Your go-to "Dialing in" tips

Tahoebrian5 said:
Just a thought here.. Add a modifier to the maste volume, and the inverse to a level control. With some minor tweaking you should be able to sweep the master volume while remaining at a constant level
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Different amps respond differently to changes in Master Volume. You'd need to make a custom "inverse" modifier for each amp type. In the time it took you to make just one of those modifiers, you could have found the sweet spots in a dozen amps.
 
Max_H said:
haha \m/

i wonder what it is about the sound that you prefer. Is it like, tighter? More mid-focused?
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It's hard to tell... I don't really like overly harsh and high gain metal tones. I want my tone to be clear and natural sounding... My impression is that Reducing input gain helps me get closer to that.
 
I'm usually a bit timid to post to threads like this, because I'm hating a tone I like just one day after it.

But this started to change lastly. My go to tips are below:

1) Engage Cut switch + Set Input Trim to 2.000 in the amp block.
2) Set speaker drive to 0.50. This seems to control the high end a bit. But not so sure, didn't experiment much with it. I newly discovered this.
3) Set motor drive to 1.50 at the cab block.
4) Do not scoop the mids at the amp (My current 5153 setting is: bass 5, mid: 6, treb: 6, pres: 6, mv: 5).
5) Never use reverb.
6) Choose good IR's (I like ML alloys, especcially the Diezel pack is my favorite for now), and never use high/low cut. This is a restriction for myself actually, because I may get extreme easily and thin the tone a lot. I'm trusting my IR's.
7) Get the MV as high as you can get unless the low end flubs out.
 
Rex said:
Different amps respond differently to changes in Master Volume. You'd need to make a custom "inverse" modifier for each amp type. In the time it took you to make just one of those modifiers, you could have found the sweet spots in a dozen amps.
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You must be much better at finding the master volume sweet spot than I am
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
You must be much better at finding the master volume sweet spot than I am
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There's not that much to it, really.

1) Start with MV low.

2) Dial in the amount of Input Drive you want.

3) Turn up MV, then adjust Level to compensate for the increase in volume. As you increase MV, the tone will get fatter.

4) At some point, increasing MV won't increase the volume by much. At some nearby point, the tone will start to flub out. At that point, back down MV just a bit. That's the sweet spot.
 
New tip: halve the Negative Feedback when you next try a Friedman, particularly the HBE. Clears that woofy bass right up without taking any of the balls away.
 
I have a process that's worked well for me dialing covers
  1. Google the artist, find out guitar player, google his rig, put that rig into Axe-Fx
  2. Start just amp/cab, and using ears not eyes, dial the rig with basic controls
  3. During dialing, constantly A/B axe-fx rig against the actual recording (or reference recording if you're going after a general tone vs. specific song)
  4. If it's way off out of the gate, make sure you're on the right pickup
  5. if still way off even with basic controls, try swapping amps in the same family
  6. If closer but can't get there, try swapping cabinets in the same family
  7. If a lot closer, stick to your guns and keep dialing with ears, not eyes
  8. Add required drive(s) and effects
  9. Once you have tone and rig dialed, dial in any feel you still need -- use drive and/or master (if MV amp) and motor drive. Put finishing touches on with optical drive at front of amp (or after depending on preference)
The firmware is so good now, this alone should get you 90-95% of where you want to be tonally, and you won't need to get into advanced items, special tricks or specialized knowledge or workarounds.

If your guitar is substantially different than the original guitar, or the original rig is specialized or has several things not in the axe-fx, only then should have to start diving into extra work, tricks, tweaking.
 
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Boy these are great tips and covered many I would have suggested. I'll go simple just to contribute.

1) alluded to above, I use a volume pedal and set the controller number in AXE FX not at output of total preset but before the amp/chain. YOU DON'T NEED TO USE A VOLUME BLOCK TO DO THIS! Just make sure you expression pedal is tied to Input Volume #10 on the I/O CTRL page. Really useful, like rolling off volume from guitar knob, and it helps you get other tones from cranked amps as you bring their input signal down. Sort of the opposite of using scenes to increase drive - set drive as high as you like, play at stage volume loud, then you can back off volume pedal and get a great sound still without as much gain from the amp.

2) I always dial in presets to combine at -12db, or close to it. Not on the AXE unit itself, but the digital output (via SPDIF) into my console (Apollo UAudio) to a DAW -- because I want the level programmed to react the way a PA board would. You'd be surprised at how amps differ in reacting to input signals, some are much more dynamic and others much more compressed and level, and single versus humbucker matters more in some amps than in others. I know this because I've gone through all 255+ amps!

The point of -12db is that a) if you add gain in preset/kick in a drive, you won't digitally clip, b) let the sound board guy boost the signal into FOH, and c) if you still want to use a really pedal or two (I like real Fuzzes or a Klon) you won't approach 0 db and clip. People make the mistake of trying to make the preset too near to 0 db. Use the external power amp, board, or (in my case) FRFR speaker volume to raise the volume instead.

3) Never never underestimate the power of PEQ, put before an amp and at the end of the signal chain/post cabinet. A lot of those great guitar tones you heard on records, well, that's the PEQ on the preamp or board (Neve, SSL, API etc.) to get the guitar to "fit" in the track with everything else. They really do add something.

