Drive Blocks

Wigam2

Wigam2

Inspired
I've struggled with drive blocks for a while in going from just broken up tones to crunch on cleaner amps. For whatever reason it always sounded thin or under a blanket or had too much gain depending on what I did. I'd mostly been adjusting drive & tone and was never really happy with the result.

Tonight I spent some time messing with drive blocks using the Morgan AC-20 amp, and found that using more drive (4 or 5 rather than 1 or 2) but adjusting the mix to 66%-80% sounded better. I also noticed how much of a difference the hi-cut makes, which I hadn't really played with before.

We'll see if I like it tomorrow, but tonight it felt like progress. Just wondering if anyone else has done something similar.
 
drive blocks really depend on what amp model you're using. some amps just don't host drives well.
 
Same with real amps - some don't take pedals well either, and some love 'em!

If you're looking for that extra kick, a transparent boost may be what you are looking for and not really a drive
 
When I first got the AX8 i had it set up to use a drive pedal for the crunch tones, but I've since moved away from it because they generally take up too much CPU. I switched to using 1 amp that can do cleans/crunch tones and using the X/Y state, which leaves the CPU free for other things.
 
r3vo1ution1991 said:
When I first got the AX8 i had it set up to use a drive pedal for the crunch tones, but I've since moved away from it because they generally take up too much CPU. I switched to using 1 amp that can do cleans/crunch tones and using the X/Y state, which leaves the CPU free for other things.
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just making sure, you can set the X and Y to completely different amps if you want as well.
 
chris said:
just making sure, you can set the X and Y to completely different amps if you want as well.
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yup I'm aware :) , it just makes the slight audio gap when changing the X/Y state a little shorter when changing between two of the same amps rather than two different ones (which I believe I heard from you or someone on this forum)
 
The drives on the ax8 is the one thing that doesn´t work to me either. Don´t think they sound good at all. They just don´t behave/sound like the real pedals. And I´ve had almost all of them.. Hard to explain. It´s like they don´t blend with the amp models. More like they are on top of the amp. Don´t know how to describe it really. Lower the mix setting helps a bit. It´s a shame because for example a deluxe reverb with a tubescreamer is such a classic guitar sound. And the ac booster and timmy is two of my all time favourite pedals.
 
Yeah - I headed straight for the Timmy when it showed up on AX8, as that was an always-on pedal for me with my real amp. But I gave up on trying to get it to sound right. I'm content, though, as the scene controller on the Amp's input drive and trim, plus the 2nd scene controller on the cab output, is how I get my dirt level, and that is just like butter. Throw in the option of pushing the amp with a cleanish boost, and I still have way more options than with a real amp/pedals.
 
I guess we'll have to wait and see if the FASPICE XD sauce gets its way into the upcoming Ares port for the AX8...
 
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I found that the drive blocks only sound good (at lest to my ear) when used with a real amp and cab so I don't use the modeler options when using the drive blocks, I'm sure others will have better insight on why it may be difficult to dial in, but when I use DI or FRFR then I don't use them at all and work with the amps and cab's and am very pleased with live and recording sounds I'm getting. There is a AX8 3 scene tutorial video on amp modifiers by Smittefar I that really helped me a few years ago, I like using that format so I can build my patch bank with a clean, moderate and saturation patches using that approach with the vast amp and speaker selection is really keeps things interesting. I believe this is video if you haven't already watched it.
 
I personally like the drives with the amp models for the most part. I do agree that, just as with a physical amp and drive pedals, they are dependent upon the amp used, some amps simply take drives better than others.

As far as dialing in the drives, the keys that usually work for me are setting the Drive < 5.0, most are in the 3.0-4.0 range, setting the High Cut @ 3,000 Hz, Low Cut @ 150 Hz, lower the Tone @ 3.0 and if more fullness is needed, boosting @ 450 Hz Mid Freq range @ 2-3 dB.
 
JoKeR III said:
As far as dialing in the drives, the keys that usually work for me are setting the Drive < 5.0, most are in the 3.0-4.0 range, setting the High Cut @ 3,000 Hz, Low Cut @ 150 Hz, lower the Tone @ 3.0 and if more fullness is needed, boosting @ 450 Hz Mid Freq range @ 2-3 dB.
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That doesn´t sound like the real pedals to me. I mean it´s too much work needed.
 
geetarplayer said:
I'm content, though, as the scene controller on the Amp's input drive and trim, plus the 2nd scene controller on the cab output, is how I get my dirt level, and that is just like butter. Throw in the option of pushing the amp with a cleanish boost, and I still have way more options than with a real amp/pedals.
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What exactly are you doing with the scene controllers (esp on cab output)? I've read a little, but haven't done much with them yet. Wouldn't this be similar to the amp x/y switch?

The mix% combined with the low/high cut adjustments are definitely helping. . . but I'd like to give this a shot as well.
 
JoKeR III said:
The tools are there. Use them if you want but don't complain about them not sounding good if you don't.

Nobody said it's like dialing in real pedals. However, it doesn't take much more effort than twisting knobs on a physical pedal.
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Why can´t I complain? The Ax8 is a quite expensive modeling product aimed to model both amps and pedals.
 
Drives have almost always sounded/responded like the real pedals to me....and I've owned almost all of them as well. That doesn't mean it will always react 1:1 to the physical pedal you had....as most of them never react exactly like the same pedal from the same manufacturer either.

One thing that I have found is that more level and less gain seems to be better than the opposite.
 
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southbeck said:
Why can´t I complain? The Ax8 is a quite expensive modeling product aimed to model both amps and pedals.
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And it does a fabulous job at both. It also has a learning curve that can be quite steep for most people, myself included. There are a lot of aspects of the amps and effects I couldn't get to sound the way I wanted at first. I started digging into the different parameters to see what they did. It wasn't until I approached it as its own thing, rather than trying to make it work like the real-world counterpart, that success was found.

You can complain all you want but you'll never get the tones you want by doing so. Fractal has provided products that can be tweaked on a level that no other pedal or modeler offers. Great tones are possible right out of the box but the individual player can sculpt whatever tone they want and aren't limited by static components. Some believe this is a detriment but I believe this is why they are regarded as the best sounding modeler in the world right now. Anyone can find their tone if they're willing to take the time to learn how it works.
 
JoKeR III said:
And it does a fabulous job at both. It also has a learning curve that can be quite steep for most people, myself included. There are a lot of aspects of the amps and effects I couldn't get to sound the way I wanted at first. I started digging into the different parameters to see what they did. It wasn't until I approached it as its own thing, rather than trying to make it work like the real-world counterpart, that success was found.

You can complain all you want but you'll never get the tones you want by doing so. Fractal has provided products that can be tweaked on a level that no other pedal or modeler offers. Great tones are possible right out of the box but the individual player can sculpt whatever tone they want and aren't limited by static components. Some believe this is a detriment but I believe this is why they are regarded as the best sounding modeler in the world right now. Anyone can find their tone if they're willing to take the time to learn how it works.
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Maybe, but I dont agree with you. I dont believe it does a faboulus job at both.
 
The Ferrari is an expensive car, designed to give quite an experience! And that it does!

But if you cant drive, no matter HOW good the Ferrari, you are GOING to have a rough time, and then say this car sucks.

It can't drive you, and neither can the axe. Maybe the drives aren't 100% clones of the originals, maybe they are, but I'm sure you can get there by turning a knob or two. After all, you'd take the time to learn to drive if you got a Ferrari for your 18th bday won't you?

Why not take a couple seconds to tweak and get the sound you are after? The axe is only getting better and is at the point now where it matches the amps it models, down to the knob location! And those are AMPS working with cabs, the HARDEST thing to model! Cliff probably didn't put that level of accuracy into the drives yet (though I cant tell a difference) but he will as time goes on. Drives, for all their mysticism, are MUCH easier to model than the amps, so he likely put the focus on the hard stuff, with the intention of coming back to the much simpler drives (which he has already), but give him some time to get it perfect. If it's not perfect it's about 90% there already, and all you have to do in the meantime is turn a knob or two.

You owe it to yourself- your Ferrari won't drive you - you have to learn to use it, same with the axe fx
 
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