Want to make a Holdsworth Preset for Quantum AFXII?

BillyZeppa

BillyZeppa

Power User
What do y'all Fractalite sonicologists recommend in terms of AFXII elements, for building an Alan holdsworth lead tone, amp?, cab?, pedals?, processing? I'm looking for that fluid amp and processing tone in his leads. Anything from around 1978 with UK onward would be awesome.
 
i'm a bit of a fan and have been trying to nail his tone since i had an ultra. i do prefer his late 80's boogie/fridge rack tones to the late 70's tones which always sounded a bit thin to me. i have had some success in finding info for the tones i like and have made some nice patches, but i haven't done any research into those earlier 70's sounds.

one trick that really helps is to run the amp with a little more gain than you need and then roll off your guitar volume a touch and also roll the tone control down until it just starts to attenuate the upper frequencies.

i would say do as much research as you can and try to find out what gear he was using for the tones you prefer. i'm sure there's stuff on the web that will help you and hopefully someone else will chime in here with some good info
 
i've been boring everyone for years with various attempts of clean, swell and lead patches. here are a couple of demos from ages ago done with the axe fx II...

firmware 7

firmware 11

firmware 10

if you like these, i'll have a look at my current patches and see how they fared updating to Q4 and post them.

listening to these again, i think firmware 10 is pretty nice...
 
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simeon said:
i've been boring everyone for years with various attempts of clean, swell and lead patches. here are a couple of demos from ages ago done with the axe fx II...

firmware 7

firmware 11

firmware 10

if you like these, i'll have a look at my current patches and see how they fared updating to Q4 and post them.

listening to these again, i think firmware 10 is pretty nice...
Click to expand...

I've played Q4 with some of the presets you provided with your FX blocks package and they sound stellar, if that is any indication. Any contribution you make to this forum is invariably useful and inspiring , sir.
 
thanks man. just tried a preset backup of the one from F10 and it sounds bad. i think the boogies have moved around and had new models since then. i'm using the recto 1 org norm at the moment and it sounds pretty good. just giving it a little tweak now...

oh, and it's the early to mid 90's sounds i like - secrets, wardenclyffe, hard hat, none too soon...that era
 
if you want a nice fusion sound, you can't go wrong with usa pre ld2 yellow. so easy to dial in and sounds great through a variety of cabs

try drive and overdrive both on 7.5
bmt at 2, 6.5 and 6.5
pres at 5
bright at -3.5
master at 5
out comp at 0.5
everything else on default into a stereo cab with the holy basketweave tv mix and the recto new mix

mmm...nice!
 
here are three made with Q4

http://axechange.fractalaudio.com/detail.php?preset=4494
http://axechange.fractalaudio.com/detail.php?preset=4493
http://axechange.fractalaudio.com/detail.php?preset=4492

they all use Allan's settings from the UD Stomp manual for the 8 band delays

the lead tone is based on the best info i can get for his setup in the 90's. for best results, reduce volume and tone on your guitar

guitar > TC line driver (boost + low cut) > Mesa Dual Channel Recto > Limiter in FX Loop (out comp in the amp block) > TC EQ in the FX loop (pre power amp graphic in the amp block) > 8 band multi delays
 
i'm pretty convinced that allan is also using one of the settings from the ud stomp manual called single point stereo microphone. which i've emulated using the dual delay. the settings include two very short delays and one of them is phase reversed. i think i hear it pretty clearly on most of his 90's stuff. it has the effect of widening the sound, but the phase reverse also knocks off some of the bass frequencies. if you'd like to try it, drop this block in the patch IN BETWEEN the two multidelays on the main line in the lead patch
 

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Oh Wow. Thanks, simeon. I'm now Holdsy fully loaded. :) Can't wait to try them. I guess i will now need to learn how to use Fractool. BTW - The page still says Q-3.x
 
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Thanks Simeon! I think you make the best Holdsworth tones! Actually you are very talented at making all kinds of sounds. Don't know how you do it but I certainly appreciate it.
 
Simeon, if the audio clips are any judge, these presets sound great! I've been using Derryl Gabel's, but I think I'll give your patches a spin!
 
simeon said:
i've been boring everyone for years with various attempts of clean, swell and lead patches. here are a couple of demos from ages ago done with the axe fx II...

firmware 7

firmware 11

firmware 10

if you like these, i'll have a look at my current patches and see how they fared updating to Q4 and post them.

listening to these again, i think firmware 10 is pretty nice...
Click to expand...
Look forward to trying these. Yours and Derryls are my fave Holdsworth parthes. Those clips sound badass btw
 
Derryl gabel sent me a butt load of his holdsy patches a few firmwares ago, Don't know if he still has them or would give them out anymore but maybe email him.
 
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