Right Now I'm using the FAS Modern. I might have been too concentrated on the actual settings than on the amp models, so that's a thing I want to check out. Anny recommendations? I'm going towards a more modern Death Metal Sound. Where you can hear chords clearly, get a lot of punch when I chug and and don't get too much feedback.
Well, the FAS Modern is a nice model, and probably pretty well suited to what you're aiming for. It's kind of a "best bits of" modern heavy amps. There are certainly others that you could try, but the FAS Modern is by no means a misguided choice. I'm more a Mark series guy normally, but if I wanted a "modern metal" sound... the FAS Modern is probably the first thing I'd turn to.
Well, I kinda guessed that. But still. Before I go out there and buy new gear I want to make the best of what I have. And then, when there's nothing else to change and tweak (ok that ones gonna be tricky with the Axe-Fx), then I'll go buy whatever makes the sound better. So for now I'll stick with the stock 1960A
Well, the unfortunate fact is, the speakers (and the cab they're in) do make a huge difference to the sound. Really, I'd say it's one of the biggest factors in the overall sound. Back when I ran a stock 1960A (pre-Axe days), lack of clarity was one of the problems I had. The midrange was lacking, the low end was fairly loose, and the highs fizzy. Pump a cranked Marshall through that and the two'll probably work together nicely. But modern metal tones, maybe not as nice a combination. I can understand the desire to want to get everything you can out of the current setup, but at the end of the day the speakers are the last part of the chain (not counting mic'ing it up and running it through a PA) and they have a big effect. And not even just the speakers, the cab too. I can take the V30 out of my 1x12 and whack it into my 2x12 and there's a significant sound difference. One that no amount of EQing is really going to dial out. On one hand it's more money to spend... on the other hand... you've got the guitar you want (I assume), running into an Axe-FX, into a nice poweramp and then into... a 1960A, which you possibly picked up cheap coz they're just everywhere. It'd be like having all the nicest ingredients, but all you have to finish off your cooking is soy sauce. Sure that'll work great for some things, but for other things... no amount of adding other herbs and spices is going to make up for it. The 1960A's not a bad cab... but as nice as it might be, you probably wouldn't tow a caravan with a Ferrari.
That's a thing I covered in multiple forums and in the end nothing really helped. My gain is really not turned up that much. Just enough to cross the bridge between crunchy and high gain Sound.
If you're really not using that much gain, I'd maybe start wondering about your pickups or something. Back when I played loud with the band, I used more gain than I personally liked (still not a lot by some metal standards I guess, but it was a metal band), and never had a problem with feedback. In practice or live, I had to deliberately coax out feedback if I wanted it.
As to the other stuff going on in the Axe Fx: For my Rythm patch I actually don't have anything fancy in there. I have an Overdrive Pedal. The Nullfilter (as suggested by Cliff) the Amp and then a Cab Sim trying to emulate the 1960A and respectively a FX Loop for the Output going to my ENGL.
That sounds nearly as simple as the chains I tend to use. I guess what I'd suggest is to tweak by ear, and no by eye or by what you think "should" go in there. Maybe (just as an example) you're whacking the overdrive in there largely coz when you look at the rigs of whatever guitarists in whatever bands, they're all running Tubescreamers or similar things in front of their amps, and they all talk about that being an important part of the sound. On the other hand, those guys (running "real" amps) don't have the kind of controls available to tweak the amp like an Axe user does. Nor do they have the fictional idealised FAS Modern to play with. Nor are they you, playing in the band you're in. Cliff's Nulfilter tip makes sense if you want a crazy tight attack, but personally for me I think a good death metal guitar tone has a depth and a bit of sag in the attack that a tweak like that is basically working directly against. If you were aiming for a djenty tone or something then yeah, that's a great idea. But to me a death metal tone should have a bit of "flub" in the attack, and from there you can control it to a degree with your right hand.
There's also the whole thing of dialing it in to fit the band, and of course whether the other guys in the band also need to look at their own sounds. I mean, you could go nuts trying to tweak your sound to perfection, and meanwhile the bassist in your death metal band is inappropriately trying to sound like Lars Norberg in Spiral Architect, and your drummer is playing a 1/2-size child's kit. :lol