Thinking about upgrading to the MKII

I just sold my Axe-Fx III MK1 yesterday for $2100. No plans to get a III MK2 and sticking with my Axe-Fx II XL+. When I got my Axe-Fx III I thought it sounded better than my II but after comparing factory presets realized the III included better sounding IR's. I did some tone matches and IR's captures with my II of the III and the II and III sounded 99% the same. I even used REW ( https://www.roomeqwizard.com ) to do some comparisons and again found 99% similarities.

FAS has already stated that the III MK1 & 2 will have the same firmware and Manufacturer SysEx ID Numbers, so it's not like the II MK1/2, XL and XL+ which all had different firmware and Manufacturer SysEx ID Numbers.

I don't understand how people are running out of presets because with each preset you get 8 Scenes and each block as 4 channels. If you have a MIDI Foot Controller, most of them let you create presets that will send multiple CC#'s, which is how people used to setup their rigs before Scenes and Snapshots were added to modelers.

If you really need to have lights that change colors, go buy a Disco Ball Light from Amazon.com for under $20 shipped to your door in a couple days. Most of them include a remote control to change colors and patterns and sound activated strobe lighting.
 
GotMetalBoy said:
I just sold my Axe-Fx III MK1 yesterday for $2100. No plans to get a III MK2 and sticking with my Axe-Fx II XL+. When I got my Axe-Fx III I thought it sounded better than my II but after comparing factory presets realized the III included better sounding IR's. I did some tone matches and IR's captures with my II of the III and the II and III sounded 99% the same. I even used REW ( https://www.roomeqwizard.com ) to do some comparisons and again found 99% similarities.

FAS has already stated that the III MK1 & 2 will have the same firmware and Manufacturer SysEx ID Numbers, so it's not like the II MK1/2, XL and XL+ which all had different firmware and Manufacturer SysEx ID Numbers.

I don't understand how people are running out of presets because with each preset you get 8 Scenes and each block as 4 channels. If you have a MIDI Foot Controller, most of them let you create presets that will send multiple CC#'s, which is how people used to setup their rigs before Scenes and Snapshots were added to modelers.

If you really need to have lights that change colors, go buy a Disco Ball Light from Amazon.com for under $20 shipped to your door in a couple days. Most of them include a remote control to change colors and patterns and sound activated strobe lighting.
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im so guilty as i have those EXACT disco balls xDDDDDDDD
 
steadystate said:
That's ok. You don't have to.
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Actually if people are using the FC-6 or FC-12 I definitely understand how they could run out of presets because FAS never included Song Mode or Set List mode like they said they would a few years ago. Unless people want to do a lot of tap dancing with their FC-6/12 they have no choice but to put their presets in the order of their Set List, which could cause lots of duplicate presets. Not having Song or Set List mode is the reason I sold my two FC-12's and got a MIDI Foot Controller that had Song and Set List Mode. I use a FAMC Liquid Foot+ (LF+) which has Song and Set List mode and can also send a tap tempo command with each song I select, so I can use the same preset in many songs but change the tempo, so timing FX like delay and tremolo are in sync with the song.
 
I tend to keep things pretty simple, so I personally can't imagine needing more than 512 for my needs, but I also don't gig. If you have different versions of presets tweaked for different guitars, venues, live vs recording, cover band with a large repertoire, etc., I could see how they could add up.

I believe it was recently confirmed that song and setlists are a planned addition for the FC's.
 
 
mr_fender said:
I tend to keep things pretty simple, so I personally can't imagine needing more than 512 for my needs, but I also don't gig. If you have different versions of presets tweaked for different guitars, venues, live vs recording, cover band with a large repertoire, etc., I could see how they could add up.
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They add up. I'm a separate preset for every song player. Some songs need more than one preset. My band has a huge master list. Or, at least, we had one. Not sure how this pandemic thing is going to turn out. I might not need any additional presets. :(
 
Why would anyone store all their preset library for several bands on the device?? Nobody needs 1k of presets on the device at the same time. The other changes are less than irrelevant .
 
Andy Eagle said:
Why would anyone store all their preset library for several bands on the device??
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Umm...to be able to use their presets. It is common for musicians to work several bands and to leave one gig to travel directly to another on the same night. I've seen it countless times, with my own band and others. There is no advantage to less preset space, and no advantage to having to load different banks for different gigs. One would not know until one has had to do so or watched someone else have to deal with it.

Andy Eagle said:
Nobody needs 1k of presets on the device at the same time.
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Everybody needs 1k of presets on the device at the same time. See how generalizations work?

Andy Eagle said:
The other changes are less than irrelevant .
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I'd enjoy the increased viewing angle and colors of the IPS display, as well as being able to change the color of the logo. I'd also like knowing I had the extra memory for future features. I prefer the Mark II. I won't be buying one, but I also don't need to express sour grapes to make myself feel better about my purchase of the Mark I.
 
