Fractal Newbie learning to use the Axe FX II needs some direction

ChrisCG said:
Yeah I do the very same thing. I move all the factory presets to the last three banks and then start my own patchs in Bank A slot 1. I don't use scenes, still and old school pedal dancers of sorts. So on my MFC I have the bottom 5 IA switches set up for presets and the rest are there turn on and off effects.

And I like to go left to right so I don't forget where something is. So for me it's always, IA 1, is clean. IA 2, is low break up mostly a vox type amp. IA 3 is my main rhythm right now loving the JCM 800 mod with the good old 4x12 tv mix. IA 4, is a heavy amp in my case 5150 Red but that could change, and in slot 5 I tend to have an acoustic tone match preset. Then I do the same thing on the next two banks so I have 15 patches that is use for any gig. So the amps from IA 6 through 15 are not the same exact amps but they are similar in nature if that makes sense.
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Chris - yeah, that makes sense. I'll probably do something similar, but until I actually start laying it out, I have no way of knowing how it might end up. I do really like the idea of the scenes, though - at least in theory. I hate too much "dancing". Thanks for adding to the recommendations. It all helps!
 
Dave

I don't know what version FW you have in your AxeFX, but I find the current beta 7.00b2 is much more user friendly. Toss in an amp block and a cab block and very little is required to dia in very usable tones. I didn't see any mention of this beta but may have skimmed over someone making this suggestion. I loaded this beta as soon as it came out and have had no problems with my AxeFXII Mark 2. I hope this might help. Oh, and I too came from decades of tube amps (even working on them) and the learning curve is there, but getting better all the time. Hang in there and good luck!
 
is9582 said:
Dave

I don't know what version FW you have in your AxeFX, but I find the current beta 7.00b2 is much more user friendly. Toss in an amp block and a cab block and very little is required to dia in very usable tones. I didn't see any mention of this beta but may have skimmed over someone making this suggestion. I loaded this beta as soon as it came out and have had no problems with my AxeFXII Mark 2. I hope this might help. Oh, and I too came from decades of tube amps (even working on them) and the learning curve is there, but getting better all the time. Hang in there and good luck!
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I just downloaded the latest FW about 2 weeks ago to my Axe FX II XL+ last week, but I don't think it's the Beta. So they actually make the Beta versions available on the Fractal website for download?? Did not know that.
 
Ah, I was hopeful it might help. Yeah, pretty cool! Hope you get a good handle on it before long. A member named @fremen makes some amazing patches and at a very modest cost. I bought his first batch and they smoked anything I could generate at that time. Just in case you wish to check him out. Cheers!
 
When I first started with my Axe-Fx II Mark 2 (which doesn't have the free empty slots that the XL+ has), I arbitrarily started storing my own presets at 300. When I upgraded to the XL+ last year, I put a copy of the factory presets in banks D, E and F, and left my own presets starting at 300. (I used MFC-Edit to set up "songs" and "song lists", and didn't want to move my presets to a new location and have to reprogram the MFC.) I've decided that once the current beta hits final release, I'll start from scratch on most of my presets, and store all of them in Bank A. As was said upthread, don't be worried about erasing any of the factory presets. They're easy enough to load back on if you decided you need them.

And I'll second (or third or fourth) the suggestion to start with just an amp block and a cab block. Then start adding effects as needed for your various presets, just like you would with a traditional amp and pedal board. A number of my presets have the same basic line-up of effects, but have different amp/can combinations. I've saved a few generic presets to use as templates. So if I decide to create a preset customized for a specific song, I'll often start with one of my template presets and the add or subtract effects and other blocks, then save the result to a new location. (Don't want to overwrite the template.).
 
Dave McDowell said:
I obviously haven't gotten deep enough to even know this, but is duplicating the first 384 presets to the next 384 slots a simple process that allows you to "duplicate" an entire range?
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Not sure if already answered, but in axe edit, tools menu, "axe-manage presets" will allow you to select a range of presets and cut / copy / paste. Makes it easy to do!
 
Have you tried the updated presets that fractal release a few months ago? They seems to be much better than the originals. For me I'll find maybe 5 or 6 out of the lot that are usable but even if you only find one it may be a good starting point.

In my opinion the main objective at first should be to find a matching amp and cab ir. This is the hardest part. You shouldn't have to worry about any advanced parameters. Use the cuts in the cab block to tame low end boom or high end harshness. Other than that coopers vids will get you up to speed
 
Gray Dave,
The betas are made available via Thi forum, not the website - just click on 'new posts' and scroll through the messages - there you will find the thread re the second v7 beta which is starting to show some personality :)

To reinforce great green's advice-just start with an empty preset, choose an amp block, and cab you like...and maybe a reverb at the end... Connect them together. You'll be surprised how good such a simple rig can be.

