Just got my Axe II and is does not sound right

J

joetdc

Member
All presets sound like the input is not turned up enough. The cleans are muddy and the distortion has nothing too it. Recto sounds like a bad plexi.
I went into I/O and have tried turning it up little by little. The inster and input 1 are turned up all the way. Still sounds like crap. All I did was unhook my Ultra and plug the Axe II in. Using FRFR speakers. Have my guitar plugged into the front. I know I must be doing somthing wroing. With my Ultra all I did was turn up the input a little and adjust output to desiered level and I was good to go. Any help would be apreciatied.
 
Turn up the input until it flickers red occasionally. I'm at 99.2%, it came new at 49.6%.
 
Cab and amp settings are turned on. I just pulled it out of the box. Hooked up my speakers and plugged my guitar in the front input. I did not touch any settings except for changing the presets. It should sound good just like that. I also find it very strange that the first two presets (000, 001) are for bass. Quite strange for a GUITAR processor. The main knob seems over responsive too. If I just flick it I'm 30 presets from where I was. This sucks I hope there is nothing wrong with the unit. Pick harmonics are almost impossible to get, distortions is crap. No way this is right. Something is up.
 
joetdc said:
Cab and amp settings are turned on. I just pulled it out of the box. Hooked up my speakers and plugged my guitar in the front input. I did not touch any settings except for changing the presets. It should sound good just like that. I also find it very strange that the first two presets (000, 001) are for bass. Quite strange for a GUITAR processor. The main knob seems over responsive too. If I just flick it I'm 30 presets from where I was. This sucks I hope there is nothing wrong with the unit. Pick harmonics are almost impossible to get, distortions is crap. No way this is right. Something is up.
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The first two presets are two of the best *guitar* amps ever made. The main knob isn't linear, it has acceleration, turn it slower. Not sure what else is going on but it's probably some basic config. Definitely do a system reset.
 
joetdc said:
Cab and amp settings are turned on. I just pulled it out of the box. Hooked up my speakers and plugged my guitar in the front input. I did not touch any settings except for changing the presets. It should sound good just like that. I also find it very strange that the first two presets (000, 001) are for bass. Quite strange for a GUITAR processor. The main knob seems over responsive too. If I just flick it I'm 30 presets from where I was. This sucks I hope there is nothing wrong with the unit. Pick harmonics are almost impossible to get, distortions is crap. No way this is right. Something is up.
Click to expand...

Fender Bassman amps are well known to be used for guitars and not just primarily for the bass.

You need to set your unit up. My INSTR input is set at 100%. Read the WIKI. Read the manual. Lot's of valuable information in both. The II and the Ultra are different animals!
 
Yes now that I had a chance to look at it those are great amps. But since all I am hearing is mud out of my 2400 unit it did not cross my mind. I feel like it's somthing stupid but, like I said all I did was plug it in. Even with the inster an input 1 at 50% is should still sound good. I just plugged my Ultra back in to make sure it was not all in my head. It's not. And the Ultra is factory reset.
 
Make sure your input set to L only, and not L+R sum.

Input gain will not make your pickups hotter...it is purely trimming the AD converter. To get more juice from your pickups you need to trim it somewhere in the grid.
 
I had no idea the Axe II was going to be this compictaed to set up. All I did with Ultra was turn input up to clip and output to desired level. The ad says the II it's more user friendly. I still think somthing is wrong. I know this is a tweakers dream unit but, it should sound decent right out of the box.
 
joetdc, your freaking out is freaking ME out! Take a deep breath...and....relaxxxxx. jeez. You've had the AxeFx for how many minutes/hours?

My guess is that you probably aren't terribly comfortable with this type of problem and may not be very skilled at the process of troubleshooting audio electronics. Am I right? If that is the case, then you're going to need to just step back and put things into perspective and be patient. If you have a defective unit, you'll be taken care of. If your AxeFx is working properly and you simply don't like it, there is the 15 day return policy, right? Either way, you won't be completely screwed...so...you with us here?
 
joetdc said:
I had no idea the Axe II was going to be this compictaed to set up. All I did with Ultra was turn input up to clip and output to desired level. The ad says the II it's more user friendly. I still think somthing is wrong. I know this is a tweakers dream unit but, it should sound decent right out of the box.
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It is more user friendly... no need to tweak if you don't want to. Which firmware do you have installed ? Remember the II is NOT the Ultra - it has different modeling (G2), TWO DSP's so it may sound quite different from the Ultra. Without clips, its really difficult to determine what you mean by "crap".

PS: What did you play before the Ultra? Maybe you are expecting it to sound like the Ultra? It does not.
 
If you are using an XLR cable to your speakers check the wiring or try another cable. I discovered if the wiring is wrong it sounds like crap but still works :)

It would not surprise me if quite a few folks are running with a dud cable and just don't realize it. Try a few cables, you may be pleasantly shocked :razz


Cheers S
 
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I apologize if i am giving the impression that I am "freaking out" I'm not. I know I can return it. I was expecting it to sound different than the Ultra. I know what a JCM, 5150, recto should sound like. I thought the Ultra did a great job emulating these amps. I know that this is subjective but I am quite certain that the Axe II is not supposed to sound like this. Yes I am probably not very savvy compared to most people on this forum. That being said I have had rack mount effects since the ART days. Getting a good sound right out of the box should not be rocket science.
 
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