Practically... How does one do the live thing? Buttons and functions?

Dutch

Dutch

Fractal Fanatic
I know the sound, I have a II. I also have an LF+12+ to control it. Would love to go ultimately compact, though!

So practically, how can the AX8 be controlled during performance?
How does the layout work? What can be progammed on the buttons? It looks like scenes and blocks are possibilities, what else?

Would be lovely if that manual showed up. Soon.

Is there such a thing as song or setlist programming? song up/down? bank up/down?
I'm in P&W so we have like 90+ songs and rising and completely different setlists every week. To keep it manageable I was thinking of making one preset per song using mostly global amps and cabs.
I could change out presets in the first banks every week, but just changing the list is easier and less accident prone...
 
Last edited:
I am thinking one preset per song and then using scenes to switch sounds within a song. All of my presets are going to be built around the same 4-5 basic presets. I cannot think of a song, where I would need more than four scenes, so I may have four scenes available and then 4 instant access buttons.

Regarding getting to each preset, I hope that one of the utility foot switches can be set up such that you just press a preset number one the numbered footswitches. Otherwise, I would order the presets via Ax8edit to fit whatever setlist, we are playing that night.
 
I Currently use 5 preset regularly with another 4 specialized presets.
My 12+ has about 30 presets to access all of the scenes in the presets. I build songs, now up to 60, (we haven't played the other songs in a while) in which I also program the song's tempi for delays and such. I arrange the songs into setlists which start with a song called "soundcheck", next a song called "tune up" which is also silent, then the first in the list.

But with the AX8 I'm thinking the preset method is the way to go. One preset per song. Arrange presets for setlists per performance.

I use tap-tempo a lot, drive pedal/boost, output volume boost for solo's, volume pedal and wah/delay level pedal. Other stuff us usually done in scenes.

OK. I'm on the list.

Would love some more opinions and ideas!
 
I hope song mode is there. Its essential when working with different sets of presets/ multiple bands.
 
I use the ii currently with an MFC. I do one song per preset and have 5 button's dedicated to scenes (not all songs need 5 scenes...most only use 3) and the rest of my button's are all IA's. I used edit to quickly put the songs in the order of my set. It only take a few moments (have done it via front panel too and it was not that bad. I am pretty attached to my IA's especially when things go off script and we have some impromptu stuff going on. With Ax8 I keep thinking I should do 4 scenes and 4 IA's. The Ax8 supports a long press though not sure to what extent. I know a button and can be and IA and a long hold can switch that block between x/y. I really wish it had an extra two buttons. It makes me contemplate adding a 2 button external switch to bank up and down so I could use F1 and F2 as IA's
 
I guess you could use your MFC to control your AX8 if you really needed the functionality, if it doesn't exist.
 
Really, you guys deal with that much pre-planning for a song? you guys can't cover most anything with 5-6 presets with maybe a couple of specialties with a weird effect?

When I was using a GR55 with my rig for synth stuff I was operating on almost a patch per song and I found that utterly exhausting to deal with.

I guess if you got nothing better to do... I barely get enough playing time at home to even hook my rig up. (I don't even have kids at home)
 
3dognate said:
I guess if you got nothing better to do... I barely get enough playing time at home to even hook my rig up. (I don't even have kids at home)
Click to expand...
First off that came off a bit harsh...I will just assume that was not your intent. I can't speak for others here but for me it doesn't take much time at all. I use a one preset template. In it I have amp1/2, Drv 1/2, rotary, delay, verb, 1 cab, filter for boost and a pitch blk. They all have x and y dialed in. For each song I just save the template to a new preset location with a new name and quickly set up the scenes to have the right x's or y's selected and bypassed or engaged. I used to just play with two presets and tap dance all night (this is still what I do if I am setting in or playing in a setting where everything is not so pre planned out) I much prefer the person song set up using scenes that all the tap dancing.
 
brokenvail said:
First off that came off a bit harsh...
Click to expand...

