How to get some good hi gain tones

S

Silhaj01

Member
I recently aquired my axe Fx 2 and just had a couple of questions. First of all, is there some specific technique recommended for getting atleast a solid sounding hi distortion. I dialed a couple of them in that aren't bad, but they could still use some beef to the sound. I've messed with the separate eq's and other features and I just can't seam to get anywhere close to that ideal sound. I've thrown some different drives in front of the signal to get more saturation as well. Now there is that sound of digital fizz that you sometimes get from a tube amp if used for the same reason. I heard of some simple techniques used to eliminate any type of fizz by dropping off certain high frequencies. It's just been a little frusterating even though the unit itself is totally killer. Any tips would help me out a lot.

John
 
Hi John,

what helped me a lot was playing around with the Tonestack, I had some very good results, IMO ;) with the FAS modern and Recto Orange tonestack with some light EQ-ing

I have a truly cheap @ss stereo system to play on right now, so it's hard to really tell :)

cheers
Michiel
 
I agree with the above. Most of my high gain patches are not maxed on the master and drive is usually between 1.5 to 3.5. I usualy reduce the input trim a little. I usually reduce the transformer match a little to clean the sound a bit. I heavily tweak the global EQs, tone stack as well set to pre. I usually set a highpass filter before the amp set to Envelope with low and high set to 37 and 373. I usually add a drive still but not always with drive set to zero and level maxed. The rest i leave alone. I usually will use the V30 or cali in stereo twice both with different mikes like the SM57 and other 421 and pan both cabs to center so i do not have to mess with the volume issues.

I know it sounds cliche' but most of my high gain patches use little drive but give the illusion that they are harmonically sweat, ripping, sustaining etc because they're setup with clarity in mind. I usually do a lot of other subtle tweaks like lower the dampening. set all the cab reverb setting/room settings to zero according to Scott Petersons rec's which i find help. I usually leave the presence at zero and then add when i am done which helps tremendously. I hope some of this helps as most is iterated in various places on the forum.
 
MattR said:
I heard that dropping the master to about 2 should do wonders
Click to expand...

That completely depends on the amp. I've found on amps like Recto's where traditionally low MV was good, on the II, low MV is fizz city, and cranking it to 6-7 is fantastic. The best thing to do is, crank the knobs around to find what sounds good to you. You can't break anything, so give the dials a good whirl. Obviously, use caution when cranking the MV and compensate with lowering level.
 
always be aware of that the guitar sounds like a miced up cab and not like your amp in the room. for fast and easy tone dialing i run the through my old marshall mg (digital poweramp in stereo and two v30 speakers) just to roughly dial in the tone. after doing this i record same takes over drums and bass (double tracking ;)) and just do the reamping stuff.
for me there is a big difference when listening to my higain patches wheather im playing the guitar or just listening to the reamped signal (it may be a brain thing while NOT playing along but maybe its only becaus u dont get the accoustic strumming sound of the guitar or a combination of both).

this way i can dial in higain sounds that will fit in the mix very well in really less than 10 minuits. after finetuning i usally reamp my signal chain with the same IR but different mics and proximity settings so shape the tone with the level faders in my DAW.

so my advice: if u havent tried it with some real guitar cabinets and/or reamping -> try it !
 
InsideOut said:
That completely depends on the amp. I've found on amps like Recto's where traditionally low MV was good, on the II, low MV is fizz city, and cranking it to 6-7 is fantastic. The best thing to do is, crank the knobs around to find what sounds good to you. You can't break anything, so give the dials a good whirl. Obviously, use caution when cranking the MV and compensate with lowering level.
Click to expand...
i'll have to give this a shot
 
it's funny, everyone talks about changing tone stack or adjusting this advanced parameter etc... but i just use the first 2 pages of the amp block, spend A LOT of time choosing the right cab, and then apply a bit of EQ back in the amp block. sounds good to me!
 
Hi Chris,

let me tell you, as total n00b, that something like Tonestack or voicing really helps a lot in finding what kind of tones are possible. Undoubtedly this can also be achieved by using the 'simple parameters', but I personally just lack the knowledge to do just that....

Yeah, I really need a good book on tube amps :)
 
I have no idea what this "ideal" tone is. If there were such a thing we'd only need one high-gain amp and preset. What is your idea of the ideal hi distortion?

