Learning Curve?

shawnfitz1222

Inspired
One of my last hurdles is the learning curve. Is the FM3 easy to get the hang of? Is your approach to start with a patch that is close to what you want and tweak from there or do you create from scratch? The last thing that I want to buy into the FM3 modeling thing and end up with an "oh shit" moment with a gig coming on the weekend. It's creating a little anxiety or agita, as we say.

I imagine I'm not the first to feel this way and there must be tutorials everywhere. You guys have been amazing so far with all my questions. Thank you!
 
Ive had my AxeIII for about 4 months now. I think the biggest issue I had was stopping myself from trying EVERYTHING.

Pick a preset/amp you like, and tweak to get a sound. Honestly, most of the stuff sounds so good you'll have a sound in minutes.

HIGHLY reccomend anything by Leon Todd on YouTube. He pretty much has videos for every kind of sound. His tag is "2112" on this forum. You can search his threads :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrlsD6OalGm8pIqKVo81k6A
 
I’m an amateur closet guitarist. Never gigged or even really played through a real amp. I bought some commercial presets to help me get the tones I wanted. Those helped me learn the basics as well as watching some videos. It’s certainly not difficult to get good tones. If I can do it anyone can.
 
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I've had my FM3 for about 1 week now. I found the Leon Todd videos on YouTube to be very valuable, so I also recommend watching them for the basics of operating the FM3. I've done a little editing on the FM3 unit itself, but most of my editing has been done using FM3-Edit on my laptop. Using the laptop makes it much easier to make new presets. If you've got a Mac, its literally plug-n-play to hook up the FM3 to the laptop. Simply use a USB cable with a "B" end on one end and whatever you need for plugging into your laptop on the other. These cables are sometimes known as a USB printer cable. If you've got a Windows PC, you probably need to install a driver for it, but I'm not sure since I use a Mac. You can get FM3-Edit software from the Fractal Audio website. The main concept to understand is that you have to hook up virtual cables between the various virtual device blocks in the FM3 interface. Once you do that, you should be able to get sound and be able to add device blocks pretty easily.

- Mark
 
I started with the Ultra, had a II XL and now since a month a III. I suggest you to start with playing through the presets you get with the model. Find the 3-4 Sounds you like, and then try to build from scratch, starting with only the amp and cab block. Here you can copy from what you liked. With a little experimenting you soon get where you want to go. Then add effects, but one after the other.

Use Axe Edit. With the FM3 or Axe III experimenting got much easier and is fun. Don't start with commercial or AxeChange presets, as they sound different with different equipment (Guitar, PA, InEar, ...) and playing style.

And try to choose about the way you want to get the sound to your ears (PA, Monitor cab, earphones, inear, ...) and then stick with it as your reference point. If I create a sound at home in the afternoon with my earphones it might sound awesome and if I try it through the PA in the bandroom in the evening it might need a lot of adjustment.
 
For bedroom level sounds the presets are great. You’re done, just find some you like. Live use is where it gets trickier. At volume you’ll have to figure out how to tweak to make them sound great and fit in the mix. That takes time and skill. At least for me. In general the base presets have too much low and high end. So learning to dial those back or pushes the mids up is an art. That and just the overwhelming number of options means that time will have to get invested. Editing on a laptop is definitely easier and more intuitive for me. The videos out on YouTube are also priceless learning tools. Good luck!
 
For bedroom level sounds the presets are great. You’re done, just find some you like. Live use is where it gets trickier. At volume you’ll have to figure out how to tweak to make them sound great and fit in the mix. That takes time and skill. At least for me. In general the base presets have too much low and high end. So learning to dial those back or pushes the mids up is an art. That and just the overwhelming number of options means that time will have to get invested. Editing on a laptop is definitely easier and more intuitive for me. The videos out on YouTube are also priceless learning tools. Good luck!
Agree. The right Low Cut and High Cut setting is an essential variable (e.g. in the Cab Block). As well as the selection of the right cab - but that's easy to browse through. I use a looper block which I plug into the beginning of the patch, and then adjust while listening to the loop.
 
I agree with above comments... Use Axe Edit and the flow is exactly like connections in real equipment... but with a lot of more power!

For live use you cannot go wrong following @2112, @Marco Fanton or @Cooper Carter.
Leon Todd (2112) also shared his live patch.. You can stole A LOT of knowledge from it!

Bottom line: Create a sound for live situations... it's not a matter of device or equipment, it's more related to know and understand each block of the sound processing and the variables like eq, other group members, location, etc...
 
One of my last hurdles is the learning curve. Is the FM3 easy to get the hang of? Is your approach to start with a patch that is close to what you want and tweak from there or do you create from scratch? The last thing that I want to buy into the FM3 modeling thing and end up with an "oh shit" moment with a gig coming on the weekend. It's creating a little anxiety or agita, as we say.

I imagine I'm not the first to feel this way and there must be tutorials everywhere. You guys have been amazing so far with all my questions. Thank you!

The AX8 was a bear to figure out. It took a lot of trial and error. Not so much with the FM3. I would say its a major investment in your time to get to the point where you can edit the advanced features.
 
