Great Modern Rock guitar tone using AXE-FX in a full mix

G

guitarzpt

Experienced
Hello

I'm having a little trouble dialing a Modern Rock guitar sound in a full mix context. so much that I'm begining to doubt the AXE-FX capabilities.

Anyone has some links to Modern Rock studio albums done with the AXE-FX direct recorded?

Thanks
Ricardo
 
I'm pretty happy with the sounds on the tracks in my signature.

Check out Callous for that kind of sound.

But hey, I'm biased.
 
guitarzpt said:
I'm having a little trouble dialing a Modern Rock guitar sound in a full mix context. so much that I'm begining to doubt the AXE-FX capabilities.
Click to expand...

^cute

...and I doubt yours. :roll

for recording - it simply doesn't get easier than Axe.
been using the Axe for almost a year now non-stop on a wide variety on material.
guitars, bass, vocals, synths, drum machines, wavedrum...

no issues whatsoever.
 
JazzRockBluesFunk said:
Check out any of Mark Days clips. The tones he gets are why I'm selling my current rig to get the AxeFx.
Click to expand...

I Love Mark Days Clips! :) They are the biggest reason why I bought the AXE-FX lol
But still they are only very loud guitar parts over some very dubius backing tracks. I tried some of Marks presets and they dont sound well at all double tracked and properly leveled in a mix.
I tried adjusting them, EQ, Compressing the tracks in the DAW, etc
And above all and despite me loving the bands that Mark covers the sound isnt modern its 80s with higher gain hehe :)

Mark if you read this, I love your playing and clips keep on rocking and making some more :)
Its just not the type of sound I'm looking for as it sounds a bit dated to me.
 
DonPetersen said:
^cute

...and I doubt yours. :roll

for recording - it simply doesn't get easier than Axe.
been using the Axe for almost a year now non-stop on a wide variety on material.
guitars, bass, vocals, synths, drum machines, wavedrum...

no issues whatsoever.
Click to expand...

Well I'm doubting my capabilities too LOL
Thats why I'm asking for help from more experienced AXE-FXers

Don do you have some clips I can listen too?
Or some tips on how to get a modern rock sound? amps, cabinets, blocking eqs, etc, etc
I dont mind buying some IRs too. I even bought Ownhammer Scumbacks M75 and H75 the other day, they sound a bit strange to me in the high-end of the spectrum.
 
Do it like you would in a real world scenario! Bring up an amp of choice, cabinet that you would use in the real world, slap a stomp before the amp for some boosted goodness (which after firmware 11, if you have a good guitar with good pups, is mostly unnecessary, even with extreme metal!) and eq it to hell and back :-D. Post some clips I guess, otherwise it's too general a request...

Also, try the redwirez and ownhammer impulses. They sound great with the axe!
 
Check out my bands facebook page there are 1 minute sample clips from tracks off our new album - all guitars recorded direct using Axe FX standard FW v.10

Amps used were Soldano, JCM 800 & Brit Pre with Rewirez 4x12 cab (can't remember which one) with SM57 mic off axis - ( ie: as been stated above: exactly as you would as if doing it with a real amp) I don't like to mess around with EQ within the axe (other than the amps tone controls) - just record it 'as is' and eq in the mix ( certainly a high pass filter around 120 -150 hz and maybe a slight cut around 2.5 khz generally works for me)

No reason at all why the AFX guitars wouldn't work within a mix.

What's your definition of 'modern rock guitar tone'?
 
Last edited:
zack said:
Check out my bands facebook page there are 1 minute sample clips from tracks off our new album - all guitars recorded direct using Axe FX standard FW v.10

Amps used were Soldano, JCM 800 & Brit Pre with Rewirez 4x12 cab (can't remember which one) with SM57 mic off axis - ( ie: as been stated above: exactly as you would as if doing it with a real amp) I don't like to mess around with EQ within the axe (other than the amps tone controls) - just record it 'as is' and eq in the mix ( certainly a high pass filter around 120 -150 hz and maybe a slight cut around 2.5 khz generally works for me)

No reason at all why the AFX guitars wouldn't work within a mix.

What's your definition of 'modern rock guitar tone'?
Click to expand...

Hello, dont be mad at me but both your mixes and AdamCook have the same brittleness in the guitars that all mixes with the AXE-FX that I heard have. Its something in the high mids of the guitars that I dont hear in other productions.

