How organized do you keep yourself with your axe?

CrazyBadGuitarist

CrazyBadGuitarist

Inspired
We know that the Axe has a ton of features, amps, presets, etc. There is a LOT to keep track of. As a new Axe owner of 5 months I am just now getting over the overwhelmed feeling I got when I first got it. Mostly because I have learned to become organized.

What I mean by this, is I have a cheat sheet book. Inside my book I have written the real names of each amplifier and which results I'm able to get with them so far. Fractal has to change the real name of the amps and as a person who's only had a limited number of amps in his life, I didn't know what most of them were. So, I list the given name and then the real name of the amp so I can actually now what they are. I also list what my global settings are. So if I make an amp and save it globally, I write down what amp it is and what I use it for, as well as the position in the global area (1-10) so I can remember it later (I wish fractal gave us the option to name our global settings).

Anyways, it's a lot of work to keep writing everything down. Things get crossed out, re-written etc. I know I could just do it on the computer, but it feels more personal to do it by hand for some reason.

Any of you guys do something similar? You got any routines you do around this topic or tricks you'd like to share with us?

Thanks

-Dan
 
Wow I'm no where near that organized. I think really the axe took me a couple weeks to figure out what I liked and what worked for me. So now I just follow a process when I build a patch and then tweak from there. I use a few adv features but really for Marshall type amps I have a couple IRs I like and the same go's for very low gain fender amps and same for clean.
 
Most of the amps I can work out from the name, otherwise I look at the Wiki, which I keep bookmarked.

I do keep a list of Global Blocks simply because you can't name them.
 
I name my presets by what I'm trying to do with them. My Vox-type tone is simply named "Voxy." A mid-gain lead tone is called MidLead. If I'm trying to cover a particular song, I'll name the preset after the song.

I also index my revisions of a preset. For instance, my first-ever Vox-type preset was called "Voxy 01." When I made a change, I called it "Voxy 02." That way, I can always go back to an earlier version to compare. But to be honest, I rarely go back to previous versions, even to check them against the current one. For me, there's limited payoff in tracking changes with a a lot detail.

That's not to say that your way isn't right for you. I'm curious: how do you record "which results I'm able to get with them so far?" What does a typical entry look like?
 
Until about 2 weeks ago, all my presets share the same "template" which consists of 2 amp blocks, and in conjunction with scenes (all 8 defined) uses both X and Y of each at different times. The ONLY difference being the "primary" (clean) amp used in the preset. All use ODS Mid Lead (or whatever it is now called) and Triptik Modern for lead sounds, Buttery for "dirty rhythm" and then the "clean" amp (typically edge-of-breakup is a better description). Each preset is named based off of the clean amp of choice: Buttery, AC20, DC30, VibratoVerb, Ruby Rocket, Atomic, Dirty Shirley (yes, it can be "clean!), etc.

So, I can use a single preset to play any song within my band's close to 3 hours of original music via scenes... although I often switch to different presets based on what I hear or feel for a the vibe or a particular song.

Starting a couple weeks ago, I decided to start down a slight variation on above after putting some thinking into it and based on the G3'd drive blocks (which I really wasn't happy with prior to that). Now I am using a similar "template" but doing *everything* with a single amp block and only using the X state. I am treating these more like a "traditional" amp+pedalboard rig: the base of the sound is the clean amp, then I use 2 drive blocks with both X and Y states: 1 (Rat) for dirty rhythm, 1 (Eternal Love) for mild lead (lower drive, lower volume), 1 (same Eternal Love + volume block) for "boosted" mild lead, 1 (Ruckus) for lead and a combo of the lead + Octavia.

The goal is to have a more "organic" sound by having everything being variations on the same base amp sound as well as making ALL scene transitions seamless since I *never* change the amp block or state. So far, it's working out nicely - but so I've only got 3 of them done so far (AC20, VibratoVerb, Dirty Shirley).

I should note that all the presets also share global blocks for: wah, compressor, chorus, cab, pitch, delay, filter, volume and reverb. That way if I decide to tweak a setting, I only need to touch 1 preset. I also will use Axe Edit to save on preset as an actual "template" for building new presets as needed.
 
I use a grid template and stick to 2 amp types with varying amounts of gain.
I also use a lot of Global Blocks.
 
yek said:
I use a grid template and stick to 2 amp types with varying amounts of gain.
I also use a lot of Global Blocks.
Click to expand...

Wow. Can't remember when ny desk was as empty as yours. must have been a couple of seconds after moving it to its current place...
 
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My AxeFx is as neat as my desk.
Presets are made as the need arises.
I don't use very many.
 
CrazyBadGuitarist said:
Any of you guys do something similar? You got any routines you do around this topic or tricks you'd like to share with us?
Click to expand...

Personally I just remember which amps I like and revisit them when I need to. As for physically writing stuff down, I would suggest OneNote for your documentation and have it backed up to your Live account on OneDrive to access across all devices. And no, I do not work for Microsoft although I am in IT and find these tools essential for a professional "journal" of sorts. I would imagine it could help you to and keep a record with you on your smartphone [if you have one] so you can make additions on the road. Just a thought, whenever I hear "paper & pencil" I laugh :lol <- just like this emoji ;)
 
I really want to be organized but work and other things keep me from it ATM.

