Tip for using the AX8 for effects only

rdpar

rdpar

Inspired
Looking for some tips on using my axe 8 for effects only in front of my 1962 baseman amp. Thanks
 
remove the amp and cab blocks by replacing them with shunts. design your effects blocks as you would a real pedal board, and you should be set.

did you have anything specific in mind?
 
Well, the main problem I'm having is, well, frankly the drive blocks sound really bad. They color the sound dramatically and just sound terrible no matter what I do. So I put a be-od in front of the axe 8 and it works pretty good. I'm thinking, to get the Hendrixy cleanish sound, I my have to put a different pedal in front as well. Obviously I am trying to not have to go back to a regular pedal board set up again.$$$$$ I had this bassman clone built into a 1x12 combo. #1 because it's about 10lbs lighter than my Atomic clr "cab". (which sounds fantastic), and I want that "real tube saturation" when going for the hendrixy cleanish tone as well as the SRV tone. Which I can pretty much get with the Atomic, but just not quite there. I am a habitual determined "tweaker" so, after a few days I am not ready to give up. lol ALso I read somewhere that I should change the output nominal level from +4 to -10. is that correct? thanks for the input.
 
-10 should help when going to the front of an amp. You could somewhat do the same thing by keeping the Out knob low, but the setting will give you a more useable range of the knob.

the drive block into your amp should sound pretty good. Chances are you’re overloading the input of the amp with too much level overall. Balancing the level going into the amp is important. So start with the -10 setting and try different positions of the out knob until it sounds good. You might need to reduce the level of the Drive block as well. Check the horizontal VU meter on the last page of the main AX8 screen to make sure you’re not clipping “internally” as well.
 
I made the instrument input pad -6db and that reduced the amount of input enough that the red led on the front panel never lights up. Still working on the right drive combo to get the sound I hear in my head, but I'm getting close:)
 
rdpar said:
I made the instrument input pad -6db and that reduced the amount of input enough that the red led on the front panel never lights up. Still working on the right drive combo to get the sound I hear in my head, but I'm getting close:)
Click to expand...
cool. that will just affect the input to the AX8, it won't really affect the output but that's good to set anyway. keep working at it. the Output volume is the key here when going to a real amp input.
 
I am starting from scratch. The drive pedals in the axe 8 are just not making it at all for me except for a cleanish strat sound . Works best for me if I use an amp block(brit jm450) and boost that with the blues od drive pedal. sounds good. I am so glad you mentioned internal I/o/ levels. It has made all the difference especially when using my freidman be-od pedal in the effects loop. I have input 1 padded 12db output one -10db and input 2 -10db and ouputt 2 padded 12db. sounds killer, just the way it's supposed to. I run a few effects with the friedman , ie, delay,reverb, pitch. All sound great. you're the man and thanks so much.
 
When I had my AX8 I recreated a bunch of my presets for "backline" events where I couldn't go direct and had to use existing amps.
Not sure if this is helpful or not - haven't looked at these in years. I remember the biggest deal was to be sure to have the output cranked for unity gain.
 

Attachments

  • Driven.syx
    12.6 KB · Views: 5
thanks I'll try that one when I get back to my studio. It seems the hardest part, when trying to use amp blocks is a irritating high frequency, but I got that worked out. The crunch sounds just sound bad altogether, but If I don't use an amp block, me freidman be-od peda lworks great in the fxloop.
 
To me the drive blocks don´t sound good even when using the amp sims.. Have had almost all of the pedals in the ax8. But there´s something missing with them. They don´t blend with an amp the way the real pedals do. Hard to explain. And yes, I´ve dialed them like crazy. Lowering the blend knob helps some.
 
thanks sskkmm , very nice preset. The way I have used my axe 8 in the past is through an Atomic clr cab(not wedge). and it sounds incredible. I only use two scenes. 1 and 8 switched with an external switch. Now that I had a '62 bassman combo amp clone built , I am wanting to use that. Mainly because it's a bit lighter and to get a little tube realism. So far after tweaking the io settings in the axe 8 , I am haveing some real success. However the drive blocks without an amp block are not usable. So far I have good results with using my freidman BE-OD pedal in the effects loop before all effects. sounds fantastic. To get a more clean sound ie strat hendrixy sound I am using the jt45 amp block and rolling off a lot of the high end and using the SDD preamp in front for more transparent gain. I am still dialing it in though it is pretty good right now. Thinking about buying a Klon clone:) to put in the effects loop instead. we'll see.
 

Attachments

  • CLEAN SUN STRAT.syx
    12.6 KB · Views: 3
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom