Stock settings

Maxxblade

Maxxblade

Inspired
I don't know, maybe it is just me.
I just got my Axe8 and it sounds good, but... I just think that some of the present are just so saturated that they would be unusable in high volume situations. I am a rock player and like the older styles like Scorpions, Kansas, Luke and such so maybe it's just not my sound. But when I call up these patches the just want to squeal, have no depth as far as dynamics even when you roll off the volume on the guitar. What am I getting. I hardly ever use the "Red" type channels of any of the amps unless I calm them way down. In my first try with the 8 I did use my '88 Jem77fp which is a high output guitar, so maybe that is it. I Tried the Mark Day 80's and in my opinion it just had too much gain. Does the Les Paul that he uses really have that much lower of an output as my Jem? Do these amps really have and artists use that much gain at 100dbs. On top of that most of these patches have a gain pedal to boot. Looking for answers.
 
How do you amplify your AX8? Guitar cab, active FRFR or headphones?

I like saturated high gain sounds and play with headphones most of the time. In my case the only amps squealing are the Marshall JVMs (orange+red). But even these amps stop squealing when I move away from the desk (where the AX8 and the computer display are located).
 
RB_Guitar said:
How do you amplify your AX8? Guitar cab, active FRFR or headphones?

I like saturated high gain sounds and play with headphones most of the time. In my case the only amps squealing are the Marshall JVMs (orange+red). But even these amps stop squealing when I move away from the desk (where the AX8 and the computer display are located).
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par of K8s
 
atquinn said:
I would suggest using the various knobs and buttons to change the sounds :)
-
Austin
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Dude Never thought of that.... Big help! :)

RB_Guitar said:
How do you amplify your AX8? Guitar cab, active FRFR or headphones?

I like saturated high gain sounds and play with headphones most of the time. In my case the only amps squealing are the Marshall JVMs (orange+red). But even these amps stop squealing when I move away from the desk (where the AX8 and the computer display are located).
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I have a full PA system set up in my studio.... try to build preset at about 100 db's. I love the ease of the AX8 and the Helix units (I have both. I'm not a "FanBoy" of either. i'm a "fanboy" of tone....don't really care what brand it is.
 
The response to turn the knobs might be smug... however it's true. I dont understand why the out of box presets for all units (Kemper, Fractal, Atomic and Line 6 can't be set at even levels out of the box but it's been that way for years, back to the original pod.

If you base your opinions of any modeler on the stock presets you are always going to be disappointed. It takes setting each preset up like you would if you were tweaking a brand new tube amp to get your sounds. The use of third party IR's or finding a preset you like in the exchange and modding it to your specs will be helpful as well.
 
bwilder10h said:
The response to turn the knobs might be smug... however it's true. I dont understand why the out of box presets for all units (Kemper, Fractal, Atomic and Line 6 can't be set at even levels out of the box but it's been that way for years, back to the original pod.

If you base your opinions of any modeler on the stock presets you are always going to be disappointed. It takes setting each preset up like you would if you were tweaking a brand new tube amp to get your sounds. The use of third party IR's or finding a preset you like in the exchange and modding it to your specs will be helpful as well.
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I've had an AxeFXII for years. I am just curious as to the gain structure and the amount of gain that is represented on the stock patches. I am a tweaker and customize all of my presets. But in a high volume situation, how does one control let's say the Friedman HBE with the drive pedal on at 100 db. With that much gain to me it sounds like Poo Poo. Is that what that amp sounds like? I heard more pick noise that actual tone.
 
Don't forget that all geetars ain't created equal (wood, pickups, etc.). What sounds like 'Poo Poo' with your guitar might be dead nuts perfect with another one.
 
What the OP said. I know Fender, Swart and Dumble type sounds from my real amps, can´t speak for the other models. But I felt the same as the OP and was a bit surprised. Whatever: I dialed TRIM IN drastically down, DRIVE also quite a bit, played around with master, compensated with LEVEL, some EQ tweaking and got the dynamics back. This way I felt like: Damn, that Friedman or Triptics or the Marshall 1987 higher gain models would have been nice to play one time. In short: This widened my limited amp horizon. But only after I had dialed the settings down. I wondered if the original preset settings of these models were true to the original amp and usable for real life. Then again: I am a type of player who would rather give up saturation, compression, sustain than dynamics. Oh, and all of this being said while playing Stratocasters with low pickup output. Didn´t even start with my humbucker guitars yet...
 
