Official Axe-Fx Q&A thread!

[lewis]

So happy. I just bought an Ax8. Keeping my Kemper in my home studio and taking the Ax8 on the road with me.
Win/win and im relieved too because now i can actually say im done for modelling/amp stuff.

Going to sell some stuff and trade in some stuff for the Headrush FRFR to go with it and im done.
Will post a NGD thread on weds when it arrives

 

[Andromalia]

The axe III should be in my home tomorrow.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

The axe III should be in my home tomorrow.

Are you going to start from scratch?

The editor doesn't have copy and pasting of block settings yet so it hasn't been easy to take advantage of the additional 4 scenes in presets. I still have my 512+ presets that I'm trying to condense down into less than 512. It's a LONG process considering levels and user cab location numbers have to be updated for every preset.

EDIT: Wow, I just checked the Fractal forum and they updated it to have the copy-paste channel settings feature. Time to get condensing! Can't wait to get home today!

 

[lewis]

Ax8 turned up. Spent a good 4 hours slaying. Other than my guitars stock pickups being dreadful, this thing is a total beast! Sitting and creating the sounds in my head is going to be amazing. And its compact size is perfect for what I wanted.

shout out to G66 too who were incredible to deal with. Excellent customer service with brilliant personal touches inside the box etc. Highly recommended.

So now im truly sorted for guitar tones inside a studio and on the road, the time is now to start getting bareknuckles in all my guitars. Its took me long enough haha

 

[Andromalia]

Are you going to start from scratch?

Probably. I actually enjoy doing patches and getting the results, plus as I've now had various fractals for close to 10 years starting with the Standard, I sort of know what goes where.
Plus, I have my habits for effects so I sort of know how I'm going to do delays and reverbs too. I only have a dozen or so own patches on the II at the moment. I generally just use a few tones, 80es metal, modern metal, a devin townsed patch, a James Hetfield patch, one for gothic rock, a few cleans and I'm done.
I do plan to get a lot of mileage of the 8 way USB, which is the feature I'm buying. The II sounds good enough already.

 

[mnemonic]

Ax8 turned up. Spent a good 4 hours slaying. Other than my guitars stock pickups being dreadful, this thing is a total beast! Sitting and creating the sounds in my head is going to be amazing. And its compact size is perfect for what I wanted.

shout out to G66 too who were incredible to deal with. Excellent customer service with brilliant personal touches inside the box etc. Highly recommended.

So now im truly sorted for guitar tones inside a studio and on the road, the time is now to start getting bareknuckles in all my guitars. Its took me long enough haha

Nice, what are you running it though?

I got a box of German chocolates with my Axe Fx II years back when I ordered it. They were pretty good.

 

[lewis]

Nice, what are you running it though?

I got a box of German chocolates with my Axe Fx II years back when I ordered it. They were pretty good.

at the moment, pretty much headphones and tiny little practice amp/speakers.
Ive spoken to my local music shop about Headrush FRFR monitors as i want to go that route.

oh nice!. Chocolates aye? haha. Ive given up Dairy so in a way it was lucky I didnt get them as that would have been a bummer.
Got a free T Shirt instead

 

[mnemonic]

Does anyone here own a Fryette Deliverance, or have played one? I’ve suspected for some time that there may be an error in the model reducing the gain, but after getting a Fryette GP/DI I’m more sure than ever. The GP/DI is apparently a tweaked Deliverance preamp, but in (More) mode, it has a lot more gain on tap than the D60 (More) model. The model is closer to the GP/DI in (Less) mode.

I remember a while back (probably a year or two) there was a firmware update that drastically reduced the gain of the D60 models but it did also improve the sound and feel, so it was kind of a trade off. Nobody else seemed to mention it.

That was one reason I was kinda worried to buy a GD/PI, I thought it might lack gain.

Turning on the “Boost” switch in the amp block of the D60 helps get it into the right gain range. Still one of my top 5 amp models I think.

 

[Shask]

I had a D120 for a year or 2 awhile back, and I think it had more gain than the D60 More model. I always felt like maybe the model lacked something because it was a D60, not a D120. I do think it seems to have the crystal clear highs the amp has, but it definitely does not have the low end balls.

 

[fob]

I don’t have any Axe Fx unfortunately but I just found out that the song G.O.A.T. by Polyphia had the tone from Axe 2 preset Boutique Battle 1 used on it. I would really appreciate if someone could do a screen shot of the signal chain and settings so I can get a rough idea of what model and stuff to use. Thanks.

 

[lewis]

First proper tone test with the ax8 last night.

Used the Peavey 5150 block model. Fet boost infront acting as a clean fortin 33 type boost running into my Randall t2 efx return into my line 6 4x12 with V30 + T75 x pattern cab.

