Muffled Tones

Kyloc_Armis

Member
I'm sure there has been threads about this in the past, but I figured there could be different reasons why different people get muffled tones.

I recently bought the Axe III brand new and run straight into the unit then out to a Friedman ASC-12 FRFR monitor. I have also run it through a Bose PA to eliminate the Friedman as the mud I'm hearing.

I play with PRS singlecuts loaded with Duncan JBs and 59s. I also play through Les Pauls with high output stock pups. I know...I'm a basic b*tch lol.

Every internal preset and every axe-change preset sounds muffled, even though on youtube they sound crisp (yes I realize hearing it via computer is different). But I don't see how guys doing a demo of a preset on youtube can comment on the exact same settings sounding great when all I hear is trash.

I'm not trying to troll, I spent a lot of money on this rig as I believe in the product and I want it to work but it's a bit of a mystery to me as to why it sounds this way.

Before everybody asks; yes my ears work, yes my cable is high quality and functions, yes my strings are fresh so on and so forth lol.

Thanks gents!
 
Can you post a recording using a few different muffled presets, direct or mic'd or both?
 
Can you post a recording using a few different muffled presets, direct or mic'd or both?
I can try when I get back home. I was going to do this pre-posting this thread but it's literally every tone I load up just sounds....lifeless. Almost like I put a blanket over the speaker.
 
Post a recording so we can hear

Try lowering your pickup height as well, quite a few users had similar issues with similarly hot pickups and that worked for them

Did you adjust your instrument level on the i/o setup page?

What firmware are you using? (Setup->utilities->version)

Also I won't recommend the bose at all.....
 
Post a recording so we can hear

Try lowering your pickup height as well, quite a few users had similar issues with similarly hot pickups and that worked for them

Did you adjust your instrument level on the i/o setup page?

What firmware are you using? (Setup->utilities->version)

Also I won't recommend the bose at all.....
I definetly don't play the bose regularily. It was laying around so I plugged into it only to confirm the Friedman wasn't the issue. I'm using the latest firmware that I literally downloaded 2 days ago (dont remember off the top of my head the firmware number). I haven't messed with instrument level in I/O...maybe the culprit? I figured the default levels for everything should be sufficient but I'm also a newbie with this. I was an analog only guy since I started playing 18 years ago.
 
Post a recording so we can hear

Try lowering your pickup height as well, quite a few users had similar issues with similarly hot pickups and that worked for them

Did you adjust your instrument level on the i/o setup page?

What firmware are you using? (Setup->utilities->version)

Also I won't recommend the bose at all.....
Also, I'm definetly not clipping, all my guitars are similar and "tickle the red" as they say.
 
Is it the Lows that are muddy?

Easiest ways to cut those
Cab block lo cut
Amp block cut
Pre Eq cut

Also dont be afraid to turn up the mids. And treble

But yes a clip of a few presets would help
 
Does it sound muffled with headphones?

Do a system reset and see if that makes a difference.

How are you connecting the Axe Fx to the speakers? What cables are you using?

Accidentally have a Wah turned on but heel down?
 
Hey, I’m using Duncan Lil 59’s in the neck & middle and a JBjr in the Bridge in my Knaggs Severn at the moment. I’m switching those out at the end of this month however. So tone wise we should be in the same ballpark. If you want you could post up a patch and I’d be happy to load it up see how it sounds, if it’s a pickup thing ( cause these lil 59’s are pretty heavy on the bass side) I’ll know right away. The JBjr doesn’t suffer so much from the same lows plus it’s in the Bridge, but the problem I have with it is it’s not as hot, which I didn’t realize when I put this combo in.
Anyway, other than that, did ya check your global settings? Any global EQing going on?
 
Does it sound muffled with headphones?

Do a system reset and see if that makes a difference.

How are you connecting the Axe Fx to the speakers? What cables are you using?

Accidentally have a Wah turned on but heel down?
I connect the axe to the Friedman monitor via a standard XLR. Going inti the axe from guitar I have an american stage planet wave cable. I don't have any high quality headphones I would trust to losten to audio through.
 
How did your guitar sound through your amp? If you were able to dial in tones on your amp before without having to lower your pickups, you should be able to use similar settings on the amp block and as long as you have a good IR chosen, it should sound pretty similar overall.
 
If a tweeter was somehow disabled it would sound muffled.

You have cabinet and power amp modeling enabled?
 
I would not lower the pickups. I play mostly a PRS with hot pickups. I sometimes have turned the bass down to 3, raised the mid to 5.5 or 6 and treble at least on 5. I pretty much always put a PEQ at the end of the chain before the out and blocked everything below 80hz and everything above 8k.
 
I definetly don't play the bose regularily. It was laying around so I plugged into it only to confirm the Friedman wasn't the issue. I'm using the latest firmware that I literally downloaded 2 days ago (dont remember off the top of my head the firmware number). I haven't messed with instrument level in I/O...maybe the culprit? I figured the default levels for everything should be sufficient but I'm also a newbie with this. I was an analog only guy since I started playing 18 years ago.

You really need to post a sample, as it's impossible to know exactly what you mean by the term muffled since it can undoubtedly mean different things to different people. You can describe it all day long but a sample will help others understand exactly what you're referring to.
 
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