Difference between revisions of "Tips"

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===Undocumented or easily overlooked features===
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<noinclude>This page is intended for quick one to three liner tips. They will be displayed randomly on the main page.
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To add a tip, please insert at the end of the current list and don't forget the four dashes (i.e. ----) at the top</noinclude>
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----
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Press and hold '''ENTER''' to automatically place and route shunts from the current position to the output mixer.
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----
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Each time '''EDIT''' is pressed, the next effect edit page is displayed. If you are on a different page, the edit page for the nearest effect will be displayed.
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----
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Hold down '''BYPASS''' to restore all parameters of an effect block to default.
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----
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Each time '''ENTER''' is pressed while in the sequencer menu, a new random set of values is loaded. You can use this feature to find cool sequence patterns.
 
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Press and hold Enter to automatically place and route shunts to the end of the chain.  
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The "bright switch" of an amp block may be enabled by selecting the '''TREB''' control and pressing '''ENTER'''. This will toggle the state of the Bright Switch. The text “BRT” will appear under the control when the bright circuit is active.
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Each time you press '''EDIT''' it moves to the next effect in the matrix. If not on an effect it will move you to the nearest effect.  
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The "boost switch" of an amp (which adds 12db of gain) may be enabled selecting the '''DRIVE''' control and pressing '''ENTER'''. This will toggle the state of the Boost switch. The text “BOOST” will appear under the control when the boost circuit is active. The boost switch adds 12db of gain to the amp simulation. This is useful to get more drive out the amp than it would normally have.
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The left and right arrows "wrap around" in the edit menus.  
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In addition to copying effects block parameters, the controller parameters can also be copied (i.e, Envelope, ADSR, LFO, etc) from one preset to another. Just press the '''RECALL''' button, page over to the '''EFFECT''' tab, select the proper preset to copy from, then select controller from the '''Retrieve''' area.
 
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Hold down '''BYPASS''' to restore all parameters of an effect to default.
 
 
Each time you press Enter in the Sequencer menu loads a random set of values. You can use this to find cool sequence patterns.
 
 
You may enable or disable the "bright switch" state by selecting the Treble control and pressing ENTER. This will toggle the state of the switch. The text “BRIGHT” will appear under the control when the bright circuit is active.
 
 
You may enable or disable the "boost switch" state by selecting the Drive control and pressing ENTER. This will toggle the state of the switch. The text “BOOST” will appear under the control when the boost circuit is active. The boost switch adds 12db of gain to the amp simulation. This is usefull to get more drive out the amp than it would normally have.
 
 
In addition to copying effects blocks, you can also copy the controller parameters (i.e, Envelope, ADSR, LFO, etc) from one preset to another. Just press the '''Recall''' button, page over to the '''Effect''' tab, select the proper preset to copy from, then select controller from the '''Retrieve''' area.
 
 
 
You can use the feedback send and return to extend the length of a chain if necessary.
 
You can use the feedback send and return to extend the length of a chain if necessary.
 
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On units built prior to mid-July 2007 the serial number is underneath the main-board. The serial number now is located on the back next to the AC inlet.
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On units built prior to mid-July 2007 the serial number is underneath the main-board. The serial number is now located on the back next to the AC inlet.
 
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One thing to try is to use two amps but only one cab. The amps are mono but the cabs are stereo. So you can feed two amps into one cab block. This will save roughly 10% CPU.
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One thing to try is to use a blend of two amps into one cab. This will save a small measure of CPU (~10%?).  
 
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With the power amp sims off the depth and deep controls are deactivated. The master works as just a volume and the presence turns into a shelving filter.
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With the power amp simulation off, the depth and deep controls are deactivated; the master becomes a volume control and the presence controls turns into a shelving filter.
 
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===Patch creation tips===
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There's a secret menu on the Utility page accessible by pressing and holding the PAGE right button. WARNING! Be very careful with the the Clear SRAM and Test SRAM functions as they will completely wipe out all your presets!!! On firmware 4.02, the clock rate is now displayed and a TEST LEDS function has been added.
 
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====Pitch Block Placement====
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You can completely reset/initialize the contents of the edit buffer by holding RESET while the Axe-Fx boots.  
When going direct, pitch shifting often sounds best when placed BEFORE the cab block.  
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To insert an effect block, place it at the end of the chain and move it to the desired location (using the MOVE page, MOVE LEFT command). All the other effect blocks will automatically be moved to the right.
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.
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To emulate the solo "BOOST" feature found on TC Electronics units, place a '''Mixer''' block at the end of your signal chain and attach an external controller to control the overall output gain (on page 2). Somewhere around 90% is pretty close to -6db which is the default on the TC Units.
====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====
 
{{:Tweaking tones for covers}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:24, 21 March 2011

This page is intended for quick one to three liner tips. They will be displayed randomly on the main page. To add a tip, please insert at the end of the current list and don't forget the four dashes (i.e. ----) at the top



Press and hold ENTER to automatically place and route shunts from the current position to the output mixer.


Each time EDIT is pressed, the next effect edit page is displayed. If you are on a different page, the edit page for the nearest effect will be displayed.


Hold down BYPASS to restore all parameters of an effect block to default.


Each time ENTER is pressed while in the sequencer menu, a new random set of values is loaded. You can use this feature to find cool sequence patterns.


The "bright switch" of an amp block may be enabled by selecting the TREB control and pressing ENTER. This will toggle the state of the Bright Switch. The text “BRT” will appear under the control when the bright circuit is active.


The "boost switch" of an amp (which adds 12db of gain) may be enabled selecting the DRIVE control and pressing ENTER. This will toggle the state of the Boost switch. The text “BOOST” will appear under the control when the boost circuit is active. The boost switch adds 12db of gain to the amp simulation. This is useful to get more drive out the amp than it would normally have.


In addition to copying effects block parameters, the controller parameters can also be copied (i.e, Envelope, ADSR, LFO, etc) from one preset to another. Just press the RECALL button, page over to the EFFECT tab, select the proper preset to copy from, then select controller from the Retrieve area.


You can use the feedback send and return to extend the length of a chain if necessary.


On units built prior to mid-July 2007 the serial number is underneath the main-board. The serial number is now located on the back next to the AC inlet.


One thing to try is to use a blend of two amps into one cab. This will save a small measure of CPU (~10%?).


With the power amp simulation off, the depth and deep controls are deactivated; the master becomes a volume control and the presence controls turns into a shelving filter.


There's a secret menu on the Utility page accessible by pressing and holding the PAGE right button. WARNING! Be very careful with the the Clear SRAM and Test SRAM functions as they will completely wipe out all your presets!!! On firmware 4.02, the clock rate is now displayed and a TEST LEDS function has been added.


You can completely reset/initialize the contents of the edit buffer by holding RESET while the Axe-Fx boots.


To insert an effect block, place it at the end of the chain and move it to the desired location (using the MOVE page, MOVE LEFT command). All the other effect blocks will automatically be moved to the right.


To emulate the solo "BOOST" feature found on TC Electronics units, place a Mixer block at the end of your signal chain and attach an external controller to control the overall output gain (on page 2). Somewhere around 90% is pretty close to -6db which is the default on the TC Units.