New FM3 Owner!!!

mortega76

Fractal Fanatic
I've been a looooooooooooooong time Fractal User... started back in the Standard days but I waited (and by waited I mean I had to save my pennies and get permission from my wife) and luckily the Ultra came out shortly afterwards. Played the Ultra for several years and I then bought the Axe-fx II and it was glorious! Looking back one I remember from the Ultra to the Axe-fx II is the high end detail getting better and better. I traded my Axe-fx II for a Friedman PT20 and cab which I tried to trade on here but no one bit. I was then able then trade the PT20/cab for a Mesa Triple Crown 50 watt head (that I still have in the For Sale section that I was looking to trade for Axe-fx III or an FM3).

So fast forward what seems like an ETERNITY (three years more or less) of being without a Fractal product... and today my FM3 (without headphones) came in (which I was HOPING was going to come with headphones as some typo, but oh well... can't win them all). I took it out of the box, plugged it in and I was ecstatic (until the headphone jack wasn't there, but then it quickly passed. OMG I am a Fractal User/Owner once again!!! I took it out of the box, plugged it in and watch the show while the start up screen came up and then the footswitch lights came on. I then proceeded to download all files (firmware, fractal-bot, presets... etc) for the FM3 and installed drivers, fractal-bot and started the update process from 4.0 to 4.01... oh man... how I've missed the sweet sensation of fractal firmware updates.

Did I mention that I ordered the FM3 THE DAY BEFORE the FM9 was announced? Oh well... only downside/upside is that my wife probably wouldn't allow me to spend almost double on the FM9. Anyhows... glad to FINALLY be back in the Fractal Family! Thanks a bunch Cliff and Crew for making awesome products!

P.S. Looking forward to making great music with my band PigWeed and the FM3!

P.S.S. If you're in the area, we're going to be playing the Blue Ridge Rock Festival on September 11th and we're also going to be playing Rebel Rock in Orlando on September 24th. Hope to see some of you guys out there!
 
welcome back, former AX8 and now a FM3 owner, and like you also needed the wife's permission on the purchases, I'm sure your very happy now!
 
Welcome back!
I recently committed to the FM3 myself. My last “real amp” was the Boogie Triple Crown 50 head. That was my introduction to MIDI switching an amp. I play with a backing track and once I started doing amp switching with MIDI—I was hooked. I progressed from the Boogie, to a Line 6 Pod HD running 4 cable method to the Boogie, to an AX8 direct—now I’m on an FM3 direct. In my experience with a variety of manufacturers, the Fractal ecosystem is the best!
 
Welcome back ,been a fractal user since the ultra ,every time I bought a new unit ,they came out with a new one right after .still been having fun 🤣😎🎸🤘🏻
 
Hi, good to have you back. I remember your struggles back then with bass response from the Rectos or something like that. I think you’ll enjoy the current state of modeling!
 
Hi, good to have you back. I remember your struggles back then with bass response from the Rectos or something like that. I think you’ll enjoy the current state of modeling!
Hi Yek! I'm happy you remember! You must be like me... I can't remember what I did a couple hours ago but when it comes to music or technology, I never forget!

During those three or so years I've been gigging with a Triple Recto into a 2x12 Mesa cab and I've been happy overall. It might be a mental thing but every show at every venue the amp will sound differently. Some days it sounds a little thinner and other days it's thick as f**k! I've been playing with the FM3 and immediately I can hear the difference in the overall character vs all the plugins that I've been using since moving away from Fractal. There's a certain realism, chime/shimmer and overall sound that is not in most plugins. I think the closest I've heard is probably the Fortin Nameless Suite that I bought last Black Friday. But to be honest I don't even use it because it's very limited overall. Even for me it's too much high gain. I like the way other folks sound with an OD pedal in front but for me I'm all about a straight high gain amp with girth and power.

Anyhow, you might be the best person to ask this Yek... in those three years I've been using a Polytune 3 without ANY issues in tuning. I tuned my main recording guitar that I've used for over 10 years with the FM3, but for the life of me I can't get the high E/B (tuned down to Dropped-A 432hz) to sound in tune. The FM3 shows that it is spot on, but when I play an open 'D' chord it's all out of whack. I tune with my DAW's tuner (432hz) and that same open 'D' chord is spot on. I'm noticing that the FM3 is catch those two strings as lower than what my DAW hears by a couple cents.
 
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Another thing that I will add... is that most amp sims feel great but most sound dark. Which is what they probably sound like with the given mic in the given room. There's just something special about the Cameron CCV and the 6505 that I absolutely love! The two amp sims that I was disappointed with were the FAS Modern and the DAS Metall, they used to be my go to amp sims. They sound a bit more over the top and a bit fizzier than I remember... at least with presets that I played with.

I'm loving preset 009 and 087 tweaked a bit... I haven't even gotten past 100 yet.
 
I've been using a Polytune 3 without ANY issues in tuning. I tuned my main recording guitar that I've used for over 10 years with the FM3, but for the life of me I can't get the high E/B (tuned down to Dropped-A 432hz) to sound in tune. The FM3 shows that it is spot on, but when I play an open 'D' chord it's all out of whack. I tune with my DAW's tuner (432hz) and that same open 'D' chord is spot on. I'm noticing that the FM3 is catch those two strings as lower than what my DAW hears by a couple cents.
When were the strings changed last and how is the intonation on those strings? Every time I change strings I check it because it can wander based on the string's diameter even from one pack to another.

The Polytune 3 is very accurate but I'm not sure if it's any more accurate than the FM3's A/D and built-in tuner - I looked in the manual but didn't see anything saying what the accuracy is in cents.

I have a couple different tuners around. I keep the Polytune 3 Clip on the guitars, but also have the Peterson StroboClip in my gig bags, and I'll occasionally wonder WTF is wrong with that chord after tuning and will swap and compare their displays and sometimes they'll differ whether the string is in tune. It'd be off a few cents but when played in a chord it'd be enough to sound a little sour. That might be because of tempered tuning and maybe having a Buzz Feiten Tuning System done on the guitar would help. Or maybe it needs to be done on my ears when it happens. I dunno.
 
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Thank you for chiming in, I have not changed my strings in a bit but how would it only affect the FM3 tuning and not Polytune 3 or DAW tuning?
 
Please disregard my tuner issue... for whatever reason it is working as expected, maybe I just had a brain fart of some kind.
 
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