New to Axe FX....any suggestions.

Axe FX VS real rig?

  • Axe FX

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Byte Music

Byte Music

New Member
Hey everyone,

Just bough a new Axe FX XL + earlier this week and should arrive soon. Anything words of wisdom, any opinions, any suggestions? I love all types of music (mainly rock and metal) so I know this unit is going to be the god of gods rig for me.
 
fremen said:
Black Friday sales on all my packs ! Enter the code "BL4CK_FR1D4Y" and get a 35% discount

The Acoustic simulation pack has also been updated with 20 new presets for Suhr, PRS Custom 24, Fender Telecaster Baja and other guitars
Click to expand...
 
The latest factory presets are way better than when I started back in 2013... Scroll through them all and give a little bit of time to each. They can serve as a good starting point. Take note of the ones you really like.

While waiting, download the PDF manual and read the whole thing. Twice!

Seriously, that will give you a tremendous advantage. We see soooo many newbie questions asked that are quite simple, easy to understand issues that would not require input from the forum if the user actually read the manual.

Don't be afraid to ask questions... You'll get helpful answers, no matter how trivial or stupid the question:)

Listen to the answers... Many people want to ask questions and then argue with those who answer. Don't do that :(

Be polite and respectful here and you'll get along well!

The number one rule: use your ears, not your eyes.
 
Watch lots of videos on YouTube from players that you like who use the Axe FX and tutorials on how to get the most out of the unit Find the amp and cabinet blocks that work for you and build on that, it will be your foundation for getting "Your" tones. Don't overdo it on the effects for now.

Make sure that your monitoring setup is uncolored to be able to dial in your sounds for live playing when hooked up directly from you XLR outs going to the P.A.

Sit down with a pot of coffee or tea and learn the basics from manual. Go section by section to get to be one with the machine.

Try the patches that are in AxeChange , listen and dissect what sounds you like, edit and save them. D'ont go and buy too many IR's to start off with, use what is in the box to get a handle on the available tools at your disposal. I have a buddy who has an Axe FX Ultra for 7 years and gets complimented on his tone every time he plays live without any 3rd party IR's.

Good luck and happy hunting. Perry.
 
Absolute best thing you could do, i personally believe, is to purchase the Austin Buddies Axe FX 2 XL+ preset pack: https://austinbuddy.com/shop/austinbuddys-raw-amp-700-preset-tonepack-for-axe-fx-ii-xl-users-2/ AND the Fremen Presets: https://fremenpresets.com/downloads/fremens-picks-axe-fx-2/ . That is for starters, but will keep you going for a long long time. Also, these are simply amazing too: https://www.custompresets.com/store/c4/Fractal_Audio_'Axe-Fx_II'_Presets.html You cant go wrong with these three sites. Amazingly good tones, and set up with perfect balanced output levels etc.

You wont be disapointed of what you hear from these preset packs. It has has changed the entire Axe FX 2 XL+ for me, including the Firmware 9.02. Amazing!
 
Get to know the users manual and have it handy for your journey ahead!
Watch some intro / beginner videos of how the unit works.
Take a few vacation days off work so you can dive in and have some fun with this thing!
Fractal gear continues to be the best musical gear purchases of my lifetime.
 
Here's a few things I learned that I share to save you hours of learning (I have eliminated some duplicate advice others have posted ):

  • On the I/O page set your input volume based on the hottest output guitar you have, then learn what volume difference is for any other guitar you own is so that you can use filter block volume to adjust if needed.
  • Monitoring volume in context is key to getting good sounding tones. Solo bedroom volume for creating your tones will only lead to disappointment when recording or playing with others.
  • If you want amp in the room sound, hook up to a cab. If you want versatile sounds that are mix ready, monitor with FRFR, good headphones, or studio monitoring.
  • Just like with a traditional amp setup, your sound is going to change from room to room when jamming based upon the acoustics of each room. Learn to use global eq to adjust to those situations.
  • Try out the presets but don't be afraid to adjust bass, mid, treble, presence, and gain based upon your playing and guitar. Just like with an amp, settings that are good for one person may need tweaking for someone else.
  • The volume and tone controls on your guitar will open up a variety of possibilities within each preset, so don't be afraid to use them when trying out presets.
  • Don't be afraid to try out all the scenes in a preset.
  • To learn how a parameter works with a particular amp or effect, don't be afraid to turn the knob all the way up and all the way down, then dial in between.
  • When you start creating your own presets, start out with amp and cab first and dial in a sound that you like. Add fx blocks one by one so you can really hear their effects on tone in isolation. Biggest mistake people make that leads to frustration is they add a lot of fx blocks at once and have difficulties keeping track of which parameters in each block are causing issues.
  • Don't be afraid to add blocks in a different order than you would on a physical pedal board as it opens up creative possibilities.
  • Don't be afraid to use the mix knob on drive pedals.
  • So that you are not chasing volume of different blocks, keep your cab block at zero and adjust all other blocks for volume. The more block volumes you have with wild variances, the more problems you will have troubleshooting the issue if you volume jumps or lowers based on switching fx blocks on and off..
  • The low cut and hi cut controls in the cab block should become really good friends with you. Depending upon your guitar, playing style and monitoring situation, don't be afraid to start rolling off a lot of lows or highs at -12 dB per octave. It may very easily help yiu get the sounds you hear in your head.
  • It's a marathon not a sprint playing with this unit. Don't be frustrated and burn yourself out tweaking for hours and hours on end. Play.
  • Don't be afraid to ask questions on this forum, we are all here to help.
I hope this helps.

If you like this approach to things, you may want to check out my wares in my signature when you are looking for new sounds.
 
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