New To Axe FX Modeling

I got my Axe around 10 months ago...and am playing through a Mesa Recto 4 x 12 cab. I remember when I got it, what most presets were sounding like to me...(nothing great at all). I was at first, quite disappointed, but it only took me a few months of understanding and playing around with the basic amp block parameters to get it sounding great.

I can build a sound/ preset today in minutes that sounds insane, with pretty much any of the amps in the unit that I like. All it takes is little patience and some seat time. Many here have had the same learning curve as I am describing.

What they don't tell you in the product brochures/ manuals, is that there actually IS a substantial learning curve for guys like me, who don't have vast experience with a lot of effect pedals. Once you get through that, you're in constant bliss! I wasn't really familiar with many of the effects either...and today, I can build presets that sounds like my fav artists, EVH, Rhoads, Satriani etc...and it's pretty much effortless now.

Headphones are much harder to work with than a cab, or monitors. You have a lot of work to do to get them (any model) to sounds like an amp running through a cab.

After having owned a ton of stacks over the past 50 years, this for me is now the last "amp" setup I will ever need! I sold my Mesa DR a few months back and have never looked back! I will only sell my FX II XL+ once the III comes out!
 
First time I showed off Axe/FX II a friend said he though the Marshall patch on the Digitech RP500 sounded much better. After he spent some time with it he admitted he was very wrong. I think it's a case of being used to hearing one thing but now you're hearing something different and initially you're missing what you'd been used to. Personally, I didn't care very much for most of the presets I heard but I knew what I wanted to hear. Take some time and build your own patch. The sound you want is in there.
 
So I tried some M Audio near field BX5's on multiple reccomendations and noticed some improvement in the overall sound but not to the extent that I had hoped. If volume wasn't an issue I'd probably use the monitors but then again, if volume wasn't an issue I'd pull the old ADA MP2 out of my rack and hook up the XL+ to the power amp and just do that. I am looking for great tones at lower volumes at this point in my life, which is why I got into modeling software in the first place. I'll be grabbing some good flat response headphones to replace my boosted Bose QC15's. I talked to a pro-audio tech who mixes a lot of guitar in the studio and he swears by the ATH-M50x which he uses with two other flat headphones in a rotation. I guess he could listen to his mixes on all three headphones and makes any corrections based on a consensus of sorts.
I was also told that of the artists who do use the Axe FX at his studio - most have their own effects and just use the Axe FX for tone.

Even though I can't crank up studio monitors and have basically gone back to cans I am starting to see progress. The Mark Day's HBE preset is reasonably close to what I am looking for and I'm starting to get some great tones from that configuation. Going back to my first Line6 POD XT, my first modeling unit, I've always started with a decent sounding preset and built around that. Right now I'm studying that preset and I've started to figure out what I like about it, how it was built and how I can build my own base preset using a similar chain and settings.

I also found a great user Axe-Change bass preset that sounded great out of the box so my first experience with the bass was very promising. I still haven't had the time to connect to a DAW but I'll probably make a few short recordings over the holiday weekend just to see how that sounds. I also have an expression pedal to work into the rig so I still have a lot of things to try out including my own pedals. Even with software I've usually gotten better results from actual hardware vs virtual. I'm sure someone has tried a tube preamp going into an Axe FX and I might look into that if recommend.

Thanks for the responses, even if I don't take every recommendation I do appreciate the helpful advice.
 
When I first got the Axe I was overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start.
I went back to Guitar Rig 5 a month or two later to see how bad it sounded in comparison except when I did I thought "oh....that actually sounds really good"
I know this sounds odd but I spent a bit of time trying to get the Axe Fx to sound like my Guitar Rig presets. All the time searching for the reason as to why I liked it.

Anyway, 8 months later and here's my take on life as an amateur guitarist.

Pick an amp but leave the master volume alone.
Keep the tweaking simple Starting with Input Gain then Bass,Middle,Treble and presence.
The most important part in my opinion is the IR.
I've come to realise that the actual cabinet kinda doesn't matter. It does, but not as much as the speaker that was in that cabinet and the microphone that's colouring it.
You need to figure out what speakers you like by pointing to your heros or your own gear and see if you can find an IR that captures it. From there it's ALL about the microphone colouring for me.
If I need extra bite, brightness or bass then I select a different IR in my chosen cab pack before adjusting the amp and changing the way it distorts.

Short version without the waffle and bad grammar .......
The cabinet impulse responses and microphones used are the most important part for me and I couldn't find anything that fitted my expectations in the stock IR's so had to buy a cab pack.
 
I'm definitely interested in checking out cab packs and will probably download Cab Pack 13 just to experiment a bit but right now I'm just hoping to get a solid base tone with the included cab models. I'm sure I will be adding a bunch of IR's at a later time but I'm just trying to get the basics down right now. I'll definitely try out the ML USA Bulb pack against a similar XL+ included cab model just to see the difference. Thanks!
 
