Help me to keep Ax8, any tips on getting metal tones

I have a guy at church who uses the ax8 he really loves it. He goes in the Deep editing and he shows me different routes and to tell you the truth you can do 4 scenes on the bottom and individual turn off on top just like a helix. But he told me to just keep it simple put a tube screamer and choose your amp then put a graphic EQ. He told me to put the gain of the tube screamer to zero level about halfway. He then told me to tweak the amp first before you even touch the EQ. He used to run it through tube amps but the way he runs at Church is the FOH. But instead of the unbalanced left out to the return of your amp he also suggested why don't you do the FX send and see what it sounds like. I'm going to try different versions. I was going through the amps last night and some of them really don't need much tweaking to get that good metal sound. I'm getting a little bit more comfortable with it. And there's lots of things you can do in a global settings that will help you get over the learning curve. Mine was on sale from fractal Audio for 1099.00 and I bought a pedal to go with it which I already have a boss pedal that I might just use as the volume which I do is my other unit and use the fractal audio pedal as a wall and different effects. I know one thing I know that the quality is there and I don't have to deal with the squirrel oenis of the line 6 helix if I decide to keep it. I got it on the 1st so I don't have many days left to decide. But from what I seen on the forums and what I talked to the guy at church it really is pretty amazing once you start getting into deep editing especially told me mess with the bias on the amp. Also said don't go too crazy just settle adjustments. Anyway yeah the Helix is fun to use and has some of the other goodies, but when it comes down to it really the tone does matter to me and I just don't like the squirrel Inus sometimes I get once in awhile with a helix.
 
Agreed!! I think what we ALL want is an AX8 with the UI and screen of the Helix LOL> Yup, at the end of the day , it'a all about the tone for me, and AX8 has it a "little better" ..
 
If i dont like how the amp/cab set sounds i dont try to fix it with eq, i just pick a different one. One thing that has greatly helped me with getting metal tones is to research what youre going for. Example, i looked up what eric peterson of testament used before he went with a kemper. Found the equivalent of his amp cab and tubescreamer and its a super metal preset. I did alot of research on brad paisley's rig and got a cool sound that way as well. I think all the tools are there i just had to do a lot of reading.
 
I tried to do a simple patch. Tube screamer Friedman amp and 10 band EQ. The EQ the way I set it kept on clipping. Put a boost gate after that. Did not help. I heard you could put one in the input? I am so frustrated that I hooked back my line 6 helix and enjoyed it so much better. Totally frustrated. I have one more day left before I packed it and return it.
 
Robert, I have to admit... Just plugging in Ax8 with stock presets was pretty underwhelming...I must have the Helix DIALED because it sounds pretty friggin good and is holding its own against the AX8...Im just now trying to load up Axe edit...I can't seem to find any of the amp offerings, just presets... ahhhh the learning curve of hell....Line 6 has done an excellent job with their amp sounds and voicings (New update has some great friedman amp tones and verbs..), and the UI is just so killer...ugggg
 
I'm not sure what you decided to do Steve but I had over a 2 hour conversation with Matt Picone of the fractal Audio company. He was teaching me some tricks over the phone and which really develop and overwhelming sound. As you may know is these units come out of box with the presets that are not that great. I guess it depends what you're plugging into but since I'm doing a simple ax8 out to the return of my Marshall jcm 2000 TSL 100 (which I am switching to the 4cm) I had to turn the power amp off (optional) this you can leave on, but the cab Sims definitely off. Matt told me how to remove the cabinet in a simple shortcut and create a tone within 5 minutes. Stuff in the amp like an EQ is very good in some amp models, and using a post EQ can make all the difference in the world. Since I don't have to sell my line 6 Helix right away or decide I want to keep it down the road that's fine. The ax8 has so much potential and a sound I got out of it was incredible. A lot of these videos tell you to put for example of a drive low and the tone all the way up and that's not necessarily true. You got to play with the tone usually leave the tone at 12 o'clock. He told me to tell turn up the level all the way up, it was just a tremendous difference. He told me not to use the boost on the amp unless you have the gain all the way up and you need a little bit more. Playing with that amp EQ on some of these amps is one of the key things just to get the basic ballpark of where you need to be and then fine tuning from there. You can change the EQ (5 band, 7 band, 10 band. also and a lot of the global settings. The more I experiment around the more I'm liking what I'm hearing. As far as the learning curve it's actually getting pretty simple just going through once you get the hang of it. The key is to to hook it up to the computer where theres simple editing rather than try to go in manually. Ask for help if you really need it. I believe this unit is worth keeping. Oh I posted on your comment that full of round with a low-cut and high-cut because there's a lot of sounds that what you're playing through if you're playing through a guitar amp like I am that you want to cut out because of the Range your guitar cab can reproduce. Also check the advanced settings there's some Global stuff that you can change to like there's a EQ setting that if you prefer that there's just so much that you can do automatically in the global settings not just the screen where you have Global IO and utility but there's an advanced settings you have a lot of options also. And I think the EQ area I can't remember off hand but there is one of the amp or EQ blocks when you do a page over there's advanced settings.
 
