New Axe III User - Need Help Getting Going!

Avening

Avening

New Member
Hey guys,

First post here! Thanks for having me.

Receiving my first Axe III in the mail tomorrow ... it's a used MK1 unit that looks to be a couple generations of software behind and will need to be updated. Can anyone point me to the appropriate documentation/links or provide a checklist to make sure I've got everything covered? I'm guessing a system reset followed by firmware, USB drivers, Axe Edit, ect. The links to the latest software seem to be a little scattered over the forum, so just checking in to make sure I have it all covered and do it correctly the first time. The Axe III didn't come with a manual. I'll be using USB mode on a new macbook air M1.

Excited to get rolling with the Axe III. Have been playing for about 25 years and was an assistant engineer at a commercial recording studio here in Toronto for many of them. The amount of times this thing would have saved me is pretty staggering to think about.

Anyways, hope to contribute here where I can and really appreciate any help getting going! Thanks!
 
Hi @Avening and welcome aboard. User Manual is your best friend and you can find there all you have to know to start. Also the Fractal WIKI page (https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Axe-Fx_II_Wiki_Home) has a lot of useful information. You can find all the final releases on FAS page (https://www.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-iii-downloads/). Fractal shares some beta with forum members but even if you worked in pro recording studio, it's better to get "friend" of you new unit before using them - but this is just my advise.
If you should need help just write here and you'll see that Fractal members love to help each other.
 
Diego said:
Hi @Avening and welcome aboard. User Manual is your best friend and you can find there all you have to know to start. Also the Fractal WIKI page ... has a lot of useful information. You can find all the final releases on FAS page. Fractal shares some beta with forum members but even if you worked in pro recording studio, it's better to get "friend" of you new unit before using them - but this is just my advise.
If you should need help just write here and you'll see that Fractal members love to help each other.
Click to expand...
Hey Diego,

Appreciate the reply, and thanks for the links! Should cover a lot of the questions I had. Just what I was looking for.

I'll post back in to this thread if I have any questions while I go through the updating process. Hopefully it's smooth sailing!
 
Avening said:
Hey guys,

First post here! Thanks for having me.

Receiving my first Axe III in the mail tomorrow ... it's a used MK1 unit that looks to be a couple generations of software behind and will need to be updated. Can anyone point me to the appropriate documentation/links or provide a checklist to make sure I've got everything covered? I'm guessing a system reset followed by firmware, USB drivers, Axe Edit, ect. The links to the latest software seem to be a little scattered over the forum, so just checking in to make sure I have it all covered and do it correctly the first time. The Axe III didn't come with a manual. I'll be using USB mode on a new macbook air M1.

Excited to get rolling with the Axe III. Have been playing for about 25 years and was an assistant engineer at a commercial recording studio here in Toronto for many of them. The amount of times this thing would have saved me is pretty staggering to think about.

Anyways, hope to contribute here where I can and really appreciate any help getting going! Thanks!
Click to expand...
You can install the USB drivers, and Axe Edit now. I would plugin the Axe Fx and test it out before you upgrade the firmware. Plenty of YT clips on editing presets to get you going.
 
As a brand new Axe-Fx III user myself I'll point out one great resource you don't want to overlook: When I downloaded various manuals initially, I totally missed the "Fractal Audio Blocks Guide" that's linked directly below the Axe-Fx III Owner’s Manual. That appears to be an excellent guide to the parameters etc for the various block types. Just starting to dive into that myself!

Tom
 
So…. Are you up and running?
Hope it’s going well.
Pauly

Avening said:
Hey guys,

First post here! Thanks for having me.
Click to expand...

Avening said:
Receiving my first Axe III in the mail tomorrow ... it's a used MK1 unit that looks to be a couple generations of software behind and will need to be updated. Can anyone point me to the appropriate documentation/links or provide a checklist to make sure I've got everything covered? I'm guessing a system reset followed by firmware, USB drivers, Axe Edit, ect. The links to the latest software seem to be a little scattered over the forum, so just checking in to make sure I have it all covered and do it correctly the first time. The Axe III didn't come with a manual. I'll be using USB mode on a new macbook air M1.

