Doesnt sound like I thought

Well ,i too felt the same way when I got the 2,coming from an ultra.I thought every thing was too bassy or to bright .But after awhile I learned more tweaks of parameters ,very happy now.I use mostly with head phones or desk top monitors. Some people here love the the factory presets,I haven't to many that inspires me ,but don't know what the factory presets were made for ,power amp ,powered monitor? Its like some peoples presets ,They do a recording and it sounds great ,they give you the preset ,I try and it sounds like doggie dodo.I guess what works for you
 
I got a new one, latest firmware.
Well I connect it via USB and Axe Edit is supposed to auto detect it.

Im not an inexperienced player, but I am inexperienced when it comes to audio gear.
Well I will do some settings and recordings and see what I come up with
 
try one of the 5150 amps or the 5153Red
turn on boost, saturation and bright
set the drive around 4 or 5
input-trim at 1.0

you should have a ton of gain for riffing

for soloing I throw a volume block in front of the amp block with the level set around 5dB to 8 dB
this adds even more dirt...

in axe-edit
click on the 'input' on the far left side of the grid
set the threshold to between -70 and -80
with humbuckers this is generally just about enough gating

on the input of the axe [I/O: input page] I set my 'red tickling a little on the high side
so you may find settings above 50 work for you
I think there's supposed to be quite a bit of headroom on the inputs so they shouldn't actually clip
 
The education of guitar-tone by: Axe-FX II!

superman said:
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 ;)
Click to expand...

...Uhhmmm...NO you "don't gotta get Axe-Edit to work" in terms of creating & editing your tones/patches! (I hate the term "presets" because to me that always stood for the patches that came stock with the unit, which (althougfh useable for some folks) I have never been a big advocate of...

YES Axe-Edit is essential (IMO) for:

1.) File-Management - I.E: Patch/Preset/Cab .syx-file Importing/Exporting to/from the Axe-FX II and your computer via USB.
2.) Firmware-Updates - Via USB...Although there are other methods, this is CLEARLY the easiest, fastest, and most "pain-free" method for firmware-upgrades!

YES Axe-Edit is nice, but it's NOT 100% essential for:

1.) Creating your patches/presets with a much more visual graphical-representation of all pertinent editing-menus. As nice as the editer looks whilst creating your sounds/patches/presets, consider the scenario of needing to make a quick edit at a gig! In that scenario (unless you've got a laptop setup just for that purpose) you're gonna be stuck editing on the "little-green-screen" anyways, correct?!? (IMO) GET USE TO EDITING ON THE UNIT, before becoming too reliant on the Axe-Edit program for EVERYTHING! Ymmv...That all said, if you are a studio-user ONLY, (I.E: do NOT gig with the Axe-FX II - and thus always have a computer hooked-up) then you can probably be an "All-Axe-Edit, All-the-time" type of user!

2.) Taking a quick look at other forum-users' Patches/Presets to get ideas from...

NOTE: I'm NOT a big believer in just downloading and using other users' patches/presets...NOT form a "morality/ownership" point-of-view (after all, the uploaders put them out there for all to see and use if wanted!) I just don't think that's the way to learn how to use the unit and ultimately get the most out of the Axe-FX II. That said, if you're the type of player who "just wants to play" and has NO INTEREST in really knowing how to craft sounds from scratch, then go ahead and use stock-presets and user/forum-uploaded presets all you want! Ultimately, there's plenty of merit in wanting to spend more time woodshedding/practicing and playing/creating music (as opposed to the time-consuming process of "rolling-your-own" - LOL!) I just know that I personally am the type who needs to know as much as I can about my tools and exactly how to use them, and to that point, I am still learning and still have a LOT left to learn (after almost 1-year of use/possession!)

Suggestions (in chronological-order):

1.) RTFM (there...I said it - LOL!)
2.) RTFM ...again!
3.) STUDY Scott Peterson's EXCELLENT "how-to" video: "Taming The Monster: Creating a Basic AMP & CAB Patch/Preset in the Axe-FX II.)

4.) Since you seem to be complaining about a lack of sustain, I'll assume that you're more of a "metal" (..or any sonically related sub-genre I.E: Prog-Rock, Prog-Metal, Math-Metal, Djent, Retro-Shred, Black-Metal, etc!) Scott peterson's video shows the creation of a relatively high-gain rock-sound. If you need more gain than that sound, then read these forums closely (search is your friend - LOL!) and get to know which amp-models (and the underestimated CAB-blocks!) are best suited for your sound/style. For example, if you are a John Petrucci/Dream Theater kind of guy, then load-up the appropriate Mesa Boogie Mark IV type model, a Recto 4x12 with V30-speakers, and have at it! If you're into Adam Jones/Tool - try the Das Mettal AMP-block (and push some upper-mids in the amp-block or a separate EQ-block) and a similar (to Petrucci) Mesa Boogie/V30 CAB-Block...If that tone's NOT quite doing it for you, maybe try the German 4x12 CAB-IR/BLOCK, as that may have a slighly different response to the amp that you're looking for...The point is EXPERIMENT! This unit will FORCE you to learn more about amps, cabs, effects, and anything else affecting a guitar's tone. trust me, I know I have learned a LOT, and/but I have a LOT left to learn!

The Bottom-Line: YES, the Axe-FX II is a very deep/complex piece of gear. I've been a bit of a "gear-head" for 25+ years now, and the Axe-FX II is the most complex, most powerful, and ultimately the most rewarding (...albeit frustrating at times!) gear acquisition I've ever made!

