My Quick Guide to where to start with FW v.17

Great suggestions Scott. A little tweak to the left/right made a lot of difference! You were right about the Barracuda sounds, too much fun! Thanks!
 
Me too. I was trying to follow it but got lost.

On the Tone section of Axe Edit...

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I programmed a patch based on the jumped 59SLP with a boost and delay along with with these preamp settings.

3 hour gig last night and never moved off that patch...... just killer when cranked and cleans up massively with the volume knob. Have never had so many in the audience compliment me on playing and sound. Always play like a mofo when the onstage tone is what I hear in my head. Night and day from Fridays gig when I sent my mate an email saying I was thinking about going back to an amp.

Never have I been so excited about a firmware update but this one....jeez.

The VU meters have been a life saver too...awesome.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Scott.
 
Personally i'm waiting for the fw17 movie to come out staring al pacino as Scott Peterson

Say hallo to mah lihhle fren

ps. i think your videos are some of the best, and you should do some more :)
 
After familiarizing myself with the preamps and playing thru them I'm finding the Modern one is one I'm gravitating to thus far. Drive at ~1.00 -> ~2.00 for clean/mid gain tones, ~.4 -> ~1.00 for high gain tones. Sat ~1.00 -> ~2.00.

I like the 'action' of the EQ, and, when A/B-ing without the preamp, I definitely like the coloring the preamp adds; an interesting new realm to explore...
 
Time to finally comment on this.

Scott, this is just about perfect. Short, clear, easy-to-digest nuggets that give people something they can use right away. Keep rolling, brother!


And folks, try this after you've played with Scott's ideas and get comfortable with them (it wont take long): once a day, pick one more parameter and explore it. See what it does for you. If it rocks your boat, great! If not, don't sweat it. When you revisit it in a week or a month or a year, you may change your mind. Tomorrow is another day; another parameter to play with.
 
Amazing stuff for sure - things are beginning to excite me again :) Only issue is running out of CPU. I recorded some beautiful lines before realizing there was some intermittent crackle that ended up being from the Axe running out of processing power. I was heartbroken when forced to switch back to economy/normal quality lol.
 
I'm mostly a high gain player and I'm liking the modern preamp. I started with Scott Peterson's recommended settings and they work good! I like using the EQ as a last touch to tweak the EQ. Ie. I like the character the preamp adds when bumping the mids up a bit in the preamp vs bumping the mids up in the amp block.

It adds a nice chunk that isn't as easy to get using just amp EQ. Subtle for sure, but noticeable when you're familiar with the amp model.
 
So, you downloaded firmware v.17 and then thought... what now? There's lots of new things in here, where do I start? I'll hit the big 3 that I think are all exceptionally useful.

I'll start by saying the 59 SLP with the Treble gain on 7 and the Norm on 1 is STELLAR. I love it. If you are a USA model guy, those are damn good updates and the Dumble masters out there have a GREAT surprise too. ;)

I'll just share some of my advice to sort of jump-start you and hopefully give you a good start on what I like the most. Hopefully it helps.

First off - the mic preamp and EQ in the cab block. This is a BIG deal; one I have cheered for so hard that I lost my voice. I love it. I look at it as Cliff dropping $1000+ of UAD level plug-in's into your Axe-FX. And it costs you... just a bit of processor overhead in High Quality mode. Let's suss it out. Go to the cab block and there is a new page there "Pre". Tab to that and try this to start: Type: Tape 50us; Drive 2.00; Saturation 2.00; Bass 1.00; Mid 1.50 and Treble 2.00. Play, listen; adjust the EQ to taste. Then - assuming you have the headroom - tab back to Page 2 in that block and the bottom is the quality setting - if you have any aliasing, try High Quality. If you don't have any aliasing; then leave it at economy. Try the other modes. I like the Tape 50us best; but the Vintage, Transformer and FET 1 are all great too. If you like modern high gain stuff, then stick to the high quality and go for the Modern setting. What is the end result? Your tones will sit better in ANY mix, live or recorded. You'll have more of what you want in the actual mix and it costs you nothing but that processing overhead should you decide to go with the High Quality mode. It's been HUGE to my ears and the more and more I play live with it, the guitar just sounds massive now. I love it.

The age-old issue of how to balance your output levels between all your presets relative to your cleanest preset volume is now addressed - IN THE BOX. A wickedly simple and crazy useful utility now resides in the Utility button menu, tab over a few times to see it. Use the A button to change the level of your presets and have them all average at the 0 mark (which is really -20db) and allows for your boosts, etc and headroom so you never clip. The key is to find your average RMS over a strum; not peaks. Don't get too stuck trying to be perfect here; this is the 'get in the ballpark' but it's amazingly accurate and useful. An age-old issue... fixed.


The Dynamics tab in the Amp Block allows you to do unreal things that real amps cannot do; but added/utilized with some restraint and common sense - they sound amazingly organic. This is crazy stuff - it's dynamic EQ that you can use to either boost or cut dynamically (how hard you play) that does NOT add any distortion. EQ without distortion is a very slick DAW mixing tool that I've never seen in a standalone guitar processor; it's very cool. Center it at 700hz and do a mid-boost of about +0.50; leave the Q at the stock setting. Try it. Now do a cut by adjusting the amount to a negative amount. Mid-cut (scoop). High gainers... check that!

The new flanger and chorus are simple - just use the Type and have your mind blown. Get the Stereo Jet fired up and play "Barracuda". Get the 80's style chorus, add some compression with a tele into a CLEAN amp (Jazz Chorus) and play some Police. Whoa. NICE.

There is LOTS more; but those are the biggies that I hit right away and wanted to offer some suggestions on. Do you have some things you've tried that work well? Share them!!!

Thanks, especially the SLP59 Jump setting (Norm Gain on 1 "only") offers a tight, big enough but not muddy low range that requires much work with LoCuts and EQing otherwise
 
Scott, the Preamp section tutorial (only one i've tried so far) is amazing. I just remembered to check this again (before my Christmas eve service tomorrow) and boy am I glad I did. I can't wait for sound check tomorrow to hear this fully in my IEM and through the PA. THANKS AS USUAL.
 
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