How well does Tone Match work and how hard is it to get isolated tracks?

I am currently on the waitlist for the FM3 but have just found out what tone matching is and that the FM3 will not be capable of this. I am an at home jammer (to backing tracks and such) and currently use a Helix floor. I actually do like my floor unit for what it is (easy interface) and it mostly sounds good enough for me but I have decided I will be buying some sort of fractal unit in the near future. That being said, this idea of tone-matching really intrigues me. I am not good at understanding what is needed to mimic certain tones of songs I am jamming to and have heavily relied on downloading patches of said songs. I have tried countless times to make my own patches and while they sound good, they just never get all the way to what im trying to mimic, but several downloaded patches I have, do get me all the way there so I know it is not the helix but rather my lack of dialing in the patches. So here are my questions:

1: How well does tone matching actually work?
2: It appears it will only match the amp/cab tones but does not put in the needed effects, for example if a solo has delay and reverb, I will still need to mess with those blocks to figure out the type of delay and reverb I need and I will also have to adjust each of those block settings ....is this correct?
3: How does the tone matching work if a solo or part of a song im trying to match contains wah pedal or some other effect which drastically impacts tone?
4: Last question, how hard is it to get isolated guitar tracks or to make them myself? I honestly have no idea about this.

If tone matching really is not going to work for my needs I will stick with getting the FM3 but if tonematching really will save me time on trying to dial in my favorite songs then I just might save up for the axe fxIII.
 
The tone match is an EQ block in practice that accounts for the amplifier and cabinet only. It does not help with effects in any fashion.

Back when the Kemper was gaining traction, Fractal had to respond to the market pressures to have such a feature. It has fallen off the map as the models have become more accurate.
 
The tone match is an EQ block in practice that accounts for the amplifier and cabinet only. It does not help with effects in any fashion.

Back when the Kemper was gaining traction, Fractal had to respond to the market pressures to have such a feature. It has fallen off the map as the models have become more accurate.
Thanks for the response. So it sounds like it will not do exactly what im after? I guess my issue has been deciding when something needs more highs or mids or lows...etc. It gets even more confusing when to dial in my volume to get amp breakup Vs. when to adjust the gain setting and then even more confusing when to change things like amp bias and sag lol. I do trial and error but I guess I will need to keep practicing with all those parameters. oh well. thanks again.
 
Thanks for the response. So it sounds like it will not do exactly what im after? I guess my issue has been deciding when something needs more highs or mids or lows...etc. It gets even more confusing when to dial in my volume to get amp breakup Vs. when to adjust the gain setting and then even more confusing when to change things like amp bias and sag lol. I do trial and error but I guess I will need to keep practicing with all those parameters. oh well. thanks again.

You are comparing yourself to a recorded gutiar tone which has undergone much adjustment during the mixing stage. Producers strip away top and bottom to give each person their slice of the equalization pie.

Also, unless you are using their exact guitar, the tone going into the AXE is off to begin with.
 
Tone matching is essentially an EQ

It will not add delay or wah or any FX. Nothing on the market does that....nothing I know of anyway.

You will get very close to the sound of your favorite song, and you can add the fx after. No way around that.
 
Tonematch does exactly what it says it does: it matches tone. It doesn’t match gain levels, or amp type, and definitely not effects.

Isolated tracks are pretty difficult to find. There’s a collection of multi-track rips from Guitar Hero and Rockband video games out there. If you can find them, they’re worth having.

Interesting thing about isolated tracks is how bad some of you “favorite” tones will sound outside of the mix. That said, I have had success emulating tones from some of my favorite artists using Tonematch. I learned a lot from it. It’s definitely not a tool that I’d rely on, though.
 
Interesting thing about isolated tracks is how bad some of you “favorite” tones will sound outside of the mix.

No kidding! Listening to isolated track of some of my favorite guitar lines has been an incredible learning experience. Sounding great in the mix and great soloed can be two very, very different things.
 
Thanks for the response. So it sounds like it will not do exactly what im after? I guess my issue has been deciding when something needs more highs or mids or lows...etc. It gets even more confusing when to dial in my volume to get amp breakup Vs. when to adjust the gain setting and then even more confusing when to change things like amp bias and sag lol. I do trial and error but I guess I will need to keep practicing with all those parameters. oh well. thanks again.

Sounds like you’d be better off spending the extra money on some custom patches from the forums patch gurus- for a few quid they can make you a preset for a specific song. Then look at how they’ve done it vs what you have tried and start learning about how to create sounds.
 
Sounds like you’d be better off spending the extra money on some custom patches from the forums patch gurus- for a few quid they can make you a preset for a specific song. Then look at how they’ve done it vs what you have tried and start learning about how to create sounds.
that's actually a good point.
 
tone matches work when you play that tone with the exact mix of the other instruments and their tones from the source recording.

many people jumped at the chance to tone match Master of Puppets when the feature was launched. they played at home with the album and it was perfect. a day later they came back to the forum after their gig and said the tone sounded horrible with their band. and it's because their band doesn't produce the sound of the song Master of Puppets.

it's a great feature for some things, but there is really no secret or shortcut to a tone that fits with your specific situation, guitar, band, music, etc.
 
Not a fan of it all. The steps and setup are cumbersome, confusing, and complicated. As mentioned above, you’re better off just downloading someone else’s preset. I cannot imagine a scenario when tone match would be preferable to just about any other solution. Don’t get me wrong; I love my III, and maybe tonematch is good, but both the usefulness of AND the way to make it work are beyond me.

So yeah. That makes me want the FM3 even more! One fewer feature that I’ll never use :)
 
I use it for acoustic where I am tone matching the mic’ed guitar sound for live playing using the same guitar. Works amazingly well. This is the only reason why I would like to see the TM block added to the FM3. Would make a perfect acoustic rig!!
 
1: How well does tone matching actually work?

I've had pretty good success with it. It's quite simple to use. You already have a USB connection from the AxeFX to your computer, so just run your reference audio out to that connection.

You will need reference audio that spans a wide frequency range, so something with big full chords is best. Just dial in a tone that is somewhat in the ballpark, play the same chords and tone match will give you a tone that, well, matches. Every once in a while it doesn't quite sound the same, but usually it comes remarkably close.
 
Has anyone tried tone matching a piezo-equipped guitar to a recording of a real acoustic? Does it work well?
Yes. It works very well.

I’ve Tone-Matched two piezo-equipped guitars — an Ibanez S540 (solid body) and an Alvarez AD90SCK (acoustic-electric) — to a recording of a Gibson J45 that I found on YouTube. I exported it to an IR. It’s my go-to acoustic sound for both instruments on my Axe II, Axe III and AX8.
 
Yes. It works very well.

I’ve Tone-Matched two piezo-equipped guitars — an Ibanez S540 (solid body) and an Alvarez AD90SCK (acoustic-electric) — to a recording of a Gibson J45 that I found on YouTube. I exported it to an IR. It’s my go-to acoustic sound for both instruments on my Axe II, Axe III and AX8.
Are you able to share this? Might make me a believer... Right now I just pump my A/E guitar through a few compressors and EQs. Sounds okay, but I’d love a nice big mic’d acoustic sound!
 
Are you able to share this? Might make me a believer... Right now I just pump my A/E guitar through a few compressors and EQs. Sounds okay, but I’d love a nice big mic’d acoustic sound!
Gonna be a while. I’m traveling it of state for Mother’s Day.

Meanwhile, try it yourself. All you need is a dry, unaffected miked guitar tone that you like (no reverb, now!). With a little care, your piezo will sound more like a real acoustic than it ever has.
 
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