Resources for a total beginner?

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bluehugh2

Member
I just picked up the new Axe F/X ll XL... and I am totally new to digital anything! The manual is complete Chinese to me, since it doesn't walk one thru what to actually do - it seems to make assumptions that there is some knowledge there (and I have none). About all I can do, is to scroll thru the presets and use the tuner!...
So... is there somewhere where I can find the most dead simple: "push this button, then turn this knob..."... etc. tutorial? I haven't found anything on youtube. I am willing to invest some serious time, but I have zero background and it's frustrating...
As a guitar player I sense the power of this machine... I bought one because I have a dozen great amps and I can never get the variety of tones at proper rehearsal volumes that I need.
Any help would be appreciated!!! Thanks.
 
i haven't gotten around to my "first steps" video yet, but i did just start offering 1-on-1 consultation on my website. stop by my chat and maybe i can give you a few tips. but i could probably show you a bunch in an hour session.

i'm sure there are some walk throughs on the forum if you search a bit? i've done a few "beginner" sessions locally and they were well on their way after that.

KKM Chat | Katsu Kuri Media Blog

but definitely ask away on the forum here. lots of people will help out.

edit - oh yeah and cooper carter's creative live class! lots of info there!
 
Check out the WIKI here Axe-Fx II Wiki Home - Axe-Fx II Wiki

The manual is not complete Chinese to me (since I speak and read chinese) ;) but I find the WIKI to suit me better when I am not understanding stuff.

There is lots of basic good info in the WIKI for ultra and standard that is still valid when it comes to basic set up, create tones etc
 
bluehugh2 said:
I just picked up the new Axe F/X ll XL... and I am totally new to digital anything! The manual is complete Chinese to me, since it doesn't walk one thru what to actually do - it seems to make assumptions that there is some knowledge there (and I have none). About all I can do, is to scroll thru the presets and use the tuner!...
Click to expand...

This was me but a few months ago. Whilst by no means an expert I'm pretty comfortable with the unit both live and in the studio.

How do you have it set up? What do you have it hooked up to.
 
I've found that frequently revisiting sections of the manual and wiki, even though you've already been through them several times, really helps. The AxeFX is a pretty comprehensive and dynamic device, and I'm constantly learning new insights into things I thought I had a good handle on already.

Visiting the forum frequently is very helpful. The ranges of experience and knowledge vary greatly here, but there is overall a greater depth on this forum than many others.

When searching the forum I've found better luck using Google. The forum only gives you back 100 hits, using it's proprietary search engine; often that doesn't really get into what you're looking for. I still search for information from this forum, but use Google, instead, if I'm needing anything comprehensive, or older than a couple months ago.

Learn to use Axe-Edit AND the front panel of the unit. Don't rely totally on either.

Download other user's presets and study them; see what other folks do to arrive at a preset. Things are rarely cut & dry.

Listen to the recording section of the forum. See what others have been able to get from the unit.

Keep in mind that the presets you download come from all over the map: some of the users are professional musicians and others are noobies. Some are set up on humbucker rigs and some from single coils ; some from bright rooms or dark. Some from tube amps, computer speakers, FRFR or studio monitors. Many of the patches won't work for "you" but they can still be used to get insight into how to get better tones from your rig.
 
I'm not going to be any help, except to say congratulations. Don't be intimidated; as you've already seen, the community here is a huge help. Any time you formulate a question and post it, people will be falling over themselves to give you a hand.

We pretty much all started by checking out presets, but the fun really begins when you start dialing in your own. A week from now, you won't believe how far you've come. And it just keeps getting better!
 
I've only had mine for about 3 weeks and I'm already getting fairly comfortable using it. The front panel is still a bit of a guess for me, but it is starting to make sense as I use it.

I second the recommendations from above: KKMmusic and Cooper Carter have both helped me greatly with just a few of their videos that I've watched.

This forum is 2nd to none and there is a lot of incredible knowledge here.

Enjoy!!

\m/




Posted with TapTalk for iPhone, please forgive the spelling errors.
 
The Axe can be very overwhelming for a beginner, but don't let the huge capabilities of the unit intimidate you. You can completely ignore most of the advanced settings available and still get tons of really great sounds. It mostly depends on what kind of tones you are looking for. The most straightforward approach is to look at the grid blocks just like a physical pedalboard and try to recreate your physical amp setup. Start with simple presets on just one line to make things easier. Don't worry about the whole mono vs stereo thing at first. Just place blocks just like you would hook up a physical rig. Most of the default settings for any given block are pretty good and usually only require minimal tweeking to compensate for different guitars and pickups. Once you get more comfortable with the interface and editing, you can dive in a bit deeper with the more advanced stuff. Axe Edit makes things much easier to start with, but learn the front panel too.
 
Yea the build a preset video will get you into it. From a complete rookies perspective there is a lot that can seem impossible to decipher but it will unravel in front of you with some practice.

Just learning when the scroll right left buttons or the page left right buttons are what you need to get around in the menu can be a hurdle at first try...as well as understanding the grid layout... hit the Layout button to get to it for going from one block to the next then hit edit to get into the pages of the block you highlighted while in Layout screen.
Hit the Recall button to get back to the preset scrolling.

the layout is the grid of blocks, each block is one or more pages of parameters you can adjust. each page may have a scroll up/down area that you can access. you dont have to worry about the deep pages or parameters you dont understand at first, the default settings are good to go.

Learn how to set up a basic preset and do the basic tweaks for your volume, bass,treble, middle, gain, etc first. That will get you familiar with navigation and then the exploring of all the deeper stuff will be more rewarding than if you dive into it without having knowledge of the basic navigation of the grid to depend on.

From the preset screen/Recall hit Layout, scroll to the block you want to deal with..like Amp...once there hit Edit...do some adjusting...hit Layout...scroll to another block...hit edit...etc. dont forget to save if you like what you did. You can either save to the location you are in, changing the preset from what it was before you edited, or select a different preset location to save your new/changed version of the preset to. Saving to a new location will leave the original preset alone...so you can have multiple versions of the same kind of preset

Using axe edit instead of the buttons on the front of the AxeFx will show you the layout of the grid all in one screen so do install axe edit and try it out too
 
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The Wiki and Axe edit have been the best tools for this beginner so far. I plan on digging in more on the videos in the near future.
 
bluehugh2 said:
it doesn't walk one thru what to actually do
Click to expand...

It's just a book -- it can't read your mind. :) It doesn't know what you actually want to do!

You seem to have got the very basic stuff down: connecting your guitar, powering it on, selecting a preset, adjusting output level, starting/stopping the tuner.

Now where do you want to go next? Editing a preset? Connecting a MIDI controller like the MFC-101? Setting the input gain for your guitar? Uploading presets from Axe Change -The Official Site for Fractal Audio Presets, Cabs and More

+1 to Cooper Carter's video lesson. Worth every penny if you're coming in to this and finding yourself lost. Chris' site and YouTube channel is also chock full of information for some basic stuff to do.
 
I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit, I'm sure you've plugged your gat Into a pedal or two and then into an amps input. Maybe even put an effect processor through the effects loop? Simple enough stuff yeah?

You can look at the AxeFX at a very basic level by simply looking at the layout, moving to an effect click edit and do as you normally would with a pedal, granted it goes waaaayyyyyy deeper but you don't have to just because it can :)

Start off as many people suggest with a simple chain amp & cab & reverb... There are some patches that are very pure and effect less. Play around with different cabs... Play with different settings on the different amps again at a basic level like you did on your good ole amp. Maybe your amp is in the magic box... If not there'll be something close! The axe has been designed so it is really easy to do wonderful things at the click of the button, and that's just with the amps let alone cabs n effects.

Now add what pedals you had in your chain to match, drive here, chorus there... Change models, change settings.. This is all pretty much what you'd do in a real amp n effects setup so nothing too deep.

You wanna have some fun add the looper near the end and put down a loop then jam away... Or put the loop in front of the path and the. You can experiment with out having to keep playing.

This sounds simple enough yeah? It is and there is a lot you can get just playing on this basic level.
When you are comfortable you can delve deeper sand experiment.. People here are always willing to help.

Learn the panel.. Layout, edit, enter, bypass and recall etc.

Hope this helps a little


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
1 hyphened word axe -edit. Don't suffer through the display It's an instant migraine mixed with neck strain.


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bluehugh2 said:
I just picked up the new Axe F/X ll XL... and I am totally new to digital anything! The manual is complete Chinese to me, since it doesn't walk one thru what to actually do - it seems to make assumptions that there is some knowledge there (and I have none). About all I can do, is to scroll thru the presets and use the tuner!...
So... is there somewhere where I can find the most dead simple: "push this button, then turn this knob..."... etc. tutorial? I haven't found anything on youtube. I am willing to invest some serious time, but I have zero background and it's frustrating...
As a guitar player I sense the power of this machine... I bought one because I have a dozen great amps and I can never get the variety of tones at proper rehearsal volumes that I need.
Any help would be appreciated!!! Thanks.
Click to expand...

Cooper Carter's streaming class and Scott Peterson's videos are probably the best start....
 
Don't be afraid to muck it up! You can always reload firmware/presets and start from scratch. The more you dink with it the better you will get. This IMHO is the best way to learn! It's a fantastic journey, Fear not young Padawan!!!
 
Thanks for the Replies... 3 weeks in and I am slowly making sense of this Machine!
I still think a very basic exact description of all the basic button pushing would accelerate the process- but I am learning by going over and over... The KKM videos are great. I bought the MFC-101...
 
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