Thanks Pauly


Dave McDowell said:
I just downloaded the latest FW about 2 weeks ago to my Axe FX II XL+ last week, but I don't think it's the Beta. So they actually make the Beta versions available on the Fractal website for download?? Did not know that.
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A couple of more thoughts to add Dave-

I would use Axe Edit to make changes to presets, build your own presets, etc. It's way easier than using the front panel of the Axe FX itself.
HOWEVER- I think it's critical to also be able to use the front panel of the Axe FX for making changes for the live gig situations. When I got into using the Axe FX a few years back, we didn't really have an editor for a while. This forced us to use the front panel until Fractal Audio (FAS) came out with Axe Edit. I still know my way around the front panel because of this- and it's saved me when I needed to make quick adjustments during rehearsal, etc.

I find some of the factory presets very useful to start with- I ran through them at one point over a few days and picked out a few that I liked for each of my main guitars (Strat, tele, Les Paul, PRS, etc.) So the factory presets can provide a good start, but I would still start from scratch with a preset that just has amp and cab and build from there. Both approaches are good to try. The factory presets can also help you to get some more creative sounds or tones vs. the more straight up presets I typically build for myself for basic amp/pedal board type of sounds I'm used to from the traditional gear.

Building from that.. I have a single preset that I use as a template for most things I do. I just change the amp and cab models typically, and leave everything else (effects) the same for the most part. Basically how I would use a pedal board into my tube amps for years. I do have a few presets that don't use this template and are for very specific sounds/tones. I'll often program a set of maybe 10 presets for each guitar that are very similar, but I find the Axe FX allows you to really fine tune things for each guitar to the point where I do this rather than use the same few presets for all guitars.
 
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Dave McDowell said:
Hi, everyone. I'm pretty new here. Actually bought the Axe FX II XL+ (and MFC-101) last summer. Went through most of the 384 or so presets, and only liked a few. I quickly realized I was going to need to devote some serious time to learning how to develop sounds for myself, and the first reaction was feeling overwhelmed by the depth of everything, so I put it off until I was less busy and could devote the time necessary. Ready to go now. I'm a bit "long in the tooth" here, and have been playing for more decades than I care to remember, but fairly tech savvy (for my generation) and willing to dig into this. But it's pretty hard to know where to start. Most of my playing is in classic rock (as in 50s/60s/70s) cover bands, so I need to cover a variety of sounds/tones. To this point, I've used almost exclusively standard Fender amps (Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Hot Rod Deluxe, etc.) with your typical pedal boards. I've tried scanning through the thousands and thousand of threads, but very few seem to apply to what I'm trying to do, and the sheer volume of threads to look through is totally overwhelming. I'm up for whatever guidance/advice I can get here. Willing to put in the time, but where to start? Suggestions?
Thanks!

**Note: one of the members suggested I add this additional info to the original post:
Playing application(s): Live band gigs (for now). Monitoring: Straight into PA (PA speakers when rehearsing, In-ears when playing live).
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OK - Just when I thought I was starting to make a little progress - ALL MY CABS SEEM TO BE GONE! What the heck?? I did recently (very recently) upgrade to 3.12.3. Anyway now I can't bring up a cab, and when I go into "Manage Cabs", all locations are BLANK. (Manage Presets is fine) Any ideas? OK Veterans, what do I do now? Couldn't find a spot on the website to re-download them.
 
Where to start:

I would recommend not using Axe Edit right away. You're going to want to be really comfortable and efficient with the front panel controls. You may need those skills if you plan to play in a band or jam with others.

Assuming you're using the green screen on the front of the Axe and connected to powered speaker(s) or headphones; Push the Global button and make sure Power Amp modeling and cab emulations are on / not bypassed. Hit Exit when confirmed.

1. Use Selector knob and go to a preset that you know you won't use. There should be hundreds of them. Push the "layout" button.

2. Use the arrows to move the cursor over each block, one at a time, and hit "Exit" then "Enter" to remove the pre-loaded device from each block. Your goal here is to create an empty preset so you can start fresh. While doing this, if you get lost or confused, simply hit "Recall" then "Layout" to start over.

3. Once you have a clean slate, scroll to the far left and hit "Enter". Repeat on each empty block moving from the far left block to the far right block until you've created a single line connecting each block across the Layout screen. These are the "wires" that connect each component. They have to go across the screen. If you "break" a connection, you'll have no output. You only need one straight line at this time.

4. Move the cursor to the third block from the left, turn the selector knob clockwise until you see "Amp" in the block. Push the "Enter" button to load the amp. You should now see "Amp" in that block even if you scroll away. We'll come back to edit the amp in a minute.