Excited to get rolling with the Axe III. Have been playing for about 25 years and was an assistant engineer at a commercial recording studio here in Toronto for many of them. The amount of times this thing would have saved me is pretty staggering to think about.

Anyways, hope to contribute here where I can and really appreciate any help getting going! Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
I would do a full test of the unit and then a full backup before doing anything else - especially a full reset. You might find there are some useful presets and other goodies already installed by a previous user.
 
Some great feedback here, thanks guys! Received the unit a few days ago and have just been ripping through the presets with multiple guitars to get a feel for it under the fingers. It's currently running 20.02 firmware, so will definitely be doing a full reset.

Next up is connecting to my laptop and getting it connected with Axe Edit so I can actually start building and getting it integrated into my workflow. Have done some poking around and basic stuff like setting I/O blocks, amps, cabs, effects, parallel and series effects, etc., seems pretty self evident, but I'll stick to the manual and take my time with it.


tdexter said:
As a brand new Axe-Fx III user myself I'll point out one great resource you don't want to overlook: When I downloaded various manuals initially, I totally missed the "Fractal Audio Blocks Guide" that's linked directly below the Axe-Fx III Owner’s Manual. That appears to be an excellent guide to the parameters etc for the various block types. Just starting to dive into that myself!

Tom
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing that out, I'll take a look for sure!

bjjp2 said:
Start with an amp block and a cab block.
Click to expand...

Definitely starting from scratch.

Roland said:
… and use these to get close to the sound you are used to getting from your real world amp and speaker.
Click to expand...

Also great advice. Home base is generally a 5150, Mesa 4x12 with an sm57, and a precision drive so that's probably a good place to start.

touch33 said:
… and then sign up at ... for his “everything you’ll ever want to know about your AxeFX3”. Priceless.
Click to expand...

Very interesting, thanks! I'll take a look.

pauly said:
So…. Are you up and running?
Hope it’s going well.
Pauly
Click to expand...

Going well so far, thanks Pauly! Just taking my time with it. Trying to absorb.

Gadget said:
I would do a full test of the unit and then a full backup before doing anything else - especially a full reset. You might find there are some useful presets and other goodies already installed by a previous user.
Click to expand...
This is great advice, too. I should contact the seller and ask him if he installed any additional packs or anything.

Thanks, guys!
 
Also:

Rosh Roslin - https://www.youtube.com/@RoshRoslin/videos

Doug B - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjKZD4idos6U8kv0MqYfxw

Unsolicited advice - there's a metric fuckton of settings you can change in the Axe Fx, but very few required to get a great sound. Learn from the factory presets and if there's a particular block or set of blocks (effects, amps, cabs, everything, etc.) that you like then save them to your library and create your own frankenstein. For example, I can find a ton of "Van Halen" presets on Axechange or in the unit and maybe I like the basic tone of one but the effects sound wrong to me, another with effects that sound awesome but the base tone sound garbage...take the pieces you like and make your own rig.

You can spend hours, days, weeks, just mucking with settings so don't forget to actually thow on something simple and just play!
Enjoy!
 
Unboxed said:
Also:

Rosh Roslin -

Doug B -

Unsolicited advice - there's a metric fuckton of settings you can change in the Axe Fx, but very few required to get a great sound. Learn from the factory presets and if there's a particular block or set of blocks (effects, amps, cabs, everything, etc.) that you like then save them to your library and create your own frankenstein. For example, I can find a ton of "Van Halen" presets on Axechange or in the unit and maybe I like the basic tone of one but the effects sound wrong to me, another with effects that sound awesome but the base tone sound garbage...take the pieces you like and make your own rig.

You can spend hours, days, weeks, just mucking with settings so don't forget to actually thow on something simple and just play!
Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Makes total sense. Have definitely come across some really cool blocks while ripping through presets. Didn't know that you could save them to the library!

