Migrating from AxeFX II & MFC to AxeFX III & FC12

Roland

Roland

Experienced
Next week I’ll start migrating from an AxeFX II and MFC to an AxeFX III and FC12.

Currently I use five presets, each with five scenes. They’re all carefully honed down over years of playing gigs. So this isn’t a volume problem, more about getting the details right. Initially I’m expecting to build a similar number of presets so that I can swap over at minimal risk. Experimenting with new features can come later. However, when I migrated from Ultra to II (yes, I’ve been using Fractal for that long) I initially missed out on useful features like scenes.

Many people have trodden this path. What worked well for you? What would you do differently if you were starting again?
 
Being able to use 4 channels of almost everything (as opposed to the X-Y option in the AFX II) was a game changer for me in the way I saet up my presets. My suggestion would to be open-minded about recreating your 5 presets. In my case, I started with converting all of my presets via FracTool, but in the end I pretty much re-built everything from scratch.
 
TG3K said:
in the end I pretty much re-built everything from scratch.
Click to expand...
I think that's the best solution. Cygnus and the factory presets are so much better than before and the settings are different, so using the settings for the FX2 will very likely result in sub-optimal results.

I'd recommend roaming through all the factory presets, copying the ones that sound good to Bank D, then audition them against each other to narrow them down further, then start taking them apart and tweaking them to taste.
 
Investigate the pre-preset switch options. The FCs works totally differently to the MFC, so the footswitch layouts and allowing some switch configurations to change per preset might make using the FC more efficient.
 
Consistency across presets is important, so I’m resisting per-preset switching options. However I am tempted by Tap and Hold to give two options on one footswitch.
 
Roland said:
Consistency across presets is important, so I’m resisting per-preset switching options. However I am tempted by Tap and Hold to give two options on one footswitch.
Click to expand...
I like to have a consistent EFFECTS layout and then use per-preset overrides on this layout to tailor it to the preset. That's where I use the most PP overrides in my FC setups.
 
Holy moly! You are in for a short, steep, but ultimately sweet learning curve. I did the same last year (or was it the one before, the pandemic is making them all merge into one). I was mainly using 4 presets, each with 5 scenes with the FX II and MFC-101. Would generally jump onto "Reveal" shortly after selecting a Scene. Pretty much replicated that for the Axe FX III, but running 6-8 scenes is much more my normal now. I tend to flick between Scenes and Effects layouts on the FC12 via long press, but I also set up long presses so that Channels and Presets layouts are never too far away. For some reason (I guess accessibility and descriptions on scribble strips) I tend to have a few more Presets set up for experimentation now, sometimes with wild and unlikely amp model choices.

I think I slightly disagree that anyone needs to start from scratch. Took me no more than 30 minutes with the FC12 to replicate close enough to the way I had been using the MFC-101 that I was happy. Used it all like that for a week or 2 while I figured out some of the additional functionality, and then started working on what could be achieved ultimately. I'm still working on that (without ever even trying Per Preset so far), but the other thing to factor in is that the Axe FX III sounds/feels way better than the Axe FX II due to firmware improvements.

What would I do different? Not so much. Trust the factory models and start with the amps reset, rather than trying to carry over deep-dive amp adjustments I felt I needed in Aries - Cygnus works out of the box much, much better. Explore the new factory cab IRs early on. There are some peaches in there.

It's a trip, I hope you love it as much as I have. Not sure if the levels tool in Axe Edit has become available for the Axe FX II (I really ought to sell it, haven't plugged into it in almost 2 years), but it's worth clicking on. Expect it to be a moderate challenge changing over, and you won't be disappointed. Then you can get into the good stuff.

Liam
 
Roland said:
Consistency across presets is important, so I’m resisting per-preset switching options. However I am tempted by Tap and Hold to give two options on one footswitch.
Click to expand...
Good thinking. I've used the FC12 for 2 years now and every preset (that isn't just for messing around or for something specialised) I use is set up the exact same way. Scene 1 is distorted rhythm, scene 2 is lead, etc, so that my standard FC layout works for every preset I normally use. It's been a godsend for getting things set up right.

