Some newbie Q's on setting up

rickbarclay

Inspired
Hi, all. Bought a second hand AXE-FX 2. UPS should be here with it tomorrow. While I'm waiting
I'd like to ask some questions after reading the manual.

Presently, my rig is as followows: amp head into speaker cab. I'm running the sound thru the effects
loop, which includes an effects pedal and a looper. Guitar is connected to front of amp. Everything runs fine
this way, and I had planned simply to switch out the effects pedal with the AXE-FX II. But after reading the
setup part of the manual, it seems if I use this configuration, according to page 23, I won't be able to include amps
or cab simulations in my presets. Am I right on that?

If so, then all I have is a glorified effects processor which is not what I want. I want to try out different cabs and amps; that's
why I bought the darn thing. I notice on page 22 that if I use the Direct to FOH plus real amps on stage, I seemingly can
use the amp and cab blocks in the presets. Is this true? I would need to buy a mixer and a FOH PA?

What I really want to do is just get the full use of the AXE-FX 2--using the amp and cab block features with my amp head and cabinet.

Thanks for any and all guidance.
 
I'm a relative newbie, so others may end up correcting me.

To use as much of the Axe as you can with only what you currently have you would hook the Axe into your effects loop as planned. However you would plug the guitar into the Axe vs the amp head. This would mean you would be bypassing the preamp on your amp head. In the Axe you would set the amp block Sag parameter to zero. This disables power amp simulation. You don't want that since you will be using your power stage from your amp head. You would also not use cab blocks in any of your presets since you will be using your current cab. Basically you want to avoid duplicating what you have in your hardware from being modeled by the Axe.

Hopefully what I described above is accurate. I'm sure others will chime in with any necessary corrections.
 
You can use the 4-cable method (check the manual) to switch between your real amp and your axe amp model on a per-preset base.

Basicly what you do is plugging your output 1 of the axe to the effects return of your amp, output 2 to the amp input and the effects send of your amp to input 2 of the axe.

Then, whenever you place an FXL block in your grid and connect it, your real amp is active. If you want to use the Axe amp models instead, just do not place it in your grid or deactivate it.

You can not use cab models with this setup (well... you can, but since you are using a real cab, it most likely won't sound good).
 
Shucks. I was under the impression I could just plug the AXE into my rig and get the benefit of all those amps and cabs. OK. Thanks a bunch for your help.

Zwiebelchan, I guess I'm going to try the 4-C method. Please explain something to me. My take on what you're saying is that with the 4-C method, I can
insert an FX loop block onto the grid and use it with my amp and cab as an effects loop with no amp or cab modelling. Or I can use just the amp modelling with
no cab modeling by deactivating the FXL block in the preset. Is this right? Sounds like the best setup for what I have.

I just noticed that my small combo amp has send and return ports. Can I incorporate this amp into the 4-C method and play in stereo?

Thanks again, all.
 
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Shucks. I was under the impression I could just plug the AXE into my rig and get the benefit of all those amps and cabs. OK. Thanks a bunch for your help.
Well you can use the cab models with your cabinet, but then you are basicly micing an already miced signal. Don't get me wrong: this *can* sound good, but most of the time, it won't... ;)

Zwiebelchan, I guess I'm going to try the 4-C method. Please explain something to me. My take on what you're saying is that with the 4-C method, I can
insert an FX loop block onto the grid and use it with my amp and cab as an effects loop with no amp or cab modelling. Or I can use just the amp modelling with
no cab modeling by deactivating the FXL block in the preset. Is this right? Sounds like the best setup for what I have.
Exactly. Your FXL block basicly replaces the amp block when you use the 4CM. You can also use an amp model instead and deactivate the FXL, or you can run an amp model in parallel to your real amp to blend both, it's up to you.

I just noticed that my small combo amp has send and return ports. Can I incorporate this amp into the 4-C method and play in stereo?

Thanks again, all.
You can run the 4CM in stereo, yes, as all out and inputs have two channels.
 
OK. Thanks Zweib. Let me go through where I am right now:

My AXE arrived today. It's all hooked up and connected to Axe Edit. That's the good news.

My initial attempt to get working using the 4 cable method was a no go, so I changed my setup
config as per page 23 of the manual using the left diagram (KISS). After a bit of tweaking I pushed
my amp's by-pass button and got sound--a very nice clean sound--out of my guitar. That's where I am
now--a clean sound and nothing else. To the best of my knowledge I've loaded, edited, and activated
preset #113 INIT.

My preset looks like such: Input Gate-Comp-FX Loop-Shunt-GEQ-Multi dly-Reverb-Enhance------Output.

I've been fiddling with both the editor and the Axe itself trying to get the effects to work, but I only get
the same clean sounding guitar. I've adjusted the I/O setting so that Input 1 Left Select reads "REAR."
Global Settings Defaults are OK, so I didn't mess with Global Settings. So...

Can anybody out there offer a suggestion or two as to how I might get this thing running? Once
I get the sound fx working, then I'll see if maybe the 4-cable method will work.

Thanks to everyone for your help.
 
Thanks for chipping in, Yek. I've reconfigued the AXE according to the right hand diagram on page 21 of the manual. The
bypass button is in the out position (not pressed). If I turn up the volume or gain on either channel, I can hear the
cab speakers hissing. The guitar is cabled to the front of the AXE. The guitar is dead silent when I strum. I've
checked the cable connections at least ten times. I checked the I/O. The out 1 mode is set to stereo because there
is no mono option, and I don't know what the other settings mean. Input 1 left select is set to REAR; the other input
odes are set to left only.

I'm using preset 383: Input-FXLoop-Reverb-----------Output. I have no idea as to whether or not the preset is actually
loaded. The window on the AXE Recall screen shows a grid with the second row down of boxes all blacked out, but there
are no lines connecting the boxes, and the boxes aren't labelled like they are in the computer editor.

Thanks for your help.
 
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Yes. When I fiddle with the knob I can hear something coming from the cab. And when I rebooted the AXE, I got a couple of loud
booms when turned the unit off and then on. I'll turn the volume down next time. When I remove the cable from the guitar there is no
sound, and when I remove it from the Instrument jack of the AXE there is no sound.
 
Voilla! Noise! I am making noise! Thank you, Bakerman! I'm sure I'll have other questions. But
for now--that's all. Thanks, folks.
 
I'm running version 12.02. I don't see a need to hurry up to 12.03. I'm still trying to
learn how to use this thing. For instance, my wife has supersonic hearing, and even
it I turn my volume up to 1/2 she gets annoyed and turns the tv volume up. So I
need to learn how to get the phones jack to mute the cab but play thru the phones
so I can practice normally. If you know a way to do this, I'd be much obliged.

I need to learn how to get my looper back into the loop. And if I can include my
G5, it has a headphone jack that will mute the cab and play the phones.
So, a .01 upgrade doesn't really concern me too much now, altho I will get around
to it. Maybe tomorrow. Chiao.
 
Sorry, Chris, but I don't understand. I turned the amp's fx loop volume control all the way down--that didn't
do anything.
I put the amp standby, which killed all sound, as did turning the amp off.

I turned down the out 2 knob on the front panel of the AXE--that killed all sound.

The out 1 knob has no effect on anything, and I'm beginning to think I need to change some
I/O setting, because I'm getting no sound through the headphones.

Please explain what you mean by power amp sending signal to your cab. For the record,
I'm using a Splawn Quickrod through a Splawn 4x12 cab.

Thanks much for your interest.
 
That's because the out 1 knob controls the signal going into the effects return of your amp when using the 4-cable-method.

If you want to use headphones, you can not use the 4-cable-method, except if your amp got a headphone output.
When you use the headphones on your Axe with the 4cm, your sound is missing a cabinet model, as the headphone output only monitors your output 1 signal.

If you want to use headphones instead of your real cabinet, I recommend making a seperate preset for that with a cabinet model at the end of your grid.

The headphone jack is always active, no matter what I/O settings you have.

If you want to mute your cabinet when using headphones, there is no way to do that without physically turning the poweramp off or pulling the cable from your effects return on your amp.


But to make it easier for you, as you seem to have trouble with understanding general routing principles, these are the I/O settings recommended for the 4cm:
Input 1 left select: front/rear (depends on which jack you use)
Input 1 mode: left only
Input 2 mode: left only
Output 1 mode: Sum L+R
Output 2 mode: Sum L+R
 
Thanks, Zweib. I'd be the first to admit I don't know what I'm doing. I'm trying to learn. So, let me ask you a question
about what you posted, and maybe I can incorporate my other effects into the loop.

About those I/O settings you posted, am I to understand that for whatever connections I make for a 4cm, those are
the routing inputs and outputs I need to use?

My present 4cm setup seems to be working okay, although I'm having difficulty sensing any adjustments to individual blocks.
What I'm trying to do now is include my effects pedal and looper into the mix. The reason I want to do that is because the
effects pedal has a phones jack that muted the cab, and my looper is much more capable than the AXE's looper. My
first attempt was to route Input 2 of the AXE to the looper's input, the looper's output to the effects pedal's input,
and the effects pedal's output to the amplifier's send.

I thought that might work, but it didn't. Funny, but I got sound out of my guitar but the pedal and looper didn't work at all. My options
are to play around some more or ask here for help. I may be a dummy at routing cables, but I'm smart enough to learn IMO. So,
if you don't mind being patient with me, could you please clue me in on just what inputs and outputs I need to use to get my
effects pedal and looper into the AXE-amplifier circuit?

I know it's not a good thing to ask too many questions, and I promise that once I have this thing set up properly, the questions will stop.

As always, thanks for your help, guys. Really appreciate it.
 
My first attempt was to route Input 2 of the AXE to the looper's input, the looper's output to the effects pedal's input, and the effects pedal's output to the amplifier's send.

You had an input connected to another input and an output connected to another output there. That's never going to be a useful type of connection.

This will probably be the best solution:

First get only the Axe & Amp connected correctly for 4CM without the extra looper/FX unit. Axe-FX II manual, section 3.4.6 has a diagram for this.

Now add things between Axe Output 1 and the amp's FX loop return. So, unplug the cable end from the amp's return. This cable has the final signal coming out of Axe-FX output 1. Instead of Axe Output 1 - Amp return, you can do this:

Axe Output 1 - Looper input
Looper output - MultiFX pedal input
MultiFX pedal output - Amp return

You'll probably want to have separate presets for headphone playing, with a cabinet block. It's not going to sound good simply connecting headphones while on a preset that sounds correct through your amp/cab. Also maybe just use the Axe-FX amp sims instead of your external preamp. When you switch to one of those presets and plug headphones in, the FX pedal will mute its output to the power amp/cab, and you'll hear it in the headphones.
 
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