Quick Programmability Question

[Shawn S.]

To make a lengthy and unrelated story short, I'm interested in what the Axe-FX can do for me. Tired of the sound that I love out of analog gear not meshing with what I need sometimes.

So, here's a question as to whether this is possible through some sort of floor controller pedalboard:

Have 2 or 3 (or more) amp sounds that I can switch through (something clean, something mild, something dirtier, and something lead-like)

Then add effects using the rest of the buttons on the controller similar to a real-life pedalboard such as delay, reverb, wah, etc.

You could think of it as a pedalboard with a series of a/b/c/d/etc switchers at the bottom for the core sound, and effects to add on top of that.

Is that programmable with some sort of foot controller?

Thanks all... I'm really getting tired of endless gear searching only wishing to tweak a little more. It's in cases like this that my story sounds like a carbon copy of Scott P.'s

 

[TimmyM]

Yep that all sounds mostly possible.

Basically have your controller set up so that you can change patches with one row of buttons (thus changing the amp sounds), and then in the IA (instant access) buttons have your effects chains for each patch set up so you can activate/bypass those effects within that patch.

I can only think of one hiccup in this method that might cause headaches, and that is going from one amp sound to another (ie patch change) while leaving the effects the way they were in another patch. You could do a workaround, whereby you blend from one amp to another (or amp switch) by running two amps at once in a patch and toggling between them with either a CC (continuous controller) or IA.

TimmyM

 

[Shawn S.]

Thanks for the response and possible hiccup. Do you mean by leaving the effects the way they were as having the same settings, or simply being on or off.

If it's on or off, it's not a big deal. There isn't much to my staple sound that I don't mind hitting a few extra buttons for going from one sound or song to the next, could always add a drive and stay with the same amp for a solo or whatever...

If it's settings, I was going to ask if by changing the presets you can change the variables of the effects as well. Keep it the same effect, but change maybe the level, or depth or what have you.

Thanks again for the input, really appreciate it.

 

[TimmyM]

Yeah - That's what I meant - leaving the effects the way they were (settings and whether they were on or off) and changing the amp sim.

That said, yes you can change the variables in the effects from preset to preset while keeping the same effect (ie chorus). In some cases, you can even assign an IA or CC to a particular variable in that effect so you can engage certain things like more delay repeats or faster rates of modulation all in real-time thus expanding the dynamic pallette available to you as you play.

TimmyM

 

[paulmapp8306]

Dead Easy

I use a Rocktron All Access and have the following set-up

Bottom 5 buttons are "amp" buttons

1 = Blackface Twin (for Cleans)
2 = Trainwreck (for Blues)
3 = Plexi (for Classic Rock)
4 = Bogner XTC (for higher Gain Rock)
5 = Recto (for Metal stuff)

Middle 5 buttons are for gain stuff

6 = Compressor
7 = Low Gain Drive (OD, TS 808 etc) that suits the amp
8 = Higher Gain Drice (Blues Driver, Rat etc) for that amp
9 = Level boost (Pre-Amp, around 12 db) which pushed the amp (giving 2 gain levels for each amp)
10= Level Boost (Post Amp, around 2db) gives a Solo volume lift

Top 5 buttons are FX

11 = Reverb
12 = Chorus/Flanger/Phaser (depending on amp)
13 = Delay
14 = Tremelo/Rotory Sim
15 = Spare (for special FX, or if you need Chorus AND Flanger on one amp)) but is currently asigned to an EQ - so another tone option (say scouping mids)

I also have a Rocktron Hex which auto engages for Wah/Whammy FX

You can (on the All Access) select which FX you want on and off when you select the amp. So I have reverb on for cleans and blues, off for high gain stuff. Delay off for all, boosts off for all etc. Just turn them on/off if you need something other than the default settings at the time

Totally brillian for live or Studio Work.

 

[Shawn S.]

Thank you Paul! That helps a lot. Exactly the kinda thing I'm looking for.

 

[Shawn S.]

You can (on the All Access) select which FX you want on and off when you select the amp. So I have reverb on for cleans and blues, off for high gain stuff. Delay off for all, boosts off for all etc. Just turn them on/off if you need something other than the default settings at the time

Do you know if this sort of thing is also possible with the Ground Control Pro? If not, what is the feature called that would allow me to do this?

 

[xrist04]

Do you know if this sort of thing is also possible with the Ground Control Pro? If not, what is the feature called that would allow me to do this?

I'm an All Access user, not a GCP user. That being said, however, the GCP manual indicates that you can use buttons 1 through 8 for instant access (IA). Normally, presets on the GCP are organized in banks of ten. To use the Instant Access feature, you must select the “4 presets/Bank” option. This frees the upper two rows of pedal buttons, since you only need the bottom row of 4 buttons to recall your presets.

 

[Shawn S.]

Do you know if this sort of thing is also possible with the Ground Control Pro? If not, what is the feature called that would allow me to do this?

I'm an All Access user, not a GCP user. That being said, however, the GCP manual indicates that you can use buttons 1 through 8 for instant access (IA). Normally, presets on the GCP are organized in banks of ten. To use the Instant Access feature, you must select the “4 presets/Bank” option. This frees the upper two rows of pedal buttons, since you only need the bottom row of 4 buttons to recall your presets.

Thanks xrist!