HornsUp247 said:
I'm definitely interested in checking out cab packs and will probably download Cab Pack 13 just to experiment a bit but right now I'm just hoping to get a solid base tone with the included cab models. I'm sure I will be adding a bunch of IR's at a later time but I'm just trying to get the basics down right now. I'll definitely try out the ML USA Bulb pack against a similar XL+ included cab model just to see the difference. Thanks!
Click to expand...

It's funny you mention that cab pack because I picked that one to buy because I'm a big Metallica, Tremonti fan while I totally respect Periphery's tone at the same time. It seemed like a good all round fit for what I wanted.
I struggled along with some of Mishas mixes (included in the cab pack) but have since moved on to using the Alloy Aces folder exclusively.
The IR mixes are numbered 1-4 and grade in brightness so if I want more attack I might just pick number 4 of that mic mix.

It's actually the only cab pack I've bought so far :)
 
HornsUp247 said:
So I tried some M Audio near field BX5's on multiple reccomendations and noticed some improvement in the overall sound but not to the extent that I had hoped. If volume wasn't an issue I'd probably use the monitors but then again, if volume wasn't an issue I'd pull the old ADA MP2 out of my rack and hook up the XL+ to the power amp and just do that. I am looking for great tones at lower volumes at this point in my life, which is why I got into modeling software in the first place. I'll be grabbing some good flat response headphones to replace my boosted Bose QC15's. I talked to a pro-audio tech who mixes a lot of guitar in the studio and he swears by the ATH-M50x which he uses with two other flat headphones in a rotation. I guess he could listen to his mixes on all three headphones and makes any corrections based on a consensus of sorts.
I was also told that of the artists who do use the Axe FX at his studio - most have their own effects and just use the Axe FX for tone.

Even though I can't crank up studio monitors and have basically gone back to cans I am starting to see progress. The Mark Day's HBE preset is reasonably close to what I am looking for and I'm starting to get some great tones from that configuation. Going back to my first Line6 POD XT, my first modeling unit, I've always started with a decent sounding preset and built around that. Right now I'm studying that preset and I've started to figure out what I like about it, how it was built and how I can build my own base preset using a similar chain and settings.

I also found a great user Axe-Change bass preset that sounded great out of the box so my first experience with the bass was very promising. I still haven't had the time to connect to a DAW but I'll probably make a few short recordings over the holiday weekend just to see how that sounds. I also have an expression pedal to work into the rig so I still have a lot of things to try out including my own pedals. Even with software I've usually gotten better results from actual hardware vs virtual. I'm sure someone has tried a tube preamp going into an Axe FX and I might look into that if recommend.

Thanks for the responses, even if I don't take every recommendation I do appreciate the helpful advice.
Click to expand...
As much as I like m50 they certainly aren't flat. But then most things aren't.
 
Ed DeGenaro said:
As much as I like m50 they certainly aren't flat. But then most things aren't.
Click to expand...

I had a pro audio guy at Guitar Center insisting that the V Moda Crossfades were the flattest headphones in the store? I think it's borderline subjective but after seeing the M50's highly rated for guitar across a number of sites I just went with them. I tried them out tonight and a load of laundry sat in the dryer an hour after the timer ran out so, yeah, big improvement over the Bose QC I had been using.

For example, on the Bose I lost much of my stereo field and the Ping Pong delay was driving me insane. I would barely hear the original note with the base setting and the first repeat would just jump at me louder than the note I played. Very odd but when I went to a setting I had experienced this with, and changed the delay to PP, I could now hear the original note loud and clear on the ATH M50x's. The stereo field also improved significantly. I was able to dial in a bunch of usable tones tonight and I'm just hours into this thing. I try to play an hour a day and the last few days I've had a hard time stopping. I'm still not where I want to be with this thing but it's coming along.
 
Good to hear you're making progress. Two things I'd like to add:

1. Using headphones has a lot of benefits, but it fails in one aspect: interaction with your instrument. It will affect not only feedback but also the sound and feel. It's not impossible to get good tones using cans but it is more difficult to get a lively, responsive sound. I usually end up with too much gain in presets dialed in using headphones as a result of trying to compensate for this.

2. When auditioning cabs, a Looper block is a huge help. Put it in your chain and let it play while you scroll through the cabs. I like to record the process while naming off the cabs on a separate vocal track for reference. If you can do this in a full band track you'll get a better idea of what sounds good in the mix. Watch out for cabs that are louder in the mix since louder almost always sounds better when comparing different sounds.

Good luck!
 
Spent a good bit of my day off today messing around with the Axe FX. The biggest complaint I had was the delay. I use a ton of delay with distortion, similar to Vai. I just could not nail down the stereo delay sound I was accustomed too when I first got the Axe FX. It was as simple as adding a hi-res stereo cab block. Instantly the delay sound became familiar. At this point I'm just tweaking every preset until they are usable. I knocked off two today. Starting to really love this thing.
 
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