Presets for live gig - how best to manage?

[dave keats]

Gawd, I love my AX8. I grew up in the 80's and have spent thousands of dollars and hours using various amps and pedals. The AX8 is a miracle of a tool for guitarists.

But in a live setting, I think it can also be too much without the right approach. I'm in a band that plays a mix of covers and originals. With all of the power of the Fractal, I can customize to my heart's content, getting close to the exact sound of a given cover. And with originals, I can bring a unique sound to each song.

My challenge is having to change presets during a gig. With no way to enlarge the font size on the list of presets, I find myself kneeling between songs to scroll through the presets to find the right one. I suppose I could simply arrange them to be sequenced in the same order as our setlists, but the sets change frequently, sometimes on the fly.

The solution I'm thinking of is simply using 5 or 6 presets for everything, and have a couple of different scenes to use for solos, etc. But this seems to defeat the purpose of the Fractal and its customization.

What are others doing in a live setting when it comes to number of presets?

 

[bone_scar]

I'm in the same boat. I use 4 presets (light gain for classic rock, heavy gain for heavy songs, clean classic fender tone and an acoustic simulator) with an external pedal to engage more gain on the first 2. All have 2 scenes, reverb and delay. 2nd scenes are setup for lead boost and longer delay. Each preset has its own various effects (phaser, wah, etc.) i know there must be a better way, but I'm of the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality right now.

 

[Brian Decker]

I'm in the same boat. I use 4 presets (light gain for classic rock, heavy gain for heavy songs, clean classic fender tone and an acoustic simulator) with an external pedal to engage more gain on the first 2. All have 2 scenes, reverb and delay. 2nd scenes are setup for lead boost and longer delay. Each preset has its own various effects (phaser, wah, etc.) i know there must be a better way, but I'm of the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality right now.

I do the same thing. Rather then trying to nail exact tones, I get in the ballpark with clean, dirt, crunch, and lead scenes.

 

[Sonofiam]

The solution I'm thinking of is simply using 5 or 6 presets for everything, and have a couple of different scenes to use for solos, etc. But this seems to defeat the purpose of the Fractal and its customization.

There's no right or wrong way to set up the AX8. It does have incredible versatility and customization but at the end of the day, we all need to find how it works best for us regardless of whether we feel we are wasting its potential. It's simply a tool that is capable of many things but not all of them have to be used. For most of my gigs, church environment, I use the setlist approach and have one preset per song. For bigger gigs, I use minimal presets with the different amps I need and scenes for individual songs.

 

[Smittefar]

I am also in a cover band. I don't try to nail every tone, but I have a preset for each song, and I have set up scenes for every part of each song. This eliminates any need for tap dancing and trying to remember what to use.

In order to change presets, I have an iPad hooked up with the Quiccosound mi1 and bluetooth. Then I use setlist maker to make setlists, and as I change through the songs, the presets gets selected via bluetooth/midi on the AX8 - It works really great.

 

[dave keats]

In order to change presets, I have an iPad hooked up with the Quiccosound mi1 and bluetooth. Then I use setlist maker to make setlists, and as I change through the songs, the presets gets selected via bluetooth/midi on the AX8 - It works really great.

Man, this got me on a little research which led me to purchase the Quicco and Set List Maker. Can’t wait to try it out! Thanks for the great tip

 

[Razor]

Man, this got me on a little research which led me to purchase the Quicco and Set List Maker. Can’t wait to try it out! Thanks for the great tip

This seems like an interesting option. I am going to check out these products also. Thanks!

 

[Rex]

The solution I'm thinking of is simply using 5 or 6 presets for everything, and have a couple of different scenes to use for solos, etc. But this seems to defeat the purpose of the Fractal and its customization.

The purpose of the Fractal is to give you the tools you need to get the job done, not to force you to use every tool in the toolbox.

The solution you propose is a good one, used by many.

 

[hippietim]

Gawd, I love my AX8. I grew up in the 80's and have spent thousands of dollars and hours using various amps and pedals. The AX8 is a miracle of a tool for guitarists.

But in a live setting, I think it can also be too much without the right approach. I'm in a band that plays a mix of covers and originals. With all of the power of the Fractal, I can customize to my heart's content, getting close to the exact sound of a given cover. And with originals, I can bring a unique sound to each song.