Straight away it sounds killllllller. Obviously i think i will prefer the sound direct with cab IRs etc into a powered monitor, but dayumn.
Thats just a 10 minute patch and quick jam etc.

Cant wait to dial and save scenes etc. Skys the limit with these.

 

[Elric]

Does anyone here own a Fryette Deliverance, or have played one? I’ve suspected for some time that there may be an error in the model reducing the gain, but after getting a Fryette GP/DI I’m more sure than ever. The GP/DI is apparently a tweaked Deliverance preamp, but in (More) mode, it has a lot more gain on tap than the D60 (More) model. The model is closer to the GP/DI in (Less) mode.

Ask Cliff on the FAS forum maybe? He’s the only one that can fix it if there is one. He has done a pretty good job acknowledging issues when they are legit.

 

[Milchek]

Axe III user here, came in last week (well, replacement - the first one I got had issues).

Right now I'm trying to figure out a solution for when i don't play with headphones. I'm thinking a small power amp of some kind (Mooer Tube Engine or even SD PowerStage) to power my 1x12. Alternative is the Friedman ASC-12, but I'd need to go try it out to see how it sounds.

Then it will be a case of finding the right midi foot controller.

 

[Andromalia]

Why don't you just use active studio monitors ? They can be plugged right in the XLR outs.

 

[Shask]

Why don't you just use active studio monitors ? They can be plugged right in the XLR outs.

Maybe because he already has the 112 cab?

Also, IMO, monitors never sound as good. I have some 8" monitors, but greatly prefer a 212 cab and power amp. That "recorded tone" you get through monitors is so uninspiring to play for fun. useful if you main goal is recording something, but not so much just for jamming.

 

[Milchek]

Maybe because he already has the 112 cab?

Also, IMO, monitors never sound as good. I have some 8" monitors, but greatly prefer a 212 cab and power amp. That "recorded tone" you get through monitors is so uninspiring to play for fun. useful if you main goal is recording something, but not so much just for jamming.

Spot on. I tried HJ8s and HS7s and while they are amazing for final mix and all that, they're not fun to play through. I enjoy playing through a cab, but that's just me. I'm still going to try out a Friedman ASC12 and possibly the Yamaha DXR12 to see how FRFR 'feels'

 

[Shask]

Spot on. I tried HJ8s and HS7s and while they are amazing for final mix and all that, they're not fun to play through. I enjoy playing through a cab, but that's just me. I'm still going to try out a Friedman ASC12 and possibly the Yamaha DXR12 to see how FRFR 'feels'

I have been curious about the Friedman ASC-12, but I am worried it would still be FRFR~ish. I know people say it has more cab feel than the others.... but still....

I use my Axe-FX II with a Matrix GT1000FX and two 212 cabs mostly. Sounds and feels pretty good like that.

 

[mnemonic]

I understand the absurdity of using a ~$2k unit to cop the sound of a $100 plugin, but damn did this guy pull it off. I don’t think I’ve seen a tone match this in-depth and this accurate without using the tonematch eq-matching feature.



Additionally, that patch is pretty cool. After some tweaking so it works with my guitar though my cab, it’s goddamn awesome. Puts my patches to shame for heaviness and clarity.

 

[Paul Gilbert]

I understand the absurdity of using a ~$2k unit to cop the sound of a $100 plugin, but damn did this guy pull it off. I don’t think I’ve seen a tone match this in-depth and this accurate without using the tonematch eq-matching feature.



Additionally, that patch is pretty cool. After some tweaking so it works with my guitar though my cab, it’s goddamn awesome. Puts my patches to shame for heaviness and clarity.

A large part of the Fortin tone is EQing before the input of a high gain amp, large cuts in low frequencies and minor boosts in upper mid/high frequencies. Cranking the master db level, volume or whatever you want to call it. That's been my experience at least!

 

[Shask]

I understand the absurdity of using a ~$2k unit to cop the sound of a $100 plugin, but damn did this guy pull it off. I don’t think I’ve seen a tone match this in-depth and this accurate without using the tonematch eq-matching feature.



Additionally, that patch is pretty cool. After some tweaking so it works with my guitar though my cab, it’s goddamn awesome. Puts my patches to shame for heaviness and clarity.

Very cool video. Does the patch work with the II, or does it have to be converted from the AX8?

He had some neat tricks, but I feel like most of it was just EQing it just right. The only thing I really noticed that was unusual for how I tweak is putting that little bit of saturation on there. I never use that because it makes me think of fizzy 80s amps, but maybe just a small blend of it like he did would work for adding some saturation without more gain.

I have been thinking about setting up some more complex patches like this now that I got the FCB1010, and can access everything.