Scenes are a Godsend!

skyko

skyko

Inspired
[Warning: this is a bass player writing! Guitarists may live on a completely different planet]

When I first read about scenes in the beta thread I though WTF, that must be something for those guitarists that apply zillions of effects to their sound to get it all mashed up.
Then I did the upgrade to v9.0 and scenes are just there .... staring at you from the front panel. So naturally it gave it a try. And set up some of my presets with scenes. I run a s**tload of effects with different settings and just enable very few of them per IA switch (most only 1 at a time). So I had a nice lightshow going on on the MFC. But something did sound different, better, somehow when I did switch away from my Scene 1 (as little effects as possible) it did sound better than just enabling the effect in Scene 1 .... hmmm ... started scrolling around the Layout and then I saw it: I use ParaEQs to compensate for "lost" punch/bass when running through effects and of course these EQ did kick in at the same time (new Scenes is an "all on" thing).

So now I can have for each and every effect combination adapted PEQ/GEQ or FILTER that sits in the right position and exactly matches/tweaks what I need to enhance for the given combination of enabled effect! That's a whole new story, before there was just no way: either you'd have enable multiple switches at once and waste precious IA switches for EQing. Multiple presets for switch while playing was just a no solution because of audio dropouts!

Now I can:
- have EQing (at the proper position in the chain) for each combination of effects
- I do not need to waste any IA switch for an EQ type of block (except when I'd need to switch that block individually in the scene)
- I get to switch sounds/effects dramatically without dropout or intermediate funny sound when doing the stepdance to press 2-3 IAs
- I have way (!) less presets

I did switch SCENE REVERT to OFF which now even provides the possibility to set up some temporary selection on-the-fly and then switch back and forth bet when that unsaved/temp scene and other ones.

All of a sudden it feels as if I'd have a whole array of Axe-Fx II ... this is the first FW update that made me write a post and funnily enough it is because of a feature I initially thought I'd never ever care about!

Scenes are a godsend! Thanks a lot!
 
There!!! Dont we look like wankers now.
Its suppose to be a BASS PLAYER??!?! to fully investigate and enjoy axe II and scenes while we guitar players whining about to be or not to axe edit... ;)

Skyko, well played... :D
 
It's always been that way right? Bass players being in the background getting the most out of what they have available? :p
 
MrGuitarabuse said:
There!!! Dont we look like wankers now.
Its suppose to be a BASS PLAYER??!?! to fully investigate and enjoy axe II and scenes while we guitar players whining about to be or not to axe edit... ;)

Skyko, well played... :D
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No offense intended just there is exactly 1 bass amp in Axe-Fx II and a gazillion of guitar amps, so my switching requirements/possibilities must be quite humble, right ;-)
On the other hand effects are especially problematic with bass (attack!) and always eat into the sound, so the ability to switch effect plus EQ is enlightening!
 
8string said:
It's always been that way right? Bass players being in the background getting the most out of what they have available? :p
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... and if a bass player does not turn up for a gig or rehearsal with at least a 50 lbs amp and a huge 8x10 fridge nobody will let the guy even play ...
 
skyko said:
... and if a bass player does not turn up for a gig or rehearsal with at least a 50 lbs amp and a huge 8x10 fridge nobody will let the guy even play ...
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Yeah, there's no wondering why my back is worn out... It's our job to make the whiny guitar players sound good right? :p

The SVT model in the axe is great though and you can tweak pretty much any sound you want from it, and a lot of the guitar amps work well too.
I've used my axe-fx exclusively for both bass and guitar since I got it in February and couldn't be happier.
 
skyko said:
No offense intended just there is exactly 1 bass amp in Axe-Fx II and a gazillion of guitar amps, so my switching requirements/possibilities must be quite humble, right ;-)
On the other hand effects are especially problematic with bass (attack!) and always eat into the sound, so the ability to switch effect plus EQ is enlightening!
Click to expand...

of course non taken... sometimes I just feel we git players have so much so we are just too spoiled to really dig in and enjoy this wonderful magic black box to its full potential...

every time there is something new added, people going...great... but.. wouldn't it be good if... yada yada..

keep on rocking!
 
I found the axe to be very overwhelming at first, but after owning one for almost a year now, I'm starting to feel comfortable and using the front panel to tweak and set up patches is becoming second nature (I find the lack of axe-edit to be practical tbh) although I don't have the same creativity making advanced patches as a lot of the people on the forum does.
A lot of the guitar specific amps (AC30, Bassman, Recto orange etc.) are really good for bass use as well, in fact I find most of them to be usable within different settings/genres.
I never considered the axe to be a guitar specific tool, in fact, the word guitar is non existant on the box itself ;)

It's simply the best tool I've ever used.
 