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For good metal tones I use the Angle Sever models. I don't even have to turn the gain up too high and really don't even need to push it with a drive block to get a sound I'm happy with. I currently play in a Viking metal band and have played in death and black metal bands in the past, so I'm used to using tons of gain, but those models have more than enough for my needs which really says a lot.
 
Scott927 said:
For good metal tones I use the Angle Sever models. I don't even have to turn the gain up too high and really don't even need to push it with a drive block to get a sound I'm happy with. I currently play in a Viking metal band and have played in death and black metal bands in the past, so I'm used to using tons of gain, but those models have more than enough for my needs which really says a lot.
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I do love that amp! I've also noticed in the Helix the angle amp really sound good also. Thanks for the advice I will experiment.
 
Robert Pezzella said:
I do love that amp! I've also noticed in the Helix the angle amp really sound good also. Thanks for the advice I will experiment.
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No problem!
At some point I will post up my patches, but I can't today because I'm at work right now. I have live and studio versions that I would like to share and see what people think. I'm pretty happy with them but am interested in what others on the board would think of them or how they would tweak them.
 
Robert Pezzella said:
I'm not sure what you decided to do Steve but I had over a 2 hour conversation with Matt Picone of the fractal Audio company. He was teaching me some tricks over the phone and which really develop and overwhelming sound. As you may know is these units come out of box with the presets that are not that great. I guess it depends what you're plugging into but since I'm doing a simple ax8 out to the return of my Marshall jcm 2000 TSL 100 (which I am switching to the 4cm) I had to turn the power amp off (optional) this you can leave on, but the cab Sims definitely off. Matt told me how to remove the cabinet in a simple shortcut and create a tone within 5 minutes. Stuff in the amp like an EQ is very good in some amp models, and using a post EQ can make all the difference in the world. Since I don't have to sell my line 6 Helix right away or decide I want to keep it down the road that's fine. The ax8 has so much potential and a sound I got out of it was incredible. A lot of these videos tell you to put for example of a drive low and the tone all the way up and that's not necessarily true. You got to play with the tone usually leave the tone at 12 o'clock. He told me to tell turn up the level all the way up, it was just a tremendous difference. He told me not to use the boost on the amp unless you have the gain all the way up and you need a little bit more. Playing with that amp EQ on some of these amps is one of the key things just to get the basic ballpark of where you need to be and then fine tuning from there. You can change the EQ (5 band, 7 band, 10 band. also and a lot of the global settings. The more I experiment around the more I'm liking what I'm hearing. As far as the learning curve it's actually getting pretty simple just going through once you get the hang of it. The key is to to hook it up to the computer where theres simple editing rather than try to go in manually. Ask for help if you really need it. I believe this unit is worth keeping. Oh I posted on your comment that full of round with a low-cut and high-cut because there's a lot of sounds that what you're playing through if you're playing through a guitar amp like I am that you want to cut out because of the Range your guitar cab can reproduce. Also check the advanced settings there's some Global stuff that you can change to like there's a EQ setting that if you prefer that there's just so much that you can do automatically in the global settings not just the screen where you have Global IO and utility but there's an advanced settings you have a lot of options also. And I think the EQ area I can't remember off hand but there is one of the amp or EQ blocks when you do a page over there's advanced settings.
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... I also still have both... I finally was able to dial in some killer heavy sounds ...The 5153 Blue setting with just a few minor tweeks, and I have KILLER organinc yet refined and tight yet chewey tones happenning. I'm not sure if it sounds "better" than the Helix (especially with 2.50 update-Friedman amps, Lone Star amp, and some new effects..) Even though it is easy to program with a laptop, I still don't like the fact that I pretty much have to open up Axe Edit to make any signifcant changes where as Helix id right on the unit-easily. It took me a whole week to vibe with the AX8...Wish I could keep both..
 
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