Pitch Shifter / Intelligent Harmony

Agreed that the Axe FX has better sound/tone than anything out there. I've been using the VG-99 extensively over the last three years and to my ears there are only a few things that sound nice out of it. Yes, the very reason that I still have it is because I can either take the VG-99 or drag a half-dozen guitars to a gig. I use the DADGAD/Danelco for Kashmir, OpenG for the Stones etc. Nevertheless, the OpenG can't use the Mag Pup as you so correctly state, and the modeled guitar sounds horrible. Sure you can use *just* the mag pickups with the VG-99, but then you lose all the extraordinary functionality that you bought it for in the first place. I am genuinely glad that you are happy with the VG-99, it's features make it quite literally one of a kind, that's why I bought it, but I can't live with the tone quality. That's why I'm looking at the Axe and not something else. I even bought a Roland SonicCell (which sounds are fantastic) to pair with the VG-99, but the guitar-to-MIDI latency is so bad as to border on being fraudulent. I really don't want to go into a rant here - suffice to say we don't agree on the subject. The VG-99 held such promise when it was released, but alas, it never lived up to my expectations. I really appreciate these forums because of how much I can learn from everyone, sometimes even reevaluating my stance on something when the consensus is at odds with me. At the same time it is a comfort when I see posts like MesaGuitarGuy above who has used both the 11R and the Axe and can speak with first hand authority on the merits of each. It de-risks the roughly $3,000 investment I'm looking at making. Thanks all.
 
tone wise, one of the things you'll find about the Axe compared to the VG is that you can get the low right..
the Axe can give you that low end bloom when you palm mute without the 'boom'
the VG struggles in that area..
also, the Axe's dynamic responsiveness is more natural feeling.. but if you like that very compressed feeling from the VG, you just go to the amp / dynamics page and wind up the 'xfmr match' some, and there it is... so what you now have is choice...
also.. the VG sounds like the VG no matter what you jack into it..
this is both good and bad I guess..
once you've nailed your tone, it'll be consistent..
the Axe though is much more transparent and allows the guitars own voice and personality to pop through..
again, this could be good or bad depending upon what you're used to / expecting..
for example.. I have a matching pair of Morgan Guitar Works V6 guitar built to exactly the same specs...
through the VG they sound exactly the same... in fact they also sound exactly the same as my RG's too.. lol..
through the Axe, I've found that one is a little more aggressive sounding, and the other is just a little sweeter..
live on stage I don't notice it quite so much.. all that volume and adrenaline I guess... but in the studio it's a different deal..
so I tend to use the aggressive one to record the riffs, and the sweeter one to record the solos...

I managed to get great tones out of both the VG and the Axe... but they are very very different animals...
and....... the Axe records much better than anything I've ever had.. including real amps...

EDIT - I got the VG purely as a guitar FX processor / preamp.. when I got it I had no interest in the guitar modelling / guitar to MIDI
the fact that all that was there was a curiosity / bonus to me.. but in truth I never used it
I just used the fx-processor side of it with mag pups..
the reason I chose the VG [at the time] was because it had dual chains [so I can use two amps together for my riffing tone] and has superb real-time control capabilities [which is a huge element within my preset config].. The Ultra wasn't quite capable of meeting my needs... but then the Axe-II came out and everything for me changed in a serious way..
I think you'll like the Axe... it is truly superb..
 
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bwanagary said:
BTW - UGH! I reread my first post where I crassly typed "Without a doubt the 11R is a superior machine..." - that's not what I meant to say at all! ;-). I meant that the FX II is clearly the superior machine. Thanks for not flaming me believe that I could make such an idiotic statement in an Fractal forum :). A senior moment no doubt. Thanks again Simeon for the reply. That's what I suspected but it's good to know what I'm getting into. I've also found quite a few other harmonizer clips on youtube and I agree, its the best I've ever heard - by far! So ... off to the Jeweler (so I can bribe the wife) :).
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Ha ha, FWIW, I knew what you meant so don't worry about treading on any precious toes around here. We can take it ( I hope :p )
I also had the 11R and tried to convince myself I didn't really need the Axe FX. Well, I lost that battle, and now am a happy Axe Fx owner, and will stay here. You won't regret upgrading to the Axe Fx, it is orders of magnitude better.

