DONT pick amps with your eyes!

mattseed

mattseed

Inspired
I'm new to the world of Fractal Axe FXII and loving it.

One bit of advice that I'd like to share with anyone else who is either new or about to buy is something I learnt very quickly.

DONT pick presets with your eyes, use your ears instead!

The point being, when I got mine working for the first time I went straight to the amp I knew best, my Mesa dual rec that I had before this. Of course when you do this, even sub consciously you are comparing and so tweak n tweak for the wrong reasons!

My personal opinion is that this unit is not about comparing but it's about amazing guitar tones of which there are plenty. The result for is my favourite amp is now the Soldano 100, an amp I've never even played in my life for real.

This is just my findings, not right or wrong......just thought I'd share.

No where's that blindfold !

Matt
 
This is an issue with me for guitars. Fortunately, I haven't gotten myself in too much trouble, but there are some guitars that just look so cool! But then there are guitars that just feel right-

But back to the axe, yea, totally agree. Some amps I wouldn't have given a second thought to are my favs in the Axe- the Liverpool, the Budda, etc.
 
The only thing that makes this a bit more difficult is that, often, amp models that sound not that amazing on their default settings end up getting really amazing with some tweaking.
 
Thanks for the good advice mattseed.:) I come from many years of previous amp modeler experience such as Line6 POD, POD XT, POD HD 500, and Steinberg's WARP.

The familiar Fender, Marshall, and Mesa amps simulations will be the first amps I'll probably compare with the Ax Fx ll or XL. I will be looking to see how much of an upgrade/improvement I'm getting compared to the Line6 stuff that I've experienced playing and recording over the years.

Even though I currently own several vintage Fender tube amps and a little modified Orange Tiny Terror amp, I'm very curious to see (hear) how much improvement there is in the amp modeling, as I will be investing in yet another amp modeler.

The big advantages I see with the Fractal units are the higher resolutions of the amp models themselves, and the Impulse Response capabilities for the modeled speaker cabinets.:)
 
mattseed said:
I'm new to the world of Fractal Axe FXII and loving it.

One bit of advice that I'd like to share with anyone else who is either new or about to buy is something I learnt very quickly.

DONT pick presets with your eyes, use your ears instead!

The point being, when I got mine working for the first time I went straight to the amp I knew best, my Mesa dual rec that I had before this. Of course when you do this, even sub consciously you are comparing and so tweak n tweak for the wrong reasons!

My personal opinion is that this unit is not about comparing but it's about amazing guitar tones of which there are plenty. The result for is my favourite amp is now the Soldano 100, an amp I've never even played in my life for real.

This is just my findings, not right or wrong......just thought I'd share.

No where's that blindfold !

Matt
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I guess that works for some but it depends on what you are trying to achieve. To be honest, I always have seen the advantage of modelers, especially the AxeFx with it being so accurate, that they can model classic equipment. Given my long history of playing, paying attention to other people's rigs, etc, having the models referenced against real equipment is a blessing because I think in terms of "Okay to get this sound, I would need a JCM800 with a boost, to get that sound I'd probably use a Fender Deluxe and an analog delay, for that I'd start with an AC30 and 2x12 cab" and so forth. So I tend to think of both tones I am trying to cover and new tones in terms of real world equipment. That's why having all this virtual gear that is modeled in a highly accurate way is invaluable.

So, I will explore some of the stuff I don't know already, etc, and try to use certain models for non-canonical things, and that is invaluable of course.... but it seems like when I know I want a Marshall tone, I end up using a Marshall, etc.
 
Picking a "favorite" amp sim in the AXE is really hard for me - tone feel and response being so subjective and all - because there is always something new in these sims to marvel over with each new FW update.

I do gravitate towards the Mesa Subway Blues, Suhr Badger 18 and The Brown Sound, though, as well as many other sims: FAS, Fender, Marshall, Mesa, Salderno, CAE, etc.
 
jsletner said:
I think the same goes for IRs. I love 4x12's in real life (except for the weight) but I have found some 1x12 IRs that kick butt.
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Great advice OP! I especially tend to agree with jsletner's comment about IR's. I have found so many unusual, but great sounding combinations using my ears! For example, Factory Cab #1 - 1x6 Oval. If you have not tired it, you might just be surprised how well that cab sounds by itself or mixed with another cab in stereo.
I always mix Factory #54 - Mills 12k (OH) along with another cab (Stereo) for a brighter-punchier sound... I could go on and on.

Again, great topic and advice guys! :)
 
that is good advice and I have indeed found myself gravitating to certain amps and cabs that I would not have expected. In fact, the Mesa Dual amp is one of my favs, I have never owned one, and I certainly would not have thought it would be. The Soldano too, big fan.
 
Hi guys, I know what you mean Zenaxe and for those who love there fractal that makes sense to go to a Marshall when you want a Marshall type tone, although of course one could consider intrinsically even that is slightly self restricting......only for arguments sake I mean. My OP was more aimed at those whom I read on here and elsewhere who can't seem to find there tone on the fractal. Like sgplayer76 just said who in their right mind in the traditional world of amp n cab would pick a 1x6 cab! I have heard clips of people playing on their ax fx who are complaining that it's not quite nailed the meas boogie MarkV or whichever it was at the time and I sat and listen and thought....."yeah but it sounds awesome mate" ! There came a point for me with my axe and I've only had it a month or so when I stopped comparing and contrasting and just sat inspired by what was on offer inside this box. And I think it was at that time I thought this box actually opens up more opportunities to find your own unique tone and in fact NOT copy all the great amps of old, but the opposite, play around and find a sound that inspires you and be unique. I appreciate this is within certain tolerances and you will always be stood on the shoulders of the giants but I guess my personal take on it is, with the axe FX we never had such opportunity to be unique and experiment and that....again personally for me the idea of restricting it to only sounding like the classics could leave you missing the wood for the trees. Just a thought !
 
You know what I've been doing lately? Just letting the playlist ride and when I come upon a song or tone I want, I make a preset. I look up the guitarist's gear and emulate his setup; amp, cab, effects, etc. and then I tweak it right in. Bitch! You know it! It's all possible, right there in that black box :)
 
GG - Are you proposing a slogan for the AXE FX II? "Breathes Fire and ... " ;)


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In my opinion, if you're trying to get this device to sound like existing amps, you're being a dullard and missing what's great about it. It's nice that the AXE can reproduce tube tones with authenticity, but the real treat of this device is in being able to selectively omit any aspects of the tube tone that aren't musical and fine tune the ones that are, and build a perfect sound for yourself that no other amplifier could ever do.
 
Yes, this is my point that this thing is awesome no matter what it's based on, trying to be etc etc.

You know, I'm a high end advertising and fashion photographer and I spent the first part of my career on film cameras and I went through the ugly period where pro cameras went digital. For a long while there was the 'us and them' period and there was also the big 'their to expensive' debate. It raged on for nearly 15 years and in that period I turned pro and had to choose which side to invest in.....I literally sold my house and went digital ! Then slowly over that 15 years film died, now apart from the odd crack pot the whole pro industry is fully digital despite the price tag, my camera is £26,000. ! What happened in that period is that people stopped comparing it to film and just fell in love with what it was intrinsically.....an awesome tool with many incredible features. Film has pros n cons and so does digital even to this day but nobody would ever pick film now. The period where digital in a pro sense shot through the roof was when we stopped comparing it to film and looking for problems and just got on with it!

Does this insight into the pro photography digital revolution draw and parallels and sound familiar?
 
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