I don't use the tap/hold functions just because they change when the switch activates from when it's pressed down to when it's released, and that just doesn't really mesh with how I press buttons, but YMMV.
 
JDR3009 said:
...

I don't use the tap/hold functions just because they change when the switch activates from when it's pressed down to when it's released, and that just doesn't really mesh with how I press buttons, but YMMV.
Click to expand...
My workaround for this is to only use long presses on the top right of the FC-12, leaving the bottom row and top left for everything I need to be instant. Oh, and one on the extreme right of the bottom row as a "reveal" for any long presses. So far it's working pretty well as a policy.

The flexibility of the FC-12 with Axe FX III is just immense!

Liam
 
Roland said:
Consistency across presets is important, so I’m resisting per-preset switching options. However I am tempted by Tap and Hold to give two options on one footswitch.
Click to expand...
Tap and Hold are the usual course and, combined with the Per-Preset foot switches, they’re very powerful because we can override our switch settings as needed.

Earlier tonight I needed to add a switch to my layout to enable/disable DELAY 2 and its associated hold function, and that functionality worked nicely. I look at all my presets and find the most often needed effects that need switches and assign those as global, then fill in with those that are incidental as per-preset switches.

A lot of my tap switches are set so the hold function increments the channel for that particular effect. That lets me switch between various modeled sounds for that block if I need to.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
...

A lot of my tap switches are set so the hold function increments the channel for that particular effect. That lets me switch between various modeled sounds for that block if I need to.
Click to expand...

And as long as you keep in mind that it stops them from being "instant" (and I'd have to argue that an instant delay is not often needed), it all works brilliantly (I sometimes use long presses to toggle channels, but will now consider channel increments as well). I feel like the Axe/FC12 works amazingly well for anything up to the improbable, but the impossible is also possible with a little bit of lateral thought, and allowance for imperfection. ;)

Liam
 
LiamH said:
And as long as you keep in mind that it stops them from being "instant" (and I'd have to argue that an instant delay is not often needed), it all works brilliantly (I sometimes use long presses to toggle channels, but will now consider channel increments as well). I feel like the Axe/FC12 works amazingly well for anything up to the improbable, but the impossible is also possible with a little bit of lateral thought, and allowance for imperfection. ;)

Liam
Click to expand...
They're instant because I change channels before I need to enable the block.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
Up above I mentioned I use hold to switch the channels of blocks, and tap to enable/disable. So, they function as normal with the additional ability to change which channel fires before enabling the effect, and enable instantly when I tap.
Click to expand...
Yes, I saw that, but when there is any sort of hold function, the tap function fires on "switch up", which is slightly slower than the "switch down" firing you get when no hold function is present. The action can't fire on "switch down" if you need to differentiate taps from holds. The way the unit determines whether you are tapping or holding is by measuring the time the switch is held down. Less time than the preset threshold gets counted as a tap.

If you tap quickly there will be little difference between them, though....
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
Yes, I saw that, but when there is any sort of hold function, the tap function fires on "switch up", which is slightly slower than the "switch down" firing you get when no hold function is present. ...
Click to expand...
For those of us that used to use a Russian "Tank" Big Muff Pi, with a switch button that was like something out of The Simpsons, it's not all that alien. Seem to remember the effect switch in on stepping off, but absolutely certain it switch out when you took your foot off. Still got mine somewhere, might have to give it a try.

Liam
 
LiamH said:
For those of us that used to use a Russian "Tank" Big Muff Pi, with a switch button that was like something out of The Simpsons, it's not all that alien. Seem to remember the effect switch in on stepping off, but absolutely certain it switch out when you took your foot off. Still got mine somewhere, might have to give it a try.

Liam
Click to expand...
I have a green one with the big fat aluminum button. Is that the 'Tank'?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom