External Effects

Do you use external effects with your Axe

  • Yes

    Votes: 44 32.6%

  • No

    Votes: 59 43.7%

  • Never Tried But Might in Future

    Votes: 25 18.5%

  • Never Even Thought About It

    Votes: 12 8.9%
  • Total voters
    135
Kent said:
I'm currently working on duplicating my most-often used effects so that I can leave them in the gear-pr0n closet and just use the Axe-FX. Some things have been pretty easy to dial in in order to get into the ballpark of replicating the pedal.

One thing in particular has been rather vexing: The Prescription Electronics Experience Pedal.
It is basically a Foxx Tone Machine with an added (and quasi-usable/predictable) "Swell" function. I'm not interested in the "Swell" aspect as that is easy to do in the Axe and the Axe is better at it.
I want to duplicate 4 modes:
1) Trebly Fuzz. Similar in sound to a Fuzz Face
1a) Trebly Fuzz (same settings) with the Octave engaged
2) Very Bass-y Fuzz. Closer to a Big Muff Pi, but not quite that
2a) Very Bass-y Fuzz with Octave Engaged.

It took me 4 hours to dial in #1 and then another hour to get 1a. This is the first time that I ever tried to replicate one of my distortion pedals and that added to the needed amount of time.
I spent much more time, maybe 8 hours, programming #2. I want to keep the usage of blocks to a minimum so that I can easily share these. I got nowhere with the Fuzz Face Model and closer with the Rat. I then went with the Muff Pi model and that was much closer. I had to get the last 10% by using Tone Matching and this worked rather well. #2 is now 2 blocks.
I've been farting around with 2a for a couple of days now and the results have been unsatisfactory. I really like having 1 and 1a set up as X/Y in a block. It's just like the real pedal in use. I'm having to engage 2a via a Scene change.
I'm currently traveling and am at a train station, in Geneva, as I type this. I'll be back at it in three days' time, and may appeal to the community in order to help improve the result.

I definitely hold my skills to be responsible at this point. I don't think that it is the Axe that can be viewed as being at fault; yet.

Next up is a Ram's Head Big Muff Pi and then a Korg Mr. Multi.
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Maybe you'll have better luck, but I tried everything that you did. I tone matched every which way possible, used advanced parameters in the drive block and used other effects blocks in conjunction with the drive block...all to no avail. No matter how much time I spent, and I spent hours like you, there was always something missing. It's hard to explain. It's in the way the Mastotron Fuzz processed the frequencies and the feel of it that the Axe-Fx just can't touch. Don't get me wrong, I love my Axe-Fx.
 
I have found the hardest parts to duplicate to be:

note decay
spittiness of the octave effect
having an octave effect that doesn't sound synthesised (like a keyboard note) that is riding above the fuzz. The octave should be embedded and blended in it.
gritty midrange.

Again, I'm just starting with this stuff, but I suspect that these will hold true.
 
Kent said:
I have found the hardest parts to duplicate to be:

note decay
spittiness of the octave effect
having an octave effect that doesn't sound synthesised (like a keyboard note) that is riding above the fuzz. The octave should be embedded and blended in it.
gritty midrange.

Again, I'm just starting with this stuff, but I suspect that these will hold true.
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Well, you're not alone. I posted a while back in the Wish List forum for the Mastotron Fuzz (if you do a search, you will find it) and there were a few people all in agreement that the fuzzes left something to be desired.
 
jlynnb1 said:
i contemplate purchasing a Timeline and Big Sky again almost daily, lol....haven't yet, though....
Click to expand...

Curious, is this because you find the Strymons easier to tweak (they have great presets!) or is it because you genuinely can't achieve those sounds with the reverb / delay / multidelay blocks?
 
I have a perverse fondness for the Line6 M13 pedal. I run the M13, as well as a round robin of different FX pedals (some vintage, some boutique and some off the shelf) depending on mood/need For example, my M13 is set up all pre Axe with 12 FX per scene - six models of fuzz and OD pedals like the Maestro FZ-1 (Steve Howe), TS-9, Fuzz Face, Octave distortion, then a row of chorus, phase 90 and Flanger, then the last row has a Slowgear, Trem and Pitch shift (1/2 step down). Before the M13, I have a Maestro PS1-a (Early Rush), Drop (early VH and U2), Boss 6 band EQ (for that Boston sound), my OCD and a Sansamp G2.

I can get most of these pedals in the Axe-Fx pretty close enough for RNR, but then I would have to set up each Axe patch to have "my" pedalboard. If I got the XL+ and had double the patch slots, I probably would do that - set up a similar pedal board and just change the amps (save to a new patch location and repeat), but with "only 384 patches and so many great third party patches, I prefer not doing that. Preferably, I was hoping that Cliff would have implemented an "Amp up/down" function which would load the next amp into a patch with matching cab. No go on that. Anyway, my method works for me. I may replace the M13 with my FX8 so that I can have my cake and eat it to. Just have a bank of Amp Cab and some post FX (delta and verb)and use the FX8 as a pre-Axe pedal board.
 
Adinfinitum said:
I have a perverse fondness for the Line6 M13 pedal.
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Hmmm... I owned the M13 twice (just to make sure I wasn't hearing things the first time!), don't you notice it killing the top end in your signal a bit?

Anyway, back OT....
I use a Humphrey modded BOSS CS-3 for squish, and an Analogman TS9, OCD & Xotic RC Booster for drives & boost via GCX in front of the AxeFX...
I tried dialling the compressor & drives back in FW17.x & failed... possibly pilot error, i dunno...
 
Have one POD HD Pro X and Two Axe XLs patches to swithcblade GL. Also connected are a HOG 2, mobius, big sky, echolution 2 and adrenalinn III. That way any combination of external FX can be in any of the three loops. Plus there is a second POD with just an H9 in the loop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I use a Fulltone MDV-2 before the Axe FX II XL+ input.

Why? Because thats the only pedal for a Uni-vibe that matches the "organic-ness" (I hear) besides the original one.
The tones of the MDV-2 is just "to die for" in my opinion. A swirling mass of lush vibes..:encouragement:
 
many fuzz, overdrive and distortion in front; modulation pedals in front and/or loop; delays and reverbs in the loop.
But just for my pleasure. I'm happy with the onboard fxs!
 
I tend to use the Axe for amps and HQ reverbs, some some digital delays only. I end up maxing out the CPU with 2 amps, 2 hi res cabs, 2 HQ reverbs and/or 2 digital delays.

I use a bunch of OD and Fuzz pedals, wah, vibe, compressor and modulation in front of the Axe. I feel the analog pedals have a slight edge to the digital recreations (and in some cases like certain fuzzes, I cannot replicate the pedal sound). Digital delays and Reverbs however in the Axe sound just as good if not better than any digital delay or reverb pedal I've tried.

I do use 3 analog delays (DM-2, EHX DMMTT1100 and a Moog MF104m) currently in front of the input, though I'm wondering if anyone has had success using analog delays in the FX Loop? The Moog can do line level, though the DM-2 and DMMTT can't, so not sure they'd work in the loop better than the front of the input). Thoughts?
 
I have a EHX Soul Food going into the front; it has an interesting character and I like being able to change my overdrive setting quickly on the fly.

And I have a Ditto Looper in the Fx Loop. It's super simple operation and my current MIDI controller doesn't have the extra footswitches available.
 
jlynnb1 said:
i contemplate purchasing a Timeline and Big Sky again almost daily, lol....haven't yet, though....
Click to expand...

I've run both through the Axe loop, along with an H9, and found them all lacking vs. the FAS effects. Sold 'em all on TGP & Reverb. My $0.02.
 
I run an old Ernie Ball volume pedal in front, a (rarely used) non-true-bypass drive pedal as a buffer, and a PolyTune. I've never been able to get an expression pedal sweep to replicate the EB vol I have. Those are all in front of the axe though, on my pedal board. As far as effects, I've never really gotten the Axe's delays to do what my Strymon TimeLine can do. Same with the Electric Mistress. I want to keep my rig from growing in complexity so I just do the best I can with the Axe's delays and flanger. I'm keeping my eye on the Helix though. Way easier to toss a pedal or two on my pedal board with a Helix than run all kinds of cables to and fro with the Axe.

All this equipment is just a tool for me; I obsess more on playing than on "tone" or obtaining some exact replica of some particular amp. I can understand the desire to have a particular pedal though if you just can't seem to dial it up - for me that would be my particular electric mistress settings. I believe the topology of the Axe's flanger is fundamentaly different than an EM, so right out of the gate you're barking up the wrong tree. Again, curious to hear the Helix's, since it has an actual EM model in it.
 
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