4 . Move cursor one space to the right. Turn the selector knob until you have "Cab". Push Enter. You just loaded a cab. Push "Edit" and use the knob to scroll thru the cab types. When you find one your familiar with push Layout to go back to the Layout screen.

5. Scroll back to the Amp block and push Edit. This is where the fun starts. You now get to demo the amps. Push the "Page" arrow to get to the far left (first) page. This is where you select your amp. Since you're a Fender guy, you might want to scroll around until you find the Double Verb or any of the Fender type amps. The amps load automatically as you scroll thru them. Many of them are high gain and are very loud in their initial state. Turn the two output knobs (front panel of Axe FX on far right) down to around 11 o'clock to minimize sudden volume swells. Remember to put them back up to around 50% -75% when you find an amp you like.

6. When you find an amp you like, you can fine tune it by hitting the right arrow "page" button and scrolling thru Preamp, poweramp, EQ and several other pages. For now, just be concerned with the pre and power amp pages. Adjust the Output level first. It's not unusual to be -12 to -25 on output for an appropriate strength signal to present to a mixing board. Then make your tone adjustments on the Preamp page. The drive, bass, mid, treble controls should get you very close to your desired sound.

7. When you have an amp and cab that you like, hit Save - then hit Page to get to the Swap button. You're going to swap positions for your preset with the preset currently in the number one slot (or wherever you want it). This will not delete either preset. You're just swapping numbers. This skill is handy if you want your custom presets to be in the 1-20 slots, for instance.

You should now have a good starting point to build on. Most people add reverbs and delays after the cab block. Compressors, wah and drives usually go before the amp - and is why we left a few empty slots to the left of the amp open. The sky's the limit.

Hope this helps. Don't be afraid to experiment.
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
I don't think it's possible to erase the factory cabs. Maybe you are pointed at the user directory which is empty?
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Brian, that's exactly what it was. A rookie getting confused. What I didn't understand was that the "Manage Cabs" apparently works differently than the "Manage Presets". Just going by what I'm seeing here, but "Manage Presets" seems to work with all 768 preset locations, and you can do whatever you want to them (including delete them). "Manage Cabs" only looks at "User Cabs" (hence, the "U" designation on the locations). There are currently 179 "factory" cabs available to me. I guess you're not allowed to manipulate those. There are currently 256 factory amps available. I guess you can't manipulate those, either. Not that I'd have any idea how or why. The lights are SLOWLY starting to come on.
I just didn't understand all that last night (plus, it was late), so it scared me a bit. Thanks!
 
iaresee said:
Correct. The factory cabs are immutable. You can do what you like with the user cab slots though.
Also correct.
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Thanks! As I told another member earlier, the lights are just starting to come on (1 at a time). I haven't seen anything that explains basics like that and how the Axe-FX is structured. Just "how-to" type videos. Any other good sources for reading up & understanding this beast?
 
AndyOrr said:
Where to start:

I would recommend not using Axe Edit right away. You're going to want to be really comfortable and efficient with the front panel controls. You may need those skills if you plan to play in a band or jam with others.

Assuming you're using the green screen on the front of the Axe and connected to powered speaker(s) or headphones; Push the Global button and make sure Power Amp modeling and cab emulations are on / not bypassed. Hit Exit when confirmed.

1. Use Selector knob and go to a preset that you know you won't use. There should be hundreds of them. Push the "layout" button.

2. Use the arrows to move the cursor over each block, one at a time, and hit "Exit" then "Enter" to remove the pre-loaded device from each block. Your goal here is to create an empty preset so you can start fresh. While doing this, if you get lost or confused, simply hit "Recall" then "Layout" to start over.

3. Once you have a clean slate, scroll to the far left and hit "Enter". Repeat on each empty block moving from the far left block to the far right block until you've created a single line connecting each block across the Layout screen. These are the "wires" that connect each component. They have to go across the screen. If you "break" a connection, you'll have no output. You only need one straight line at this time.

4. Move the cursor to the third block from the left, turn the selector knob clockwise until you see "Amp" in the block. Push the "Enter" button to load the amp. You should now see "Amp" in that block even if you scroll away. We'll come back to edit the amp in a minute.

4 . Move cursor one space to the right. Turn the selector knob until you have "Cab". Push Enter. You just loaded a cab. Push "Edit" and use the knob to scroll thru the cab types. When you find one your familiar with push Layout to go back to the Layout screen.

5. Scroll back to the Amp block and push Edit. This is where the fun starts. You now get to demo the amps. Push the "Page" arrow to get to the far left (first) page. This is where you select your amp. Since you're a Fender guy, you might want to scroll around until you find the Double Verb or any of the Fender type amps. The amps load automatically as you scroll thru them. Many of them are high gain and are very loud in their initial state. Turn the two output knobs (front panel of Axe FX on far right) down to around 11 o'clock to minimize sudden volume swells. Remember to put them back up to around 50% -75% when you find an amp you like.

