Burned out

[metropolis_4]

I’m setting up gain stages for a show and feeling so burned out on this process. There are so many options…

In my AxeFX:

312 amps - 2 amp blocks = 48,516 amp combinations
65 drives - 4 drive blocks = 677,040 drive combinations

677,040 * 48,516 possible combinations.

Then on top of that amps have at least preamp gain + power amp gain (some amps have 2 preamp gain controls). And I have 3 guitars.

I’m going into option paralysis

I’ve got to get back to thinking about it more like I used to use physical gear, but some of the stuff just doesn’t interact the same way. Especially the way the drive pedals layer with each other and the amp gain. I can’t seem to make it work when I try to go simple

Probably just overthinking the whole thing and need to step back.


Fondly remembering using a Tele -> FD2 -> AC30 and not even thinking about this stuff

 

[Orvillain]

Just pick one of the AC style amps, one of the Fulltone style drives, and go from there.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I recorded some guitar tracks yesterday. I futzed with NOTHING. Just used my Recto and JP IIC+ presets as they were and was floored at how good they sounded. Approach it with a traditional gear mentality \m/

 

[Mongillo19]

We have reached the "back to Kemper" part of the process

And I say that with love

 

[Rocco Crocco]

Time to bust out the Peavey Bandit. J/K of course.

 

[Whizzinby]

When in doubt, SD1 into Marshall.

 

[James Freeman]

Fondly remembering using a Tele -> FD2 -> AC30 and not even thinking about this stuff

I would buy a AC15 and keep it forever.
Always keep one favorite tube amp, if only to remind you of why you use modelers.

 

[DrewJD82]

FWIW, when I stack drives in Fractalland I often have to suck some mids out of the drives and tinker with the Level/Drive to find the sweet spots. It’s almost like the mids push the drives too hard and they get a bit more distorted than I’m going for.

 

[la szum]

I would buy a AC15 and keep it forever.
Always keep one favorite tube amp, if only to remind you of why you use modelers.

Yup. Just too handy and versatile to not have one.

I like to keep both amps and modelers around so when the whim hits I
don't get thrown into a panic that my entire rig is all wrong.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I’m setting up gain stages for a show and feeling so burned out on this process. There are so many options…

In my AxeFX:

312 amps - 2 amp blocks = 48,516 amp combinations
65 drives - 4 drive blocks = 677,040 drive combinations

677,040 * 48,516 possible combinations.

Then on top of that amps have at least preamp gain + power amp gain (some amps have 2 preamp gain controls). And I have 3 guitars.

I’m going into option paralysis

I’ve got to get back to thinking about it more like I used to use physical gear, but some of the stuff just doesn’t interact the same way. Especially the way the drive pedals layer with each other and the amp gain. I can’t seem to make it work when I try to go simple

Probably just overthinking the whole thing and need to step back.


Fondly remembering using a Tele -> FD2 -> AC30 and not even thinking about this stuff

DUDE we may be cosmically connected. I am going through the same thing right now. I miss the days of guitar>wah>phaser>od straight to amp. I mean missing it hard.

 

[GTR37]

FWIW, when I stack drives in Fractalland I often have to suck some mids out of the drives and tinker with the Level/Drive to find the sweet spots. It’s almost like the mids push the drives too hard and they get a bit more distorted than I’m going for.

Me too , I personally find many of the drives in the Fractal too hot and gained up
Every at a setting like noon it’s really taking a clean amp into very heavy crunch territory fast
I have to back off the level and even still I find them hotter than real life counterparts in many cases

 

[EOengineer]

I’ve got to get back to thinking about it more like I used to use physical gear, but some of the stuff just doesn’t interact the same way.

I feel this. I can’t say this is the right way, but I can say that it’s what I’ve done and that simplifying and creating a virtual rig with similar chains and limitations as I might find with a physical rig has helped me keep things sane.

This might not be an option if you are in a cover band trying to nail authentic album tones. I’m lucky to be playing originals with “my tone” for better or worse. I get it also seems antithetical to impose such rigid limits on a modeler that will fly you to the moon if you want it to…but yeah…maybe try it for a gig or two and see how you feel.

 

[Bob Zaod]

This might not be an option if you are in a cover band trying to nail authentic album tones

I've never been about nailing the actual tones (other than proper gain for the song) but I do like to match modulations and delays. However I honestly think I am going to let go of digital for awhile and try going back to my simple analog board straight to a tube amp of my choice.

 

[EOengineer]

I honestly think I am going to let go of digital for awhile and try going back to my simple analog board straight to a tube amp of my choice.

I do this periodically to keep myself grounded. I spent a chunk of last year chasing down a bunch of analog pedals so I could have an all analog board feeding my tube rig without any latency or conversion stages.

It feels great to play, it sounds awesome, has all kinds of personality…and it’s still a PITA. I’m pretty fx heavy with some of my sounds, and the tap dancing is rough after using HX snapshots for years now where I could change EVERYTHING with a single footswitch tap.

It’s like going back to an ex. You remember why you love them. Then you remember why you broke up.

 

[laxu]

My way of handling Fractal is 90% of the time ignoring the Drive blocks exist. I don't really care for the selection of drives they have, so for me the better way is just by using amp block channels. Even if you just use the same amp model with different settings.

If you want you could also configure the input boosts etc to be activated separately via Control Switches and various other methods.

 

[metropolis_4]

I know it’s totally user error and I just need to shift my mindset. The struggle is real though. So many options is such a double edged sword. I’m glad they’re there, but at the same time I hate them being there

 

[metropolis_4]

We have reached the "back to Kemper" part of the process

And I say that with love

Don’t think I haven’t thought about it

I’ve spent a few hours perusing Kemper listings.

FWIW, when I stack drives in Fractalland I often have to suck some mids out of the drives and tinker with the Level/Drive to find the sweet spots. It’s almost like the mids push the drives too hard and they get a bit more distorted than I’m going for.

Me too , I personally find many of the drives in the Fractal too hot and gained up
Every at a setting like noon it’s really taking a clean amp into very heavy crunch territory fast
I have to back off the level and even still I find them hotter than real life counterparts in many cases

I’m having this problem too. The drives just don’t seem to stack very well. At least not how I expect them to. There’s too much gain and the mids build up.

It’s really challenging to do the gain staging with pedals thing

 

[laxu]

I do this periodically to keep myself grounded. I spent a chunk of last year chasing down a bunch of analog pedals so I could have an all analog board feeding my tube rig without any latency or conversion stages.

It feels great to play, it sounds awesome, has all kinds of personality…and it’s still a PITA. I’m pretty fx heavy with some of my sounds, and the tap dancing is rough after using HX snapshots for years now where I could change EVERYTHING with a single footswitch tap.

It’s like going back to an ex. You remember why you love them. Then you remember why you broke up.

IMO the whole analog vs digital is totally inconsequential as long as you don't have some massive chain of digital pedals.

The tap dancing quickly rears its head unless you have the most simple fx chains.

Then you end up with a loop switcher, or MIDI control, or even both! Then you start finding out that configuring all that stuff can be pretty inconvenient compared to snapshots/scenes of an all-in-one. Ultimately you end up basically back where you started where a modeler's conveniences become hard to forget.

As much as I dig my "mostly Strymon" pedalboard and consider it on par with what I do with my Axe-Fx 3, it's actually more expensive, more complicated etc all just to have much better curated user interfaces and dedicated controls.

 

[metropolis_4]

My way of handling Fractal is 90% of the time ignoring the Drive blocks exist. I don't really care for the selection of drives they have, so for me the better way is just by using amp block channels. Even if you just use the same amp model with different settings.

If you want you could also configure the input boosts etc to be activated separately via Control Switches and various other methods.

The problem is that amp drive and pedal drive are such different things. Sometimes I want the sound of pedal drive and you can’t get that with an amp.

It does work much better when you use amps more for drive, but I kind of hate being locked into that so much. Especially coming from a background of using real pedals for drive so much

 

[laxu]

I know it’s totally user error and I just need to shift my mindset. The struggle is real though. So many options is such a double edged sword. I’m glad they’re there, but at the same time I hate them being there

It definitely requires being considerate of what rabbit holes you go down. Maybe you are better off if you give yourself some time limits on how long to work on something. I mean most of the time when we use real pedals, we turn it to something good enough and then just keep playing instead of trying to find that last %2 better tone from what we have.