Axe III/FM9/3: Anyone Not Tweaking Settings?

[laxu]

I use Ownhammer and York Audio, and typically go for a 57 on the edge of the dust cap, fairly close to the grille cloth. It's a great sound, I just find with the Axe III I often have to go to 3pm on the mids+treble and 2pm on the presence, whereas on a real amp it's more like 1pm on mids and treble, and noon on the presence.

This is to be expected, because the B/M/T/D/P tapers aren't based on the actual amps so far as I know, but are idealised versions of them.

Yeah there can be 5-20% variance in pots and other components so real amp vs modeled amp will never be 1:1 unless you can try Fractal's own reference amp.

That said at least for me I haven't found the need to significantly turn up those controls, more than I would on the real amp. There are a few amps like Bogners that even in the real world have a peculiar treble setup where the 1st half of the knob is largely useless because it's too dark/smooth and you need to run them with pretty high treble settings.

I use a combination of Fractal's own IRs, IRs exported from ML Sound Lab MIKKO, York Audio and some of my own.

I do use the IR player block for frequency corrections for headphones and room correction for my Genelecs. Global EQ works fine for this too but since I have the horsepower in the Axe-Fx 3, might as well do the full monty. The corrections are IRs made using the Sonarworks Reference ID VST plugin and some frequency sweeps and deconvolving with Voxengo Deconvolver.

My output devices are Sennheiser HD6XX headphones and Genelec M040 studio monitors.

 

[Jwdubois]

I've been using Fractal gear since the Ultra.

I've spent countless hours exploring the effect of the various parameters in all the blocks, particularly the amp and cab blocks. Partly this is for fun, and partly because there is gold to be mined in the deep parameters if you know where to find it. If you invest some time to learn how those deep parameters affect the sound, it can be the difference between "close enough" and "nailed it".

That being said, I don't spend much time tweaking the amp models any more because I don't have to. Dyna Cabs has taken care of my biggest tweaking issue, which was trying to find the magic low cut to tame the low end.

 

[Eagle]

Less and less the better it gets.

 

[Stone]

If you invest some time to learn how those deep parameters affect the sound, it can be the difference between "close enough" and "nailed it".

As a Fractal Noob this is the way i am proceeding

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[Mongillo19]

As a Fractal Noob this is the way i am proceeding

Biggest ones for me are speaker curve, tubes, and negative feedback. Nothing wild but make a big difference!

 

[GTR37]

I don’t tweak a lot I kind of have 8 amps that I will use which mostly is cut to 4
The Vibroverb , /13 FTR
Marshall JVM orange , Mesa TC red
When new amps come out I will try them but usually go back to the main 4
I don’t use lots of fx a wah , MXR Flange , whammy , some harmonizer but they are all on momentary control switches so I can just add them to a couple of notes or chords

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Is this supposed to be "Me, Jive". or "This guy, Stone(s)"?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Is this supposed to be "Me, Jive". or "This guy, Stone(s)"?

Yes

 

[norminal]

I rarely ever leave the “Authentic” page on the Fractal. Personally, I’d rather spend my time playing rather than menu-diving.

It’s probably why I prefer the Helix UI over others.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

I spend more time playing through factory presets than the presets I make and save. I usually alter the delay and or reverb maybe throw different drive on the factory presets but don't even save them anymore.
More and more lately I just treat it like an amp and pedal board.

Over the last week since firing up the FM9 again I'm starting to really question all the money and time I spent on all the other stuff I have.
If my attitude doesn't change soon I'm going to cash in my obscene collection of digital options and be able to get my first obscenely over priced road bike! Much better for the physical and mental health lol!

 

[fretworn]

Re: FAS factory presets

For the latest TGF challenged… I needed a lead guitar sound… Went to the FAS originals and pulled up Cliff’s version of a Trainwreck on a TV cab.

Did what I normally would if it was my amp in the room (and then a little bit more because Cliff gives me the ability; but not much…not sophisticated … output comp, thump, drive).

As long as it has the gain structure correct and mids to sit right… I’m happy as can be. Just have to play it.

The rhythm guitars are the Dual Clean patch with a Mesa and a Fender in it… Was great!

Hopefully I can wrap up this tune in the next day or two with a proper hook/melody.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I've been pulling back on the gain lately.

I have a preset that's EOB, using the Angle Severe 1, that sounds so nice. And when I want/need a bit more compression/sustain, I just hit the boost on my Majesty. It has a Quad Parallel Delay that basically came from a factory preset, that adds just the right amount of "wash", but not too overbearing. I don't like "messy" delays, but instead, more like, if you turned it off, you'd notice it's not there.

I know when a preset is dialed in just right for my tastes, when I first turn on the Axe, and it sounds great, as is.

 

[GTR37]

I've been pulling back on the gain lately.

I have a preset that's EOB, using the Angle Severe 1, that sounds so nice. And when I want/need a bit more compression/sustain, I just hit the boost on my Majesty. It has a Quad Parallel Delay that basically came from a factory preset, that adds just the right amount of "wash", but not too overbearing. I don't like "messy" delays, but instead, more like, if you turned it off, you'd notice it's not there.

I know when a preset is dialed in just right for my tastes, when I first turn on the Axe, and it sounds great, as is.

EOB and Engl savage are 2 things that you don’t hear everyday lol
And I agree with your second point
Most processors just have way to much delay wash , I like subtle to
I try a few but seem to always go back to worn tape in parallel
I like your description about not knowing it there
It’s like cologne if you have left the room but still smell like your at the table it too much