Tone Jones said:
I appreciate the time you took to write your post Matt. I will give your suggestions a try. The fact others have somehow been able to get tones I thought were good is what is keeping me optimistic. I have to admit though, while I have been playing guitar a long time, much of these tips/tricks don't seem like common knowledge unless I'm just ignorant (always a possibility).
A lot of what it takes to get a good guitar sound to record is not common knowledge. Before the internet, much of it was actually pretty much arcana. Those of us who can remember such dark times :shock: had to figure a lot of things out on our own and it probably took a lot of trial and error along the way. :lol: Now, a lot of information is much more widespread and available, thanks to a lot of intelligent and helpful people. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of misinformation written by well intentioned folks who just don't have it quite right and a minority of folks who just love to offer an opinion on everything (because, of course, they know it all). :lol: So, the trick now is less about finding the good info, but more about sorting it from the rubbish. My point is that you shouldn't feel bad for not knowing... We all are learning all the time and, in the case of the Axe Fx, that is why this forum is here. Be welcome... Your in the right place.
Another forum that I have found helpful is this:
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap-151/
I encourage you to do a lot of experimenting with how you track your guitars, because most, if not all, recorded modern guitar sounds that we tend to admire are created by multi-tracking (often dual and quad tracked), layering (of different guitar tones, chord voicings, etc), and a fair amount of post processing. A single guitar track as output from the Axe-Fx (even in stereo), as good as it may sound, will sound a bit small in comparison. I'm guessing that a lot of the tones you've heard here that you liked were probably recorded in this fashion. Many users share freely about their tracking techniques and also share their patches, which is a great way to figure out what works best for you. Also, keep in mind that a great drum track and bass guitar track will really make an already good guitar tone sound epic. I find that what works best for me is to gather some information then spend a lot of time playing mad scientist in the lab to figure out what works with my own ears. Many of the suggestions I offered you come from those very experiences.
One of the biggest improvements I found in my own recording efforts was when I learned about proper double and quad tracking. A great example of a simple concept that makes such a HUGE difference. You may experiment instead with stereo enhancement, short delays between left and right stereo images, and other psuedo-double tracking techniques, but I've found that I don't like the comb filtering that happens due to phase differences between the left and right.
Although some others may disagree, I find that approaching the Axe-Fx like a real world amp really helps me get what I want out of it. So, if you learn some cool production techniques that work with real world amps, experiment and see if they apply with the Axe-Fx.
In terms of getting a good sound for practice, rehearsal, and live performance... One that more closely resembles a "real world amp in a real world room" sound, this is a slightly different animal. I personally don't have much experience with this as I rely on my tube amps for these purposes, but there are many folks here in the forum who do use the Axe-Fx as their live rig. I'm sure they'll be able to steer you in the proper direction.
Best of luck!
-Matt
