I need help to figure out my FM3

A

Allendeguitar

Member
Hello everyone
Many thanks in advance.
I bought a FM3 unit in October 2021 and I just spent 3 months reading and learning the whole manual and watching videos about Fractal units on youtube.
I am jazz guitarist so I do not have a lot of experience with these devices, so I bought the unit to record a Rock album for someone, but the sounds are uninspired to me. I do not what to do. I am completely frustrated at this point so I recorded a video. I do not get the sounds I hear on the videos I watched even copying their parameters. The clean sounds great but any High gain amp sound bad to me, kinda fuzzy.
Is there something with the sound of my Fm3 or is that the way it is supposed to sound? Maybe I should just move on to a different thing, my last shot. Thanks

 
Try this with the USA Lead model:

Drive - 8
Overdrive - 8
Bass - 1
Mid - 4
Treble - 7
Presence - 4
Output EQ set to a 5 band Mark and a slight V to pull a bit of midrange out.

Like LiquidGuitar said, the Mark IV and Mark IC+ are tough to dial in if you're not used to them. The default all at noon setting is pretty bad on them.

I'd start with something like the Friedman BE or 5153 models if you want a more plug and play high gain amp. FAS Modern III sounds fantastic for more modern metal sounds and is easy to dial in too.
 
Mesa Mark amps use a somewhat different approach than many other amps.

Off the top of my head, try these settings for the USA Lead:
Drive: 6.5
Overdrive: 5.5
Bass: 2.5
Mid: 6
Treble: 7.5

Also, go to the Output EQ tab and dial in a slight V-curve EQ.

EDIT: Hah, you beat me @mr_fender !
 
Given those amp settings, I'm surprised it sounds as good as it does! I can't think of many amps that wouldn't sound like a$$ with both drive and overdrive dimed. Less is more!
 
thanks for all the suggestions guys. I just really wanted to know if that was the way that these amps sound, so if now I need to tweak them I will have to start doing it. I was just afraid that there was something wrong with the FM3. Thanks again
 
I second using the factory presets as a starting point. There are so many great ones out there. Resist the urge to deep dive and stick with BMT on your amp settings (input trim is also very useful) until you get more comfortable with the unit.
 
Yeah, factory presets are where you wanna be. And they're not all going to sound good with the same guitar at their stock settings either.
And what are playing through? It matters. A lot.
 
Typically, a hi gain tone uses a boost in front of the amp. You can do this either in the Amp block or a separate block in front of the amp. A common type of boost or distortion to use is the T808 with the level turned up and the distortion turned down.

Getting a really nice hi gain tone is not easy. Too many people think it's just distortion, why don't it sound right. Amps are not supposed to distort if used "correctly". It's turned into an art form to get the perfect distortion.
 
Allendeguitar said:
thanks for all the suggestions guys. I just really wanted to know if that was the way that these amps sound, so if now I need to tweak them I will have to start doing it. I was just afraid that there was something wrong with the FM3. Thanks again
Click to expand...

I've only had my FM3 a couple weeks but cut tracks after a week using presets out of the box. I agree with everyone, start there. The factory presets are all tastefully dialed in. A really fantastic preset I've been using with my strat is called Tri Crown. It's a wonderfully dialed in Mesa Triple Crown. The scenes are great starting points for pretty much any tone.

I've owned two Mesas. A Mark V 25 and a Mark V 35. Echoing others, those amps are a pain if you don't read the manual or study up on their tone stacks. The rewards for doing that though can be a tone nirvana. Look up Andy Timmons' Lucy Mark V 25 demo for an example of how beautiful these amps can sound.

I'm confident once you get it, you'll be smiling ear to ear and you'll be wondering where this thing can take your Jazz playing.
 
Thanks again for all the responses again and for the nice words and suggestions. I started to explore with sounds and I created a great sound based on a Bogner xtc and it sounds awesome when I am jamming but when I record in Reaper and I listen back it sounds a bit different , I am trying to figure this out, but thanks guys again I appreciate it!!!
 
Allendeguitar said:
Thanks again for all the responses again and for the nice words and suggestions. I started to explore with sounds and I created a great sound based on a Bogner xtc and it sounds awesome when I am jamming but when I record in Reaper and I listen back it sounds a bit different , I am trying to figure this out, but thanks guys again I appreciate it!!!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you're paying at low volume. You're hearing your unplugged sound on top of your amplified sound. If you turn up until you can't hear your strings anymore, they'll both sound the same.
 
Rex said:
Sounds like you're paying at low volume. You're hearing your unplugged sound on top of your amplified sound. If you turn up until you can't hear your strings anymore, they'll both sound the same.
Click to expand...
Interesting , I will give it a shot! Thanks!!!!!
 
Rex said:
Sounds like you're paying at low volume. You're hearing your unplugged sound on top of your amplified sound. If you turn up until you can't hear your strings anymore, they'll both sound the same.
Click to expand...
Should I turn the volume up on the FM3 or the amp block or.... my speakers?
 
Allendeguitar said:
Should I turn the volume up on the FM3 or the amp block or.... my speakers?
Click to expand...
If you change the master volume on the amp block, you will change the tone.

You can:

1. Increase volume at the Output block. You can also adjust individual scene volumes here (which is sometimes helpful).
2. Turn up the output volume knob on the FM3 (just be sure not to overdrive your speaker/monitor).
3. Turn up the volume on your physical speaker/monitor.
 
fcs101 said:
You can:

1. Increase volume at the Output block. You can also adjust individual scene volumes here (which is sometimes helpful).
2. Turn up the output volume knob on the FM3 (just be sure not to overdrive your speaker/monitor).
3. Turn up the volume on your physical speaker/monitor.
Click to expand...
One of these options will require adjusting every preset. The other two won't. :)
 
fcs101 said:
If you change the master volume on the amp block, you will change the tone.

You can:

1. Increase volume at the Output block. You can also adjust individual scene volumes here (which is sometimes helpful).
2. Turn up the output volume knob on the FM3 (just be sure not to overdrive your speaker/monitor).
3. Turn up the volume on your physical speaker/monitor.
Click to expand...
You can turn up the Amp block Level to make it purely louder... That's different than Master Volume which as you mentioned affects the tone.

The Level control is a great one to use when leveling presets.
 
unix-guy said:
You can turn up the Amp block Level to make it purely louder... That's different than Master Volume which as you mentioned affects the tone.

The Level control is a great one to use when leveling presets.
Click to expand...
True. But we're not leveling presets here. We're just trying to make everything louder. If the OP's presets are anywhere near leveled, changing the Amp block's Level control will throw all the other presets off.
 
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