Fender American Standard Strat.....Meets Axe-Fx 3

neale dunham

Experienced
Guys,

I'm looking for suggestions.

I have recently delved into the rather comprehensive world of the modern Stratocaster and have purchased a 2015 American standard, equipped with 50s Fat Pickups.

I am having very little luck finding a suitable amp that will give me an edge of break-up to moderate overdrive tone without it sounding well..... Shite!

Before you all jump on me and tell me its not the Axe fx…… I realise that its the pickups that are at fault here, and NOT the Axe fx.

Does anybody have a guitar similar to this, and managed to coax any of these tones from it or am I reduced to forever playing clean Shadows-esque tunes from it?

Which do sound bloody brilliant if i'm honest !!! Its what the guitar was built for.

But before I change the pickups.....Is there a way to set one of the 250+ amps in the AF3 so that the bridge pick doesn't sound so shrill and thin as to be almost unusable? ~If not, then absolutely fine, I will know for sure that I need to swap out the pick up. I just wanted to eliminate that aspect first before doing so.

Thanks Guys.
 
I use various MIM Strats, and I'm pretty sure at least one of them has Fat 50s in it. I have good luck with edge of breakup/overdriven sounds using the bridge pickup. I gravitate to the various Fender/Vox/Tweed models, or the FAS equivalents, and I seldom use a drive block to get the distortion. I'd suggest playing around with the basic BMT controls in the amp models (particularly the treble and presence) to get rid of some of the shrillness. Also try rolling off some of the high end with the High Cut control on the Preamp tab of the cab block. I generally roll that down to around 8000 Hz (running through QSC K10 or K12 powered speakers). And try some of the 4x12 cab IRs. Some of my favorite "combo amp" presets use the 4x12 VT Mix C1 (ML) IR.
 
For whatever amp you are using, make sure that the bright switch is not engaged. Also, if it is you can lower the bright cap value on the Amp Block Ideal page in Axe Edit.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys,

Naturally, I gravitated towards the Fender Tweed models and the Vox's initially, and agree entirely that the bright switch cannot be used on most models its just too bright.

Drive Blocks are pretty ineffective as you say TG3K apart from maybe the Fuzz type but that's all little too overstated for me.

I'm looking more for that early to mid sixties British vibe but not sure I can get it with this guitar.
 
I like both the Fender 59 Bassman and the Commander amps and find they go nicely from clean to breakup. They will go to sear if you engage a drive. At least with my guitars they sound more Beatle-ish Vox than the Vox's do.
 
I have 5 different Fender Stratocasters, pickups in them are True Vintage 65, Tex Mex, Mexican Standard Pickups, Custom Shop 69s, the vintage-voiced pups for the Jimi Hendrix Monterey Strat.

I use the 50 Watt Plexi. And sometimes I use a Fender Vibrato Lux. Since I don't have a treble bleed circuit on any of my guitars, I use a volume pedal roll off volume and clean up the signal for edge of breakup -- only on the Plexi. Each Channel of the Volume block is set to a different level for each of the different Hotness of my pickups. This may be an idea. For the Fender Vibrato Lux, I don't use the volume pedal.

This preset is based off a stock preset.
 

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Pre EQ is your friend here. If your Strat has a treble bleed, vintage style pickups can be pretty shrill at times. I have the opposite issue with my Les Paul clone. It's a bit tubby in the lows. Running an EQ early in the chain lets you address some of that and make it respond a bit more nicely with more of the amp models.

I like the various jumpered Marshall style models, especially the Brit 45 Jump, with my Strat. You can dial in a bit more of the normal channel to fatten things up. The JTM 45 has a much lower bright cap value, so it's not as bright when the gain is backed off.
 
Thanks guys!

Really useful contributions from the knowledgeable Fender crew. :) I'll certainly apply some of those recommendations to my setup.

In my opinion, The Axe fx 3 is far too versatile not to be able to cope with this getaround. I just wasn't sure how to go about it.

The pre eq idea is fantastic. As I would really like to get somewhere close to a Hendrix type tone, Also The Edge, is another Hero with a Great Tone.
 
I have an American strat that I just don't get along with. My only single coil guitar, so I'm always comparing it with other PRS/Gibson, dual humbucker sounds.

The happiest I've been with that guitar was using the hook models. I got a rock sound that I was really happy with across a few models of that amp.

Back to your guitar, how shite are we talking ? Could it be defective ? And what are you comparing it too?
It sometimes pays to ensure you also start a preset from scratch - not try and unplug a les Paul, plug in your new strat and expect it to sound the same.
 
Lately I've been playing around more with the Input EQ controls on the amp block to thin out a somewhat tubby PRS Custom 22 SE. This EQ has a different feel than the post-gain Bass /Mid / Treble controls, but I'm still figuring it out. Another thing you could try!

EDIT: This may be the same thing mr_fender suggested - I'm not sure what "Pre-EQ" refers to!
 
I see what you are saying Callan, but please don't get me wrong here, This guitar is a beautifully crafted American instrument that does a superb job of doing what it is designed for. 50's music. In those days, if music was wasn't cleaner than clean, it wasn't classed as music. We are talking about a time when the music industry didn't even know what distortion or overdrive were.

So in that regard. the guitar sounds great apart from asking it to do what it prefers not to. Hence why I am asking if the extremely versatile AF3 provides a workaround for this to avoid a pick up replacement as Id rather keep it stock if possible.
 
I never could get the sound I was looking for on my 2007 Strat Deluxe, until I bit the bullet and installed a Eric Clapton TBX Mid-Boost. I can now go from clean to mean (including original noiseless pickups) on a Strat that already played really good. Here's a link: Eric Clapton TBX Mid-Boost Loaded Strat Pickguard, if interested. I did also install a Callahan Brass Block and Saddles... The Strat is a platform...many great players have gotten a nice playing Strat and then modified it to their taste...

If you like the way the guitar feels/plays unplugged (does it vibrate in your hand and feel right), it would be a candidate to modify similar to what Clapton, Gilmore, Beck, and many others have done!
 
My main guitar is a warmoth strat with Kinman Fat 50s pickups (so I guess it's pretty similar to yours) and I play any genre with it, even some moderate high-gain stuff.

To make it sound good just push the mids and roll-off some high frequencies by turning down hi-cut in the cab block and/or presence and high treble in the amp.

PS: for edge of breakup tones I have yet to find something better than the morgan ac-20
 
Thanks DLC will try this on my next session. P.s also a fan of the Morgan.

Agreed Favance, The Strat is definitely a platform, Where as Gibson give you the tone and that's pretty much where its at, I'm starting to realise that you paint your own picture with a Strat.

Although I may well struggle to get a Clapton Mod here in the U.k.?

Could you maybe post some sound clips?
 
I never could get the sound I was looking for on my 2007 Strat Deluxe, until I bit the bullet and installed a Eric Clapton TBX Mid-Boost. I can now go from clean to mean (including original noiseless pickups) on a Strat that already played really good. Here's a link: Eric Clapton TBX Mid-Boost Loaded Strat Pickguard, if interested. I did also install a Callahan Brass Block and Saddles... The Strat is a platform...many great players have gotten a nice playing Strat and then modified it to their taste...

If you like the way the guitar feels/plays unplugged (does it vibrate in your hand and feel right), it would be a candidate to modify similar to what Clapton, Gilmore, Beck, and many others have done!
Why modify the guitar when you can make the same thing with just a peq block? ;)

Clapton mid boost:
FT375_plot_800.jpg

Gilmour EMG SPC control:
YZQcIeD.png
 
So is it just a simple matter of boosting around 500hz? I was under the impression that the Clapton boost required a battery to power the pick ups?
 
Nope. The Clapton mid boost is just an active preamp. The pickups are regular passives.

The EMG Gilmour setup is active pickups and active preamps.
 
Thanks DLC will try this on my next session. P.s also a fan of the Morgan.

Agreed Favance, The Strat is definitely a platform, Where as Gibson give you the tone and that's pretty much where its at, I'm starting to realise that you paint your own picture with a Strat.

Although I may well struggle to get a Clapton Mod here in the U.k.?

Could you maybe post some sound clips?

Pick any 70's or 80's Clapton clips. With the Strat setup the way I have it, I can go from Hendrix to Clapton to Stevie Ray. The great thing about this setup, is I can boost the mids with a turn of the second tone knob and get a humbucker sound...or I can push the detante up (first tone control) and sear your head off with treble/bright...I can easily cover Clapton, Mark Knoplfler, Hendrix, Cliff Richard, or Dave Gilmore. This is the reason why Clapton ditched his loved "Brownie" and went to the "mongrel" Blackie...Here's some links:

https://www.fender.com/articles/gear/iconic-mods-eric-claptons-blackie/
https://shop.fender.com/en-US/elect...ric-clapton-stratocaster/product-011760.html/
https://www.whereseric.com/the-vaul...der-eric-clapton-signature-model-stratocaster

Fender sells this circuit (if you are a do-it-yourself type): I would still use it with the original Fender Noiseless Pickups, as there's something magical about this version w/the Clapton mod.

I believe this is probably one of the most famous Strat's ever created...the only down side is replacing the battery about once a year.
 
Lately I've been playing around more with the Input EQ controls on the amp block to thin out a somewhat tubby PRS Custom 22 SE. This EQ has a different feel than the post-gain Bass /Mid / Treble controls, but I'm still figuring it out. Another thing you could try!

EDIT: This may be the same thing mr_fender suggested - I'm not sure what "Pre-EQ" refers to!

Yep. Pre-EQ as in Pre-gain or before the amp EQ. You can use the Input EQ in the amp block itself or PEQ, GEQ, or Filter blocks in front of it. Whichever you prefer. Benefit of using a separate PEQ or GEQ block out front is you have 4 channels in each to setup EQ curves for different guitars or pickups. You could then use one preset for say both a Strat and a Les Paul, and use different Pre-gain EQ curves for each to compensate for their differences. You could possibly avoid having to create separate presets dialed in for different guitars this way. It's a trick used by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. He has a 31 band graphic EQ in front of his rig that has the EQ curve setup to mimic the tone of his favorite 59 Les Paul "Miss Pearly Gates" live without having to travel and gig with a cherished guitar worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Other folks do a similar thing with the tone match block as well. For example, tone match a Strat to a Les Paul and use that to shape the sound more in that direction.

There's more to it than just EQ, so it will never be exactly the same, but it's a step in the right direction that can be close enough for some folks.
 
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