Also, you don't really need the MFC if you want to save some dollars. I use the FCB1010, and with the UNO chip I have worked out how to access all 8 scenes and change patches so that is a much cheaper option to consider.
 
bwanagary said:
. A senior moment no doubt. .
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:))))) no worries!
I did my own head to head test axe2 vs 11r. The axe2 is by far better in every way that I could find. I used to hear about how much you had to tweek the parameters on the axe but I have found it to be NOT true. The pitch shifter is awesome. I set up a scene on most of my presets with it. And I'm just getting started with this machine. You can find an 11r cheap these days. I had a hard selling mine. Glad I did ......really happy with the axe2
 
Hey Skintone1. Could you explain your setup to use all 8 scenes. Even a " ".syx so I can try and work it out in Ripworks. I'm still new to using the FCB1010 with Ripworks so things that seem simple to you might need explaining to me I you would'nt mind. I'd be extremely greatful.
Thanks nickxmix.
 
nickxmix said:
Hey Skintone1. Could you explain your setup to use all 8 scenes. Even a " ".syx so I can try and work it out in Ripworks. I'm still new to using the FCB1010 with Ripworks so things that seem simple to you might need explaining to me I you would'nt mind. I'd be extremely greatful.
Thanks nickxmix.
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Sure mate. Happy to help, as I only worked it out after others had helped me at the start.
So we don't hijack this thread any longer, go to the following thread in the " Other Midi Controllers Forum"


Thread: FCB1010 UnO - Instructions for Setting up Scenes & Expression Pedals





FCB1010 UnO - Instructions for Setting up Scenes & Expression Pedals

We had a discussion about it recently .
I will post at the end of that thread a picture of my Ripwerx page to show you my settings. I'll do that in the next day or so. Let me know if you don't find it.
 
Thanks for all the help and direction you guys. I did it! I bought my Axe FX II. Though I've only explored it for a couple of hours the sound quality is everything I had hoped for. The harmonizer is excellent also. It is so hard for me to work on new tunes for the band when I just want to immerse myself in the FX II ;-). Awesome piece of gear too. I'm about 1/4 way into the owner's manual also and I can't wait to use all I'm learning in a live setting. Now just waiting for that MFC-101 to come back into inventory ;-). May have to make do with myu Roland FC-300 in the meantime.
 
simeon said:
the pitch shifter in the axe is probably the best in the world right now. i've used all the variations of it (intelligent, fixed, crystals, custom scales etc etc) and it performs brilliantly

here's forum member Analog doing some Satch with it - Satch patch by 1x10e5 on SoundCloud - Hear the world - if that's not good enough for you, then i don't know what to say. get an 11 rack and an Eventide, i guess...
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Ugh, I'm drooling over that pitch shifter sound. My Axe-Fx shipped yesterday and I can't wait! I hope the MFCs get here soon. Can't wait to gig with this thing.
 
simeon said:
the pitch shifter in the axe is probably the best in the world right now. i've used all the variations of it (intelligent, fixed, crystals, custom scales etc etc) and it performs brilliantly

here's forum member Analog doing some Satch with it - Satch patch by 1x10e5 on SoundCloud - Hear the world - if that's not good enough for you, then i don't know what to say. get an 11 rack and an Eventide, i guess...
Click to expand...

Dude! Dude!!! DUDE!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Are you serious?!? Is that seriously ONLY the Axe II and ONE guitar playing? Was he jamming on top of Satch's tracks? Or was it backing track naked vamp stuff? I'm going to be so bummed if that was not 100% Axe II.

I've always been fascinated by that harmonized sound that Satch had on 'Why'. I doubt he used a pith shifter though. He most likely recorded all those tracks. Although I suppose he may have used an Eventide in the studio.

Do you have a link to the thread for this? Is there a preset? I'd LOVE to fiddle with that sound!!!
 
Wow! That Satch tune sounds great i'm amazed how close it sounds. Can't wait for the new Axe edit so I can sit at my PC with cubase and get lost in all the glory.
 
shotgunn said:
Dude! Dude!!! DUDE!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Are you serious?!? Is that seriously ONLY the Axe II and ONE guitar playing? Was he jamming on top of Satch's tracks? Or was it backing track naked vamp stuff? I'm going to be so bummed if that was not 100% Axe II.

I've always been fascinated by that harmonized sound that Satch had on 'Why'. I doubt he used a pith shifter though. He most likely recorded all those tracks. Although I suppose he may have used an Eventide in the studio.

Do you have a link to the thread for this? Is there a preset? I'd LOVE to fiddle with that sound!!!
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excited much? :)
 
That was a great example of the harmonizer. +1 on shotgunn, anybody up to share the preset if ya gots it?
 
shotgunn said:
Dude!
Do you have a link to the thread for this? Is there a preset? I'd LOVE to fiddle with that sound!!!
Click to expand...

server is too busy to run a search for the original thread at the moment, but if memory serves, analog used my patch (posted in the thread) and made a custom scale for that clip. might be worth shooting him a PM to see if he can give you the info and the patch

EDIT: here it is - http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-preset-exchange/54496-satch-patch.html - analog listed the custom scales he used...so have at it! :)
 
i did this little demo for another thread about the intelligent pitch shifter, so i thought i'd post it here as well, as we all seem to be having such a jolly time. this one uses two pitch blocks in parallel with differing amounts of pre-delay on each voice. it has a nice steve vai kinda flavour...

 
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