4) Never underestimate the power of using LFO, envelope, pitch, etc. controllers to modify sound dynamically while you play. I'm still learning those.

Keep 'em coming!
 
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My tips. Dial up a amp and use Yek's guide to pair it with a cabinet. Then take each digital knob on the amp and crank it fully up, then fully down to hear what it is doing to the sound. Do that with every knob. Once you hear what each knob is doing to the sound you are better able to dial in what you are trying to get. Simple. Old school. Works.
 
Another tip: something subtle. Only use if in stereo.

Use a dual delay, and pan one L hard at 10 cents and one right hard at 20 cents.

Keep the wet blend at or under 15%, and avoid metallic sound... it thickens and widens up your tone in a very subtle way.
 
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yek said:
There are so many....

Here are a few.

- Tubescreamer without gain/high CPU usage?
Want the effect of a Tubescreamer but without its overdrive and its high CPU usage: copy the Low Cut and High Cut values of the TS8 OD Drive block into a PEQ block.

- Playing through FR amplification and you want some extra punch?
Use Tyler Grund's "mid boost trick". Add a PEQ at the end of the grid, set a band to 770Hz (Peaking), Q at 0.35, Gain at +4db.

- Playing through FR amplification and you want it to sound a little more like a regular guitar cab?
Use Low Cut and High Cut in the Cab block. Try Low Cut between 120 - 199 Hz. Try High Cut between 5KHz - 6KHz (up to 8KHz for sparkling clean).

- Want different levels of gain without changing presets?
Attach a Scene Controller to the Drive parameter. Set its value in the Controllers menu. Switch scenes for various gain levels.

- Want to see which amp parameters (state X) in a preset are different from default?
Copy the X state to Y, reset Y to default, and go through the pages, switching between X and Y.

- Use a traditional guitar cabinet?
Dial in the low resonant frequency, for optimal bass response.
Put a Filter block after the Amp block. Set the type to Peaking, Q to 5 or so and Gain to 10 dB. Start with a Frequency of around 50 Hz. Play some chugga-chugga and slowly adjust the Frequency until you hear and feel the cabinet resonate. You need to do this at loud volume level to notice it. Make a note of the frequency. Remove the Filter block and set the Amp block LFR to match.

- Never used Motor Drive in the Cab block?
Try it now. Motor Drive been revised in firmware 19. It mimics a pushed guitar speaker.

- Want your amp tone to sound more "open" or rather more "compressed"?
Play with Transformer Match.

I can go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
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Is it just the formatting of this forum that automatically creates links that go nowhere? Or are these all but one "dead ender's"
 
200man said:
Is it just the formatting of this forum that automatically creates links that go nowhere? Or are these all but one "dead ender's"
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I think yek has done some significant reorganization of the wiki in the two years since he wrote that post. :)
 
About time to bump this thread again, methinks...

Anyone found any new tips they swear by? For me, I've been having a great time just using the straight amp and cab again, stripping it right back. But the FAS Boost keeps worming its way into my presets, both high gain and otherwise...
 
What I almost always do which I find allows for a ton of dynamics & flexibility especially if you like using the Vol on your guitar & being able to have a nice balance between a bridge & neck pickup tone wise.
When I start off creating a patch I’ll dial it in and get the Amp where it’s sounding good and about 75-85% of my total target gain with the Input Trim at 1 & Boost switch OFF. Then I lower it all the way down. This depending on the Amp and total target gain cleans it right up or leaves ya with a nice edge of breakup. Then:
1.Flip on the Boost switch; see how that sounds, that brings ya right back and using your Vol on your guitar you have some nice tones in between. Turn it off
2. Add a Filter Block (2-3 blocks back) Bring the Level up, I usually set it for +8dB of Boost, and the set the Low Cut, (which is usually determined by my neck pickup, and also the Cut Switch on the Amp) Set the High Cut. *play with this on & the Amp Boost on.. all good? Okay.. good turn em off, moving on..
3. Add Drive Block. Personally I like the FET’s or the SDD, so that’s usually what I use, but you can obviously use whatever drive(s) ya like. Usually with this one I’ll set up a FET Boost on x and FET Preamp on y, and have the y have a little more gain & put more highs on it & up the low cut on it and can use that for Neck pickup lead depending on the Amp & mud level.
Now I have something like 10 different combinations (and you can always add another Filter Block with a Mid Boost, or even a ParaEQ, and/or another Drive Block).
The one thing I stay mindful of is when I have everything on, Filter/Drive/Amp Boost, I’m still musical.
 
Some great tips in here. I would add that the quickest way I have found to dial in a rig is to put a looper after the input. I then build my standard flow with the blocks. Once I have the chain basically organized, I play a few chords and riffs into the looper. I then set my guitar down and hit “play” on the looper. This allows me to do hands-free tweaking of the drive, amd block, cab, etc. Super easy to dial in this way vice trying to dial in while having my guitar in my hands at the same time. You can dial in at whatever volume you want. If building a rig for a gig, dial it in at gig volume...same applies if dialing in for bedroom volume. Best to dial at whatever volume you intend to use the scene for.
 
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