Total noob. Plexi model sounds nothing like a Plexi?

@woodbutcher65

When I use the plexi models, if I crank everything EVH style, because my pickups are not the old vintage type and the ax8 input is calibrated to a certain level, I guess the axe-fx is the same, the plexi sounds overly dark, muddy and saturated. No clarity, tightness or sizzle. Is that your problem?

6 steps to fix the problem that work for me :

Disable the input gate and speaker comp.
Max all amp knobs. G/B/M/T/P/M.
Roll down your pickup volume to 10%. Slight crunch sound.
Enter the speaker page and manipulate the resonances to control the thump and presence you might lack or have in excess.
Turn the pickup volume up until it starts to sound harsh and out of control and stay below that limit.
Use the preamp bias and poweramp bias to get rid of the larsen if you have one.
 
i dunno. the plexi is so easy to dial in, imo

1959SLP treble
drive 7
bass 3.5
mid 9
treb 7.5
master 10
pres 6
speaker comp 4

if you want a more evh tone, then ac voltage (variac) 75%

i run mine into a cab block with greenbacks

if it sounds bad, then the problem is further down the signal path
 
What simeon said!

When I turn the variac down I find it seems to help if I also compensate by turning the powertube bias up. I think I read an article that mentioned Ed rebiased his tubes based on the lowered voltage.. It must be true if Eddie said it and its on the interweb
 
Remember that "Master Volume" is used to simulate how hard the power amp section of the model is pushed. Output volume shouldn't be any part of the consideration for where you set the Master. It's purely a tone thing. It can be weird, because you can get the sound of a cranked Marshall stack while still playing at bedroom levels (except for Fletcher-Munson). So set the controls on the amp block like you're on stage at a Grateful Dead concert, and then control the actual volume using other things.

There's a level control in the amp block (well, every block actually). Use that to control the level of the output from the amp model. Generally, you want to set it just below a point where you get digital clipping. There's an LED on the front of the unit that flashes when you get clipping. Then control the final output volume to the power amp with the output knob on the front of the AxeFX.

Most power amps, even SS ones, seem to have a "sweet spot" where they sound best in terms of volume. For instance, most people have found that Matrix amps like to be at about 2:00 on the volume dial. Find that spot on your power amp, leave it there and then use the output knob on the front of the AxeFX to control the actual volume.
 
woodbutcher65 said:
So I've had to drop the input gains on the power amp almost to nothing and then crank the master, and now things are sounding a lot more like I think they should. But I still have a long way to go and much to learn.
Click to expand...
I think someone's already said it, but:
Only use the Amp LEVEL parameter for actual (playback) volume.
On the old amps like Plexis, dime (turn up to full) the Master Volume, and then use the Input Drive for the amount of gain you want. You probably want that at at least half.
 
Last edited:
I want to say, I really do appreciate all the help I'm getting on this. Advice is coming faster than I can implement it!

Believe me, I know this thing is going to deliver tones worthy of dreams. Of course I'll stick with it and become competent with it. Mastery may take a while but maybe I'll get to that point, too, in time.

It's actually got me thinking of a product idea, but does it already exist on the market?

I'm thinking of a full range, flat response speaker system built for the gigging guitarist. Built like a "traditional" guitar speaker cabinet, looking the part, rugged to handle road abuse, but specifically made for use with modelling amps like this.

There just might be a market for that.
 
woodbutcher65 said:
I want to say, I really do appreciate all the help I'm getting on this. Advice is coming faster than I can implement it!

Believe me, I know this thing is going to deliver tones worthy of dreams. Of course I'll stick with it and become competent with it. Mastery may take a while but maybe I'll get to that point, too, in time.

It's actually got me thinking of a product idea, but does it already exist on the market?

I'm thinking of a full range, flat response speaker system built for the gigging guitarist. Built like a "traditional" guitar speaker cabinet, looking the part, rugged to handle road abuse, but specifically made for use with modelling amps like this.

There just might be a market for that.
Click to expand...
There are a variety of FRFR solutions for the gigging guitarist: Xitone, Atomic CLR, AccuGroove, Mission Engineering, Freidman, etc.

Most are wedge designs... There are a few that are more "traditional" in appearance.
 
woodbutcher65 said:
I want to say, I really do appreciate all the help I'm getting on this. Advice is coming faster than I can implement it!

Believe me, I know this thing is going to deliver tones worthy of dreams. Of course I'll stick with it and become competent with it. Mastery may take a while but maybe I'll get to that point, too, in time.

It's actually got me thinking of a product idea, but does it already exist on the market?

I'm thinking of a full range, flat response speaker system built for the gigging guitarist. Built like a "traditional" guitar speaker cabinet, looking the part, rugged to handle road abuse, but specifically made for use with modelling amps like this.

There just might be a market for that.
Click to expand...
It started in the early 2000s with Atomic Amps with a tube built it. A bit late to the idea ;) These days, a speaker that simply puts out what you put in is typically preferred.

But yes check out the latest Friedman ASC-12.
 
I might have figured. But I'm new to the amp modelling thing. I don't REALLY count my Behringer V-Amp. I view that as a decent sounding toy but can't take it very seriously.
 
woodbutcher65 said:
So I've had to drop the input gains on the power amp almost to nothing and then crank the master, and now things are sounding a lot more like I think they should. But I still have a long way to go and much to learn.
Click to expand...
Don't drop the input gain that will screw up the level going into the amp, will almost be as bad as not having enough master volume (IMHO). Every amp has a 'level' control at the output. Use the master to get the tone from the master volume setting and then use the amp model's output level control to set the actual volume out of the model. That is one of the beauties of the high end modelers they can get a lot of the characteristics (minus some things that are true physical side effects of that kind of volume) of cranked amps at much lower output volumes.
 
speedloader said:
@woodbutcher65

When I use the plexi models, if I crank everything EVH style, because my pickups are not the old vintage type and the ax8 input is calibrated to a certain level, I guess the axe-fx is the same, the plexi sounds overly dark, muddy and saturated. No clarity, tightness or sizzle. Is that your problem?

6 steps to fix the problem that work for me :

Disable the input gate and speaker comp.
Max all amp knobs. G/B/M/T/P/M.
Roll down your pickup volume to 10%. Slight crunch sound.
Enter the speaker page and manipulate the resonances to control the thump and presence you might lack or have in excess.
Turn the pickup volume up until it starts to sound harsh and out of control and stay below that limit.
Use the preamp bias and poweramp bias to get rid of the larsen if you have one.
Click to expand...

I have some Larson in-laws. Will that get rid of them too?

Seriously what did you mean to say?
 
I'm starting to get the hang of it. It's getting easier every time I call up a new preset and edit it for my specific situation.

One thing I haven't seen yet is a very specific model I'd use a lot if I can find it. One based on the later year, CBS era silverface Fender Pro Reverb or Twin Reverb, equipped with middle controls and ultralinear output transformers. Output was 70 watts for the Pro and 135 for the Twin. Reason for wanting it: Huge headroom, very loud and very clean, and with a lush, floating on clouds feel to the tone that makes everything else sound relatively dry and sterile.
But it's NOT an amp you want to push to overdrive. That is not a pretty sound. For clean it can hardly be better, though.

It might be in there. If it is I'll have it assigned to a button on the MFC. (MFC arrives tomorrow.)
 
woodbutcher65 said:
This thing is not for the casual player who just wants to flip a switch, turn a knob, and jam. It's an expert level device and there is a LEARNING CURVE to it.
Click to expand...

Yes and no. I gigged my Ultra for years without tweaking anything outside of reverb depth and preset volume level. Not much different with my XL. FAS is a truly awesome plug and play device. At the same time it can be dived into and tweaked to the level of expert you desire. In that respect there is a learning curve. In my own opinion the issue that you are probably struggling with the most is that out of the box the Axe is setup for FRFR use. You gotta' fine tune for guitar cab use.
 
woodbutcher65 said:
I'm starting to get the hang of it. It's getting easier every time I call up a new preset and edit it for my specific situation.

One thing I haven't seen yet is a very specific model I'd use a lot if I can find it. One based on the later year, CBS era silverface Fender Pro Reverb or Twin Reverb, equipped with middle controls and ultralinear output transformers. Output was 70 watts for the Pro and 135 for the Twin. Reason for wanting it: Huge headroom, very loud and very clean, and with a lush, floating on clouds feel to the tone that makes everything else sound relatively dry and sterile.
But it's NOT an amp you want to push to overdrive. That is not a pretty sound. For clean it can hardly be better, though.

It might be in there. If it is I'll have it assigned to a button on the MFC. (MFC arrives tomorrow.)
Click to expand...

Bear in mind that "headroom" and "loud" are relatively meaningless terms with the AxeFX. Both are only limited by the size of the power amp you are using. So you can look at a lot models of other smaller amps, that you'd never try for clean in real life because they just wouldn't be loud enough (like a Blues Jr), because that's not a factor any more.

There is a blackface/silverface Twin model in the AxeFX that seemed to me to give really nice cleans and has a lot of dynamic response, too. The Band Master model is also nice clean, and so is the Concert. Lots of people like the Shiva model for clean, cleans. Personally, the nicest sound I ever found, years ago, for really, really, really clean cleans was the Mesa IIc. I'd try that.

Don't forget that you can also change the tonestack, which opens up a huge range of tonal differences.

[Edit] The Double Verb SF seems to be the exact model you are looking for.
 
Last edited:
Double Verb is not bad. Close, but honestly, it's not the same thing. The later ultralinear silverfaces have a warmth and depth to them, and a shimmery, chimey top end that just isn't there with any other silver or blackface Fender I've ever played through. I've owned multiple ultralinear silverfaces and that character I describe has always been there.

Find an ultralinear silverface Fender. It's easy to identify it by the 70 or 135 watt rating on the back panel and the extra lip on the back edge of the chassis that has a few screws screwing it to the top of the cabinet for extra stability. Plug in and give it a try. You'll find that it has a clean tone that's so warm and chimey that you'll be looking for the chorus pedal. But don't push it to overdrive. That's not a pretty sound and not what they were made for.

SO FAR...I've found no other amp that sounds quite like that. I'll work my way through the various models in the Fractal and see what sounds like it and try to tweak it for the same tone. But I'd rather have an actual correct model to start with, of course.
 
Interesting, I got an email notification of a reply to this and that reply is not here in this topic.

It's from someone whose user profile isn't even accessible for me to look at. I kind of think it's more of a private message, from what I must assume to be one of Fractal's gurus.

Out of an abundance of caution I'll keep the specifics of that message under my hat but it's good news.

All good things come to those who wait.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom