Fractal Talk

@la szum that’s why I probably would hesitate going Fractal because my inner demon would force me to spend months if not years making amp/cab/room presets through the whole fractal catalogue. And then I would sort them all in some weird system that makes no sense, and after that spend comparison sessions trying to figure out wich I like the best, only to realize that I only really need one amp. And by then I would have already got ideas in my head that should do the same with QC.
 
@la szum that’s why I probably would hesitate going Fractal because my inner demon would force me to spend months if not years making amp/cab/room presets through the whole fractal catalogue. And then I would sort them all in some weird system that makes no sense, and after that spend comparison sessions trying to figure out wich I like the best, only to realize that I only really need one amp. And by then I would have already got ideas in my head that should do the same with QC.

I feared the same, but I’ve found kind of the opposite to be true in use. Everything sounds great so you rarely go past more than a couple amps/effects at a sitting, so you wake up 10 months later and realize you’ve never made it past the letter F in the amp model library or used the PlexDelay. :ROFLMAO:

The faceplate controls and the mere presence of advanced parameters creates a narrative that Fractal stuff is some uber-nerd, engineering-degree-required, tweak fest, but it’s kind of the easiest thing in the world to get really good tones on, fast.

You can definitely suffer from some self inflicted wounds over things, but if you save the deep stuff for rainy days, its generally a breeze to get something inspiring cooking.
 
Last edited:
I get through the option paralysis by planning out my tones when I'm away from my gear haha. I decide what kind of set of tones I'm going for, write them out, and I just make sure I stick to that set rather than allowing myself to scroll or tweak. I have a long playlist of great tones of different kinds I've found on YouTube as a guide to make sure I don't go too bright, too scooped, too fizzy, or too extreme in any other way with my tones! Dave Pensado talked about using reference tracks to keep himself in line, and that's been a huge help. I know I have a very real problem of losing all context if I start tweaking tones without some baseline to compare.
 
This will shock everyone, I actually sometimes, <shiver>, edit block params ON MY FM9!!

Luke Skywalker GIF by Star Wars
 
The amp modeling in the Axe Fx II was still great... But it's definitely much improved now.

I've seen many people add a cheap and/or compact midi controller for additional switches and functions.

You could even use an AudioFront Expression IO underneath a pedalboard and add up to 8 switches directly mounted thru the board.

Here's my FM9 with 3 external switches mounted thru:

View attachment 26917

The red box is the Expression IO. I'm using it with 4 expression pedals but it gives the concept:

View attachment 26918

I’ve been curious about those expression pedal ‘patchbays’, do they track just as well as plugging an exp pedal straight into the unit it’s controlling? I’ll most likely utilize one of these as I start building out my pedalboard for the non-modeling board.
 
I’ve been curious about those expression pedal ‘patchbays’, do they track just as well as plugging an exp pedal straight into the unit it’s controlling? I’ll most likely utilize one of these as I start building out my pedalboard for the non-modeling board.
I've been using expression pedals with midi controllers for a long time - going back to the ART X-15.

The response is normally fine aside from any "zippering" that might occur, but that's usually an issue on the device being controlled.

With Fractal, no issue... You can adjust the damping (attack/release) on the modifiers if encountered but I never have.

As someone wrote on the Fractal forum, remember that the entire sweep of the pedal (0-100%) is "mapped" to the midi values from 0-127.

Imagine trying to move the pedal 1/128th of it's sweep - it's pretty small... The means the midi control is pretty dang smooth.

The Expression IO actually has settings for things like modifier response curve, etc, which makes it very cool to use with something that doesn't allow for that like Fractal does.
 
I actually had a nightmare the other day that this happened. Actually it might have been YGG or another company but still. The amount of Fractal-related dreams I've had over the years is mildly embarrassing.
Could be worse. I once had a dream I was playing on a big stage and had an awesome tone. Then I tried to figure out what gear made it, and in my dream saw a Digitech RP series multifx unit. I've never owned one.
 
One of the reasons I enjoy playing a digital rig is that I can dial in settings for each guitar and switch between them with ease. Back in my tube amp only days I realized that once I had my amp set for one guitar it didn't sound as good with another guitar. It was an inspiration killer to either spend a few minutes changing amp settings or to live with a sub-optimal tone each time I wanted to play a different guitar.

Last night I decided to scroll through some of the factory presets to see about finding an amp model that really suited my newest guitar. The 6550 50W plexi model in preset 8 was the first standout, but I had already built a preset for this guitar based on that model. I play the plexi models more than any others and was looking for something new. The AC15 was also a good fit, but it doesn't really do the types of tones I gravitate towards as my home base.

I kept scrolling and got to the SLO preset. That one immediately sounded awesome. I know that I've tried the SLO models before and liked them, but never though they fit any of my other guitars quite right. This guitar paired really well with the voice of the amplifier and cab combination. After playing that for about 15 minutes I decided to see which IR was in the cab block because I suspected that was likely a key ingredient to why this preset sounded so good. Lo and behold; LT TV mix 7. I forgot that I had edited that preset and dialed it in with Leon's IR probably like a year ago. That is a killer IR.
 
plex delay is the replica of the famous plexi delay made famous by Marshall in 1968 ( release on June 3rd).
This effect unit is well known by vintage lovers such as Tom morello and Eminem
It’s specifics settings are the 0 to 11 knobs.
It can go from 1 to 11ms in only 3ms.
Right on. Is that the one Fractal modeled?
 
Back
Top