My challenge is having to change presets during a gig. With no way to enlarge the font size on the list of presets, I find myself kneeling between songs to scroll through the presets to find the right one. I suppose I could simply arrange them to be sequenced in the same order as our setlists, but the sets change frequently, sometimes on the fly.

The solution I'm thinking of is simply using 5 or 6 presets for everything, and have a couple of different scenes to use for solos, etc. But this seems to defeat the purpose of the Fractal and its customization.

What are others doing in a live setting when it comes to number of presets?

I’ve been gigging on the Fractal platform for 10 years now - Axe-FX Ultra, Axe-FX II, FX8, and AX8. The most presets I ever used for one band was 6. Even then I had 4 main patches (clean, crunch, dirty, heavy).

I’m in two bands now. One is a Stones tribute and I just use one patch all night - a Tweed Twin like Keith uses live with a couple overdrives, delay, tremolo, and wah. The other guitarist in that band uses a Kemper with two patches. My other band is typical bar cover band and I have two patches - one is cleaner and the other is a little crunchy, both have overdrives, delay, wah, and vibe. The other guitarist in that band uses a Boss GT and I’m not sure how many patches he uses but it seems like a lot to me.

There’s no right answers here. The Fractal units all have the flexibility to work in so many configurations. I know there are a number of folks that have patches for every song and that works for them - I could never do that but I totally get the appeal. I know some guys are using iPads to manage the patch change work - that makes a lot of sense to me if you use a lot of patches because there are some good tools to arrange set lists that can send program change messages via MIDI.

 

[Ericbr1]

Great answers on this thread. My view is similar The AX8 is a TOOL. A MULTI-TOOL.. .The KING OF ALL TOOLS! ha.. Well with that said, my band does everything from 80's hair rock to old blues/funk to modern hard rock. I only need a couple of programs for each gig. I set up an expression pedal to vary gain , and on certain amps that works REALLY well. I then use a Filter for another gain option , as well as 1 Drive, and another filter for solo boost. Then use some either Chorus/Phaser/Roto options or whatever, and a delay. I don't even need to use the 'Y" settings for anything . I can cover any tune just fine this way, whether it'd be on our songlist, or any of the songlists I've played for the past 30 years (quite varied material too) or any of my originals.

I have a very good memory so I will know without having to read, how to switch programs. Also I will know on my 8 switches which effect is where.

OK, contrary to my 'very good memory' post, that's completely related to guitar stuff. . I suck at lyrics, and actually use an IPAD and Ipad holder now on my mic stand to reinforce my lyrical memory.. boo hisss

I use my volume knob on my guitar also these days to vary gains/tones

1 other thing.. .. I play covers now, but never will play the song exactly the same way twice. I love to not only improvise a bit with playing but also tones/sounds. I don't even use scenes, as they to me, are a bit more like using a preset for every song. I will incorporate a few in the future, but currently I still use the AX8 as a 'pedalboard' and vary things constantly . I'm very used to that as I've used pedalboards for so many years

OK , meanwhile , the AX8 can do WAYYYYY MORE.......... I spend time at home writing programs and loving them. I just don't need to switch to a new program for every song or 2 at gigs. I can see 4-6 being absolutely ideal for about a 100 song list for someone like me (we only play 40 songs but of course when you're an old guitarist and have played with the bassist over 20 years, you know way more!) .. 4-6 is ideal , BUT I don't even have more than 2-3 I use I'm happy as hell still . .

Eric

 

[barhrecords]

I have:
1. Synth Cello
2. Acoustic Guitar Sim
3. Clean Bandmaster
4. Dirty Soldano 100

70's Strat with Kinman pickups.

With all of them I have a GEQ post Amp block that is my "Louder". I can get up over the mix with out changing the gain / overdrive. I really like being able to play Clean solos with just a GEQ mid boost and not getting into crunch.

For the Clean I have a drive block that adds dirt and about 3-4dB of overall preset level increase. I use it mainly for fills.
The Dirty preset is setup for my lead tone. For speed I use the Clean preset + drive on/off for short fills but change presets to the Dirty preset for solos.
I sometimes start on the Dirty preset. I manually change the solo boost off at the start of the song and use it manually on/off during the song.