6. When you find an amp you like, you can fine tune it by hitting the right arrow "page" button and scrolling thru Preamp, poweramp, EQ and several other pages. For now, just be concerned with the pre and power amp pages. Adjust the Output level first. It's not unusual to be -12 to -25 on output for an appropriate strength signal to present to a mixing board. Then make your tone adjustments on the Preamp page. The drive, bass, mid, treble controls should get you very close to your desired sound.

7. When you have an amp and cab that you like, hit Save - then hit Page to get to the Swap button. You're going to swap positions for your preset with the preset currently in the number one slot (or wherever you want it). This will not delete either preset. You're just swapping numbers. This skill is handy if you want your custom presets to be in the 1-20 slots, for instance.

You should now have a good starting point to build on. Most people add reverbs and delays after the cab block. Compressors, wah and drives usually go before the amp - and is why we left a few empty slots to the left of the amp open. The sky's the limit.

Hope this helps. Don't be afraid to experiment.
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Thanks! Sounds like some great advice. And thank you for the step-by-step instructions. Much appreciated. The Axe-Edit is just so cool, it's really hard not to jump right in and start using it (or trying to in my case). Not that I'll stop that altogether. But you are spot-on when you say I will need to know how to use the green screen on the face of the unit for rehearsal & performance situations. Better start learning to crawl a little before walking!
 
As far as whether to learn Axe-Edit or front panel first for editing, I'd say it boils down to how often you're gigging out with the Axe-Fx.

If you're gigging out every few days, definitely learn how to use the front panel first.

If you're mostly playing at a home studio, I'd stick with Axe-Edit for a bit, until you get comfortable with the concepts. When I first started, two or three Axe-Fx's ago, there was no Axe-Edit, and it was exponentially trickier to get all your eggs in the right basket, and saved, exactly like you wanted them to be. Axe-Edit graphically shows what's in the patch, what's on, and many of the parameters are handy on the front page of whatever amp/cab/effect you is open. It's a piece of cake to make a preset, see what you've got going, and save it, or rename it. Scenes are easy to pop back and forth, to see what's happening there, if you start getting into using Scenes.

The first year or so I had the Axe-Fx, I kept gigging with my analog rig, and using my Axe-Fx in home studio. This allowed me to learn it inside and out, before embarrassing myself. Now, it's just the opposite - I will rarely drag the whole kit and kaboodle, when I can take the Axe-Fx, a FRFR or two, and an MFC - good to go.

If you're gigging out a lot, and want to start using the Axe-Fx right away, I'd go with what AndyOrr said, and learn front panel first; otherwise, that's not the route I'd choose. YMMV. There were a couple of uncomfortable moments onstage, when I'd have to make a change that I had a brain-fade, and couldn't recall what to step through to get to a certain parameter. No biggie, if you're home, but gigging, this can be a huge distraction, if you don't know your way around the panel settings. It gets to be second nature after a bit, but can be a little daunting, at first.

At home, I still prefer using Axe-Edit, instead of front panel, because of the large amount of information that's graphically shown, and the ease of changing several parameters in a screen; you're just a bit more limited in what you can get to without stepping from screen-to-screen when working with just the front panel.

A caution, though, it's always good to not work back and forth with in a preset from panel to Axe-Edit - some things can get boggled in the process. Stick with one or the other in a sitting, and be sure to save before switching back and forth within a preset. If you're using the latest firmware/software, they usually pause you if you go to front panel, and you hit F8 to return, if you're working with Axe-Edit, and jump to front panel. Try to avoid this, though, as it can be glitchy. I don't "think" it's ever hung me up, but you never know.
 
Thanks. I'm gigging out enough (and I'm not doing any recording at home) that I want to get up-to-speed on the front panel controls ASAP. I love the Axe-Edit, but as you say, I don't want to take the Axe FX out until I'm 99% comfortable with it. At this point, of course, I'm still digesting concepts. Been working on it quite a bit today, but I've still got a LONG way to go.
For example, I pretty much understand the X-Y switching concept, BUT one thing that has confused me so far is how you X/Y switch just one block (like a Reverb). It works great in Edit mode, but once I save it and go out to the main screen (where it just displays the preset you're on), the X/Y front panel buttons seem to just switch the first thing in the flow (in this case the Amp) and NOT the effect I wanted to switch. What am I missing?
One more thing, kind of minor (but still irritating), is I'm hearing some high freq "sizzle" or breakup when I get a little heavy on the right hand, even when the Output Clip Light isn't coming on. I've gone thru as much gain-staging as I can find, and I've cleaned it up some, but can't eliminate it. Obviously I'm working on clean tones first, and I like those really clean. Any ideas how to eliminate that?
 
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