stupid drive block question...

calleballe11

calleballe11

Experienced
Hey guys!

A bit new owner here so bear with me :) Just had a little question..
Whenever I put a drive block in front of the amp and turn the level and drive up the way i want them, when i turn them off, theres a huge difference in volume,
is there any way to keep the characteristics of a drive set to a high level but still be able to bypass it with external controls etc?
OR do I have to make separate patches? Seems wierd that I should have to everytime I want to give a clean sound a high gain dimension.

I've had a Boss Gt-10 for years and with them you just turn down the level of each effect without the effect changing but the mix.

Thanks alot!
 
The drives react much the same as a real world pedal would, at higher level (gain,output) settings they drive the front input of the amp harder and therefor make the amp somewhat louder.

What you could try is to put a volume block (or null Filter or Mixer) right after your drive block and take the level down. However, this would of course also mean that you're not driving the amps input as hard anymore as before.

The Axe reacts to those kinda things much more 'real' than any of the othe digital counterparts you may have worked with before...
 
Ok thanks!
I thought the boost was a little much when I turned on the drive but I guess you can't compensate without losing the warmth then :)

Cheers
 
If I'm not mistaken, you CAN adjust volume without affecting the tone or drive level. Choose to "edit" the drive block. On page 1 of the drive block (when you do this straight from the front of the Axe Fx), the last 2 parameters you can change should be "level" and "mix". I believe that by adjusting one of these (most likely "level"), you can change how much "louder" (or quieter) it sounds when you enable the drive block - without altering the tone or amount of drive. I'm not near my Axe Fx right now, so I can't confirm this for you. Can someone else? Anyway, I'd be shocked if that doesn't work for you.
 
Try what VegaBaby suggested but put the volume/null filter after the amp and cab. I'm guessing that the volume will reduce without effecting the tone (haven't tried it myself yet). You'll need to asign the same IA button the drive and volume blocks of course.

Edit - just seen browlett's response - didn't realise you could do that! Much easier than my suggestion if it works.
 
browlett said:
If I'm not mistaken, you CAN adjust volume without affecting the tone or drive level. Choose to "edit" the drive block. On page 1 of the drive block (when you do this straight from the front of the Axe Fx), the last 2 parameters you can change should be "level" and "mix". I believe that by adjusting one of these (most likely "level"), you can change how much "louder" (or quieter) it sounds when you enable the drive block - without altering the tone or amount of drive. I'm not near my Axe Fx right now, so I can't confirm this for you. Can someone else? Anyway, I'd be shocked if that doesn't work for you.
Click to expand...
Altering the 'level' control of the drive block will of course change the overall sound since you're either driving the amp's input harder or softer (which makes a real difference to the overall sound). Unless...you're putting the drive block after the amp, but that wouldn't sound at all like it's supposed to...
 
What you could do as well is to put a modifier on the amps output level, so that as soon as the drive switches on, the output on the amp is reduced. Since switching times are pretty fast on the Axe though, I'd probably just program two different patches, one with drive on, one without, set equal output levels on both and switch between those two.
 
VegaBaby said:
browlett said:
If I'm not mistaken, you CAN adjust volume without affecting the tone or drive level. Choose to "edit" the drive block. On page 1 of the drive block (when you do this straight from the front of the Axe Fx), the last 2 parameters you can change should be "level" and "mix". I believe that by adjusting one of these (most likely "level"), you can change how much "louder" (or quieter) it sounds when you enable the drive block - without altering the tone or amount of drive. I'm not near my Axe Fx right now, so I can't confirm this for you. Can someone else? Anyway, I'd be shocked if that doesn't work for you.
Click to expand...
Altering the 'level' control of the drive block will of course change the overall sound since you're either driving the amp's input harder or softer (which makes a real difference to the overall sound). Unless...you're putting the drive block after the amp, but that wouldn't sound at all like it's supposed to...
Click to expand...

+1
 
calleballe11 said:
Whenever I put a drive block in front of the amp and turn the level and drive up the way i want them, when i turn them off, theres a huge difference in volume
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how this can be a problem. If you set your amp to the volume you want it to be with the drive block disengaged and then turn on the drive and set it to what you want it to sound like with the drive block engaged, then you should be good to go. It's no different then setting up a drive pedal in front of an amp... you don't set the amp + pedal first and then hope it sounds good with it turned off... you set the amp first and tailor the drive block to fit the amp.
 
yek said:
VegaBaby said:
browlett said:
If I'm not mistaken, you CAN adjust volume without affecting the tone or drive level. Choose to "edit" the drive block. On page 1 of the drive block (when you do this straight from the front of the Axe Fx), the last 2 parameters you can change should be "level" and "mix". I believe that by adjusting one of these (most likely "level"), you can change how much "louder" (or quieter) it sounds when you enable the drive block - without altering the tone or amount of drive. I'm not near my Axe Fx right now, so I can't confirm this for you. Can someone else? Anyway, I'd be shocked if that doesn't work for you.
Click to expand...
Altering the 'level' control of the drive block will of course change the overall sound since you're either driving the amp's input harder or softer (which makes a real difference to the overall sound). Unless...you're putting the drive block after the amp, but that wouldn't sound at all like it's supposed to...
Click to expand...