I'm a tweaker at heart, so that's great advice to not forget to play and enjoy. The first few days I had the unit I didn't connect it to my laptop and just played for a few hours. Was kind of refreshing not having my face glued to a screen for once.

boz52 said:
Leon Todd on YouTube is your friend.
Click to expand...

Have watched a ton of his tutorials! Dude is a legend.


*Quick update - I'm fully up and running now. The unit is up to date and I've spent a bunch of time in Axe Edit creating some foundational presets and scenes. Already blown away at the quality of the amp/cab blocks. The 5150 line of amps in particular are somewhat of a home base for me and the Axe III does an incredible job of capturing the feel. Really good stuff so far.

Also integrated it into all my Pro Tools session templates and (after a good long while) figured out how to mute the outputs on the machine so I only hear signal when using input monitoring in PT. Using the Axe III as a USB interface and monitoring using Slate VSX - everything sounds and works as it should.

In a good spot!
 
Avening said:
Makes total sense. Have definitely come across some really cool blocks while ripping through presets. Didn't know that you could save them to the library!

I'm a tweaker at heart, so that's great advice to not forget to play and enjoy. The first few days I had the unit I didn't connect it to my laptop and just played for a few hours. Was kind of refreshing not having my face glued to a screen for once.



Have watched a ton of his tutorials! Dude is a legend.


*Quick update - I'm fully up and running now. The unit is up to date and I've spent a bunch of time in Axe Edit creating some foundational presets and scenes. Already blown away at the quality of the amp/cab blocks. The 5150 line of amps in particular are somewhat of a home base for me and the Axe III does an incredible job of capturing the feel. Really good stuff so far.

Also integrated it into all my Pro Tools session templates and (after a good long while) figured out how to mute the outputs on the machine so I only hear signal when using input monitoring in PT. Using the Axe III as a USB interface and monitoring using Slate VSX - everything sounds and works as it should.

In a good spot!
Click to expand...

Right on! Yep - 5153 was one of the first amps that hit me first thing as sounding extremely awesome. If you like that, check out Friedman and JVMs too. I've spent most of my time using Friedman HBE, JVM, and 5153 for high gain. I'll use other people's Boogie Mark presets from Axechange with slight modifications or other IRs, but I find myself fighting Mark-style amps if I start from scratch and never being happy whereas Friedman, JVM, 5153, Recto I can start and noon and make quick adjustments and just fly. I'm the world's 2nd worst Mark amp dailer-inner...but with DynaCabs I've gotten slightly better.

Enjoy!
 
Unboxed said:
Right on! Yep - 5153 was one of the first amps that hit me first thing as sounding extremely awesome. If you like that, check out Friedman and JVMs too. I've spent most of my time using Friedman HBE, JVM, and 5153 for high gain. I'll use other people's Boogie Mark presets from Axechange with slight modifications or other IRs, but I find myself fighting Mark-style amps if I start from scratch and never being happy whereas Friedman, JVM, 5153, Recto I can start and noon and make quick adjustments and just fly. I'm the world's 2nd worst Mark amp dailer-inner...but with DynaCabs I've gotten slightly better.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Thanks man! We're definitely on the same page. Friedman HBE is an absolutely beautiful amp on the Axe FX, and in real life. I've been a Boogie fan my entire life but always on the Rectifier side. Haven't dug into any on the Mesa side of things yet, but it's on my list.

Speaking of high gain amps, I tried on the new REVV Generator 120 (purple channels - #2 specifically) yesterday and I'm absolutely in love. Input boost on (Grinder) with the Slant 4x12 Mesa Dyna-Cab - single dynamic just on the edge of the dust cap, and a ribbon about half way to the edge ... man, what an absolutely killer sounding amp. Just needs a touch of extra depth to claw back some of the low end loss from the Grind pedal - total chug fest. Fun stuff!
 
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