Played live for the first time with it :)

M

Mindcore

Member
Sooo freaking awesome.. but I guess you guys know that already.

So much more tweaking to do though. Driving home however I was thinking and I'd be interested in your advice.

For a live set up, do you think "one rig"? I use a couple cleans and a couple distortions and that covers me pretty good. I started with some presets I liked and just made some minor adjustments but then I'm thinking should I take those sounds I like and run them through all the same cab model? like I would have to do with my old amp and cabinet.

Or do most just pick the best sounds what ever combo that may be? I ask only to save myself a little time during the honeymoon period.

Thanks
 
Why would you do that?

Look at the biggest bands rolling, they often have two amps (or more) for different tones. They don't run their Fender amps, that they use for cleans, through their Marshall 412 cabs that they use with their Marshall amps. And vice versa. By using the Axe-FX you can multiply that sort of power and versatility by degrees of magnitude.

I would suggest this: Create a template for your presets that you follow. Figure out what effects you use and how you want to route them. Then set up each preset in the same way; but just switch up your amp/cab combinations.

Set up your midi controller as a virtual pedal-board to turn effects on/off.

Then use most of your different amps/cab combinations as your variable and adjust each effect on each preset optimizing it for use with that tone (ie. your dirty sounds do not normally need as much reverb as your cleans; etc). If you need special presets for given songs, then simply create them as needed.

That approach totally simplified my way of thinking and using the Axe-FX and has served me very well over 3 years running now. Try it and perhaps it might work for you.
 
Scott Peterson said:
I would suggest this: Create a template for your presets that you follow. Figure out what effects you use and how you want to route them. Then set up each preset in the same way; but just switch up your amp/cab combinations.
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This is exactly what I do, too. It simplyfies things a lot, works as a guide, and speeds up patch creation. And you are still allowed to use a complete different setup in some special cases.

Life can be so easy, sometimes.
 
Hey Mindcore. My philosophy is that I have always tried to incorporate as many styles, tricks, techniques and tonal differences into my playing as possible. For example, I will use wah, whammy bar, slide, "two-notes-plus-crazy-modulation-effects", chicken-pickin', two-handed tapping etc.... Sometimes I will have things huge and lush sounding or other times I will have everything stripped down. To me, it is these variations that keep things interesting to an audience. And while I am master at none of these techniques, I have enough tools in my belt to "fool" the audience into thinking I am a decent guitar player.

I am of this same philosophy when it comes to amp and cab sims. I have seen many heads turn when I switch between my Dr.Z + 1x12 Black patch to my Uber + 4x12 patch. They are two totally different animals for two totally different sounds. But you can create a totally different mood within a song by switching between two rigs. You just can't get this dramatic of a change if you base all of your patches on 1 cabinet. Which is fine for some people. But it's not what I'm going for.

As for the nuts-and-bolts of this, I am in agreement with what the other guys are saying about keeping it simple. When I first got my axe-fx, I spent waaaaaaay too much time tweaking EQ's and other less important things and getting frustrated after of 45 minutes. My approach for the last year or so has been to pick an amp (along with knowing whether it is preamp or poweramp gain that works for this amp) and then toggling through the different cabinets until I find something that is at least 90% of what I'm looking for. After that, I will adjust the high and low cuts to the levels I like (around 120 Hz and 5 kHz respectively as a starting point) and THEN do the EQ tweaking. Honestly, I'm to the point now where about 5-10 minutes of tweaking is all I need.

Hope this helps!

-AL
 
I think it isn't such a bad idea to limit yourself to one cab that works. In your honeymoon period at least. In the plethora of possibilities it'll be a constant that let's you focus on dialing amps. There are cabs that work with most amps. Later on you can start experimenting with different cabs and make your tones even better
 
Tonight will be my first live gig using the AXE-fx. Im a tad excited about it and nervous as well.. I've had the Axe for a while, but just got the mfc, so now I'm mostly ready. I don't have the expression pedals I ordered from MIssion yet, but am using a real wah in front and my normal volume pedal. Sounded pretty good that way.

I play A LOT of solos, so my solo tones have been the hardest for me to dial in.. I can get good rhythm tones pretty easily, but lead tones (and I use a few different ones depending on the tune) are what I spent a lot of time working on. I'm happy with my Marshallish Led Zepp type of tones as well as with my more Robben Fordish type of blues tones. The cleans and all the variations of clean are the most difficult for me, as I like to approach it as a simply Fenderish amp and use various drives and filters to get shades of tones. I want sparkle, yet no ice pick.. it's a fine line.. (I'm using just an LP tonight, normally I switch between an LP and a Strat).

I'm hoping it works out tonight..

I'm going through two qsc10's.. I won't be in the pa tonight as we're playing somewhere very small tonight (like 150 people or so). It is a good venue to experiement as it's a small place with LOTS of people we know. It will be crowded, but with mostly friendly faces, so it's a good place to try stuff out.
 
yek said:
I think it isn't such a bad idea to limit yourself to one cab that works. In your honeymoon period at least. In the plethora of possibilities it'll be a constant that let's you focus on dialing amps. There are cabs that work with most amps. Later on you can start experimenting with different cabs and make your tones even better
Click to expand...

+1 on this, it's very easy to get lost in all the combinations that are possible. Get your head around the basics, establish a good foundation tone that you like then do some experimenting.
 
Thanks guys, I do have to get my head around it.

It just sounds odd to me when I go form a clean matchless 1X12 to a 4X12 recto in one song, although both sound awesome. Just trying to find some continuity.

Sticking with one amp for now and building around it sounds like a good plan.
 
Mindcore said:
Thanks guys, I do have to get my head around it.

It just sounds odd to me when I go form a clean matchless 1X12 to a 4X12 recto in one song, although both sound awesome. Just trying to find some continuity.

Sticking with one amp for now and building around it sounds like a good plan.
Click to expand...

It seems that if that combo is appropriate for the song than it should be fine. The most difficult thing is making sure the volumes are correct. The clean sounds can have a much louder apparent volume. Also, I've found it helpful to set trim levels with clean sounds. Distorted sounds are more compressed and will usually be fine if the cleans are good.
 
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