Not just that but a tad condescending. "Really?" as in "wow, you guys are dummmmbbbbbb". There are multiple approaches and no definitive "right" way to build a preset for a gig. The majority of my presets I could use on multiple songs but I prefer having different amp/cab tones represented so they are distinct. For example my last big gig we played Fleetwood Mac > ZZ Top > Journey > Kid Rock > Steve Miller > Foo Fighters > Peter Frampton | none of which I would have isolated in a single preset. It's tough to get a set list to comply with the tone/effects combos you want for every single song. Axe-Edit makes it easy to make presets sound just right.

For regular simple jam sessions, yes, I will have 5-6 presets that I go between having fun. When it comes to a gig, I want the tone to sound exactly like the artist's combos which is the excellence I strive for. Here's a couple examples of the noticeable differences:


 
brokenvail said:
First off that came off a bit harsh...I will just assume that was not your intent. I can't speak for others here but for me it doesn't take much time at all. I use a one preset template. In it I have amp1/2, Drv 1/2, rotary, delay, verb, 1 cab, filter for boost and a pitch blk. They all have x and y dialed in. For each song I just save the template to a new preset location with a new name and quickly set up the scenes to have the right x's or y's selected and bypassed or engaged. I used to just play with two presets and tap dance all night (this is still what I do if I am setting in or playing in a setting where everything is not so pre planned out) I much prefer the person song set up using scenes that all the tap dancing.
Click to expand...

I went through the exact same process and now do the exact same thing, template preset and all. Takes me maybe 10 minutes to set up an entire set, and when I get there I don't have to do any tap dancing whatsoever. Tempo is set up, and I just change scenes when needed. It's ridiculously simple, and it allows me to focus on my playing rather then tap dancing, plus song transitions take less then a second. The guys I play with noticed the improvement in my playing as soon as I moved to this system.
 
brokenvail said:
First off that came off a bit harsh...I will just assume that was not your intent. I can't speak for others here but for me it doesn't take much time at all. I use a one preset template. In it I have amp1/2, Drv 1/2, rotary, delay, verb, 1 cab, filter for boost and a pitch blk. They all have x and y dialed in. For each song I just save the template to a new preset location with a new name and quickly set up the scenes to have the right x's or y's selected and bypassed or engaged. I used to just play with two presets and tap dance all night (this is still what I do if I am setting in or playing in a setting where everything is not so pre planned out) I much prefer the person song set up using scenes that all the tap dancing.
Click to expand...

Yeah... I'm just chatting like a buddy... not trying to be harsh. (that's just the nature of text based conversation.). I guess I am just not accustomed to the "Scene" based concept quite yet.

Even with my Kemper I don't get into using performance mode like some do with a performance and using rig slots in a performance to step through stages of a song... some guys are getting wildly crazy with the shear number of rigs/performances they are dealing with. a singer calling an audible change in the set list will toss them for a loop.
 
3dognate said:
Yeah... I'm just chatting like a buddy... not trying to be harsh. (that's just the nature of text based conversation.). I guess I am just not accustomed to the "Scene" based concept quite yet.
Click to expand...

We weren't tryin' to dog ya (PUN!), it's just like receiving a text from a friend "are you kidding me?" and you immediately think something's awry. Dude, scenes are the best if you build your presets for X/Y or enable/disable blocks. For me I just program 1-5 so I can easily change them in REVEAL mode on the MFC while jamming. Love it, try it out!
 
ibanezfreak4 said:
We weren't tryin' to dog ya (PUN!), it's just like receiving a text from a friend "are you kidding me?" and you immediately think something's awry. Dude, scenes are the best if you build your presets for X/Y or enable/disable blocks. For me I just program 1-5 so I can easily change them in REVEAL mode on the MFC while jamming. Love it, try it out!
Click to expand...

Yeah... I'll try it out as soon as I get an AX8 in my hands.. :rolleyes:
 
Today, I am playing 30 song gigs with one 3 channel amp and 8 pedals, so I suppose, I could do it all within one or two presets. However, it is a struggle to get my level right across 30 songs, a volume pedal would not help, as I cannot hear the sound in front of the stage. Also, I would prefer not to tap tempos.
Therefore, I look forward to having preprogrammed levels and tempos. The reduced tap dancing of the one preset per song strategy, is (just) an added bonus.
I do not think that I will try to match every tone of the original songs, I expect to have four or five base presets, I will use for all songs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom