Oh Yes......OH YES........

Radley

Radley

Experienced
Dear AFXrs,

I know you all will think I'm crazy, but today is the first day I actually went through and listened to all the presets (Ultra). Up until now I was just working on a few factory presets I had customized, and trying out the various effects within those patches. Well today I really took an extended listen to all the presets, and most of them blew me away! :eek: :shock: :eek: Many of the more 'effecty/ethereal' patches have some truly beautiful sounding reverbs and long delays, and I heard for the first time how good it can all sound together....DUH! :geek: And yes, I did notice that most of the verbs had the built-in chorusing enabled, like Cliff recommended for fatness. I think I have figured out what I was 'missing' from my other modeler's verbs - it is a warm EQ boost in the lower midrange that's always there (which can be duplicated with the AFX). I am happily no longer missing the old verbs at all because I now realize how good the AFX verb can be made to sound with a little TLC- awesome. I think I started 3 new songs because of the inspiration! :p

And for the most part, the heavy gain patches had plenty of drive & sizzle yet without unnatural fizziness, and oh what a relief THAT is - I won't miss it a bit! :mrgreen:
 
Another Observation: I have not heard ANY audible aliasing to date - this is unheard of in a digital Amp modeler - Ole!

~HappyRad~
 
Radley said:
I think I started 3 new songs because of the inspiration! :p
Click to expand...
I can't really remember a piece of gear that caused so much inspiration, jamming and new callouses than the Axe.
 
I have found it quite amazing how well various blocks can work together, and despite the complexity of the advanced parameters it's been fairly intuitive for me to create patches emulating various gear. I hadn't thought about it back when I first got my Ultra, but Cliff's statement in his recent post makes a lot of sense:
The Axe-Fx effects are of "medium granularity". What this means is that although an effect block can stand on its own, it may be easier to achieve the sound you are looking for by combining blocks.
Click to expand...

For example, I'm a big EJ fan and wanted to duplicate his dirty lead sound. His chain is well documented, and one of the main ingredients is the EP3 Echoplex - also an important part of EVH's early rigs. There is a "Cliffs" preset in the Axe which sounds good but I just wanted to see what I could do with it. I used this chain, to emulate as closely as possible the order he uses:

Tube Drive>Tape Drive>Delay>Plexi 1>Cab>Reverb

I used the Tape Drive block to help emulate the EP3, and added in the Delay block some mod & HF rolloff to simulate tape echo. The Delay in front of the overdriven Plexi behaves differently, and what is impressive is that it's very much the way it works with the actual gear. You must set the mix very low, and what happens is a sort of "ducking" effect. The delays are more subtle while you're playing fast, when you stop the echo trails sort of bloom louder as they're boosted by the amp's gain. Since the Tube Drive is in front of the delay, you still get overdrive from it so the repeats don't get totally clean.

I'm not saying I can nail the tone exactly, but it's awesome to me that everything in the chain behaves as you'd expect. Unlike real pedals or other FX, additional blocks in the AxeFX add no noise, signal degradation, or level mismatch. You can run two amps at once in parallel....you can even run one amp into another, which would be impossible in real life.

Another tone I really like is Shawn Lane's early rig. His amp was a solid state Holmes Mississippi Bluesmaster, much like the old Peavey SS amps and included an overdrive circuit similar to a fuzzface. He'd set this fairly clean with just a hint of dirt, and used a Westbury Tube overdrive for his lead sound along with delay. I wanted to duplicate this, especially being able to switch in the overdrive for the lead tone. I used the Jazz amp since it's the only SS amp in the Axe. I put a drive block in front, I think I used the FET boost and changed it to the germanium transistor. Another drive block in front of that, tube drive set to the High Voltage tube as the Westbury had, with a delay block in between. A 4x10 cab since that's what Shawn favored. I set the clean sound so it had just a hint of dirt from the FET block. Since this was still a pretty clean tone. I found that I couldn't get quite enough gain from the Tube drive alone, so I added a PEQ in front of it. So this was the chain:

PEQ>Tube Drive>Delay>FET Drive>Jazz>Cab>Reverb

I set the PEQ and Tube Drive to both bypass via the same CC/IA. Now the sound was in the ballpark, again not that I exactly copped his tone but I came up with a very usable sound. What I like about this is going from clean to dirty lead without changing presets, so the echo trails sound natural with no glitches.