8string said:
Yeah, there's no wondering why my back is worn out... It's our job to make the whiny guitar players sound good right? :p

The SVT model in the axe is great though and you can tweak pretty much any sound you want from it, and a lot of the guitar amps work well too.
I've used my axe-fx exclusively for both bass and guitar since I got it in February and couldn't be happier.
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Besides the SVT I find find myself using the Tube Preamp a lot (!), jsut tweak the speaker resonance setting the way it would look with a real amp and give it some supply sag and you've got a marvellous amp! Clean but slighly gritty when you drive it!
 
skyko said:
Besides the SVT I find find myself using the Tube Preamp a lot (!), jsut tweak the speaker resonance setting the way it would look with a real amp and give it some supply sag and you've got a marvellous amp! Clean but slighly gritty when you drive it!
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+1 (sorry to continue off topic) Funny thing, I did the same exact thing with the Tube Pre and the Speaker Resonance settings to get it to where I like it for bass. Also love the SATuration switch, though it would awesome to see this as a variable selection (or perhaps a couple different "modes") in order to blend it to taste. As it is now, as just on/off, it can be a bit aggressive and break up a little too easily for bass. Perhaps others "in the know" can give advice as to how to get all of the benefits of the SAT switch on, but in a more controllable manner. Is it amp block's Drive, EQ, SAG that plays into this? Kind of like what they're talking about in this thread: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-discussion/60705-saturation-switch-drive-block.html
 
being able to use scenes has really removed some limitations for live use. Now I'm adding multiple effects at one time to really nail the bridge tone in songs, being able to subtly change the EQ of a patch, adding drive, bumping volume levels et., all with one switch. Very cool!
 
If I were still on the Ultra, Scenes alone would drive my decision to go to the Axe II...it's a huge usability improvement.
 
+1 For scenes!

Just got my midi pedal for the Axe and I can't believe how awesome scenes are! All I have to do is set the pedal how I want it, and I never have to touch it again. Every other variable from then on is easily set up and changed in the Axe.

With my old rig, every little tweak had to be done in the pedal. Good luck remembering which message needs to be sent to tell your switcher to turn the overdrive loop on or off. Inevitably You've forgotten which loop your overdrive was in. Next thing you know, you've got your flashlight out and you're digging through the wires in the back trying to figure out where everything's plugged in... Nightmare.

Anyway, scenes are absolute genus!
 
Rane said:
+1 For scenes!

Just got my midi pedal for the Axe and I can't believe how awesome scenes are! All I have to do is set the pedal how I want it, and I never have to touch it again. Every other variable from then on is easily set up and changed in the Axe.

With my old rig, every little tweak had to be done in the pedal. Good luck remembering which message needs to be sent to tell your switcher to turn the overdrive loop on or off. Inevitably You've forgotten which loop your overdrive was in. Next thing you know, you've got your flashlight out and you're digging through the wires in the back trying to figure out where everything's plugged in... Nightmare.

Anyway, scenes are absolute genus!
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Scenes opened up a whole new world for me. I can go from dropping the house to adding color with interesting delays and mods with the push of ONE button. This thing just keeps getting better and better! I can die knowing I've had the ULTIMATE rig.
 
Scenes are great aren't they? I haven't understood the confusion around them, though. First one I did as a scene: the Euro Red factory patch. Switched on the drive pedal and switched on the Multi-Tap Delay [might have had too switch off the delay as well]. Nice lead sound!!
 
from FB: Did you know that we created the new new scenes featured in firmware 9 especially for Steve's live rig? Just another way he's re-shaping the world of the electric guitar!

Ergo, Steve Vai is God :)
 
maschoff said:
from FB: Did you know that we created the new new scenes featured in firmware 9 especially for Steve's live rig? Just another way he's re-shaping the world of the electric guitar!

Ergo, Steve Vai is God :)
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Damn. I poseted a thread in the feature request section asking for scenes even if i called em "presets". Don't think i got even one reply in the thread and some hack named steve asks for it and FAS hops right toit? Lol
 
maschoff said:
from FB: Did you know that we created the new new scenes featured in firmware 9 especially for Steve's live rig? Just another way he's re-shaping the world of the electric guitar!

Ergo, Steve Vai is God :)
Click to expand...

The concept of "scenes" has been around for a while. I initially got into computer-based modeling with Guitar Rig 3. I reference their implementation of "Snapshots", which was essentially the same thing as "Scenes" in the AxeFx. Though I wasn't a big fan of Guitar Rig and chasing the seemingly never-ending hardware/software problems, I did really believe that "Snapshots" or "Scenes" were an irreplaceable tool for performance. So when Guitar Rig 4 came out, and they abandoned the Snapshot feature cold, that was then end of my support of the product....and...to me it never really sounded all that great. I was just in love with the idea of carrying around my preamp/effects in a laptop and small footpedal (Rig Kontrol 3)...btw, my Guitar Rig stuff is all for sale if anyone wants to make an offer. LOL.

So YES, for me, Scenes are a real big deal and a great addition. The next big step would be to allow for individual parameter changes to be saved into scenes, and also exposing more of the Amp Blocks tone parameters to modifier control to allow for easier "tone morphing".
 
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