Tips

Patch creation tips

Pitch Block Placement

When going direct, pitch shifting often sounds best when placed BEFORE the cab block.

The factory presets may have the block doing the shifting (pitch or multidelay) after the cabinet block. Try moving the pitch before the cabinet block for smoother results.

Modulation Before Amp Block

Placing modulation effects (i.e. chorus, flanger) before the amp block can give a more vintage flavor to a preset. Most of the Axe-Fx factory presets follow the "studio" routing philosophy of putting modulation near the end.

For example the following is the basis for Andy Summers tone:

Compressor->Flanger->Blackface Amp->2x12 Cab->Stereo Delay w/ mod->Reverb

Try this with the flanger time set to about 5 ms, rate around 0.8 Hz, Depth at 60% and Autodepth set to High. Set the amp fairly bright. Set the delay time to an eight note. Add a little modulation.

Notice the flanger is before the amp block. The delay could also be before the amp block. It's unclear to me where Andy had his Memory Man.

When using a modulation block before the amp block be sure to check the LFO Phase parameter. The amp blocks are mono and sum the left and right inputs. If you put a modulation block before the amp block set the LFO Phase to 0 degrees otherwise you might get weird cancellation effects when the two signals are summed in the amp block.

"Plexi Bright Setting":

"One of the first mods people make to real 'Plexi' Marshalls is to "clip the bright cap". The bright cap varied over the years, supposedly depending on what was lying around in the shop. The model defaults to the bright cap in the circuit. If you turn the bright off you're effectively clipping the bright cap.

With the bright cap in Marshalls can be very bright and harsh. However, if you crank the Master you might find the extra brightness helps compensate for the power amp getting darker." - CC

Tweaking tones for covers

For duplicating cover song tones while running Axe-FX direct.

Just a few things I've come up with (so far) that have helped with the challenge of replicating tones of cover songs on the Axe-FX. They're just some very loose guidelines that have helped keep me "on course" in the tone journey and maybe you can use them. I didn't put anything about effects, just the basics of building a tone. If replication isn't your thing, please disregard. I'm far from an expert on any of this stuff and don't want to come across like I'm pretending to be one, so any additional insights are definitely welcome.

1. Listen very closely to the original

I usually try to sort out what kind of pickup was being used first. Unless you're an expert, the pickups, guitars, gear and production used in the original can make it very challenging to figure out if you're listening to a beefed up single coil type or a low power clean humbucker (not including all the other pickups out there).

Chasing ways to beef up a single coil into a certain tonal makeup when it was really a humbucker used in the original can eat up lots of time. I get confused sometimes since I'm no guru, so the more I pick apart the original the better off I am. Of course you can always mangle things/shatter rules to beat a tone into submission...sometimes you come up with something even cooler. Listening to the original, taking breaks, then hearing it the next day invites more insights into the tone and helps you hear things you didn't catch the day before.

2. Get to know the original gear used:

The right amp/cab/mic choices can save time and confusion. Starting with the right configuration shortens tweaking time considerably. Knowing the original guitar/pickups helps a lot too. I only use one SSH strat style guitar at the gigs. If the original was an old gibson archtop with a neck p90, then I know it'll take a lot of tweaking and I'll never nail it, but the tools in the Axe-FX makes it easier to capture a similar tonal attitude.

3. Keep it simple:

For me, it works well to exhaust the most basic options first (pickups, amps, cabs, mics) before moving on to pedals and equalizers to shape a tone. As with everything else, the soil and foundation must be somewhat solid and accurate or everything else you build on top of it won't sound quite right. Don't get me wrong, chasing your tail can be fun...but how much progress do you really want to make today?

4. Angel/Devil's in the details:

"EQ":

After "heating" up the amp to where it comes alive (master volume/drive) with a generic cabinet, sometimes I'll "eq" the amp with the cabinet and microphone before twisting tone knobs, sometimes after, but if I can get the amp tone closer with cabs/mics rather than eqing, it actually sounds/feels better than compensating for shortcomings with EQ. When approaching tone knobs, sometimes before I boost anything, I try the old "cut one to boost another" approach and take away other frequencies that might be masking the one I want to bring out. So far, I've only used graphic and parametric EQ for special effect, not to actually shape a tonal foundation. Sometimes less really is more.

"Clean":

Sometimes a clean sound isn't really clean at all and can easily be overlooked if you're not listening closely enough. "Domino" byVan Morrison is a great example; sounds clean on a casual listen, but it actually has quite a bit of grit and hair in there. Dialed with a pristine clean, it sounds really nice, but in the mix it falls short dramatically. A little hair and dirt can really help the tone sit in the mix with a texture and feel that a pristine clean doesn't have.....even though the original "sounds" clean.

"Thump":

Its easy to forget that many tones that might seem nasally or clean/thin actually have some amount of speaker thump and percussion in the original. Its hard to hear in the mix sometimes, but it adds a hidden body and energy to the sound. When you don't have it, it sounds like your virtual speakers aren't moving air, and the tone is more flat/thin/less alive. Dialing this can be tricky without getting the lows and mids sounding mushy. The guitar lows can easily overlap/compete with similar bass frequencies and mess up the mix live and in the studio.....the sound dude/engineer usually fixes it, but if you don't have one.....

The right cabinet goes a long way as well, and the microphone choice is critical. I've listened to the mics hundreds of times. Some mics compress more, some have more "alive" dynamics, and they're all very different tonally. Some hollow out the sound, some thicken it up. If you match up the right mic with the right cab you can get a good balanced thump that still saves room for bass and kick without even touching the tone controls or throwing an EQ block in there.

"Dynamics":

Apart from attempting to duplicate another player's dynamics, paying attention to the dynamic response of the original recording is paramount in capturing the "feel". The Axe-FX is revolutionary in the modelling world when it comes to just this, and because of that, you can dial in the feel of the original and customize it for your guitar and playing style. But if you don't go the extra mile to get that, you'll wonder what's missing.

Starting simple works well:
How you end up running an amp (mastervolume & drive) creates a great deal of your initial dynamics. The cabinet influences that, and the microphone choice has a huge impact on it as well. Sometimes during that I'll grab the depth, damp, sag and adjust to taste if I think it'll contribute. Many times I'll save that for after I've done initial amp/cab/mic tweaking. And all of this is before you even touch a compressor, drive pedal, or start influencing the dynamics with effects. Reading up on how studios apply dynamics processing to guitar tracks can help a great deal, and as usual, there's always more to learn with many "rules" made to be broken. I usually add the compressor last as a final tweak to the dynamics. Many times I've added it only to take it away after adjusting the amp/cab/mic.