Modern Rock/Metal Lead/Solo Preset/Settings Recommandations and Advice

Hi there

I'm try to get a nice fat modern high gain lead tone for heavy rock, soft metal :)

I'm interessted in your approaches to get this:

What I know:
high gain amp, reverb, delay 320ms, distortion stomp

But there are so many options and settings possible, so my question to guys is:
  • What amps you can recommand? what amp settings? dive into the advanced settings or better not?
  • What drives? what drive settings?
  • What other blocks? Filter? EQ? Booster?


I also heard, that you get better rock lead tone by use clean amp+channel and use heavy distortion block infront.


Thank you guys in advance! This forum is really cool! So many cool people here helping each other! Maybe sometime some sarcasm, but that's tolly fine and funny :D

Cheers!
Marc
 
It might be a lot better if you provided a sample of what you’re going for… There are so many different “lead” toanz.

I.e. some leads are very different; David Gilmour is very different than Jeff Beck and Hendrix versus Adrian Belew or Pat Metheny.
 
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If you ask 20 guys how to get the tones you mentioned, you'll probably get 40 different answers. Since you're just starting out (getting your Axe-Fx tomorrow), my suggestion would be to try a lot of different things. Some guys like a clean amp with the dirty distortion block in front. Other guys like a dirty amp with a bit more dirt coming from an overdrive block in front. Some guys only use the amp model with no distortion or overdrive in front. There are so many good amp models in the Axe-Fx, you really need to try them all to see which ones have the sound you're looking for. At this point, don't worry about the advanced parameters. Your time will be better spent trying different amp models and cab IRs to see which ones you like. The cab IRs are as important as the amp models themselves, and you'll have thousands to choose from. The beauty of the Axe-Fx is you can quickly change things around with just a few clicks of your mouse, so experimenting is easy.
 
Additionally, this is not really a product specific question.

It’s more a function of how you could “sit in the mix” or work within a band context. I would start there and not worry about a given amplifier channel or distortion pedal - much less their specific settings/values.
 
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At this point, don't worry about the advanced parameters. Your time will be better spent trying different amp models and cab IRs to see which ones you like. The cab IRs are as important as the amp models themselves, and you'll have thousands to choose from.
Thanks, that's I think a good advice. It's maybe a lot of work trying all those cab IR's.... :)

Additionally, this is not really a product specific question.
It’s more a function of how you could “sit in the mix” or work within a band context. I would start there and not worry about a given amplifier channel or distortion peddle, much less their settings/values.
I'm not playing in a band, just for my self, searching my holy grail of guitar tone. Of course I will change the tone type and EQ depending on the backingtrack. But there is a basic fundamental tone I wanna use.

It might be a lot better if you provided a sample of what you’re going for… There are so many different “lead” toanz.
Lead tone example:

that deep, strong, not bright, not fuzzy, and somehow (to me) "clear" tone
 
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