New to Axe-Fx III

Joshack5039

New Member
Hello All,

Brand new to this AXE world and I am having some trouble with getting over that first hill so to speak. I don’t have very much experience with amp modelers as I was mostly in the tube world but wished to expand my creativity as I love to tinker with parameters.

My current tube amp was a mesa boogie Mark iV rev B. I’ve build that rig in the AXE to the best of my ability and it just seems I’m missing something. My tone has no definition and it just seems to lack any life. My notes have no separation and it just feels like there is something I’m doing wrong because of my lack of how the product works. I realize this most undoubtedly an issue on my end and I’m looking to streamline my learning process with the help from people on here. (Note: it took me the better part of 6 months to figure out how to dial in my Mark IV...don’t wanna do that again lol).

I’m listening through the headphone out on the AXE through senhessier HD518 open backs. The headphone work fine and have a decent response to them. I used to run my Mark IV like this by using the record out into an interface. The sound I would get was pretty awesome and only needed some EQ adjustments for the final sound. I’m saying this because I know headphones are not a preferred way to listen but I do know these are capable of very good tone.

So any insight anyone would have that would assist in my learning curve would be very helpful. Thanks!
 
The "something" missing may be the difference between headphone monitoring versus say FRFR or studio monitors listening where you are getting more room interaction like you have with your real cab.

If that's not the issue, record your amp into your interface, then record your Mesa preset into it. Listen critically side by side.

You may need to back off the master volume a little more than your settings on the actual amp.

You may also need to try a different IR cab. It's surprising that a change to the file can increase note separation without touching definition parameter in the amp preamp section or post amp eq to clear out problem frequencies in the 250-450 Hz range.
 
Ok so how do you pick a good IR. Do you pick one first that sounds sorta there and then mess with the EQ of the amp model? Can you recommended a good one for a Mark IV

The record out on my Mark IV is basically just a tube preamp. The power amp is disabled and the speaker cab is emulated. So basically it’s just a circuit that emulates a power amp, microphone, and speaker cabinet. So I had no control over those parameters as well as having no in the room effects because i wasn’t using a real speaker
 
Thanks I’ll give that shot!

The tone I’m going for would be a medium high gain sound but with a good amount of midrange. I like the tube sag effect but not to the point that all the picking dynamics are gone. I always thought Diezel amps did that very well.

also, this may seem like a dumb question but I don’t need a seperate power amp right? If I’m just plugging into the instrument inout and having my headphones as the only ouput right now.
 
With headphones, try putting an Enhancer block just before the Output block. It doesn't help the tone per se but it does make the sound feel richer and wider which is often missing when going from monitors.
 
HI Josh,

Welcome to the amazing Axe FX!
You probably already know, but just in case - Its very easy to have the master volume set too high. Have you tried lowering the master volume in the preset's amp block, and turning the level up to compensate? That could open it up significantly.
Thanks
Pauly


Hello All,

Brand new to this AXE world and I am having some trouble with getting over that first hill so to speak. I don’t have very much experience with amp modelers as I was mostly in the tube world but wished to expand my creativity as I love to tinker with parameters.

My current tube amp was a mesa boogie Mark iV rev B. I’ve build that rig in the AXE to the best of my ability and it just seems I’m missing something. My tone has no definition and it just seems to lack any life. My notes have no separation and it just feels like there is something I’m doing wrong because of my lack of how the product works. I realize this most undoubtedly an issue on my end and I’m looking to streamline my learning process with the help from people on here. (Note: it took me the better part of 6 months to figure out how to dial in my Mark IV...don’t wanna do that again lol).

I’m listening through the headphone out on the AXE through senhessier HD518 open backs. The headphone work fine and have a decent response to them. I used to run my Mark IV like this by using the record out into an interface. The sound I would get was pretty awesome and only needed some EQ adjustments for the final sound. I’m saying this because I know headphones are not a preferred way to listen but I do know these are capable of very good tone.

So any insight anyone would have that would assist in my learning curve would be very helpful. Thanks!
 
HI Josh,

Welcome to the amazing Axe FX!
You probably already know, but just in case - Its very easy to have the master volume set too high. Have you tried lowering the master volume in the preset's amp block, and turning the level up to compensate? That could open it up significantly.
Thanks
Pauly
Update: So I had the lightbulb moment and now it sounds killer! I feel kinda like a noob but anyway it was the speaker cab that was giving me the issues. I’ve never really used IRs and I didn’t realize how they actually work. I found some posts on here by someone called moderator and he explained it so I could understand now. I had the high cut wayyyy to high and needed to drop it down to around 6-7khz. Cleared everything up and I actually think it sounds better than my actual Mark IV. The 2c+ model is crazy as well

I have 2 other questions if someone else could help me out:

1. I seem to be only able to run MV around noon at the most then I run out of headroom. On my Mark IV I can run the channel volume at 3-4 and then crank the master to get some good power tube distortion but I can’t do this on the model. As I lower the input drive I lose distortion and then the MV just gives me volume and no additional distortion. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that my Mark has different voltage level settings and the AXE models full voltage settings. Is this what the Variac setting is for?

2. what’s the best way to blend 2 amps together? I’m having an issue getting the volume and levels to sync up and I end up just having one amp sound louder than the other and get a chorus like effect. I haven’t been panning them I just want to run them straight down the middle to get some thicker sounds.

thanks!
 
someone called moderator
Moderator is a label that forum moderators have, but that's not their user name which appears above the label ;)
1. I seem to be only able to run MV around noon at the most then I run out of headroom. On my Mark IV I can run the channel volume at 3-4 and then crank the master to get some good power tube distortion but I can’t do this on the model. As I lower the input drive I lose distortion and then the MV just gives me volume and no additional distortion. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that my Mark has different voltage level settings and the AXE models full voltage settings. Is this what the Variac setting is for?
I believe the MV taper on the Axe Fx doesn't match the original amps.
 
Back
Top Bottom