I also set up a single patch to duplicate both EJ's clean and dirty rigs, two amps & FX in different rows with a CC to toggle between the amps. This sounds the most natural to me, in getting instant switching and the effect of the echo trails. While the AxeFX has a delay spillover, it really can't duplicate this when switching between two presets. Both Eric and Shawn would often switch quickly between clean and dirty.

Just wanted to throw some ideas out there that I have tried...there's many ways to skin the cat with this box.
 
Radley said:
Dear AFXrs,

I know you all will think I'm crazy, but today is the first day I actually went through and listened to all the presets (Ultra). Up until now I was just working on a few factory presets I had customized, and trying out the various effects within those patches. Well today I really took an extended listen to all the presets, and most of them blew me away! :eek: :shock: :eek: Many of the more 'effecty/ethereal' patches have some truly beautiful sounding reverbs and long delays, and I heard for the first time how good it can all sound together....DUH! :geek: And yes, I did notice that most of the verbs had the built-in chorusing enabled, like Cliff recommended for fatness. I think I have figured out what I was 'missing' from my other modeler's verbs - it is a warm EQ boost in the lower midrange that's always there (which can be duplicated with the AFX). I am happily no longer missing the old verbs at all because I now realize how good the AFX verb can be made to sound with a little TLC- awesome. I think I started 3 new songs because of the inspiration! :p

And for the most part, the heavy gain patches had plenty of drive & sizzle yet without unnatural fizziness, and oh what a relief THAT is - I won't miss it a bit! :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

?
 
Hey Rad, i'm really pleased that you're really diggin the Axe... Now you know why i pushed you so hard to give it a try, i knew that once you delved in you'd see what it has to offer. It really is the be all and end all for any pro musician... Unless you have to fly with it :lol:

T
 
Thanks TJ,

Yes, you deserve *major* credit for inspiring me to 'take the leap' - you kept telling me 'not to judge a product until you've used it', but I was relying on negative reports from a few disgruntled former-users. (why do we always believe the negative before the positive?) Bottom Line: You were right & I was wrong, and I'm GLAD! :p

~Rad~
 
Glad you like the little magic box Radley.

I had a problem with the many parameters.
I was used to the simple approach of the L6 products that modelled existing fx. So when starting to tweak I was overwhelmed by the many parameters.
I'm always looking at the numbers and I like even our rounded to .5 number ;-)
So I had to stop doing that and listen. Just give the knob a turn and listen.
Even not look at the advanced parameters.
I guess they are for the advanced people. ;-)
But I keep finding sounds I like, my guitars never sounded better, for the first time I have clean sounds that sound full and lush, I have heavy rhythm sounds that sound clean, If you know what I mean.
I keep reducing the gain for those rhythm sounds.
I keep picking up tips here on the forum, I'm constantly learning.
And yes, finding new sounds can be very inspiring.
5 months down the road and I'm more excited every day.
So my friend, as they say here: it's a journey.
So I hope you enjoy yours as much as I did so far.
 
MisterE said:
Glad you like the little magic box Radley.

I had a problem with the many parameters.
I was used to the simple approach of the L6 products that modelled existing fx. So when starting to tweak I was overwhelmed by the many parameters.
I'm always looking at the numbers and I like even our rounded to .5 number ;-)
So I had to stop doing that and listen. Just give the knob a turn and listen.
Even not look at the advanced parameters.
I guess they are for the advanced people. ;-)
But I keep finding sounds I like, my guitars never sounded better, for the first time I have clean sounds that sound full and lush, I have heavy rhythm sounds that sound clean, If you know what I mean.
I keep reducing the gain for those rhythm sounds.
I keep picking up tips here on the forum, I'm constantly learning.
And yes, finding new sounds can be very inspiring.
5 months down the road and I'm more excited every day.
So my friend, as they say here: it's a journey.
So I hope you enjoy yours as much as I did so far.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i'd have to say that i've never owned a product that continues to inspire as much as the Axe FX has for me... I've always been a gear junkie and I've had some nice units over the years, the Eventide DSP4000 was one of my faves but this sucker takes the cake, as many know, you can just lose hours when you start getting in deep. I haven't just sat and played so much for years.
 
Radley said:
I was relying on negative reports from a few disgruntled former-users. (why do we always believe the negative before the positive?)
Click to expand...

Maybe you do, but I've shamefully bought the hype a couple of times. (read: POD 2, Vetta II HD, GT-8...) Of course, I still kind of did it with the Axe, too. The difference is the Axe has actually surpassed the hype while I've had it via the numerous free updates!