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Bruce Sokolovic said:
If I had to actually use 512 presets in a single night I think I’d take up a different instrument or take less gigs. That sounds like a tremendous amount of work.
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I'd never use them in a single night. That's not the point. My main band has over five nights of material with no repeated songs. Add to that second and third bands, corporate work, original material, etc. The point is to never have to overwrite presets or banks to have the presets you need or deal with the required bookkeeping. That is what is a tremendous amount of work. Having ample preset space makes it easy.
 
steadystate said:
I'd never use them in a single night. That's not the point. My main band has over five nights of material with no repeated songs. Add to that second and third bands, corporate work, original material, etc. The point is to never have to overwrite presets or banks to have the presets you need or deal with the required bookkeeping. That is what is a tremendous amount of work. Having ample preset space makes it easy.
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I cover a pretty wide range of material in my band and get it done with maybe 5 or 6 sounds. I couldn’t imagine having a patch (or many patches) for each song. Before modeling (or decent modeling anyway) we brought out an amp that made one or 2 sounds and made it work. Maybe a couple pedals. Point being having options is great. The more the merrier, right? Not being able to figure sounds limited to 512 individual patches to me just seems unrealistic.
 
I could actually use more storage for my particular situation. As a (self-proclaimed;)) commercial preset maker, I have around 100 presets, in two different versions (with and without external controller assignments). Then all of the Humbucker type presets (75 x two versions) are also each available in three different 'Pickup Output Level' versions.

25 single-coil presets x 2 versions = 50..... Then 75 humbucker presets x 2 versions x 3 'Pickup Output Level' versions = 450 presets.

That's a total of 500 presets that I need quick access to for customer service and online sessions etc... Plus my own personal presets (preset per song guy here), plus work in process stuff, Forum presets that I help with, Personal Custom jobs, other client presets for tweaking, etc....

So I have to constantly export/import banks for different purposes. Not sure if I will upgrade yet, but I could use the space.

I realize that my situation is not typical, but also probably not that rare. I think that that is the point.

Because one person can't see why anyone would want/need something, doesn't mean that no one does? It's the root of a lot of issues that our world faces.
 
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steadystate said:
I'd never use them in a single night. That's not the point. My main band has over five nights of material with no repeated songs. Add to that second and third bands, corporate work, original material, etc. The point is to never have to overwrite presets or banks to have the presets you need or deal with the required bookkeeping. That is what is a tremendous amount of work. Having ample preset space makes it easy.
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In this context, ya gotta keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of people playing out, namely cover guys, have taken a ballpark approach to their tones. Tribute guys generally take it a step further, but in all my years of going to see bands or playing in them, ballpark was the overwhelming average. I still can't think of any bands I've gone to see where the guitarist was using a modeler and going for as close as possible tones. So that's why you're seeing people question the need for that many presets.

Also, you're using one preset per sound. I'm curious, how did you find that was the best approach? I'd assume the seamless changing between scenes/channels would be enough of a selling point.

All my presets are dependent on the amp. The effects are pretty much the same unless I'm doing something unusual. I just want different amps to choose from. If I had to play a cover gig now, it'd be one preset maybe 4-5 different scenes. I'm definitely a ballpark kinda dude.
 
Bruce Sokolovic said:
I cover a pretty wide range of material in my band and get it done with maybe 5 or 6 sounds. I couldn’t imagine having a patch (or many patches) for each song. Before modeling (or decent modeling anyway) we brought out an amp that made one or 2 sounds and made it work. Maybe a couple pedals. Point being having options is great. The more the merrier, right? Not being able to figure sounds limited to 512 individual patches to me just seems unrealistic.
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Having that many presets lets me create songs per preset as I go without worrying about running out. I often start with one preset to create another, but they are always at least slightly different. If I had to use presets for multiple songs, I'd then have to keep track of which songs each preset was associated with. That alone is a headache. With the Axe and my LG2, I can create a preset per song on my foot controller and the Axe, and bookkeeping is easy. I get that most people won't need that many presets. I used to be an amp and pedal guy with no programmable devices at all. But I don't see any reason not to have 1024 slots if they are available. I'd never have to be concerned about it, ever.
 
This thread has turned into a great example of people wanting to force their personal workflow onto someone else.

If you want to use 5-10 presets for what you do, that's great. It doesn't invalidate someone else's need to have a preset per song.

And vice versa...

Every person does not have the same use case or the same workflow. It's ok :)
 
unix-guy said:
This thread has turned into a great example of people wanting to force their personal workflow onto someone else.

If you want to use 5-10 presets for what you do, that's great. It doesn't invalidate someone else's need to have a preset per song.

And vice versa...

Every person does not have the same use case or the same workflow. It's ok :)
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I agree. I'd only point out that a huge preset count does not impose workflow limits to anyone, while a small preset count does. The actual number of presets will determine how many people are affected.
 
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