+1
Click to expand...

Well, I get that guys. But, if you slightly turn down the "level" parameter enough so the volume isn't so much dramatically louder, can't you still get a relatively similar overall sound out of it AND have the volumes be what he wants all at the same time? I would assume that the trade-off is small and you avoid having to add other blocks, sync them up with midi control to work at the same time, etc. Anyway, I guess they're all options that might work with slightly different results & amounts of work to achieve.
 
browlett said:
Well, I get that guys. But, if you slightly turn down the "level" parameter enough so the volume isn't so much dramatically louder, can't you still get a relatively similar overall sound out of it AND have the volumes be what he wants all at the same time? I would assume that the trade-off is small and you avoid having to add other blocks, sync them up with midi control to work at the same time, etc. Anyway, I guess they're all options that might work with slightly different results & amounts of work to achieve.
Click to expand...
That really depends on the amp you're using. Some react very well to higher input levels some don't. Some you can completely push over the edge with a Treble Booster and some just don't like that at all. Marshalls for example like being pushed very hard, a Twin or JC120 just don't...

So I guess knowing what ampsim the OP is using, could lead us to a more precise conclusion ;)
 
mwc2112 said:
It's no different then setting up a drive pedal in front of an amp... you don't set the amp + pedal first and then hope it sounds good with it turned off... you set the amp first and tailor the drive block to fit the amp.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. Working on a 'patch basis' you don't have to have the pure amp sound great to start with. Let's say if I had just one real amp, I'd set it up to sound good as it is and then buy pedals that work with that sound, complementing the pure amp tone (like you described). Using the Axe though, I could use a TubeScreamer up front, even if I don't like the bass cut it produces and crank the bass up on the ampsim. Turning the TS off would of course result in an amp sounding pretty bad on its own (probably super bass heavy), doesn't matter though since I can just go for a different 'pure amp' preset and all's well...
 
Still think that putting a volume block after the cab block will allow you to balance the increased volume caused by the push of a drive block before the amp block...shouldn't it? :?
 
Nic said:
Still think that putting a volume block after the cab block will allow you to balance the increased volume caused by the push of a drive block before the amp block...shouldn't it? :?
Click to expand...
Yes, absolutely, it will. You just assign the same CC that enables the drive to that volume block, and just tweak the setting to get the levels you want.

An even simpler solution is to assign the modifier to the amp block's level parameter. Same effect, no need for any additional blocks.
 
I initially tried both ways of doing it (and struggled to fine tune the modifiers - IMO it's too much of a hassle). I ended up adopting browlett's method. It keeps the character of the AMP but beefens-up without affecting your overall volume. I tried a few drive+amp combinations and the ones I like the most are BB->JTM45 and recently BB->Marsha BE. :)

Hope it helps.
 
Nic said:
Still think that putting a volume block after the cab block will allow you to balance the increased volume caused by the push of a drive block before the amp block...shouldn't it? :?
Click to expand...
Oh absolutely ! Never meant to question that !
 
I'm with Vegababy here :)

My concern was that if i want to use a warm drive like the 808 or 808mod I have to crank the level on them to get a more heavy sound out of them, and was wondering if you could maintain that heavy sound and still be able to maintain the same volume :)

I really feel that turning the level down compromises the tone I'm after in this specific case, on some drives it sounds fine the way it is.
Anyway thanks guys, everyone on this forum is the best!

Cheers
 
calleballe11 said:
I'm with Vegababy here :)

My concern was that if i want to use a warm drive like the 808 or 808mod I have to crank the level on them to get a more heavy sound out of them, and was wondering if you could maintain that heavy sound and still be able to maintain the same volume :)

I really feel that turning the level down compromises the tone I'm after in this specific case, on some drives it sounds fine the way it is.
Anyway thanks guys, everyone on this forum is the best!

Cheers
Click to expand...
Just use the 'volume block after the cab/amp' trick and you're all set ;)
 
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