a Preset for each song but I know there are many who prefer that. I am curious...what was it that moved you away from a Preset per song? Maintenance of all the Presets during firmware upgrades? Switching Presets every song when playing live? Other?
 
666was999 said:
I thought it was a good idea to have my axe III making the mix for my in-ears by mixing my FOH output signal right in the grid with the external signal coming from the console delivering the rest of the band without my guitar. It basically worked the way it should and I got a great sound on my in ears. However the total signal drop outs when changing presets drove me crazy and made it unusable for me. So back to a separate mini mixer for that task.
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Interesting...did gapless switching exist when you were doing this? Were you switching Presets mid-song?
 
I thought it was a good idea to have my axe III making the mix for my in-ears by mixing my FOH output signal right in the grid with the external signal coming from the console delivering the rest of the band without my guitar. It basically worked the way it should and I got a great sound on my in ears. However the total signal drop outs when changing presets drove me crazy and made it unusable for me. So back to a separate mini mixer for that task.
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I know exactly what you are talking about here. I wired in a small external mixer and the problem was solved. All of the good parts with none of the problems I ran into trying to mix it internally in the grid.
 
scarbodave said:
Interesting...did gapless switching exist when you were doing this? Were you switching Presets mid-song?
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No. It was some before gapless switching. However gapless switching don't brings back signals that happen in the meantime between 2 presets. Think of your drummer giving four to start the next song but you get the last three only. What could go wrong. 🤷‍♂️😁
 
The first idea I abandoned (clever or not) was trying to have a variety of settings and changes pre-programmed via my DAW (Cubase Pro) for each song. The first problem I ran into was, sometimes I would want to extend a section of the song and with each bit locked in to a certain number of measures, I was locked in to the same exact play every time. Another issue was, I was having my DAW adjust the BPM on the Axe, and sometimes I would want to play the song a bit slower or faster. This was not a huge problem as it was only affecting things like reverb rhythm and other blocks that had a BPM, but it helped to negate the "cleverness" of what I was trying to do. It was fantastic in the sense of not having to hit really any foot switches to change my scene for the next section of the song, but the above and other issues had me abandon that method. I understand that there are probably workarounds that could have been fashioned for what I was trying to do, but I thought it was "best left unsolved" ;~))

The other thing that I abandoned (once again, clever would be questionable) was trying to squeeze ever last ounce of perfection out of the Axe. I found myself spending way more time tweaking that could be spent playing, so I decided to find my ballpark and give it an "atta boy" and play. I would rather play and compose than tweak. That is not to say that I have not spent hundreds of hours tweaking, but the rabbit hole that the Axe creates is vast and I had to discipline myself to not follow the carrot down every parameter hallway ;~)) Any preset I create these days is a LOT simpler than the stuff I was putting together when I first received the unit in Jan '22!
 
AXEMike said:
I know exactly what you are talking about here. I wired in a small external mixer and the problem was solved. All of the good parts with none of the problems I ran into trying to mix it internally in the grid.
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Yeah, but I would have preferred getting rid of some hardware parts. The smaller, the better! Too bad it didn't work.
 
scarbodave said:
I can't imagine having a Preset for each song but I know there are many who prefer that. I am curious...what was it that moved you away from a Preset per song? Maintenance of all the Presets during firmware upgrades? Switching Presets every song when playing live? Other?
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Maintenance, and leveling the presets.
 
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