Clever ideas abondoned

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.
Click to expand...
I thought having a preset-per-song would work for me too, but since no band could ever stick to a consistent set list, I'd be clicking all over the place. I used the set list feature for a bit too - great feature but didn't really work for me at the time although I do want to revisit it. I essentially use 3 now that will get me through a whole night, with the exception of a couple that have the VC in them due to the key we're playing them in.
 
JoKeR III said:
Not a clever idea, but I bought the Axe III knowing I would be using two amps in every preset. I can't recall the last time I used a dual amp preset.
Click to expand...
This was also a expectation I had. I have just one dual-amp Preset with the Super Reverb and the ability to add in a Marshall 2203 to give it just a little edge. All my other Presets are single Amp.
 
skolacki said:
I tried a volume pedal scheme that would go from 0-100% volume in about 2/3 travel. Then a short dead zone and if I floored it a 3 db boost would kick in for solos. I made it work but in practice it sucked. So now I have boost on a switch.
Click to expand...
I've settled on having a volume pedal, but also having a separate variable (up to 4 dB) boost pedal next to it. I use the volume pedal for swells and as a mute between songs (especially when switching guitars, which I do often during a gig) and the boost pedal is more of a blower switch for solos or quick little fills.

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?
Click to expand...
Since I play in a cover band doing a pretty wide variety of material and I'm using 4 or 5 different styles of guitars, the preset-per-song route is what works best for me. We stick to a planned setlist for each gig and I use the Songs/Setlist feature in my Axe-Fx to call them up in the right order, so switching presets between songs involves a single press of an external footswitch to go to the next song. It's a pain getting everything leveled after firmware updates that affect the amp models, but I've gotten pretty fast at the process over the years.
 
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?
Click to expand...
I still use a preset per song in most cases (for my cover band). There are a few exceptions where certain more basic presets will do multiple songs. For the most part, a preset will be specfic to a song in that I will be able to scroll through the scenes relating to sections of that song. Also I use the setlists function to cycle through the setlist easily. This way there is very little tapdancing going on between songs.
Firmware updates rarely cause too much reprogramming, but ther have been the 'major' updates that required me to go through all 100+ of them all and spend some time tweaking.
 
WbbS said:
I had an FM3, I tough it was a clever idea to upgrade to Axe Fx III Mk2 Turbo.

It’s 2 years I’m still on the same preset I made for the FM3. It just sounds awesome.
Click to expand...
I was looking to get a FM9 originally, but I got tired of being on the waitlist and decided to get an AxeFXIII instead. I'm pretty sure an FM3 would manage all of my Presets, but I didn't know that then and really thought that features like dual-amps would be something I would use alot. I'm not at all sorry that I have the AxeFXIII, but it is overkill for me.
 
#1: Buying the real tube amp that I really liked in the Fractal. I thought I would use it all the time but I just used the Fractal model 99% of the time.

#2: Buying the real modulation and delay pedals that I really liked in the Fractal. Same as above.

#3: still working on the next clever idea.
 
Rogerthat said:
#1: Buying the real tube amp that I really liked in the Fractal. I thought I would use it all the time but I just used the Fractal model 99% of the time.

#2: Buying the real modulation and delay pedals that I really liked in the Fractal. Same as above.

#3: still working on the next clever idea.
Click to expand...
I very nearly want down road #1 with you. I had a JCM800 and wanted to sell it and get something different... I was thinking maybe Princeton, maybe REVV D20, maybe California Tweed. When I bought my Fractal I had the idea that I would use it to figure out which amp and speaker combos I liked best and then replace my Marshall. A short time after getting the AxeFXIII I sold the JCM800 and luckily lost the desire to replace it.
 
JoKeR III said:
Not a clever idea, but I bought the Axe III knowing I would be using two amps in every preset. I can't recall the last time I used a dual amp preset.
Click to expand...
Oh man, I feel this one. I was certain I'd find the perfect new amp sound by blending two amps. Tons of testing later, it just was a mess of phase cancellation and mud and I've just ended up back on the (nicely improved) single amp I was already loving on my POD HD.
 
I at one point had a plan to use my III for 2 guitars, bass, e-drums and vocals all at the same time. Still probably possible but my reliance on Superior Drummer for e-drums and the hard-wired use of Output 1 for PC audio limits my routing options. Plus I never found any kind of small rack mounted mic pres I was impressed with. I would have routed the pres through PEQ and compressor blocks and then had all the different instrument volume levels mapped to the Performance tab for easy adjustment later, then all being mixed into Output 2 XLR's for FOH. Or something like that.

Scrapped the idea and got a Midas MR12 to handle mixing, IEM routing, ect. Pros and cons to that kind of setup but it works well for the time being but I still wanna move more of this stuff into the Axe for more granular control over little things here and there.
 
Moondog Wily said:
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!
Click to expand...

This is what I struggled with the most. I’ve been a Fractal fanboi since the beginning, so in the early days the tweaking was trying to fill in the missing pieces that the algorithms weren’t quite there yet with. Now, the algorithms are pretty dang good, but the years of tweaking became a hard habit to break. It’s difficult to know when to call it quits on a good tone.

I still love my AxeFx III. It’s one of the most interesting and useful pieces of gear created in electric guitar history. It single handily changed the trajectory of digital guitar tone and the guitar world hasn’t been the same since.

With that said, I have also come to appreciate profiles/captures as well. I find value in loading up a profile from a trusted creator/vendor that just flat out sounds good and playing guitar without any tweaking.
 
Voes MIDI pedal to increase the buttons on my FC12 = clever idea abandoned
Using a Origins compressor instead of the built in Fractal ones = clever idea abandoned
Using an external TC 2290 pedal for stereo delays instead of the Fractal one = clever idea abandoned
Using an external Spark Booster for EQ = clever idea abandoned
Using 2 x Laney FR112s = clever idea abandoned
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom