FM3 Navigation Question

[KAM]

The FM3 layout seems rather inadequate as far as banking up and down presets so it seems to me that I should use the editor to basically shift all the factor presets over about 10 banks in order to have my most frequently accessed/custom presets easy to bank up and down. Essentially, to do cover songs, I use probably around 10 basic presets with 3 scenes (rhythm, lead, clean) so all the other factory presets are just useful for experimentation. Do you have a better method or how do you use the FM3 for gigging?

 

[unix-guy]

Don't confuse FM3 "banks" with preset banks.

The banks on the FM3 are dependent on "Bank Size" in the setup menu, whereas preset banks are groups of 128 presets.

What a lot of people do is to move all the factory preset banks over by 1, so that instead of A, B and C bank positions they use B, C and D. And then put your own presets into Bank A (slots 0-127).

But you can also just put your presets into Bank D and work from there.

You can always edit the default layouts so that the Bank changes operate only on the range of presets you want.

 

[KAM]

Being mostly a Kemper guy for the past several years, I get the terminology mixed up. That's what I meant. I miss my AX8 because it was so easy to use right away. I'd prefer having bank up/down switches without having to hold the button down. It seems like there are so many ways to set it up but any way you slice it, you have to compromise something. I don't remember having any challenges with my AX8.

 

[unix-guy]

It's not an AX8... Physically differences alone are going to necessitate different methods of use.

Why not add some external switches?

I'd prefer having bank up/down switches without having to hold the button down.

I'm not sure what you mean? Do you mean using the Hold function of the switch? If so, go ahead and change it... There's nothing requiring you to use the factory layouts as-is or at all.

 

[Ugly Bunny]

Honestly? I just overwrite the presets in the first bank as I need to. I love how good the presets are, but I make my own and I know I can always just download them all again if I want. In my cover band, I've used presets 000 to about 032 so far (so about 33 presets). Never once found myself missing a factory preset.

 

[Rumbletone]

Honestly? I just overwrite the presets in the first bank as I need to. I love how good the presets are, but I make my own and I know I can always just download them all again if I want. In my cover band, I've used presets 000 to about 032 so far (so about 33 presets). Never once found myself missing a factory preset.

I did the same. The factory presets are great … but I have no use for them!

 

[KAM]

I did the same. The factory presets are great … but I have no use for them!

Well what you guys have said confirm some things I was thinking. I've kind of got it setup with 10 rigs/presets (whatever the nomenclature) in the first set of banks. I pretty much just started with blank amps and effects so it'll be a work in progress for a while until I get them all tweaked just right. It's a great sounding unit.

 

[Ugly Bunny]

Well what you guys have said confirm some things I was thinking. I've kind of got it setup with 10 rigs/presets (whatever the nomenclature) in the first set of banks. I pretty much just started with blank amps and effects so it'll be a work in progress for a while until I get them all tweaked just right. It's a great sounding unit.

Nice! And, just for your own benefit down the road or when you're googling for answers or asking around here, it helps to use the correct terminology. "Banks" are kind of invisible - the unit technically has 4 banks of 128 presets (0-127, 128+, ...511 etc.) but unless you're calling the banks up using MIDI or footswitches OR you're using so many presets that it becomes necessary to refer to multiple banks, they can more or less be ignored. "Presets" are what you were referring to (as rigs/presets). So what you meant to say was "I've got it set up with 10 presets at the beginning of the first bank."

And your plan is wise; it's best to start with just and amp and cab. Once you get your baseline sound down, you can add whatever other flavors you need.

What I do, now that I have a great preset with awesome cleans, dirt, and lead scenes, is when I need another preset, I'll typically just copy that preset to another preset slot as a sort of template and make any effect adjustments (like, say I need fuzz on this new preset instead of a tubescreamer, and a tape delay instead of a digital ping-pong delay, etc.).

You'll find your way It's a super fun journey!

 

[unix-guy]

Nice! And, just for your own benefit down the road or when you're googling for answers or asking around here, it helps to use the correct terminology.

Definitely!

What I do, now that I have a great preset with awesome cleans, dirt, and lead scenes, is when I need another preset, I'll typically just copy that preset to another preset slot as a sort of template and make any effect adjustments (like, say I need fuzz on this new preset instead of a tubescreamer, and a tape delay instead of a digital ping-pong delay, etc.).

Me, too.

Also, you can actually save a preset as a template in the editor as well.