Purchased Patches

Andy Eagle said:
A teaching course on how to program would be fine. Not the same thing at all.
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Just to say it, doesn't the same logic apply to setting up, customizing, or refinishing a guitar? My impression is that those are services your customers happily pay you for, because they see value in having their instruments evaluated and the work completed by a skilled and experienced pro.

Yes they'd learn more and get a more specifically tailored result if they got educated and did the work themselves. But for many people, having the work completed, and being able to use the result, is useful in itself.
 
Selling presets is perfectly fine. Plenty of fine folks doing it.

The only weird thing I have about it is the completely unhinged posts people crop up with out of nowhere screaming about how a preset they bought "doesn't sound the same".

While ignoring the fact that it was made by someone with different hands, ears, technique level, guitars, monitoring system and processed through most likely a different DAW (and probably octa-tracked). Gee; why does it sound different? No idea whatsoever.:rolleyes:
 
I have owned and used an Axe-Fx for twelve years, including my recent FM9 purchase, and over the years I realized that I prefer spending time playing rather than experimenting with the units. I have purchased presets and also downloaded presets from Axe Change, but in almost all cases I have to tweak them to some degree to refine them to my liking. However, these purchases and downloads have saved me considerable time in getting me in the tone vicinity that I was seeking, thereby freeing more time to play.

Having presets available for purchase that have been developed by experts who have likely spent considerable time developing them is worth the investment to me if/when I think they suit my needs. Also, many of the noted artists that use the Axe Fx on their tours often rely on such experts like Cooper Carter, M@ or their techs to assist in the creation of their presets.
 
JiveTurkey said:
Selling presets is perfectly fine. Plenty of fine folks doing it.

The only weird thing I have about it is the completely unhinged posts people crop up with out of nowhere screaming about how a preset they bought "doesn't sound the same".

While ignoring the fact that it was made by someone with different hands, ears, technique level, guitars, monitoring system and processed through most likely a different DAW (and probably octa-tracked). Gee; why does it sound different? No idea whatsoever.:rolleyes:
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People like this I would love to watch try my guitar through “dark” sounding amps. They will just look at me like WTFFF.
 
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I have purchased a handful of single presets, and have downloaded many free ones from AxeChange.
I have only ever found one to suit my taste/needs (and it was free). The rest I discarded immediately UNLESS, there was an effect block I liked (modulation, delay).
As far as Amp tones, I've never found anything that I didn't need to tweak....and it ended up sounding like all my self made presets..lol.

That said, I do think there is a legit market (and need) for preset sales. Some people don't know what they're looking for, or how to get it, and a purchased preset may help them learn and/or find something close to the sound they want.

And like any digital product market - some of it is gold, and some is garbage.
 
nandro48 said:
I found Austin Buddy's Naked Amps pack to be a waste as well. I'm done buying patches. They all lack that "chug" or "balls" for lack of a better term. To me they sound like crappy practice amps and get harsh when volume is remotely high.

I'm honestly overwhelmed by the # of Amps and Cabs which is why I started buying packs. I know very little about cabs since I went from owning combo amps to the Axe. Is there a way to narrow down the IR list so I'm not scrolling through thousands of cabs?
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To be honest… to call some of these guys (whom have devoted many hours making presets and gained respect by many users) ‘garbage’ or ‘crap’ is not a nice way of saying “they don’t work for ME, I didn’t care for them”.

As far as option paralysis, with all the amps and cabinets the AxFx has… look at the amps you think you’d gravitate towards, and do a bit of research on what speakers they commonly use. As an example: Medium to high gain amps generally use 4x12 cab, or 2x12 in a combo. Experiment.

While I never bought user presets… you might (definitely) be better off in getting your righteous tone by getting some 3rd party IR’s from companies like York Audio or OwnHammer. I mostly use them, and so do many others. IR’s have a huge impact on your tone. The rest is (mostly) in the control settings of the first page of the amp block.. and ‘window dressing’ (effects) you might want to add.. after your happy with the raw tone.
 
I have Austin Buddy's Live and Gold packs, and think they're a good value. He spends a lot of time trying to keep up with Cliff's firmware releases, and, even for people who don't actually need them, the packs serve as a good place to wander when looking for a certain something.

I like the challenge of making my own presets, so while I have the packs I treat them like cookbooks mostly, occasionally grabbing a block then bending it to my will.

I also appreciate his tireless help on the forum, which was part of my decision to buy the packs.
 
JiveTurkey said:
Selling presets is perfectly fine. Plenty of fine folks doing it.

The only weird thing I have about it is the completely unhinged posts people crop up with out of nowhere screaming about how a preset they bought "doesn't sound the same".

While ignoring the fact that it was made by someone with different hands, ears, technique level, guitars, monitoring system and processed through most likely a different DAW (and probably octa-tracked). Gee; why does it sound different? No idea whatsoever.:rolleyes:
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This above.

Played Dweezil's Eruption Gift of Tone preset and of course I can't play like Dweezil or EVH.

But in his hands, it nails it. When I play that preset, I feel like I am riding a Tiger.... :D
 
FusionFanatic said:
To be honest… to call some of these guys (whom have devoted many hours making presets and gained respect by many users) ‘garbage’ or ‘crap’ is not a nice way of saying “they don’t work for ME, I didn’t care for them”.

As far as option paralysis, with all the amps and cabinets the AxFx has… look at the amps you think you’d gravitate towards, and do a bit of research on what speakers they commonly use. As an example: Medium to high gain amps generally use 4x12 cab, or 2x12 in a combo. Experiment.

While I never bought user presets… you might (definitely) be better off in getting your righteous tone by getting some 3rd party IR’s from companies like York Audio or OwnHammer. I mostly use them, and so do many others. IR’s have a huge impact on your tone. The rest is (mostly) in the control settings of the first page of the amp block.. and ‘window dressing’ (effects) you might want to add.. after your happy with the raw tone.
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Yes. The Cab IR is HALF the sound. Get that wrong and I don't care how many knobs you turn on the amp - the amp can't push out frequencies that the Cab IR simply doesn't have. I gravitate towards balanced Cab IRs myself. But I hear some presets out there that are dark due to Cab IR that some people love, some that are bright... we all got different ears.

I'm a big fan of the York Audio Cab IRs. Just use his Cab mixes on existing amp model presets, and you'll find the preset sounds as good or better than ever, every time.
 
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I’m a pure hobbiest. Played live once. A So-so player. I don’t have 10% of the experience as the average player on here. Not false humility, all to make this point. I simply do not have the ear so many of you guys have. And I think a lot of that is learned over time and exposure that I don’t have. So I have purchased patches - mainly ones that aren’t just dialing in the amp - but also tuning in a lot of effects that suit my taste in music. I still forever tweak/experiment with the actual amp setting, and I’ve still learned a ton on here when I do experiment with various effects and settings. I feel like I get the best of both worlds.

PS: agree 100% with Austin’s favorite son above about IRs. I’ve not regretted purchasing from several vendors and at least for my amps of choice - the impact is A HUGE part of the tone you can dial in.
 
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austinbuddy said:
Yes. The Cab IR is HALF the sound. Get that wrong and I don't care how many knobs you turn on the amp - the amp can't push out frequencies that the Cab IR simply doesn't have. I gravitate towards balanced Cab IRs myself. But I hear some presets out there that are dark due to Cab IR that some people love, some that are bright... we all got different ears.

I'm a big fan of the York Audio Cab IRs. Just use his Cab mixes on existing amp model presets, and you'll find the preset sounds as good or better than ever, every time.
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Everything I like to play is dark like Recto and even my Friedman presets. Problem is they all sound muddy as hell in a mix and it makes me sad. My ears are just dumb honestly
 
There is definitely a need for preset makers, the evidence is there to show how much they help some users. They're also definitely not for everyone as demonstrated by some of the comments in this thread. They are a perfect example of the saying: "You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but not all of the people all of the time".

Just because someone doesn't find something useful or doesn't think it makes any sense does not mean someone else feels the same way or has the same experience. It would be nice if people wouldn't worry so much about what others do. I generally don't buy presets. I have enough knowledge and experience and am willing to put in the time to create my own. That doesn't make me any better than someone that purchases presets and is not a knock on those who sell them. There are a lot of tools available, no need to be one if you don't use some of them.
 
Unboxed said:
Everything I like to play is dark like Recto and even my Friedman presets. Problem is they all sound muddy as hell in a mix and it makes me sad. My ears are just dumb honestly
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They're not dumb, you're playing by yourself, and responding to what you hear. (Me too!) The highs and mids that help cut through a mix often sound aggressive and harsh solo.

Play along with some Jam tracks and/or records that fit what you want to do. By the time you've adjusted your tones so like what you hear in that context, you'll have a more balanced perspective.
 
Unboxed said:
Everything I like to play is dark like Recto and even my Friedman presets. Problem is they all sound muddy as hell in a mix and it makes me sad. My ears are just dumb honestly
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You've just become accustomed to a certain tone at home, but your ears can be 'retrained' or 'recalibrated'.

I was actually the opposite of you, most of my presets were overly bright starting out. Sounded great at home, but live were thin and piercing, it was very frustrating since they sounded so 'good' at home. I took some time and built a basic preset leaving everything at default settings and played for about 30 minutes. At the start, everything of course sounded darker and mids heavy but in the end I wound up really liking the tones I was getting.

I decided to edit some of my other presets to match the same darker, mid-heavy tone and the results were impressive. All of my presets sat in the mix just right and still sounded great at home. I kept that basic preset in the list and will compare it with my other presets from time to time to make sure I don't stray too far from it.
 
nandro48 said:
I have purchased multiple patches online with limited success (Lasse Lambert from STL Tones, Metal Pack from Choptones, Rock & Metal Pack from Fremen, etc.). These have all been a letdown. I play a lot of Killswitch / Lamb of God -- these packs produce "flubby" soft rock sounds at best. I'm running my Axe Fx 3 through HS8's using a Caparison Dellinger guitar. Everyone seems obsessed with Fremen's material, and I found it to be garbage. Am I doing something wrong?
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In a word...Yes.
These people take the time to make these presets, most all have YT channels for you to preview them BEFORE you buy them and to call them garbage?
Go to Preset Exchange and type in Lamb of God, or "Mettalica" test them all and see how many of them come close...but someone took the time to try it and share it. I've bought a ton of presets and way too many cab packs (do you think I'll ever use or hear that much difference in 8000 cabs variations) and as long as you can buy these people's work for less than a round of golf I'll keep buying them.
This isn't the 70's where we had to guess at what some of these guys are doing, can't swing a dead cat on YT without seeing someone's Rig Rundown, figure it out, build a preset and post it on here and hope every Killswitch/LofG fan doesn't call it garbage.
 
Mostly other peoples presets don’t work for me. I know they’re good because there are demos, but on my setup and ears, they’re just a starting point. Educational for sure. I grab amp blocks, IR’s, effects, ideas. I bought a highly regarded pack that I don’t use. They’re not bad, but it’s rare I grab a preset that just works for me. I don’t plan on buying more and there’s no need to. Plenty of free stuff available that is just as good as the non free stuff. With presets like the GOT’s, guys like Burgs and LT and others. I don’t post presets. Even though I have some that give me the best tones I’ve ever had, they may well sound like junk to other players. Like the guitar player for Bush. I tried his GOT preset and didn’t like it at all. Saw Bush play recently and he sounded really good. Just the way it is I think.
 
It's not just presets I wouldn't buy. I wouldn't build a replica old school rig of a favourite player either.

Back in the late 80s a friend of mine bought an ex EVH switcher from ed (early Bradshaw) and decided to replicate Ed's whole rig. After many months of collecting components and putting it together even having a schematic and setting from Ed's tech it sounded almost the same as his regular live rig. :tearsofjoy:
It was interesting to see Ed's fx settings but it was nothing you couldn't hear anyway. The core fundamentals of good tone can't be achieved with only a part of the equation. Take away the player, the effect of amplification without any reference and the environment and you have a pointless product IMO . This is only my opinion but anyone who sells presets that are supposed to sound in a particular way (artist /album) are snake oil salesmen. If you had someone come to your studio/practice room and you payed them to program an album tone for you with you playing/guitar etc that would be entirely different.
 
Guitar / Hands / Ears / Brain = varying perceptions of the same
modeller preset. Nonetheless, sharing / selling presets provides vailue in terms of reduced learning curve, and/or programming effort, reduced eq'ing effort, getting one "in the ballpark" (or closer with luck).
 
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