Doesnt sound like I thought

S

superman

Member
Hi guys.
Im sitting here with a device, the axe FX II, and im not so impressed I thought i would be.

I used to have a POD X3. You could get decent tones, they were not that good for recording though.
But I got some really good high gain sustain solo tones who were great, such feel in the guitar.

I have not felt that way in the Axe FX, I got no sustain, no gain.
Some of you maybe will be angry about this, telling me to go read the manual or somth
and maybe I should, its a complicated device, but I thought I could get more out of it more quickly.

Its kind of hard to formulate myself here, but the tone is not really like I expected.
I thought I would directly get supercool solo tones that would blow my mind for the price I payed.

Dont misunderstand me, I am sure Its a great device, or I wouldnt have bought it

I got some guitars, ESP with active humbuckers, Ibanez with passive, a fender start, im not so happy with either one of them.
I use the bridge pickup and if u turn to neck you got so little sustain.

I dont know why. What might I have done wrong or what is it.
 
Maybe give us some more info.

What are you monitoring through?

Are you on the latest firmware?

Did you load the current preset banks?

Check to make sure cabs are not disabled in the global menu?
 
1. How are you monitoring/recording?
2. What % are is your input gain set to?
3. Have you auditioned the first 20ish factory presets?

EDIT: Webb beat me to it!
 
The price you paid is less than what we use to spend on a single rack device in the 1980s, factoring in inflation you received 10x the product for 25% of the cost.

Not all products suit all users. If you are within your 15 day return window, perhaps you should exercise that ability based on your threads to date. Due to the waiting list ending, now you will take a loss to resell if you wait. Some people can't wrap their mind around it and are happy with a POD, and that's OK.

It is not an easy product to use, I had many struggles, but I am now totally satisfied after a YEAR of working with it. If you are looking for instant gratification and feel it owes it to you because of the $2200, you will loss that battle and never be happy.
 
If I had $1 for these type of threads I'd be a happy camper =)

Two pieces of advice I give every newcomer to the ii.....

1. Patience
2. Download some user presets.

Most of us at first expect to hear hallelujah and God speak to us thru a cloud of sustain as a hologram of cliff appears with two axe fx looking like Moses with the ten commandments. It's not gonna happen. Learn the box.... Takes awhile but when u do the tones u will get IMO are tops. Take some of the presets here and make em yours. Learn from them, chew em up, make em sound horrible and fantastic. Add, take away... That's why they're there.

Enj.
 
I would suggest you start with a simple amp-cab setup and see how it sounds. Sometimes user presets or the elaborate stock presets may not sound the best depending on what setup you're running.
 
Im monitoring through headphones and 40 W studio monitors.
Input settings are at 49. 8 &, instr in, input 1 etc.

How do you check latset firmware?
Also I dont get a connection to the Axe Edit...
 
Which headphones and which monitors - it really makes a difference.

Re- Axe Edit - have you downloaded and run the USB drivers.
 
Hi guys, in the presets, most things are bypassed, so I went to layout, and unpassed some things, drive for example.
I guess I overreacted! The tone is nice with much feel. I would still like a little bit more gain and sustain though.

Gotta get Axe Edit to work ;)
 
Behringer monitors, ms40 (NOT THE BEST I KNOW)
Some bad headphones. USB drivers work good, I use the FX as my soundcard right now...
idk why Axe Edit doenst detect the USB connection
 
Guys, I use Output 1, left and right, and two monitors (l+r).
What settings should I do in the I/O menu?
All inputs are at 49.8 %
 
You say that the Axe-II tone is not what you were expecting, but the only frame of reference you provide is a POD X3. I think we would need to know more about what has formed your expectations to be any help. For all we know, you could be a relatively inexperienced player and the only other gear you've ever used besides your new Axe-Fx is the POD X3.

My thoughts:

Tone is subjective. My personal ideal of good tone really is mine alone. Not for everyone, it's uniquely mine and moreso this holy grail of tone is a moving target. Sometimes I think I've hit the mark. Then the target moves as my influences affect me. I evolve accordingly.

I carry this 'tone ideal' around in my head and continually chase it, but how did it get in there in the first place and why is it 'ideal' (to me personally, at this point in time). There are two ongoing influences that create the ideal;

1). Other player's tones.
2). My own current tones through my own current gear and rig settings.

The 2nd one is heavily enhanced by the amount of direct experience you have with various gear. But even if you have been playing 30 years and owned tons of different rigs, your first impression of your 'new' rig always has a lot to do with how it compares to your current rig.

My background was 15 years of various tube amps and analog pedals. With that background, I found every other modeller I tried to be quite plastic and toy-like by comparison, including the POD x3. The Axe-Fx (Ultra, then the II) was the first digital platform that worked well enough for me to use as my primary rig and it's because the amp models are scary close to the physical tube amps I was directly experienced with.
 
superman said:
Im monitoring through headphones and 40 W studio monitors.
Input settings are at 49. 8 &, instr in, input 1 etc.

How do you check latset firmware?
Also I dont get a connection to the Axe Edit...
Click to expand...

To check what firmware version you're on, press UTILITY then page over until you see the firmware page.

In Axe Edit, make sure you configure the settings by going to SETTINGS and selecting Midi In and Midi Out.
 
Also, you might want to upgrade your monitors. You're not gonna get much "oomph" outta those 4" woofers.
 
What amp models are you using where you're not getting enough gain? What players get the gain you're looking for (who do you listen to?).

Are you 'Tickling the red' on the input meter? What input are you using?

There should be plenty of gain with the right models, if the gain's not there it could be a configuration issue, bad cable, or maybe needs a factory reset.

Did you buy new or used (if used, the previous owner's settings could be the problem.
 
As far as sustain is concerned, check your noise gate. Turn it all the way down and see if there's more sustain, if so, your noise gate is kicking in too early.

As far as mind-blowing tone, it's pretty subjective. If I were to list an array of settings/presets to try, it's very likely they still wouldn't apply to you as we don't know what kind of tone you like. I'm assuming you like a lot of gain, so grab a high gain amp (leave it on defaults), then cycle through the cabs (mono-hires) until you get a good tone. Doesn't have to be perfect, but should be the closest to what you want to hear as you can get. Then turn up the master volume until you can really hear the thing buck, take the level down to compensate, then turn up the gain to desired saturation level. Use the basic controls + Presence to dial in the tone. This is how I dial in my patches.
 
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