OK, I am going to throw my 2cents in and agree with what was said above ...
Nolly's track sounds to me like he is not only using something else within his presets, but he has a whole host of post production wizardry going on there too.
I will also say, when i first got my Axe Fx, the tone was good, but not FANTASTIC ... and I tweaked and tweaked but it still sounded like there was a blanket over everything... THEN I finally searched around and procured some Canare 110ohm DA206 AES/EBU Digital XLR to XLR cables. (everything I read said it can be troublesome with SOME mics, but many studios were using this 110ohm cable as interconnects on rack gear for the analog signal) ... The veil was lifted and my tones got the 3D "alive" sound I was looking for. I was using the entry grade Monster Cable stuff before.
I run the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 interface, 27" iMac and Logic Pro X. I run EV ZXA1 monitors live. I run stereo out of the back of the Axe Fx with a pair of the Canare DA206 cables that are 1 ft long. Then firewire to my DAW. I have no issues with clipping. My input on the axe fx, depending on guitar stays 10 to 11 o'clock. The output on Axe Fx is at 10 o'clock. The inputs on my Focusrite are about 11 o'clock. I get a strong signal and great volumes without clipping. Most high gain amp sims I run the master volumes around 1 o'clock or so. Cleaner amp sims are run just a breath hotter.
I also run pickups that vary HUGELY ... David Allen single coils. Seymour Duncan JB, Pearly Gates. Dimarzio Tone Zone, Paf Pro, Crunch Lab. Evans E2 Hot Lead. Bareknuckle Juggernauts. And my tuning varies from guitar to guitar to include Drop A, Standard B, Standard C, Drop D, Standard Eb and Standard E.
Now that I am thinking about it, how is your guitar set up? I know I am just throwing random shit out there, but there can be some justification sometimes. I have listened to guys play who are using mega low action and a string gauge too thin, and it keeps the notes from coming into full bloom. You can get a much more percussive tone out of it. And I'm not thinking your string gauge is too small because I don't hear a lot of the pitchy thing where your tuning goes sharp and settles in after heavy picking.
I have used Bias on a couple of occasions, and not saying it is a bad product, but it isn't as transparent as the Axe Fx. The BIAS can throw out some brutally crazy sounds, but what I wasn't as impressed about, was my USA Jackson Fusion with a Crunch Lab sounded not THAT much different than my Ibanez RG3120 with the Evans E2, which didn't sound a whole lot different than an old American Kramer with a Bareknuckles Juggernaut. On my Axe Fx Ultra, those are all COMPLETELY different beasts.
What I have learned, is that there are SO many different parameters within the Axe Fx (whether you are on a Standard or the latest Axe II) There is no compromise for seat time behind Axe Edit being a tweaker. I have a friend of mine that gives me hell, because he has had is Axe Fx II for almost 3 years, and he has a grand total of 4 presets that sound good to ok. I have had my Ultra for 1 1/2 months and he says all 15 of my presets CRUSH any of his.
Sometimes it does have a lot to do with what you are already comfortable using and how it tweaks... I learned in about 2 hours, you have to take everything you know about every other modeler and throw it away... Build a patch from scratch. go into the amp settings and tweak every knob and switch. put every one back where it was before going on to the next one. then start tweaking 2 or 3 at a time so you learn how they interact with each other, because they will ...
Hope I have given you a little encouragement and maybe shed a different light. Best of luck to you!
After the Canare Cables, here is what about 10 minutes of tone building had. There is ZERO post production. I recorded it straight into Logic Pro X, and immediately bounced it back out as an MP3 .. and now here ...
Kevin
I appreciate you taking the time to write all that.
So, I have done basically what you said about tweaking the amp from scratch and etc. I also understand that axe fx lets you push things way harder than conventional amps. I am well known for my guitar tone, and my mixes in general. I have been producing music for about 10 years and have done several albums which have been heard by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Basically I am just trying to say that I have a very great understanding of how to make a good mix and good guitar tones.
I have a Keith Merrow 7 string with a bare knuckle aftermath in the bridge. I wired it myself, and that might also be an issue. The thing is... I don't have any noise issues when running into my interface then into BIAS. It sounds clean and clear and brutal. The problem is just with the Axe Fx. I have tried several guitars (5 or more) and they all suffer from strange high pitched sounds. Of course I have never been using the proper cables this whole time, so I have yet to rule that out as a potential problem. I might just re-solder all of my connections to ensure there are not any cold solder points. I still don't feel that my wiring job would be the issue since the problem is across the board, however it is much worse with certain guitars.
It sounds to me like the cables might be my issue if what you say is true about your tone going from 0 to hero after getting quality cables. I know for a fact that I am not using the proper cables and that there is an electrical interference going on in my room since I have switched between outlets and seen much better results.
My main problem right now is that there is a very high pitched ringing sound when I do palm mutes. You can hear it in the tracks I posted above. I have since fixed it to the point that it's not ringing out loud like your standard amp feedback from being too close and too loud. Now it is just a subtle metallic ring when I palm mute that you can barely hear. To the trained ear it's there and I know its killing my tone. I need a perfectly clean signal going through the entire chain. Axe Fx doesn't seem to be very resilient in terms of having a clean signal / being able to deliver regardless of signal issues (My friend recorded a track with a guitar that was clipping and feeding back and you couldn't hear it at all when running through BIAS). My 5150 and when using BIAS through my interface both have no problems with this ringing business. I honestly believe I may have a defective unit.
I am going to try some new cables once I get some money and see if the issues go away. I will also re-solder everything and heat up each spot before applying solder. I never use flux, and I don't think it should be necessary for guitars? I am going to install my Nazghuls into my other guitar and see if there is any ringing problems with it. I hope you are right about the cables because I don't want to have to put my axe fx up for sale, but in its current state its pretty much useless. I am trying to have the best possible recordings since I run my own studio and get paid by bands to make their music. I have been doing it for years and have been using BIAS and TSE audio for my amps and always got great results. I want something more though. I want my guitars to really stand out and I want people to go "Damn thats great tone" and have it sound realistic. You can tell BIAS and TSE are fake and that bothers me albeit they sit in mixes so well.
SUMMARY:
I just get this very icepick type of tone when I palm mute my lowest string. It sounds horrendous. It sounds like taking a chisel to concrete or something cept very high pitch. It's the sound of the string not the note. Maybe this is my amp settings?
MAYBE ITS THE STRINGS IM USING? I have had this problem before where I could hear the same tone when my guitar wasn't even plugged in. I got new strings and it went away. I have stainless steel frets and an ebony fretboard. Ebony fretboards are very snappy with lots of pick attack. Perhaps I need to settle with a different set up pickups? I just don't know the answer here guys.
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