Global blocks

About Global blocks

Global blocks keep the same parameter values across presets. Only the Axe-Fx processors support Global blocks. The Axe-Fx III supports 8 global blocks per effect instance.

Effects that do not support Global blocks

Not all effect blocks on the Axe-Fx support Global blocks. These blocks do NOT support Global blocks:

• Crossover
• Dynamic Distortion
• IR Player
• Looper
• Megatap Delay
• Mixer
• Multiband Compressor
• Multiplexer
• Output
• RTA
• Resonator
• Scene MIDI
• Send/Return
• Synth
• Ten Tap Delay
• Vocoder

Also, only Input 1 supports Global blocks, the other Input blocks do not.

You can read more in the Owner's Manual.

Using Global blocks

Global block operations

Global block operations are accessible from the Tools page in the Layout menu, and in the editors. There are several operations associated with Global blocks:

Link To 

This links the selected effect with a Global block. The Global block data is NOT loaded. Upon saving, the preset the Global block is saved. Any other presets linked to this Global block will load the Global block data upon recall.

Load From 

This loads data from a selected Global block but does NOT link the block.

Link To and Load From 

This links an effect to a Global block AND loads data from the Global block. Upon saving, the preset the Global block is saved. Any other presets linked to this Global block will load the Global block data upon recall.

Unlink 

This breaks the link between the current effect and Global blocks.

Unlink All Blocks From Global 

This breaks the link of all blocks with Global blocks.

Save

After adding or editing a Global block, the preset needs to be saved.

If you've changed settings in one of the eight instances of a Global block, always save the preset first before loading another instance of that block, otherwise you'll lose your edits. In other words: you can not edit several instances of the Global block and then save the preset to save them all; you must save per instance.

Unlink

To unlink a block from Global blocks, use any of these methods:

Axe-Fx III:

• Use Layout > Tools on the hardware
• Use the editor

Axe-Fx II:

• Use the Global block menu on the hardware
• Execute STRIP ALL GLOBAL DATA in SETUP
• Press Enter in the Recall menu on the hardware
• Use the editor

Modifiers

Modifiers are not included in Global blocks. When you link a block to an existing Global block instance, modifier settings will not be included/applied.

Workaround: copy and paste the block from another preset using the editor. This includes modifier settings.

Recalling a block from the Library also includes the modifier settings.

On the Axe-Fx II, you can also use Recall Effect on the hardware to copy modifiers from one preset to another.

Clear

There's no hardware or editor command to wipe all Global blocks and start from scratch. The only way to accomplish this, is to restore a backup of the factory system data, also known as a clean system file. Ask for this on the user forum.

Share

To share a preset that contains Global blocks, you have to either send the system data file along with it, which is very unpractical, or unlink all Global blocks before exporting the preset to a file.

Backup and restore

When using Fractal-Bot to create backups of presets that contain Global blocks, you need to backup the system data too, because that's where the Global blocks data is stored.

Alternatively, here's a method to save individual Global blocks:

1. Create a single preset with all your Global blocks.
2. Save that to backup preset slots.
3. In the first backup slot, set the blocks to global instance 1, unlink the globals and save the preset.
4. In the second backup slot, set selected blocks to global instance 2 (only the ones which use instance 2), unlink the globals and save the preset.
5. Repeat for subsequent blocks.

If something goes wrong and you need to restore an individual block or channel, just copy the block or channel from the appropriate backup preset, paste it into a preset with linked blocks using the correct global instance and save it.

Troubleshooting, tips and tricks

Reset before editing

When you've saved a block as a Global block, and you're going to dial in a channel of that block that hasn't been tweaked before, the channel's initial settings may be off. To make sure that everything is set to default, reset the channel or block before tweaking.

Snapshots: no Global blocks

Be aware that when you use the editor to create a snapshot of a preset with Global blocks, the Global blocks data is not included in the snapshot.

Set bypass state across presets

Read Presets for a method to control the bypass state of effects blocks across presets.

Alternative: Parameter batch set

The editors provide sort of a substitute for Global blocks. See Parameter Batch Set for more information.

Not syncing anymore

New firmware brings new features to blocks. This can cause a parameter in a Global block to stick to its old value and become out of sync and not update across presets. To fix this, each preset that contains that Global block needs to be re-saved in order to update the preset to the latest revision. Luckily, FracTool or the Parameter Batch Set function in the editor (see above) make this easier; they allow you to automatically re-save presets, either all, or a specified number.

Exceeding storage space

The system uses internal storage to save the Global blocks data. It's possible to exceed the available storage space when saving too many global blocks. In that case the system will no longer save additional Global blocks, or all values will be reset to minimum. So use them wisely.