Too much bass/bottom end distortion in factory presets

N

nscali

Member
Last night I finally decided to get stuck into my AxeFX II and try to learn it and use it.
Upgraded to latest firmware and loaded the latest factory presets using Axe edit.
What I noticed was that many of the factory presets, particularly the first 20 or 30 are very bass heavy and muddy/flubby sounding - distorting even in clean preset sounds.
At first I thought it was my monitors but when I auditioned them with the headphones plugged straight into the Axe FX II it was basically the same.
Is this a common thing? Obviously I can lower the bass in the amp setting but then there is a noticeable loss in bottom end.
Am I doing something wrong.
I am using a Les Paul with 57 hum buckers, input signal on the AxeFX II very rarely peaks (red).= but tends to be in the yellow ,most of the time.
Perhaps input levels are too hot?
Thanks
Nicky
 
the presets won't necessarily sound good with your guitar, cables, setup etc.

don't hesitate to change the factory presets to whatever suits your setup. many people are turning down the amp drive on some presets.
 
I think I read here somewhere the clean factory presets were done with a single coil guitar & the high gains were done with humbuckers. I look at the factory presets as a starting point & always tweak them to my guitar & sound I am looking for. I never use them "as is" on this device or any other FX processor I have ever had. It sounds like your input settings are fine.
 
I do best when I never to extremely rarely hit the reds. Easy for me as the pups I like the sound of tend to be low output (and single coil). Try dropping 'em a little...
 
Thanks for the quick replies and advice.
I will give it a go. I suppose I am just used to the 'Pod' style presets that tend to work with anything (and no real tone as a result).
Cheers
Nicky
 
I had to do a factory reset after updating to 6.0 and loading the new banks. After i did it was pure sonic bliss.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 
there was a recent thread about that, but i personally wouldn't use either of those.

i would just adjust the Drive setting in the Amp block for each patch individually. that's the best way so you can adjust for each type of amp.

i don't endorse what i'm about to say, but you can just roll back the global amp gain if you want to test all the presets quickly, but set it back to 0 right after or else you will be messed up when you create your own patches.

ultimately you can do whatever you want, but if you forget you've changed something that's a global or master, you will have a difficult time in the future.
 
OK, thanks. I'll start with the drive setting.
Where do I find the Global Amp gain in Axe-Edit?
I am wondering If I have inadvertently set it above 0 by accident?
 
I would also suggest to learn the front panel before you use axe edit. Spend like a week's time adjusting things on the axe itself before using axe edit. You really should learn where things are because you won't always have a computer connected.

Axe edit does not have a global amp gain control because it is not part of a preset. You must adjust it in the Global menu of the axe.
 
You are right. I will. As someone suggested above, I may do a reset to factory defaults for good measure before I get too involved in changing things.
Thanks for your advice. It is a steep learning curve coming from a traditional amp/pedal board setup. It is reaching a point for me where, when gigging, I am forced to have my amp set so low, it really impacts the tone. Therefore I am really excited about the Axe FX II solution - perhaps I will add a dedicated wedge for it.
 
That's where I was 3 years ago but then I went axe fx with a k10 (or 2) speaker and direct to the house mixer. it's so flexible and sounds better than ever.
 
I find the same thing. For me, apart from the obvious (like lowering the bass) it's reducing the 'proximity' setting in the cab block that does the trick.
 
EdgE said:
Also for me adjusting low cut in speaker block to 95 hz or so:D
Click to expand...

+1 on the cab low cut. When modifying a preset, or creating one from scratch, one of the first things I do in the cab block is set low cut anywhere between 80 and 100 Hz and set high cut anywhere around 8 to 10 kHz. That move alone will help constrain some of those troubling frequencies.
 
Since the OP didnt post what he is monitoring thru then its hard to suggest one thing that will help.
For a FRFR setup, like others have suggested, the easiest way is with the cabs low cut. If you are
using a mic in your signal chain, reducing the proximity control will almost always do the trick. Power
amp low cut can help too, if the amp still seems flubby.
If you are using a real amp and cab then the low cut freq in the amp blocks advanced section can help.
In axe-edit its on the tone page.
 
What I've found about the Axe-fx is that it reacts like a real tube amp for the most part. That means that every guitar you use will sound slightly different. I can't use (nor like the sound of ) the same presets for my les paul as I would for my telecaster. It simply doesn't work without adjusting eq and gain. I like the les paul into a screaming marshal thing (not the 80's glam rock version of that though), so in order to tune my lp for sounds in that vein, my telecaster will sound awful with those settings. I use different settings for my telecaster. I also have a 335, different settings for that. I went through the original factory presets, but I really only use those I make specifically for my purposes. The factory presets are learning tools, but not final versions for you. Your ear will determine what is good for your purposes. It's like a real amp.

When trying other people's presets, keep that in mind. It's for their guitar, not yours. I wish when people share their presets they would mention what guitar (and what pickups) they were using. Something set up for a strat or an Ibanez really isn't going to sound right with a les paul or a 335 or even a tele.

Hope that helps
 
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I am using K12's.
As I said in my original post, the heavy bass is apparent through the headphones as well.
Sounds like the Low Cut control is the way to go.
 
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