Master Volume!!!

torkolort

Inspired
I've always felt like there's something fundamental wrong with my tone, both lead and rhythm. I've experimented with about every parameter there is, which doesn't have to be a negative thing as it has made me understand more and more how things work. BUT. Since I've read so many times "keep the master vol low on the Mark series amps, no higher than 3-4" I've just settled with that and just totally stopped thinking about it.

Yesterday I started experimenting with the master vol. It started when I hooked up with Axe-Edit which then auto-selects the first preset, the Studio lead 1. Normally I just insta switch to my own presets, but just for fun I tried it out and I immediately felt it had something I was missing. I selected one of my lead patches and increased the master vol from 3.00 to 6.00, and turned the drive slightly down. It was so much better! Today I've redone a couple of my patches and just WOW. fjkalskjfsalkjfsflkjslfjkssfljkfajslljkfsakljfassfajkskfjjklsflkjfsjfshjaslfajslk YES!!!!!

I just can't believe how much my tone improved. It's so much more natural, has more body, soul, voice, sustain, etc etc just what I've been missing. But most of all the feel is so improved. Before, it felt like the guitar was opposing to everything I did and that I had to force the tones out of it. Now we are on the same team, and the guitar actually WANTS the tones to come out the way I want.

Anyway I'm very interested in hearing what you guys think, but at the same time, lesson learned: DON'T BASE YOUR PRESETS EXCLUSIVELY ON WHAT YOU "SHOULD DO"! Maybe it's the new firmware, maybe I'm screwed up I don't know, the only thing I know is that it sounds amazing to me.

I have a mixed feeling, I'm both frustrated that I haven't tried this before, but also extremely happy I finally figured it out. Mostly happy though :D
 
ditto bro....I typically run my master at 6 and above to pull the depth and sustain back into the mix. I prefer a slightly compressed sustain, and running my master up higher on the Brownface accomplishes this for me.
My bread and butter for my strat is usually an overdriven clean sound. Since I don't play metal stuff very often, I like to hear the guitar fullness "bloom" as they say. Glad your finding treasures on your quest. BTW, I have a standard, do a lot of Hillsongs, Crowder, Brewster in A P&W band.
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Master up, Drive down = more Power Amp drive. Brings out more of the Poweramp character, works great on a variety of amp models.

Like Scott says, "Tweak with your ears, not your eyes."
 
In addition to reading other threads, I've also been told when posting clips to lower my master vol to reduce booming. The booming has been a big issue for me for a long time, so when I first heard it I guess I just got stuck on that thought. What's funny is that at a later stage, when I had all my patches with master at 3, I was advised in a recording thread I posted that I should back off on the master vol. So at least now I've realized that it's not the cause of the booming.

I play mostly DT, and I learned that the "proper" thing to do to get Petrucci-tones was supposedly to have the master at 3 on the IIC+ etc, but I found that I sound A LOT closer when increasing it.

Very true what you guys say about tweaking with ears, and if it sounds good then it is good. It's just that when I first got my Axe-Fx a year and a half ago, I was totally new to all sound related stuff, so I was very dependent on following peoples advices and experiences. But I guess it's time for me to spread my wings ;)

And yeah, I did make this discovery after FW 11, I'm wondering how much impact that update has on this.
 
d and running my master up higher on the Brownface accomplishes this for me.

The Brownface, as a lot of other amp sims, is a model of an amp that has no master volume.
Those sims typically need the Axe-Fx Master set between 9 and 10 to simulate that. Then use Drive to set volume and (depending on the amp sim) gain.
This applies to all Fenders except Blues Jr, and Plexi, Vox, 1987x, Wrecker, JM45 ....
 
I use a Mark IV and Rectifier Orange model. On the Mark IV, I keep the drive up to around 5 or 6, master volume down and I get a nice Dream Theater sound. The rectifier is a different beast. I up the Master and bring the drive to about 3. It's crunchy and suits a heavy style without going into the metalcore ludicrous amounts of gain territory, and it responds far better to aggressive rhythm.
 
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