I was thinking about stuff like 30 STM, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Kings of Leon, Muse. They all have different sounds but they all sound modern not that typical 80s sound that I hear so much from the AXE-FX

Anyone would like to share some patches with your take on modern rock guitar tones?
 
guitarzpt said:
Well I'm doubting my capabilities too LOL
Thats why I'm asking for help from more experienced AXE-FXers

Don do you have some clips I can listen too?
Or some tips on how to get a modern rock sound? amps, cabinets, blocking eqs, etc, etc
I dont mind buying some IRs too. I even bought Ownhammer Scumbacks M75 and H75 the other day, they sound a bit strange to me in the high-end of the spectrum.
Click to expand...

hehe, good to see you have a sense of humor, I meant no insult of course, just maybe saying that you're asking too much from the Axe in too little time.
It is very deep - I had it for almost a year now and there are still parameters that I have to fully grasp. (warmth for exsample - I'm pretty sure it changed quite a bit with the v11)
The Axe is a two in one animal.
First you gotta get your basic signal chain right: drive, amp, cab, mic just like you would in any studio, than you add the mix stuff (EQ, compression...) Kings of Leon, Muse - that's pretty well produced (borderline overproduced) stuff.
There's a good amount of frequency juggling with vocals/bass/drums going on and probably some sidechain compression, but they didn't re-invent the wheel. While it's not really what I focus on right now (I need dirty surf/rockabilly/psycho sounds) I know it's in there.

If the results don't satisfy you right away - great! Go beyond instant gratification - push the envelope. The Axe is THE piece of gear to do that, but it's a lot more like an instrument than just another processor. You have to give yourself time, play A LOT to discover what steps need to be taken. But if you follow that road you'll most likely find that the Axe can indeed replace 100s of thousands of $ in amps, mics, pres, studio time and engineers, if handled correctly.
enjoy.
 
Last edited:
DonPetersen said:
^cute

...and I doubt yours. :roll

for recording - it simply doesn't get easier than Axe.
been using the Axe for almost a year now non-stop on a wide variety on material.
guitars, bass, vocals, synths, drum machines, wavedrum...

no issues whatsoever.
Click to expand...

I would love to hear vocals that were recorded on the Axe! Have any you could share?
 
I just heard "Master Commander"...

Nice drum mix there!

About your guitar sound, it sounds pretty old school, in fact quite a spot on old school tone! But then you wanted modern haha! First off, ditch the bloody jcms and go either for a diezel or the recto new sims. They're awesome. Put damp on full, or near enough, slap the german and recto 2 cabs with no mics in a mono hires block each, push presence to about 7 and then tone shape to taste. You might want to skip using the stomp block if your guitar has nice pickups, but in case it's sounding muddy, then stick a ts808 mod, with the standard drive 0, level full and tone @ 2 o clock-4oclock settings. I also boost the bass to about 4 in the stomp block. Roll down the drive to about 3-4 in the amp block, and keep as little drive as you need, pick hard, and you should be sorted!!!

Oh, stick a GEQ block post amp, before it goes into the cabs, boost some 125 & 250, a bit of 4k and 8k for getting the guitars to sound big. But remember to boost the mids from your amp as well!

I suppose you're recording at least 2 takes per track? You might want to shift to pulling your gain even lower and recording quad tracked guitars. They just make the guitar tone sing! Does become a bit too full though, and makes mixing drums and vocals a PITA!

Hope this helps :)
 
Ok, seriously, ditch using the marshalls! Going by your choice your guitar, those amps do NOT seem to like it! What guitar/pickup setup are you using BTW?

The more info you give my friend, the better it is :)

p.s. - this is so not my kind of music, but I get the kind of BIG guitar sound you're going for. A huge part of it DOES indeed come from the player, so I hope you're picking hard, and have decent amount of attack there.
 
hmm I'm a bit confused... I didnt post any tracks.
What is this song you're talking about?

I will try the tips you posted thanks, but arent the diezel and recto too metal like amps for modern rock?

greyanaroth said:
I just heard "Master Commander"...

Nice drum mix there!

About your guitar sound, it sounds pretty old school, in fact quite a spot on old school tone! But then you wanted modern haha! First off, ditch the bloody jcms and go either for a diezel or the recto new sims. They're awesome. Put damp on full, or near enough, slap the german and recto 2 cabs with no mics in a mono hires block each, push presence to about 7 and then tone shape to taste. You might want to skip using the stomp block if your guitar has nice pickups, but in case it's sounding muddy, then stick a ts808 mod, with the standard drive 0, level full and tone @ 2 o clock-4oclock settings. I also boost the bass to about 4 in the stomp block. Roll down the drive to about 3-4 in the amp block, and keep as little drive as you need, pick hard, and you should be sorted!!!

Oh, stick a GEQ block post amp, before it goes into the cabs, boost some 125 & 250, a bit of 4k and 8k for getting the guitars to sound big. But remember to boost the mids from your amp as well!

I suppose you're recording at least 2 takes per track? You might want to shift to pulling your gain even lower and recording quad tracked guitars. They just make the guitar tone sing! Does become a bit too full though, and makes mixing drums and vocals a PITA!

Hope this helps :)
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom