I love my AX8 Dumble... why can't I get the FM3 to duplicate???

Frank McCreary

New Member
I am new to the forum and looking for any and all help I can get. I mainly use the Fractal stuff for live gigs. I have had a lot of success with my AX8 using the Dumble amp (and sometimes the Deluxe Reverb) and I bought the FM3 to replace my AX8 (the AX8 was supposed to be a back-up). For the life of me I cannot get the sounds I'm looking for out of the FM3. I emailed back-and-forth with Mark Day who suggested I try the forum. I play a very old PRS with dragon II humbuckers exclusively. My band uses QSC stuff exclusively as well. I send my AX8 to front of house and utilize a monitor or in-ears.

The issue is this: I need the best clean amp possible from the FM3 and good overdrive pedals that I can turn off and on as I play. I need to change whatever global settings and/or amp settings necessary to do this with my PRS. I mainly play top 40 and soft rock style stuff. Have an FC-6 as well and I was hoping to have three scenes on my FM3, clean, crunch, and lead, and use the FC-6 to turn effects on and off. I know this is a vague long forum question but can anybody help me at all?
 
Different devices, different firmware. They will never sound the same.

I’d start from scratch and dial in tones you like on the FM3 without comparing it to the AX8 or trying to make it sound exactly like the AX8. If that fails, sell the FM3 and use the AX8.
 
Different devices, different firmware. They will never sound the same.

I’d start from scratch and dial in tones you like on the FM3 without comparing it to the AX8 or trying to make it sound exactly like the AX8. If that fails, sell the FM3 and use the AX8.
Thank you. I don't need it to sound exactly like the Dumble on the AX8. I'm just having difficulties getting basic stuff to sound good. Admittedly, I'm not that good at this. I suppose what I'm really asking is what are the best clean amps to use through an FRFR speaker while playing live. I can probably tweak from there. I realize not all FRFR speakers are alike.
 
Definitely start from scratch and do what you know how to do. 99% really still is Bass Mid Treble. The key, the absolute make-or-break, is the cab IR. Seriously audition every one you've got that might be appropriate (and even some that you think wouldn't make sense at all) to see which one gets you close to what you want to hear before you delve into the other tweaky things.

Be sure that you click through the "low hanging fruit" switches (low cut, bright switch, etc) because a lot of what you're trying to find might be right there due to the vagaries of guitars, pickups, and cables.

Oh yeah and as was mentioned above, do soak up Leon Todd's @2112 tutorials. He's a treasure.
 
Try the usual suspects for clean amps: 59 bassguy, band-commander, double verb. As was mentioned, the IR will have a much bigger effect on the amp tone than the amp itself (two IR's can make it sound like 2 different amps). Might be worth having a bandmate join you for creating some presets to try out, then audition them at practice. I'm a big fan of band-commander for cleans, or plexi.
 
Definitely start from scratch and do what you know how to do. 99% really still is Bass Mid Treble. The key, the absolute make-or-break, is the cab IR. Seriously audition every one you've got that might be appropriate (and even some that you think wouldn't make sense at all) to see which one gets you close to what you want to hear before you delve into the other tweaky things.

Be sure that you click through the "low hanging fruit" switches (low cut, bright switch, etc) because a lot of what you're trying to find might be right there due to the vagaries of guitars, pickups, and cables.

Oh yeah and as was mentioned above, do soak up Leon Todd's @2112 tutorials. He's a treasure.
Thanks for taking the time to answer me. That makes a lot of sense to me and that is exactly what I'm going to do.
 
Try the usual suspects for clean amps: 59 bassguy, band-commander, double verb. As was mentioned, the IR will have a much bigger effect on the amp tone than the amp itself (two IR's can make it sound like 2 different amps). Might be worth having a bandmate join you for creating some presets to try out, then audition them at practice. I'm a big fan of band-commander for cleans, or plexi.
Looks like I better spend some real time with the cab IR's. Thanks so much for your answer.
 
Really, I find many of the presets in the FM3 to be excellent starting points. Especially with the last update to the presets. I never liked any of the presets in the AX8…

As you go through presets, if you find one that’s close, go to the amp block and make basic tone control adjustments. I’m surprised at how many people don’t like the presets, but all they do is spin through them. You would never walk into a music store and plug into an amp without making adjustments.
 
I've done this for a few clients with great success. An Axe-Fx I Ultra to the Axe-Fx III, an AX8 to an FM3, etc...

P.M. me if interested.

Moke
 
I’ll throw this out as an option. If you are not a “tweaker” and just want to get some good sounds in a hurry, consider downloading Austin Buddies 1000+ Live Gold Tonepack presets pack for the FM3. He has gone through and adjusted many of the presets and developed many of his own. These are said to be already “tuned” for live use. This might be a quick way to get you close to where you want to be. Austin’s preset packages are highly regarded by many FAS users.
 
I didn’t find Austin Buddies presets to sound better than the factory presets when I bought them for the AX8, but I didn’t buy his FM3 pack. The way he implemented the FX and controllers never suited my preferences.

What I did like about his presets is that you get every amp model represented in the presets, paired with an appropriate IR. I also liked that his presets focused less on special effects and more on the amps that the factory presets. Just like the factory presets, I thought they were a good starting points for making them your own and the biggest advantage is that all the amps are represented.
 
I saw this video on here a while back and found it really helpful for setting up a great Bassman preset. I used his amp and cab settings as a bassline and then threw a Zendrive and OCD into the two drive blocks.

 
I’ve become really fond of the Deluxe Reverb model with a York Audio Verb Deluxe IR. A TS808 or Full OD in front of it is great. I use a modified version of the stock deluxe reverb patch (somewhere in the first 50 presets from factory), with the swapped in IR. Baseman is nice too.
 
Thanks for your reply. I will check it out. I’ve learned a lot from the reply’s so far and I’m not ready to give up on the FM3. I’m not convinced that new always means better but I think in this case it probably should. I’ve started from scratch today on a Dumble amp and I feel like I’m having more success. I think the idea of the cabinet IR’s being the most important thing may very well be true. I may also try dialing in tones with headphones. I have been using my QSC TouchMix 16 into a QSC K10 because that’s what I use live more than 75% of the time.
 
I did not get the FM in the ball park of what I wanted until I added my hi/ lo cuts and loaded up my preferred IR. Those first two steps were crucial
 
I did not get the FM in the ball park of what I wanted until I added my hi/ lo cuts and loaded up my preferred IR. Those first two steps were crucial
Did you make your high and low cuts on a global setting? Or are you talking about on individual amps, cabinets, or effects. I'm still in the learning process myself and would love to hear your thoughts on this. What hi/lo cuts did you make it work for you? I'm not sure if it's an advantage or a disadvantage to be trying to get the sound through a QSC K10.2. That's the stuff my band generally uses and I'm wondering if I'm going about that the wrong way as well.
 
Really, I find many of the presets in the FM3 to be excellent starting points. Especially with the last update to the presets. I never liked any of the presets in the AX8…

As you go through presets, if you find one that’s close, go to the amp block and make basic tone control adjustments. I’m surprised at how many people don’t like the presets, but all they do is spin through them. You would never walk into a music store and plug into an amp without making adjustments.
The presets are excellent, especially ones written to specifically showcase a given amp. Sure, there's some outlandish stuff in there (i.e., Poltergeist Pigs), but even that stuff serves to underscore the capabilities of the unit.
 
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