Try to be patient.

Best of luck with your tonal-pursuits.

Bill
 
superman said:
I got a new one, latest firmware.
Well I connect it via USB and Axe Edit is supposed to auto detect it.

Im not an inexperienced player, but I am inexperienced when it comes to audio gear.
Well I will do some settings and recordings and see what I come up with
Click to expand...
After you download drivers,first time you open axe edit ,you have to go to left top of axe edit ,settings,midi settings and select axeII
 
EdgE said:
I thought every thing was too bassy or to bright .But after awhile I learned more tweaks of parameters ,very happy now.
Click to expand...

Yea honestly, when Scott says, "I don't need to go into advance parameters. Just the first window with bass/mid/treble to get a good tone". I don't understand how he does that. Maybe magic guitars and fingers. I still gotta go into advance params to get the sound I want. Haha
 
For what its worth, when I first got my Axe II, I was a little underwhelmed too. I thought "It is pretty good, but for the money I spent..."

It wasn't until I started tweaking that I "got it". Then it was like a light going on and I had a whole lot of those "Lets try this amp... holy crap, where did the last hour go?" moments. I recently plugged back into my old trusty Pod XT which I thought sounded quite all right, and now I can't believe how crap that thing sounds!

Something that bears repeating is that with the AXE your guitar makes a whole lot of difference. With my old Digitech 2101, it didn't matter what you plugged in, you would get approximately the same sound out. With the AXE, different guitars SOUND DIFFERENT (which I suspect is why the presets are less than satisfying to some folks). Different strings even make a difference.

TL;DR ? Have patience, get tweaking, and if you still don't love it after 14 days (or whatever it is) send it back.

Good luck :)

/R
 
Well, in all presets the Drive was bypassed so that might be the problem I was facing.
Im not a Metal rythm guy as some thought, I play everything, but at the moment I was looking for a real nice lead solo tone.

Thanks for all the help :)
 
Whenever I have heard a POD, especially the XT and X3, they sounded very compressed to me. So what does that have to do with sustain? Well when you have a limited dynamic range (compressed) you hit a ceiling and the signal stays at that level until it drops below the "ceiling". That gives the illusion of more sustain. Compare the Axe to a real amp and see if the AFX doesn't sustain just as well. If you want compressed tone on the Axe, just throw a compressor in the signal change and adjust to your taste. That will give you more sustain, but you will sacrifice dynamic range in the process.
 
Don't give up -- when I first got my Axe 2 I monitored through some headphones which as it turned out were crap, and I was really disappointed. Then I got into some decent monitors, and spent some time learning the box, downloading some user presets, creating some of my own, and wow, it is an incredible piece of gear. I think that's why some people get so indignant when others suggest it can't get great tones. Man, can it ever. But I find 80% of the factory presets don't float my boat -- but once you get a tone dialed in that you like, man you're going to love it. I used to use a POD xt and Amplitube, but this thing really smokes them hands down.

Personally, I can't live without Axe Edit though -- I'm still clueless trying to edit stuff with the front panel of the unit.

Good luck!!
 
I don't have a lot to add - but I was recently in the same situation. I'm coming from pod hd500 (and an x3 before that, and a 2.0 before that 8) ) and I'm just getting started with the axe fx. For me, a lot of the presets did sound too bassy and almost muffled, but I'm gradually learning how to tweak them and I'm getting some great results.

I've found that even though I can get a few decent sounds from the the pods, they have this weird character on almost every amp model that I just can't dial out. It's like an artificial "bite" if that makes sense. I'm pretty much just a bedroom player these days, and I'd started to get used to it until I went back and played through some "real" amps again, and after that it just kept grating on me.

The axe fx doesn't have that, it sounds much more neutral. If you're used to a pod it might come across as flat-sounding at first, especially through headphones or monitors, but now I'd say that it's really that the pods are too harsh!
 
Have patience and experiment in any way possible. I felt the same way for the first two months of having my Axe-Fx II, until I began to really explore and research the device. It's going to be tedious and difficult at first but 100% worth it. One tip I can give you to develop a better tone is to experiment with reamping. Record a dry track and then you can loop it and fuck with the settings without having to keep stopping and playing, then simply store that tone once you find something you're more happy with.

Another starting point would be to try out the tone matching feature. try matching one of your favorite guitar tones and then tweaking those tones. It's really all trial and error with this device and learning from different examples.
 
Tsmith678 said:
Have patience and experiment in any way possible. I felt the same way for the first two months of having my Axe-Fx II, until I began to really explore and research the device. It's going to be tedious and difficult at first but 100% worth it. One tip I can give you to develop a better tone is to experiment with reamping. Record a dry track and then you can loop it and f*&% with the settings without having to keep stopping and playing, then simply store that tone once you find something you're more happy with.
Click to expand...

Well Put...+1
 
Tsmith678 said:
One tip I can give you to develop a better tone is to experiment with reamping. Record a dry track and then you can loop it and fuck with the settings without having to keep stopping and playing, then simply store that tone once you find something you're more happy with.
Click to expand...
... or put the Looper in the first place and use that instead of reamping ;-)

Tsmith678 said:
Another starting point would be to try out the tone matching feature. try matching one of your favorite guitar tones and then tweaking those tones. It's really all trial and error with this device and learning from different examples.
Click to expand...
I don`t know, if the tonematching block is a good STARTING POINT to figure out the unit .... i would recommend ... first learn, how and which parameters are important to know and THAN go into the deep with tonematching, etc ....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom