Two Amp Preset/Scene Assistance - Warm Chimey Cleans and Hot-rodded Marshall Sounds

[Dave_I]

I've been playing around with some of the presets and am looking at finding or creating a multi-amp setup. Short version I'd like the following:

• Clean amp in Fender-style or that vein (as opposed to Marshall) that can still be driven and take effects but have a cleaner tone.
• High-gain Marshall or "dirtier" sounding amp; really something that can be as heavy and brutal as possible for more extreme metal and noisy rock, although I can also just throw a Rat or something similar in the chain as well for more gain or a different flavor.
• Responds well to pick-attack
• Can control the sound/gain with the volume knob

Slightly longer version, I'm looking for two amps that complement each other both for blending the two amps with an expression pedal ala. the "Gapless Switching" thread over in the FM3 Discussion section. I would like scenes that work for having really warm sounding cleans that can still play well with overdrive and playing with effects, but something that's really clean and (for lack of a better word) pretty sounding. Think The Cure or the cleaner or more acoustic-based Alice in Chains, playing with Jazz, Shoegaze-type stuff, or just going for a really squeaky clean sound that would also pair well with a boost a/o pedal for leads. For the hot-rodded Marshall-y one, I want one that I can roll the volume off for a more standard Marshall Rock sound, but one that would probably be more inline with the Engl-modeled preset or something along that line to play with the extremes. The Plexi Marshall amp presets sound great, but lack the higher gain, although I can add pedals or tweak things no-doubt, I just wonder if something else in the presets also kind of has that range or feel. The FAS Skull Crusher is pretty close, but I feel like I need to tweak it a bit.

Other than those basic sounds, I like something responsive to pick attack and volume controls. Obviously there are near limitless amounts of things I can do with tweaking, but I like how the Trainwreck-based amp preset for instance cleans up nicely but can get pretty driven at full-volume when you dig into it. That one I like a lot so far, although I'm learning how to handle it since it shines a light on any mistakes I make and it's not necessarily very forgiving at full-volume when driven. The Dumble ODS one is also good, but the clean felt a bit dry comparatively speaking. However, the ODS also has some of those qualities I like, and I have an ODS clone that I like so I think there are things I can do to make that work as well. I love how I can sort of organically build from clean to dirty based on using the volume and pick attack in different ways with those types of amps.

I'll be playing with it for a bit, but would love any suggestions on where to start or any amp combinations, pedals, or setups in general you've found work well together if anybody else is playing with that sort of range.

 

[mwd]

The possible combinations are mind numbing and subjective to your guitars but one recommendation is to take your high gain Marshall, dial in your dirty sound, then clean it up. It might surprise you how good it can sound clean. I use a Plexi 50W jumped for my crunch and clean then insert an Eternal Love pedal for some lead sear.

Alternately I use a Solo 99 Clean then crunch it up with a Full OD pedal when needed or combine it with a Marshall or USAIIC++. There are so many possibilities but I have found, for me, I need a clean, breakup, crunch, sizzle sear. There are plenty of choices that will give you that using just one or all the way up to four amps.

 

[bnwpro]

My goto for chimey, yet powerful Cleans is the Mesa Rhythm 1 (formerly called "USA Clean"). Takes pedals amazingly well. Can be very thick & well-defined at the same time. After all, the Mesa Clean is based on a Fender-type circuit.

Recently (for my Pink Floyd tribute act: Floyd Nation), I've swapped the CA3+ Clean for the Mesa clean on some presets to great effect. It's a bit spongier, maybe a little more forgiving somehow but really not too dissimilar. The PI Fuzz into this amp can be HUGE. The Depth control in the first page of the Amp Block adds a girth that blew me away, you could hear the sound just filling the sonic space in the coolest way.


So many options with the Fractal but after a couple years searching for Clean Power these two have been my personal favs.
(I can't comment on the Marshall-type tone. Personally, I use pedals into a clean amp for my OD tones.)

 

[Daveporter33765]

My goto for chimey, yet powerful Cleans is the Mesa Rhythm 1 (formerly called "USA Clean"). Takes pedals amazingly well. Can be very thick & well-defined at the same time. After all, the Mesa Clean is based on a Fender-type circuit.

Recently (for my Pink Floyd tribute act: Floyd Nation), I've swapped the CA3+ Clean for the Mesa clean on some presets to great effect. It's a bit spongier, maybe a little more forgiving somehow but really not too dissimilar. The PI Fuzz into this amp can be HUGE. The Depth control in the first page of the Amp Block adds a girth that blew me away, you could hear the sound just filling the sonic space in the coolest way.


So many options with the Fractal but after a couple years searching for Clean Power these two have been my personal favs.
(I can't comment on the Marshall-type tone. Personally, I use pedals into a clean amp for my OD tones.)

I viewed a few of your band’s videos…you and your band are fantastic! It looks like a number of you are using Fractal Axe Fx III units, is that correct? The tones you are getting from your units are extremely good.

 

[bnwpro]

I viewed a few of your band’s videos…you and your band are fantastic! It looks like a number of you are using Fractal Axe Fx III units, is that correct? The tones you are getting from your units are extremely good.

Thanks, Dave. That's very much appreciated.

We have 4 Fractals on stage currently, including the Bass player.

A couple of years go, while I was developing the tones for Floyd Nation, I decided that I was missing some girth in my clean tones (like the Intro to Shine On...wanting those clean notes to hit me in the chest) so I decided to go with a hybrid approach (more or less a Wet/Dry/Wet). I adjusted my presets so I could select internal or external Amps and internal or external Pedals using Multiplexers. Really cool, best of both worlds approach. This setup allows easy A/B of the internal/external Amp & front-end Pedals so I was able to kind of match the Fractal Amp Block (Mesa Rhythm 1 & CA3+ Clean) to my external amp (Mesa Heartbreaker) using a loadbox and then feeding a common Cab Block.

But recently, we did a fly gig that had to be Fractal-only and I was blown away by how much better it was from what I remembered a couple years ago (I think the past couple years of Firmware Updates has been adding some serious Mojo).

So I think on our next run I'm going to go without the external Amp. Really looking forward to putting the Dyna-Cabs to the test as well.

Here's how it all works in the Fractal, I/O 4 is the external Pedalboard, Out 3 to my external Mesa, In 2 from the loadbox:

 

[Daveporter33765]

Thanks, Dave. That's very much appreciated.

We have 4 Fractals on stage currently, including the Bass player.

A couple of years go, while I was developing the tones for Floyd Nation, I decided that I was missing some girth in my clean tones (like the Intro to Shine On...wanting those clean notes to hit me in the chest) so I decided to go with a hybrid approach (more or less a Wet/Dry/Wet). I adjusted my presets so I could select internal or external Amps and internal or external Pedals using Multiplexers. Really cool, best of both worlds approach. This setup allows easy A/B of the internal/external Amp & front-end Pedals so I was able to kind of match the Fractal Amp Block (Mesa Rhythm 1 & CA3+ Clean) to my external amp (Mesa Heartbreaker) using a loadbox and then feeding a common Cab Block.

But recently, we did a fly gig that had to be Fractal-only and I was blown away by how much better it was from what I remembered a couple years ago (I think the past couple years of Firmware Updates has been adding some serious Mojo).

So I think on our next run I'm going to go without the external Amp. Really looking forward to putting the Dyna-Cabs to the test as well.

Here's how it all works in the Fractal, I/O 4 is the external Pedalboard, Out 3 to my external Mesa, In 2 from the loadbox:
View attachment 121823


View attachment 121824

I am a new Fractal user having bought my first Axe Fx III Mk II Turbo last January. I have been a gigging and studio musician for over 50 years and must admit that I am totally blown away by the Fractal units. I have owned or used just about every amp, cab and effects unit made over the last 50 years so I am pretty familiar with how each device sounds and responds…the Fractal unit does a remarkable job of emulating just about everything! The best feature for me is that at my age (70), lifting heavy gear is prohibitive, so having to no longer shlep around amps, cabs and heavy pedalboards is a big deal! Also, set-up time has been reduced dramatically. Now, if it could only fix the nerve damage in my hands…lol

Thanks again for your info, I greatly appreciate it. I will definitely be looking for your band to come to my area (Clearwater, FL)…you guys are one of the best PF tribute bands I have heard. Have a great day!

 

[bnwpro]

I am a new Fractal user having bought my first Axe Fx III Mk II Turbo last January. I have been a gigging and studio musician for over 50 years and must admit that I am totally blown away by the Fractal units. I have owned or used just about every amp, cab and effects unit made over the last 50 years so I am pretty familiar with how each device sounds and responds…the Fractal unit does a remarkable job of emulating just about everything! The best feature for me is that at my age (70), lifting heavy gear is prohibitive, so having to no longer shlep around amps, cabs and heavy pedalboards is a big deal! Also, set-up time has been reduced dramatically. Now, if it could only fix the nerve damage in my hands…lol

Thanks again for your info, I greatly appreciate it. I will definitely be looking for your band to come to my area (Clearwater, FL)…you guys are one of the best PF tribute bands I have heard. Have a great day!

We'll be at Ruth Eckerd Hall on November 17th!

 

[Daveporter33765]

We'll be at Ruth Eckerd Hall on November 17th!

Update

Great! We‘ve got tickets…very reasonable prices too! Thanks for the heads-up my wife and I are looking forward to attending the concert.