I'm the absent minded professor & the mad scientist of Axe Fx use :) I've had amazing sounding presets and I have no clue where they are lurking now? And lets not even think about all of the irs I've purchased and downloaded. :?
 
NeoSound said:
I really want to be organized but work and other things keep me from it ATM.

I'm the absent minded professor & the mad scientist of Axe Fx use :) I've had amazing sounding presets and I have no clue where they are lurking now? And lets not even think about all of the irs I've purchased and downloaded. :?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're talking about me. :)
 
I try but don't organize very well and when I do it doesn't last and then I eventually have a mess to reorganize at some point.

For my own presets I basically cleared out the entire A bank way back and build and move my presets around in there best I can. Reorganizing Presets is easy, just delete/move them around in groups or orders I want and be done, no negative impact.

The tricky part is the cabs which if you reorganize, they mess up your presets. After a while I try to clean out cabs I just don't use, usually made from a cablab session of a handful I thought would be good, but then later I end up only using 1-2 and dump the rest. I have to screenshot the cab screen so I know what name is assigned to what number. Then I review all my presets and write down all the cabs in use, it really sucks. Then delete what I dont want anymore, reorganize the list to make it cleaner or grouped by preferred types. Go back to Presets referencing my cab screenshot and remap all the cabs to their new locations.

I wish that cabs were linked to presets so if I moved a cab it would automatically update the preset with the new location. Also would be nice to have an indicator that showed me which cabs were in use/linked to a preset and which were not. Would make it easier to cleanup/reorganize quickly. Otherwise its a chore to reorg and cleanup my cabs.

Block presets, I don't save many so not an issue. Even if I do create a bunch I easily just delete all the saves and start over again with no worry.

Far as Amp usage, I tend to stay within about 10 different amps and have them memorized now. I used to refer to the wiki alot and the more I looked the more I memorized. I still reference the wiki to find what I am looking for or determine what amp it is that I've found I like. I typically put the Amp name or variation of its name in my preset name. If I am using multiple amps in a preset then may put both in the name if I can. Just depends, sometimes I have 4 fender amps in a a preset so Ill just put Fender in the preset name and I guess the rest is what it is. Would be nice to have a global rename capability to name the Amp how I want even if it was only applicable in Axe Edit as an Alias, that would be enough to make me happy.
 
Still think it would be way cool to keep a list of the amp models in an xml or json file the user can modify to name whatever they want, so in axe edit at least it would show up cool.
 
I started out w/ the Axe a few years back trying to stay organized using spreadsheets w/ notes, etc. but it just go to be too much w/ all the updates in the firmware. More and more, I've gone to building presets from scratch (at least w/ the amp and cab blocks) w/ almost each new FW release. This helps me stay sharp on dialing things in and I've grown faster w/ time. I tend to use a template or effects blocks for the additional items in my presets, but I'm fairly simple w/ this stuff as far as anything I use in a band scenario. I'm fairly old school in that regard..
 
I don't really organize. It used to be in alphabetical order, and some of it still is. In general the stuff we have set to go on our first album are first, just because it was the first stuff I programmed, and new stuff is separated by a few patches, and I stuck a few "cover song" patches in between. I also copy and paste a duplicate of everything, just in case I accidentally erase something.

Edit - also, moving anything around is a chore, cause our click/automation tracks would have to be adjusted as well, so that they point to the correct patches.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I gig with backing tracks that each have their own track number and name. This is duplicated in the axe-fx, except for presets used on multiple songs. For those I abbreviate the preset to something like "Cruel Little Pretty" which is the preset used for Don't Be Cruel, Little Sister, And Pretty Woman.

I don't use templates. For me, it's easier to build/customize from scratch. I used to track amps/cabs used in a spreadsheet, but it changed to frequently with firmware updates.

Something that would make my life WAY easier, is if the recall page showed the cab. It'd also help with factory presets, to see good amp/cab combos at a glance. It'd be great to see drive pedal as well.
 
WatersDeep said:
The tricky part is the cabs which if you reorganize, they mess up your presets. After a while I try to clean out cabs I just don't use, usually made from a cablab session of a handful I thought would be good, but then later I end up only using 1-2 and dump the rest. I have to screenshot the cab screen so I know what name is assigned to what number. Then I review all my presets and write down all the cabs in use, it really sucks. Then delete what I dont want anymore, reorganize the list to make it cleaner or grouped by preferred types. Go back to Presets referencing my cab screenshot and remap all the cabs to their new locations.

I wish that cabs were linked to presets so if I moved a cab it would automatically update the preset with the new location. Also would be nice to have an indicator that showed me which cabs were in use/linked to a preset and which were not. Would make it easier to cleanup/reorganize quickly. Otherwise its a chore to reorg and cleanup my cabs.
Click to expand...

You need to check out Algrenadines cab reporting utility, it does just what you are asking for, it's great!
 
NeoSound said:
I really want to be organized but work and other things keep me from it ATM.

I'm the absent minded professor & the mad scientist of Axe Fx use :) I've had amazing sounding presets and I have no clue where they are lurking now? And lets not even think about all of the irs I've purchased and downloaded. :?
Click to expand...
Oh, I know exactly where my presets and IRs are. They're on my desk.
 
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