Do you all pretty much leave stock settings on amp for live?

Tremonti

Fractal Fanatic
Besides gain and level. Do you feel the best sounds for live use through FOH are leaving most things stock besides main page tweaks and not going deep into crazy parameters?

Sometimes going deep can backfire and ruin a tone or what gives a particular amp character.
 
Besides gain and level. Do you feel the best sounds for live use through FOH are leaving most things stock besides main page tweaks and not going deep into crazy parameters?

Sometimes going deep can backfire and ruin a tone or what gives a particular amp character.
Do whatever makes it sound good to you. Period.

Most advanced parameters I never touch, but it all depends on how it sounds (and feels)... I might play with Sag or a few other things.
 
I rarely touch the advanced settings. The amps do sound very good without any tweaking, but not always what I need. So I adjust the usual parameters, but that's about it. I don't usually mess with bias and all the deep-dive settings. There's over 100 parameters you can adjust on the amp block alone. I use MAYBE six of them :)
 
Besides gain and level. Do you feel the best sounds for live use through FOH are leaving most things stock besides main page tweaks and not going deep into crazy parameters?

Sometimes going deep can backfire and ruin a tone or what gives a particular amp character.
There are a few things I will change depending on the sound. For cleaner sounds I sometimes increase negative feedback and output compression in the amp blocks. Otherwise I do tend to play with the B/M/T/P in the amps main page.
 
I just play with the main settings on the amp and go with it. Sounds Great, less piddling.
 
I adjust the "traditional" knobs to taste they way I would on any amp/pedal. I get into the more advanced parameters when I feel like I've done all I can and really need to tweak things for that last 5%. YMMV :)
 
When using Austin Buddy's naked Amps, I find little need to tweak apart from a bit of the usual Bass Mid Treble. I dive a little deeper when starting with a stock preset if no other reason than to learn a bit about building tone.
 
Usually just BMT, but sometimes I mess with the Sag parameter and LF/ HF resonance, especially when I change tube types.

Wheb using marshalls, I usually play with the bright cap. It’s a very powerful control
 
I rarely go into the deep amp parameters. Sometimes I'll futz with compression in the amp block. Or some power tube changes just because I can. But 99% of my changes are constrained to the TMB, gain and MV parameters.


Lately? This ^^^.

I spend time in FX (and playing).
 
Other than basic B/M/T and presence the only thing I ever touch is turning on the "Cut" switch.
 
There are some really cool amp things you can do like tonestack swaps and locations, but like I said most amps sound great and the distortion from amps (esp. PA) is just awesome for me ... even on the axe2; but the 3 is mo’ betta. ;)

With FAS improvements in the amp block like pre-amp EQ, boost, speaker comp. etc it does make amp tones super versatile.
 
It's a too taste kinda thing. However that's a question that can only be answered by knowing how you are using the AFX. Is it being used in a bedroom with 5" mixing monitors or on stage with an actual guitar cabinet, or with FRFR speakers. Finding the thing that moves you, makes you happy can sometimes be just an EQ adjustment to the main amp page. Or it could be excessive tweaking almost every damn setting in the amp and cab blocks. Thats the beauty and nightmare of the AFX it's all at your fingertips.

If your close it's sometimes best to just walk away. Sleep on it, take a little time to think about whats missing and how and what to adjust to get to where you want to go.

I will use myself as an example. I think most of the amp and cab combinations stock in the AFX sound glorious when playing them by myself with no other audio but them. And for the most part playing to cover tunes or backing tracks with minor EQ adjustments. My main goal with the AFX is to sound great with the band I'm in. Enter the nightmare part, My other guitarist plays a Blackstar HT-100 MKII head and old peavey 4x12 while I use the AFX III Matrix 1000 and 2 passive Xitone wedges. The Blackstar set with EQ the way he likes it in my opinion sucks ass, huge bass tons of upper mids and highs. But that is what I have to work with. Knowing that the way he sets up that amp is supposed to sound like a boogie I have set the AFX to a Recto2 Red Modern and the closest cabinet I have found factory2 5153 121F to sound like the Blackstar and his cab. I have tweaked ever perimeter in every section of the amp block as well as the cab block to get something that even resembles the Blackstar.

Anyway the point I'm trying to make is there isn't a formula that works for everyone in every situation. Naturally you want to fit the mix of media your playing with. Sometimes that can be easy other times a real PITA.
 
It's a too taste kinda thing. However that's a question that can only be answered by knowing how you are using the AFX. Is it being used in a bedroom with 5" mixing monitors or on stage with an actual guitar cabinet, or with FRFR speakers. Finding the thing that moves you, makes you happy can sometimes be just an EQ adjustment to the main amp page. Or it could be excessive tweaking almost every damn setting in the amp and cab blocks. Thats the beauty and nightmare of the AFX it's all at your fingertips.

If your close it's sometimes best to just walk away. Sleep on it, take a little time to think about whats missing and how and what to adjust to get to where you want to go.

I will use myself as an example. I think most of the amp and cab combinations stock in the AFX sound glorious when playing them by myself with no other audio but them. And for the most part playing to cover tunes or backing tracks with minor EQ adjustments. My main goal with the AFX is to sound great with the band I'm in. Enter the nightmare part, My other guitarist plays a Blackstar HT-100 MKII head and old peavey 4x12 while I use the AFX III Matrix 1000 and 2 passive Xitone wedges. The Blackstar set with EQ the way he likes it in my opinion sucks ass, huge bass tons of upper mids and highs. But that is what I have to work with. Knowing that the way he sets up that amp is supposed to sound like a boogie I have set the AFX to a Recto2 Red Modern and the closest cabinet I have found factory2 5153 121F to sound like the Blackstar and his cab. I have tweaked ever perimeter in every section of the amp block as well as the cab block to get something that even resembles the Blackstar.

Anyway the point I'm trying to make is there isn't a formula that works for everyone in every situation. Naturally you want to fit the mix of media your playing with. Sometimes that can be easy other times a real PITA.

Was not saying that every one's would be the same. Just curious, like a kitten.......
 
output compression on clean, break-up and mid-gain, sometimes bass cut switch. there's been other favorite pet parameters through the years but it's so easy to get a great sound with minimal effort now.
 
Don't play live but I do play with every advanced parameter just to see what they do. It's amazing how something won't make much of a difference on its own but combined with several settings can "make" the tone you were looking for.
 
I rarely go very deep at all amp wise for my own presets. A few tweaks here and there. The amps just sound so damn good they don't need a whole lot.

Cooper, do you mean this for recording AND live? What I was getting at with this whole thread was trying to see what I need to do. Basically we have all tweaked at gig volume and then taken to rehearsal and it does not cut or sound right. Sometimes I think I mess with things too much. I typically mess with B/M/T, Presence, Gain, Vol, Level, Sat, and Neg Feedback. I don't do any cuts(leave the high/low cuts for the Cab block. I don't think these are too crazy of things to adjust though.
 
There are so many amps that if one doesn’t sound in the ballpark of what I want, I change to a different model. Probably can tweak tons of stuff to make one sound close to another, but easier to just change to what I’m after.

That said, I of course tweak BMT, drive, master and such to taste, just like I would any amp.
 
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