High Gain Issues

Dillon Ray

Dillon Ray

Member
I haven't been able to dial in a high gain preset that I'm happy with yet on the Axe Fx III. Clean tones and effects are sounding awesome, but any high gain presets seem way off. I have followed various tutorials on youtube that dial in awesome metal tones. I'll set everything exactly the way the person did, but it seems to always sound incorrect from the start when I try. It's not just subtle differences that you would expect between guitars. It seems like there is a huge lack of gain/fullness to my sound. If I crank the gain and put a tube screamer in front of the amp, it helps, but it still doesn't sound right... I'm playing through an EMG 81 in the bridge. I have tried new batteries, different pickup heights, various string gauges, etc... I'm thinking the problem has to do with the wiring/components in my guitar since the rest of my setup in very solid, but I'm not positive. Anybody else have a similar issue that they were able to fix?
 
It may be a combination of several things. First, what amp model are you using and second, which IRs have you been trying? What type of sound are you going for?
 
Yeah, that may be it. I was thinking TS808--->5153 RED--->4X12 cab and you should be golden.
 
mtb said:
Yeah, that may be it. I was thinking TS808--->5153 RED--->4X12 cab and you should be golden.
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Cab modeling is on. I have tried all the popular metal amps and have had similar results. I generally stick to Mesa 4x12 IRs. I'm going for a solid metal rhythm tone. Metallica and As I Lay Dying come to mind a lot.
 
Dillon Ray said:
Cab modeling is on. I have tried all the popular metal amps and have had similar results. I generally stick to Mesa 4x12 IRs. I'm going for a solid metal rhythm tone. Metallica and As I Lay Dying come to mind a lot.
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Can you post a preset for us to check out ?
 
Ibanez (EMG 81 in bridge) - Axe Fx III - Matrix GT1000FX - Mesa 2 x 12. I also run signal with cab simulation to my KRK Rokit 5s sometimes too (not the best monitors, I realize). The real cab setup generally sounds a bit better to me for heavy tones, but both systems seem to be coming up short like I mentioned above when I compare side by side with other users. For example, I followed along with Sonic Drive Studio's video on YouTube titled "Creating the first preset on the Axe Fx III!" today and my tone came no where close to as awesome as his with identical settings. I would share the video link, but I don't have 10 posts yet haha.
 
Dillon Ray said:
Cab modeling is on. I have tried all the popular metal amps and have had similar results. I generally stick to Mesa 4x12 IRs. I'm going for a solid metal rhythm tone. Metallica and As I Lay Dying come to mind a lot.
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You said cab modeling is on but your running a power amp and cab. Turn can modeling off.
 
mtb said:
It may be a combination of several things. First, what amp model are you using and second, which IRs have you been trying? What type of sound are you going for?
Click to expand...

Not sure how much you have dived into advanced parameters or high and low cuts but maybe give the following videos a watch. Leon Todd makes some really great videos! I've followed these methods or tweaked them slightly with night and day results.



 
Dillon Ray said:
Cab modeling is on. I have tried all the popular metal amps and have had similar results. I generally stick to Mesa 4x12 IRs. I'm going for a solid metal rhythm tone. Metallica and As I Lay Dying come to mind a lot.
Click to expand...
If you are using the TS driver, try setting the gain at 1. This will give you boost without a lot of color. Also since cabs make a huge difference in the final tone, you may want to sample many. I tend to lean towards the Mesa and Fractal 4 x 12 cabs.
 
Maddface said:
You said cab modeling is on but your running a power amp and cab. Turn can modeling off.
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It's funny many users make this statement. However for me, using a real 4 x 12 guitar cab, when I turn cab modeling off, no mater what I do to create a preset, it sounds fake, sterile and I want to sell my AXE. Of course I'm talking loud live, on stage, and not studio listening through monitors or headphones. The one thing I notice, and this may help the OP is, because I use cab modeling, my amp block bass settings are hardly ever over 3. My power amp is a Mesa 2 Fifty and has no tone settings. Results may vary going through a regular guitar amp.
 
Tommy Tempest said:
It's funny many users make this statement. However for me, using a real 4 x 12 guitar cab, when I turn cab modeling off, no mater what I do to create a preset, it sounds fake, sterile and I want to sell my AXE. Of course I'm talking loud live, on stage, and not studio listening through monitors or headphones. The one thing I notice, and this may help the OP is, because I use cab modeling, my amp block bass settings are hardly ever over 3. My power amp is a Mesa 2 Fifty and has no tone settings. Results may vary going through a regular guitar amp.
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I think you well know why most users say this ... because Cliff/FAS state that the unit is designed to work with virtual cabs “off” when using real/traditional guitar cabs. Really quite simple.

You don’t follow that suggestion, and you like the results. Cool.

For me, my cabs sound horrid when running signal thru IRs.

YMMV
 
I ran an 81/85 setup for many years and always found that I had to high cut and drop any presence created shrill. High cut 8k to 6k using your ears. If you do decide to mess with pups, the Nazgul/Sentient set sounds great IMO.
 
Dillon Ray said:
Ibanez (EMG 81 in bridge) - Axe Fx III - Matrix GT1000FX - Mesa 2 x 12. I also run signal with cab simulation to my KRK Rokit 5s sometimes too (not the best monitors, I realize). The real cab setup generally sounds a bit better to me for heavy tones, but both systems seem to be coming up short like I mentioned above when I compare side by side with other users. For example, I followed along with Sonic Drive Studio's video on YouTube titled "Creating the first preset on the Axe Fx III!" today and my tone came no where close to as awesome as his with identical settings. I would share the video link, but I don't have 10 posts yet haha.
Click to expand...
If you are running into a guitar cab turn off the cab block. You may also want to try turning of power amp modeling as well.
 
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