I don't understand focusing on presets. Start from scratch and create your own. Having said that, I have no idea why one would throw a drive pedal in front of the HBE. That seems like it would be asking for feedback.

I am a little curious if others have had the same experience as @Hhuent. I often struggle getting clean tones out of the Fenders and even with getting lower gain tones out of some of the Plexis without turning Input Trim way down. I don't seem to have this issue with every amp model. BTW, I'm using low output humbuckers. I just wonder why that is necessary if the gain levels of the amps are truly accurate.
 
marshall2553 said:
I don't understand focusing on presets. Start from scratch and create your own. Having said that, I have no idea why one would throw a drive pedal in front of the HBE. That seems like it would be asking for feedback.
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A Tube Screamer with the drive and level at near unity will cut some low end early in the signal chain and really tighten up the amp. Drive pedals on high gain amps aren't always about "Adding" gain. (Sometimes it is. :))
 
3dognate said:
A Tube Screamer with the drive and level at near unity will cut some low end early in the signal chain and really tighten up the amp. Drive pedals on high gain amps aren't always about "Adding" gain. (Sometimes it is. :))
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I thought one would generally run the gain very low and the level high enough to reach unity or a little more on the TS to tighten up a high gain amp. This particular preset has a TS with the gain at noon and the level at 7ish, it is definitely adding some gain to an already very saturated HBE. More gain than I would use as a hard rock player, but probably works for other genres.

Anyway, as with all modelers the presets are a mixed bag and not for everyone.
 
Just got my AX8 yesterday and spent about 5 hours with it learning to navigate and testing out presets. My first thoughts were that the default MV on many of the presets was way too high. I would cut it back (and sometimes some of the drive) and increase the level and that would most the time clean it up to more my taste. But was in just deep enough to see that the tweaking possibilities are endless - eqs and cabs make a lot of difference too. I had a blast just trying the presets, even though I would probably never use many of them. A HUGE pallet of possibilities and potential.

This is a fun machine. I am looking forward to learning and really getting into it. I appreciate we have others willing to share their patches so that us neophytes can learn.
 
Maxxblade said:
I don't know, maybe it is just me.
I just got my Axe8 and it sounds good, but... I just think that some of the present are just so saturated that they would be unusable in high volume situations. I am a rock player and like the older styles like Scorpions, Kansas, Luke and such so maybe it's just not my sound. But when I call up these patches the just want to squeal, have no depth as far as dynamics even when you roll off the volume on the guitar. What am I getting. I hardly ever use the "Red" type channels of any of the amps unless I calm them way down. In my first try with the 8 I did use my '88 Jem77fp which is a high output guitar, so maybe that is it. I Tried the Mark Day 80's and in my opinion it just had too much gain. Does the Les Paul that he uses really have that much lower of an output as my Jem? Do these amps really have and artists use that much gain at 100dbs. On top of that most of these patches have a gain pedal to boot. Looking for answers.
Click to expand...

Great post and I will be following. My ax8 should arrive on Wednesday. I am also in hard rock/metal bands that are high volume both onstage and practice. I am blessed to have quite a few tube amps and almost universally, imho, a good low volume sound does not equal a good high volume sound simply by turning up the volume. For example my HBE has a saturation switch SPECIFICALLY for low volume practicing. If you crank it with that saturation switch on, hello fluba flub. I know that FRFR type monitors shouldn't have this issue, but maybe our ears also add into the equation at high volumes?
 
I agree completely - I reduce input trim to around 0.5 on most amps. Even the clean amps are gainy with the stock settings. The Mark Day preset sounds good, but it has uncontrollable amounts of gain to me.
 
Some folks need to ask themselves a question - how is anyone going to know what kind of settings will work for YOU? How is anyone going to know what kind of tone YOU like? How are they going to know how loud you play, what kind of amplification, what kind of guitar, what kind of pickups, what kind of pick, etc. YOU use?

The answer is no one knows all of these things but YOU.

Presets are a starting point. Period. And sometimes they're not even a good one. That will never change. Ever. Best to get over it, get on with it and learn how to use your gear to get the sound you want.
 
Matt_b77, uh "learn how to use your gear to get the sound you want", isn't that why we are here and asking these types of questions?
Anyways, mine is being delivered today, yahoo! Perhaps we can start a thread in the ax8 patch forum for high volume patches, as we either find them online or come up with our own.
 
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