Thanks again for all your hard work, Cliff.
(Can't be repeated too much, the man is just great.)
 
Radley said:
...why do we always believe the negative before the positive?
Click to expand...
Mystery of life. I can buy something on eBay from someone with 20,000 positives yet I will comb thru 200 pages to find out what their 10 negatives say...lol.
 
MisterE said:
Glad you like the little magic box Radley.

I had a problem with the many parameters.
I was used to the simple approach of the L6 products that modelled existing fx. So when starting to tweak I was overwhelmed by the many parameters.
I'm always looking at the numbers and I like even our rounded to .5 number ;-)
So I had to stop doing that and listen. Just give the knob a turn and listen.
Even not look at the advanced parameters.
I guess they are for the advanced people. ;-)
Click to expand...

Mister E,

The cool thing about the advanced parameters is that you can still build great sounds without ever 'going there', but they are there for good reason, and the more 'in depth' factory presets are an excellent example of what they can produce. Fortunately for everyone, there are *many* patches already available to download, so you can just let the 'patch wizards' mess with the advanced parameters and enjoy the fruit of their labor if you like. I'm really looking forward to the editor - I believe it will make programming, editing, and patch loading a streamlined process. These are great AFX days indeed! :p

~Rad~
 
Beefcake said:
Radley said:
I was relying on negative reports from a few disgruntled former-users. (why do we always believe the negative before the positive?)
Click to expand...

Maybe you do, but I've shamefully bought the hype a couple of times. (read: POD 2, Vetta II HD, GT-8...) Of course, I still kind of did it with the Axe, too. The difference is the Axe has actually surpassed the hype while I've had it via the numerous free updates!

Thanks again for all your hard work, Cliff.
(Can't be repeated too much, the man is just great.)
Click to expand...

No doubt - Cliff and the AFX have 'gone where no major modeling technology has gone before'! (Star Trek theme playing in background) :p
 
mwd said:
Radley said:
...why do we always believe the negative before the positive?
Click to expand...
Mystery of life. I can buy something on eBay from someone with 20,000 positives yet I will comb thru 200 pages to find out what their 10 negatives say...lol.
Click to expand...

Same here...ebay,harmony central,...tire rack :lol: :lol:
 
tubetonez said:
I have found it quite amazing how well various blocks can work together, and despite the complexity of the advanced parameters it's been fairly intuitive for me to create patches emulating various gear....
Click to expand...

Great post. I think this is key, learn what each of the various blocks is capable of and be willing to be creative in using them to craft a sound you want. Everyone wants a plug and play emulation of some pedal or other, but if you break the functions of the pedals down you may find a nice combination of AxeFx components that works. The capability to do this is what makes the AxeFx a professional level tool rather than a consumer level tool.
 
Hey Rad

Had one of 'them'. I know your a man that if you say it sounds good, then it does. Welcome aboard and I'm glad your enjoying your gear. I flick the switch on my Ultra every day and it just sounds good. Coming from a POD, I had no idea there were 'high quality' reverbs and effects, but the sheer QUALITY of the stuff in this box makes me play all the time.
 
juliancs said:
Hey Rad

Had one of 'them'. I know your a man that if you say it sounds good, then it does. Welcome aboard and I'm glad your enjoying your gear. I flick the switch on my Ultra every day and it just sounds good. Coming from a POD, I had no idea there were 'high quality' reverbs and effects, but the sheer QUALITY of the stuff in this box makes me play all the time.
Click to expand...

High quality reverbs are not what I would personally attribute to the Line 6 products.
 
javajunkie said:
juliancs said:
Hey Rad

Had one of 'them'. I know your a man that if you say it sounds good, then it does. Welcome aboard and I'm glad your enjoying your gear. I flick the switch on my Ultra every day and it just sounds good. Coming from a POD, I had no idea there were 'high quality' reverbs and effects, but the sheer QUALITY of the stuff in this box makes me play all the time.
Click to expand...

High quality reverbs are not what I would personally attribute to the Line 6 products.
Click to expand...

Probably not, but I like the rather warm (but non-defeatable) lower mid bump in the response (makes it sound better/warmer than it is).
 
Radley said:
Another Observation: I have not heard ANY audible aliasing to date - this is unheard of in a digital Amp modeler - Ole!

~HappyRad~
Click to expand...
Well, that's 'cause there isn't any.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ain't this box great!
Thanks again Cliff!
 
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