I have my FM3 coming in today, and I have a few processes that I want to master. I have purchased presets so I will not start by tweaking amps etc.

My first mission is to figure out the buttons and how to change presets and scenes. This is crucial to quickly getting me where I can use the FM3 at church. Just want to use the default settings for this process to begin with.

Next mission will be to figure out how to connect my external Big Sky Reverb to FM3 and control via midi.

After I figure out Big Sky, I have a Mosky Dual Switch I will figure out that will take the place using the default buttons to to switch presets.

As others have said Leon Todd's videos are great also Greg Summers - All on YouTube.
 
I have my FM3 coming in today, and I have a few processes that I want to master. I have purchased presets so I will not start by tweaking amps etc.

My first mission is to figure out the buttons and how to change presets and scenes. This is crucial to quickly getting me where I can use the FM3 at church. Just want to use the default settings for this process to begin with.

Next mission will be to figure out how to connect my external Big Sky Reverb to FM3 and control via midi.

After I figure out Big Sky, I have a Mosky Dual Switch I will figure out that will take the place using the default buttons to to switch presets.

As others have said Leon Todd's videos are great also Greg Summers - All on YouTube.
Have fun! :sunglasses:
 
One of my last hurdles is the learning curve. Is the FM3 easy to get the hang of? Is your approach to start with a patch that is close to what you want and tweak from there or do you create from scratch? The last thing that I want to buy into the FM3 modeling thing and end up with an "oh shit" moment with a gig coming on the weekend. It's creating a little anxiety or agita, as we say.

I imagine I'm not the first to feel this way and there must be tutorials everywhere. You guys have been amazing so far with all my questions. Thank you!
Cooper Carter’s class eliminated the learning curve for me, but honestly I had my FM3 before that class came out and I was getting around just fine with it. I always start from scratch with my presets so that I know exactly what is going on and there are no mysterious sounds or tones coming from a block that I am unaware of. I just visualize the rig that I would want to build in my head, and then put it together in FM3 Edit. I have been a tube amp guy for over 30 years, and with the FM3, I am never looking back.
Good luck on your journey! If you are not having fun, remind yourself that you are doing it wrong.
 
I started by watching 2112's videos (thanks again @2112 ) and dial the same (while pausing the video) from scratch. get a similar guitar so that you won't get frustrated. Then look for the advanced tweaks (thanks again @2112 ) that might get you that little extra you're looking for.

Oh, and us the same IRs as in the vids or get some decent ones (I personally use OH).

Don't forget to save once you got to a point where you like what you dial. Also backup before new firmwares in firmware specific folders. Newer patches are not (always?!?) compatible with older firmware.
Older ones are always compatible with newer firmwares.

Glorious! ;)
 
Cooper Carter’s class eliminated the learning curve for me, but honestly I had my FM3 before that class came out and I was getting around just fine with it. I always start from scratch with my presets so that I know exactly what is going on and there are no mysterious sounds or tones coming from a block that I am unaware of. I just visualize the rig that I would want to build in my head, and then put it together in FM3 Edit. I have been a tube amp guy for over 30 years, and with the FM3, I am never looking back.
Good luck on your journey! If you are not having fun, remind yourself that you are doing it wrong.
Great reminder, thank you. It's good to know that you were building from scratch right off the bat.
 
I just got my FM3 in the mail, and it took me about 3 minutes to figure out my first mission which was to change the 2 outer buttons to change Presets instead of Scenes by default. Easy thing to change in the grand scheme of things, but it was my first stab at FM3 Edit.

I will say there is is a whole lot more going on versus Helix Edit, but it is not beyond me yet.
 
Been here for a long time. Owned many.
Simply put: It is as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. Stay on the basics, like a real amp and it's simple............I started by tweaking "Basics" of presets that came close to what I wanted. Simple!
 
I agree with above comments... Use Axe Edit and the flow is exactly like connections in real equipment... but with a lot of more power!

For live use you cannot go wrong following @2112, @Marco Fanton or @Cooper Carter.
Leon Todd (2112) also shared his live patch.. You can stole A LOT of knowledge from it!

Bottom line: Create a sound for live situations... it's not a matter of device or equipment, it's more related to know and understand each block of the sound processing and the variables like eq, other group members, location, etc...
I searched 2112 on youtube and got all rush songs. *(Obvi) Does he have a name that I can search? Same for the others.
 
I started by watching 2112's videos (thanks again @2112 ) and dial the same (while pausing the video) from scratch. get a similar guitar so that you won't get frustrated. Then look for the advanced tweaks (thanks again @2112 ) that might get you that little extra you're looking for.

Oh, and us the same IRs as in the vids or get some decent ones (I personally use OH).

Don't forget to save once you got to a point where you like what you dial. Also backup before new firmwares in firmware specific folders. Newer patches are not (always?!?) compatible with older firmware.
Older ones are always compatible with newer firmwares.

Glorious! ;)
@2112 isn't even real...he has to be a bot, programmed and working for the gnash.
 
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Leon Todd. My FM3 arrives tomorrow, and I’m planning on only using his vids to get started, especially for the high gain stuff
I just used one of this Tone Tuesday videos to figure out how to hook up my external expression pedal - good stuff from Leon!
 
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