And what guitar/pickups are you using and what kind of speakers/headphones are you playing through?
 
I use the tonestack quite a bit, also. My 2 main patches (which are my take on hot-rodded Marshall tones) are based on the Friedman BE and HBE with the Dr Z tonestack. I am still playing with the II, but coming from the Ultra, almost every patch I made included a tonestack change. Its all up to your ears, obviously, but it's definitely worth checking it. You might be surprised at how big of a change the tonestack makes.
 
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The secret to fantastic high gain tones according to GreatGreen:

1. boost the input signal to the amp, usually somewhere between 6-8 db. Makes for fantastic touch sensitivity and boosts the amp's drive without getting muddy. I avoid the built-in boost switch in the amp block, personally. It boosts the input signal by 12 db and I think that's too much.
2. engage the bright switch, but set the bright cap value fairly low. Increases string definition just enough to allow you to use a healthy amount of gain, again without getting too muddy.
3. Keep the amp's master volume pretty low.
4. Don't be afraid to *slightly* scoop some mids with a parametric eq after the amp. If the eq curve looks like this though \/ or even this -v- you've scooped too much. Subtlety is key here.
5. DAMPING. This is a very important parameter when you're dealing with low master volume. Do not forget about it.

That's pretty much it. Keep this stuff in mind and you'll be good.
 
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chrisallen8888 said:
it's funny, everyone talks about changing tone stack or adjusting this advanced parameter etc... but i just use the first 2 pages of the amp block, spend A LOT of time choosing the right cab, and then apply a bit of EQ back in the amp block. sounds good to me!
Click to expand...
Me too. I rarely touch the advanced tab since getting the II. Used to mess around with a few of the advanced settings when I had my Ultra, but don't really feel the need to dig that deep with the II.
 
GreatGreen said:
The secret to fantastic high gain tones according to GreatGreen:

1. boost the input signal to the amp, usually somewhere between 6-8 db. Makes for fantastic touch sensitivity and boosts the amp's drive without getting muddy. I avoid the built-in boost switch in the amp block, personally. It boosts the input signal by 12 db and I think that's too much.
2. engage the bright switch, but set the bright cap value fairly low. Increases string definition just enough to allow you to use a healthy amount of gain, again without getting too muddy.
3. Keep the amp's master volume pretty low.
4. Don't be afraid to *slightly* scoop some mids with a parametric eq after the amp. If the eq curve looks like this though \/ or even this -v- you've scooped too much. Subtlety is key here.
5. DAMPING. This is a very important parameter when you're dealing with low master volume. Do not forget about it.

That's pretty much it. Keep this stuff in mind and you'll be good.
Click to expand...

How do you boost the input? With the input block or with a booster like TS808, or else?
 
McChiel said:
Hi Chris,

let me tell you, as total n00b, that something like Tonestack or voicing really helps a lot in finding what kind of tones are possible. Undoubtedly this can also be achieved by using the 'simple parameters', but I personally just lack the knowledge to do just that....

Yeah, I really need a good book on tube amps :)
Click to expand...
i don't have any super knowledge either. i just turn the "simple parameter" knobs until it sounds good. i don't know enough about tonestacks to know why i'd want to put a marshall tonestack on my boogie amp. is that how it works?
 
lp59 said:
How do you boost the input? With the input block or with a booster like TS808, or else?
Click to expand...

I usually just put a Filter block on the first column of the grid and boost the level that way. Anything that provides a completely clean boost will work fine. Filter, Mixer, Volume/Panner block, etc. I'm working with an Ultra though.

Doesn't the Axe-Fx II have some kind of global input boost/cut control after you set the first input level? You'd think there would be one level to control the physical input volume (how much the front LEDs light up when you play) and then another level to control how loud the guitar signal was coming into the grid. Otherwise, if every guitar was at the volume of "just before clipping the input" then every guitar would appear to be just as loud as every other guitar to the Axe-Fx.

Assuming the Axe-Fx II has one volume level to control the physical input volume and another to control the introductory volume of the signal on the grid, I'd just adjust that secondary volume to slightly-hotter-than-normalized levels and be done with it.
 
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