Fractal Talk

[KingsXJJ]

I think I need to start using Mesa amps more.

Can we all, or almost all of us agree that the Badlander should be added to the fractal library of amps? I think it would be a nice addition. And bump up Mesa amp usage.

 

[KingsXJJ]

I have no idea what the Bosom Boost is.

I’d bet it has a top heavy tone.

 

[Stratzrus]

It's funny, I know I posted a few weeks back about how I was having some second thoughts towards modeling when I started playing through amps for the first time since I got the AxeFX five years ago, now that I've had a few months of getting reacquainted with amps I'm re-dialing in presets and it's a bit like experiencing it all again for the first time because I wasn't dialing in presets to be this raw or with more detail in the low/low mids, dialing the highs back a bit, just overall making them far less ready to fit in a mix and sound more like an amp just being an amp.

I didn't bother trying to match the exact tones between my EVH head and the 50-watt model, but I made a preset for each using the same DynaCabs I use with the head, I had a good chuckle when I started dialing in the model because had I just walked in the room without paying attention to what I was plugged into, I wouldn't have known. It's the stuff like how the strings ring out when you take your hands off them that really cracks me up.

Right now I'm going back and forth between my Rivera Supema Jazz Recording and my FM9/FR-12 V2 Gold rig,

I have a killer Jazz tone dialed in on each and neither one sounds markedly better than the other but the playing experience is different.

With the Rivera I know that I'm not going to fiddle around with it switching on effects or various gain tones, I just focus on my playing.

With the FM9 I can do that too but eventually will start working my way left to right on the bottom row of footswitches which will leave the Polytone/Henriksen tone area and migrate from Blackface Fender to NMV Marshall to higher gain amps with reverb and delay.

I don't miss the modeler when playing the amp and I don't miss the amp when playing through the modeler, each is great for what it does and I choose one or the other depending on my mood. If I'm strictly practicing I'll use the Rivera, if I want to practice then stretch out a little into Funk and Fusion world I'll use the FM9.

I'm truly thankful that I have both tube amp and modeler options and am lucky enough to have great examples of each. The gear that's available to us now, from modern offerings to vintage amps still on the market, has never been better.

 

[jellodog]

@jellodog Oh cool. Congratulations on the move, and welcome to this side of the Atlantic! Did you end up resetting your Axe-FX III from 50Hz to 60Hz? If you did, did you notice any real difference in tone?

I'd forgotten all about that setting, so no I didn't do it! I think I'll just leave it on the default.

I suppose the biggest difference would be ghost notes, which would start at 100 Hz (plus harmonics) in the UK vs 120 Hz in North America.

 

[Piing]

@jellodog Oh cool. Congratulations on the move, and welcome to this side of the Atlantic! Did you end up resetting your Axe-FX III from 50Hz to 60Hz? If you did, did you notice any real difference in tone?

Indeed. First thing to do since the Axe-FX Standard. Also at the Power Supply advanced settings of each AMP block. Best music and best tones came from 50Hz countries. No need to waste time doing A/B comparisons

 

[hemmelight]

Hah, I thought @State of Epicicity was making a joke about changing between 50/60Hz but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that that's an option.

 

[Piing]

Hah, I thought @State of Epicicity was making a joke about changing between 50/60Hz but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that that's an option.

When you can really hear the difference between different AC Power Supply Frequencies (the Axe-FX allows to set it between 30Hz and 100Hz) is at the ghost notes that are generated when you increase the Supply Sag and reduce the B+ Time Constant.

p.s: Why do I feel pity for these poor souls that are stuck with old-fashioned amplifiers that explode and burn your house or get you electrocuted if you attempt to play with these things?

 

[James Freeman]

'Toxic' is a word toxic people use on normal people who don't bend to their agenda.
Beware of the vampire.

 

[Orvillain]

'Toxic' is a word toxic people use on normal people who don't bend to their agenda.
Beware of the vampire.

I've got a musician I'd like you to meet.

 

[GTR37]

Oh , I love Teles has become the new reset tangent on the Fractal forum
This is why we can’t have nice things

 

[Jarick]

Oh , I love Teles has become the new reset tangent on the Fractal forum
This is why we can’t have nice things

Didn't help when Infinity Fractals posted that beautiful Tele picture again.

 

[jellodog]

Oh , I love Teles has become the new reset tangent on the Fractal forum
This is why we can’t have nice things

I think this is fairly normal for a first public beta release, if there aren't many more bugs reported? At that point it's pretty much the end of the technical part of the thread. This thread will die shortly when a new beta release is pushed.

I get that's it's slightly annoying for the FAS crew though. I'm personally happy to see that there don't seem to be many more bug reports.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Oh , I love Teles has become the new reset tangent on the Fractal forum
This is why we can’t have nice things

I put flat wounds on my tele a couple of weeks ago. In some ways I like it a lot, but also miss the round wounds. Like the flats on the tele more than I did on the hollowbody. Maybe I need a second tele. I loooooove my Kline but don’t really wanna spend that much on.a second tele. Teles are the best.

 

[TubeStack]

I actually don't like Teles. I appreciate that classic sound and their versatiliy, but I've owned three and kept none of them. Maybe I just haven't found the right one. I'll take a Strat over a Tele any day.

 

[Orvillain]

I actually don't like Teles. I appreciate that classic sound and their versatiliy, but I've owned three and kept none of them. Maybe I just haven't found the right one. I'll take a Strat over a Tele any day.

Paedo guitar innit mate.

<ducks>

 

[State of Epicicity]

I would think setting the line frequency for the country you're playing in would also maybe aid the noise gate of you're playing single coils.

The reason ghost notes occur, from what I've gleaned, is that the notes you play can interact with the line frequency in an audible and disharmonic way. It stands to reason that other aspects of the tone may be affected by this interaction too; e.g., I hear strong ghost notes in many Plexis as well as the BE-100 models, so I switch the power supply from the AC default to DC, which cuts out the interaction with the line frequency. Not only do ghost notes go away, but amps get brighter immediately, and I have to compensate.

 

[Whizzinby]

 

[hemmelight]

I want a strat with a tele bridge pickup on it.
I suppose you’d also need the tele bridge for part of the sound though.

 

[State of Epicicity]

To go a little further, other than strong ghost notes, on many amps I hear subtle interaction with the line frequency. This is the case with the Smallbox model. To me it's not strong enough to change the power supply to DC, but it's there. I've found the best way for me to hear it is to sustain wound strings above the 12th fret.

This interaction does color the amp and add character. I would imagine interacting with a different line frequency would change that character at least in a subtle way.

So I'm not joking, believe it or not! I know it's a subtle thing, but I've always wondered if you plugged in an amp in the US, pumped a DI track into it sustaining high notes in wound strings, recorded the output, then repeated the procedure in the UK with an identical room and equipment, would the line frequency alone change something in the character of the tone?

I'd imagine in the real world, you just turn dials to compensate and move on. I just wonder, really, not as a practical matter, but just out of curiosity.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I want a strat with a tele bridge pickup on it.
I suppose you’d also need the tele bridge for part of the sound though.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/twang-banger-strat -- I think the plate under the pickup is way more important than the bridge mounting.