How important is the preset exchange for a new user?

Tahoebrian5

Tahoebrian5

Fractal Fanatic
I keep going back and forth over the ax8 and the XL. My question is how much of a setback do you experienced users think it would be for a new user learning to make patches to not have the axe change library to draw on?
 
Basically zero

You get a ton of great presets from the factory, and really all it takes is minor tweaks of those to dial in a great tone. I use maybe 3 or 4 presets I got from the exchange, rest are my own.

I mean really, what teaches you more ? Just playing other peoples patches (that aren't dialed in for your guitar, pups etc) or having to learn how to make a few quick edits of the BMT, MV etc to get the tone where you want it ?

I'd honestly say its best to start with just an amp block, learn the basic controls, get that down, then mess with the cabs, then some reverb etc.

Think about it, when most people started playing guitar we just go an amp. Then we added a few pedals one by one.

With the Axe you can have something like 50 different effects, millions of combinations etc, but do most people go out and buy 50 different pedals along with a first amp ? No

So maybe it makes sense to learn step by step in the digital realm too. Focus on one basic thing like the amp block, then add in drive pedals, focus on how those interact with the amps, how to adjust them etc, then add another block

By the end, you'll be familar with all the blocks and know a great deal towards crafting tones
 
Since all of our guitars and amplification systems sound quite different anyway, I don't see much value in Preset exchange. The main benefit is learning some really different approaches but you have to tweak them for your rig. There's already a lot to learn from the factory presets.
 
I've rarely found other user patches (or even the factory patches) very helpful for tones I like, and likewise, I wouldn't expect other users to find my patches helpful. Way too many other variables such as guitars, pickups, playing style, playing volume, environment, etc. Much easier to just dial in what I like, it doesn't take long.
 
I agree with the previous posters. Very few downloadable presets will work well with your gear. Fractal products are unique in that they let the true color of your guitar, pickups, strings, and playing style show through. I also agree that is a a valuable and vital exercise to tweak presets yourself. Only you know what you want to hear.
 
I've never downloaded a preset, so you'll be fine.

Also, the AX8 will have a preset exchange site too - it may not be up right on launch, but it will come.

I'm more interested in a block exchange feature, integrated into Axe Edit. That I would use.
 
There were only a few patches on Axe exchange that I found that would translate to my setup.
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
I keep going back and forth over the ax8 and the XL. My question is how much of a setback do you experienced users think it would be for a new user learning to make patches to not have the axe change library to draw on?
Click to expand...

i find the exchange to be very useful. Most folks are using your standard LP or strat. so it should be at least a close approximation of the sound that the poster got with his/her rig. At the very least its a good starting point to see how patches are crafted. I get great use out of stuff from the Exchange. Always be mindful that when you walk into a Guitar center or Sam Ash, and you plug a guitar into an amp, you will almost ALWAYS mess with Bass, Mids and Treble. Do the same with the Axe depending on whatever Axe you are using and viola you should have a very usable preset.
 
I've never used a axe change preset as is, but have used many as a good starting point to get what i'm looking for.
 
I find that the presets on Axe exchange are usually very good. Of the presets that I use most all I got off axe exchange.
 
i would agree. out of all the presets I have downloaded, I only use a few every now and then. however, what I find more helpful to me and what I do use a lot of is the effects settings. reverb, delay, pitch, chorus, etc.. I steel them from the axe change presets and place them in my own.
 
I find AxeChange extremely useful. Yes, these presets require further tweaking, but they sure serve as a great baseline. In contrast, it's hard to use factory presets because of their naming. Due to copyright (I guess that's copyright) reasons, they are named so vaguely that you either have to know all 400 of them very well or spend a lot of time browsing through presets and scenes within those presets.

In AxeChange you type in the name of song/artist, and get a few options to choose from. Later you can (and often must) change settings, pick different amps, cabs, etc., but at least you save tons of time by using the base configuration of blocks.

What I found frustratingly useless was tonematch. It never works for me.
 
GM Arts said:
I've rarely found other user patches (or even the factory patches) very helpful for tones I like, and likewise, I wouldn't expect other users to find my patches helpful. Way too many other variables such as guitars, pickups, playing style, playing volume, environment, etc. Much easier to just dial in what I like, it doesn't take long.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much how I feel.
 
I've downloaded 30-40 presets all together, I use none of them but I've learned something useful from maybe 3-4 of them.
 
I stopped using it back around FW 14 as just like with FW updates where everything requires reworking, trying to use someone elses presets on a different FW never worked out well and IMHO completely defeats the purpose of sharing presets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom