Starting From Scratch - Tips?

crg123

crg123

Experienced
Hey Guys,

I've had the Axe XL for about 4 years now. In the time I've built tons of presets and bought a bunch of IR packs. I'm constantly tweaking presets and creating new ones which can get messy. While I love all the tones I've been achieving, I think its time to do some restructuring and reorganizing. I'm looking for tips from people who might have done this in the past.

I'm going to back up everything and clean house and do everything in a more efficient way. For example in the past I would buy cab packs and load the whole thing in. Obviously after a few times of doing this I would loose space and start to just delete random sections of IR's to put in new IR's. Also the majority of patches I have have been there and just slightly tweaked since FW 13.

Things I'm going to do (Please add):
1. Audition cab IR's and not actually load them into the Axe unless I've found a preset they work with.
2. Use Yek's guides for Amps and pedals when working on creating a new patch.
3. Structure the presets so that their neighboring presets make sense. Currently It's just a jumble of patches from whenever I made it, roughly organized by genre. Not sure if it makes more sense to organize by genre, what guitar I'm using or just having a Top 10 patch list and let the rest of the patches be organized by when they were made.
4. Research the global EQ and try to figure out what's best for my room or if I should just keep it flat. I had adjusted he highs and lows previously, but I have read you're actually suppose to leave it flat and only use this if you move to a different space.
5. Leveling patches using the utility meter- currently all my patches are set to be 0 db to +8db. Is the goal to get patches at that 0 db line or at 12 db unless lead? Will have to research.

Maybe not the most "exciting" thread but I figured there might be people who can offer some good advice that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. I know theres no "right way" but I'd like to hear how other people do it. Note I'm just a hobbyist and don't play any gigs

Thanks,
Dave
 
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Not sure what the question is exactly but I agree about the box can get cluttered up with presets, tweaks, and retweaks. Which means the backup folder is too. Take it all and put it on an external HD. Then go through, with fresh ears (should know immediately if something's whack or good) and delete your heart out! Backup again. Dedicate the time to get it done it's a responsibility...so it can refill in a year lol
 
What simplified things for me was purchasing the Austin 700+ Amps pack. I know it sounds like an oxymoron but the creator has gone painstakingly in the studio and matched the best amps with the cabs and has done a lot of the tweaks. I then spent hours listening though the vintage and modern ones and only allowed myself to import in my top 10.

So far this approach has worked for me beautifully and I can focus on kick ass patches as opposed to just tweaking amp tones for days.
 
Not sure what you're asking here. For a philosophy?

Cab packs are nice, but you can work well with the ones you have once you do some tweaks on them when you find one 'close'. IMO I'd work in that direction. Global EQ is fine, but since you're a hobbyist, why bother with it? You have the same place/pallet, so everything can be baked into your preset.

-Organization of presets is on you. There's no 'Best way'. I go clean to mean on only roughly 10 presets for when I have to 'wing it'. Song specific presets are on a different bank. But there is VERY little I can't cover in those 10 presets.
-Leveling patches is fine with the built in meter. But it never works for everything. Regardless if I use the built in, or an external meter I STILL have to boost/reduce depending on the song I'm playing with.
 
I have three or four tonally exclusive patches. That's it. I use globals everywhere so if I need a variation on those themes, I will copy them to an audition patch and will tweak them accordingly. Sometimes, I may take the audition and override the original. Sometimes I keep the audition and use it for a specific song with very specific effects in it.

This isn't you, but I hear people moan about "the Axe FX is too much for me, I'm downsizing", that really annoys me as it can be whatever you want it to be, as simple or complex as you like.

Here's what Yek says, which may help:

How to keep your presets organized
A checklist to verify the consistency of your presets:

  • Stick to the same grid layout/routing whenever possible, to simplify viewing and editing. Example
  • Use effects with preferred settings and levels ("effects library")
  • Assign external controllers (MIDI foot controller, pedals)
  • Make use of Global amps
  • Use the correct cabinet for the selected amp
  • Even if delay won't be used, insert a bypassed Delay block just for spillover
  • Check the settings for mono/stereo operation, prevent phase cancellation
  • Set CAB and Mixer (Layout > Mix) levels at unity gain
  • Set Mix, Level and Bypass parameters correctly for effects in parallel rows
  • Make sure that the preset level matches other presets and does not clip with things like Drive and gain/boost filters enabled
  • Set noise gate parameters
Click to expand...
http://wiki.fractalaudio.com/gen1/i...&oldid=4916#How_to_boost_the_signal_for_leads
 
79_limited said:
What simplified things for me was purchasing the Austin 700+ Amps pack. I know it sounds like an oxymoron but the creator has gone painstakingly in the studio and matched the best amps with the cabs and has done a lot of the tweaks. I then spent hours listening though the vintage and modern ones and only allowed myself to import in my top 10.