I usually have a "Gonzo" button that engages a Multidelay or some other really dramatic effect. We use these maybe once a set for extended space jams.

 

[Swampdonkey90]

I’ll say this... when I played covers I brought one amp....usually a 5153 stealth. I did my best with the 3 channels on the amp and it was great. If I was still doing covers ? I’d make presets of my old rig with the blue and red channel and do what I did before.....just without lugging all the gear with me anymore.

 

[Ericbr1]

I have:
1. Synth Cello
2. Acoustic Guitar Sim
3. Clean Bandmaster
4. Dirty Soldano 100

70's Strat with Kinman pickups.

With all of them I have a GEQ post Amp block that is my "Louder". I can get up over the mix with out changing the gain / overdrive. I really like being able to play Clean solos with just a GEQ mid boost and not getting into crunch.

For the Clean I have a drive block that adds dirt and about 3-4dB of overall preset level increase. I use it mainly for fills.
The Dirty preset is setup for my lead tone. For speed I use the Clean preset + drive on/off for short fills but change presets to the Dirty preset for solos.
I sometimes start on the Dirty preset. I manually change the solo boost off at the start of the song and use it manually on/off during the song.

I usually have a "Gonzo" button that engages a Multidelay or some other really dramatic effect. We use these maybe once a set for extended space jams.

Cool, what kind of music do you play? Pardon the tangent, but I noticed 'Kinmans" .. I'm in the process of modding a bunch of my guitars (old projects that I bought and am FINALLY getting to ) and I had 2 Kinman pickups stashed away that I never even used. Thinking if using them in a S/S/HB guitar. Do you love them?

Eric

 

[barhrecords]

Cool, what kind of music do you play? Pardon the tangent, but I noticed 'Kinmans" .. I'm in the process of modding a bunch of my guitars (old projects that I bought and am FINALLY getting to ) and I had 2 Kinman pickups stashed away that I never even used. Thinking if using them in a S/S/HB guitar. Do you love them?

Eric

It all original music plus some covers of the Grateful Dead, Dylan, Dr. John, Little Feat, and other prehistoric stuff lol

I grew to like the Kinmans. Mine don't have a very pronounced quack in positions 2 and 4. I think later sets are better in this regard though. I have been gigging them for several years now and really appreciate the lack of noise. We slog through a lot of one set festival gigs. I never have to worry about hum.

I play mostly on the middle pickup and switch to the bridge for dirty leads. I use the volume and tone controls a lot during songs. Just a force of habit from my amp rig.

 

[Ericbr1]

I’ll say this... when I played covers I brought one amp....usually a 5153 stealth. I did my best with the 3 channels on the amp and it was great. If I was still doing covers ? I’d make presets of my old rig with the blue and red channel and do what I did before.....just without lugging all the gear with me anymore.

Makes sense. Mostly since about 1980 I've used 2 channel

It all original music plus some covers of the Grateful Dead, Dylan, Dr. John, Little Feat, and other prehistoric stuff lol

I grew to like the Kinmans. Mine don't have a very pronounced quack in positions 2 and 4. I think later sets are better in this regard though. I have been gigging them for several years now and really appreciate the lack of noise. We slog through a lot of one set festival gigs. I never have to worry about hum.

I play mostly on the middle pickup and switch to the bridge for dirty leads. I use the volume and tone controls a lot during songs. Just a force of habit from my amp rig.

Thanks appreciate it. I play about 6 places regularly and a few have crap power where I just can't use my s/c's so I always have to bring HB guitars or s/s/h guitars and just using 2 positions basically on those! Looking forward to setting up a s/s/h where I can use all 5 positions. I have dimarzio Virtual Vintage in 1 of my guitars and those are very nice, but looking forward to trying the Kinman's. I bought them MANY years ago when they were raved about on the internet forums, but life just gets in the way of modding guitars sometimes Have a great NY

Eric

 

[macphistoo]

I forget the name of the tool but someone from the forum created a software that basically display the name of the current preset with the effect chain etc... Maybe worth to have a small laptop hooked to the AX8 and use it as a control display. I did once during a gig with my old Axe II and it was great.

EDIT: here it is, AxeLive :http://www.roxxxtar.com/axelive