So far this approach has worked for me beautifully and I can focus on kick *** patches as opposed to just tweaking amp tones for days.
Click to expand...
This!
 
79_limited said:
What simplified things for me was purchasing the Austin 700+ Amps pack. I know it sounds like an oxymoron but the creator has gone painstakingly in the studio and matched the best amps with the cabs and has done a lot of the tweaks. I then spent hours listening though the vintage and modern ones and only allowed myself to import in my top 10.

So far this approach has worked for me beautifully and I can focus on kick *** patches as opposed to just tweaking amp tones for days.
Click to expand...

I also bought this pack and it's great for having properly laid out patches with two scenes each. That being said, I had to go thru all of them and change many of the IR's and all of the high and low pass filters one preset at a time. High and low pass filters are a personal thing and IR selection even more so. I'm extremely picky about IR's so most of what he had in his presets I didn't like. Now I'm back to experimenting with 3rd party IR's so I'm using his carefully tweaked presets to audition IR's.
 
Is it possible to backup all presets at once? I'm planning to do pretty much the same thing!
 
Well then. This was a good decision. I'm having a lot of success with new patches. I have to reference some old ones for some more unique set ups but im trying to keep them newly dialed in.

I ended up getting AustinBuddy's pack and its pretty great to have all these amps all set up for you with barely any tweaking. Only question I have is I seem to prefer the Scene 2 on these presets is there any way to swap scene 1 and 2 on multiple presets all at once with Fractool or another product?
 
79_limited said:
What simplified things for me was purchasing the Austin 700+ Amps pack. I know it sounds like an oxymoron but the creator has gone painstakingly in the studio and matched the best amps with the cabs and has done a lot of the tweaks. I then spent hours listening though the vintage and modern ones and only allowed myself to import in my top 10.

So far this approach has worked for me beautifully and I can focus on kick ass patches as opposed to just tweaking amp tones for days.
Click to expand...
Quick question as a newbie. I have just received an Ax Fx II Mark II and updated it to Ares. The Austin Buddy 700 says it works with Quantum, I wonder if it will work on the Ares as well? I’m thinking it will but wanna confirm before I purchase it.
 
PickerPelletier said:
Quick question as a newbie. I have just received an Ax Fx II Mark II and updated it to Ares. The Austin Buddy 700 says it works with Quantum, I wonder if it will work on the Ares as well? I’m thinking it will but wanna confirm before I purchase it.
Click to expand...

He said a while ago that an update for Ares was in the works but probably wouldn't happen until the end of Summer.

crg123 said:
Things I'm going to do (Please add):
1. Audition cab IR's and not actually load them into the Axe unless I've found a preset they work with.
2. Use Yek's guides for Amps and pedals when working on creating a new patch.
3. Structure the presets so that their neighboring presets make sense. Currently It's just a jumble of patches from whenever I made it, roughly organized by genre. Not sure if it makes more sense to organize by genre, what guitar I'm using or just having a Top 10 patch list and let the rest of the patches be organized by when they were made.
4. Research the global EQ and try to figure out what's best for my room or if I should just keep it flat. I had adjusted he highs and lows previously, but I have read you're actually suppose to leave it flat and only use this if you move to a different space.
5. Leveling patches using the utility meter- currently all my patches are set to be 0 db to +8db. Is the goal to get patches at that 0 db line or at 12 db unless lead? Will have to research.
Click to expand...

I grouped all of my neighboring presets into general categories... acoustic, clean, light OD, heavy OD, metal, etc. That way when I need a specific tone I can run down the list to find the closest one to the sound that I'm looking for. I also added a descriptor to the preset names to give me some indication of how it sounds, as well as the number of scenes in the preset and what each scene controls. For instance, a 4-scene preset that I'd use for a Rush song might be "Rush Acoustic-Clean-Rhythm-Lead", or a more general preset might be "Light OD Mesa Lone Star 6SC" for a 6-scene preset.
 
Colorado Axeman said:
He said a while ago that an update for Ares was in the works but probably wouldn't happen until the end of Summer.



I grouped all of my neighboring presets into general categories... acoustic, clean, light OD, heavy OD, metal, etc. That way when I need a specific tone I can run down the list to find the closest one to the sound that I'm looking for. I also added a descriptor to the preset names to give me some indication of how it sounds, as well as the number of scenes in the preset and what each scene controls. For instance, a 4-scene preset that I'd use for a Rush song might be "Rush Acoustic-Clean-Rhythm-Lead", or a more general preset might be "Light OD Mesa Lone Star 6SC" for a 6-scene preset.
Click to expand...
Ok , good to know. Thanks for the reply!
 
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