Just got an Axe FX need some help....

[Strat-O-Matic]

Ok so I just got my Axe Fx hooked everything up and the sounds so far have not been good.(Atleast the distorted tones cleans are good) Now I'm sure I'm just doing something wrong everything I've heard has been awesome I know its me but I need some help figuring out why. Lets start with the basics I have it hooked up using a power amp and cab(I'll add a picture at the bottom to show you how) I have a Carvin DCM 200 SS power amp and Genz Benz GFlex 2x12 cab. Now I've tried turning the poweramp sims off and anything with a bit of distortion in it is really fizzy and when I turn the poweramp sims on its gets rid of the fizz but it goes to mush or like a big blanket is over it. I've got the DCM speaker input 1 going to the Gflex 8 ohms mono input, the DCM parallel input to the AXE FX unbalanced left input and the AXE FX instrument input to my guitar. If anyone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated I really want this thing to work for me. Thanks
Picture is a mirror image, I'm not sure why.....

 

[sebby123]

Matters what type of sound your going for but start by adding a PEQ at the end of your chain with a cut at 140 and 6000 i set to blocking on both sides, it will sound smaller right away but in all honesty the axe-fx is setup to be way to full ranged right out of the box, you would find a guitar amp with a 20hz bass response lol, From there, Try different amps, Leave power amp simps on if its to mushy, Turn down the power amp bias, up for a more mushy tone, and you can mess with the warmth depth and sag as well, Go to the fractual forum and just read like crazy thats where you find all the little tone tricks that make a huge difference. Also when making a patch save your existing patch to lets say patch #1 and copy it to #2 so you can A/B them this helps alot.

 

[Strat-O-Matic]

Matters what type of sound your going for but start by adding a PEQ at the end of your chain with a cut at 140 and 6000 i set to blocking on both sides, it will sound smaller right away but in all honesty the axe-fx is setup to be way to full ranged right out of the box, you would find a guitar amp with a 20hz bass response lol, From there, Try different amps, Leave power amp simps on if its to mushy, Turn down the power amp bias, up for a more mushy tone, and you can mess with the warmth depth and sag as well, Go to the fractual forum and just read like crazy thats where you find all the little tone tricks that make a huge difference. Also when making a patch save your existing patch to lets say patch #1 and copy it to #2 so you can A/B them this helps alot.

Thanks the parametric eq trick worked great I used to do something similar with my Pod, it did make it sound smaller though like you said. But basically to get the most out of the Axe FX I need a monitor rather than a guitar cab?

 

[prsdiezel]

I would try and run it in stereo also if your power amp and cabinet will allow for it.

 

[thiswaythatway]

 

[Strat-O-Matic]

I would try and run it in stereo also if your power amp and cabinet will allow for it.

Could you explain that a little more to me like how exactly would I do that? I know its possible with my amp and cab I just want to do it right.

 

[gibson5413]

This was my thought while reading this. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the Axe-FX and think it sounds great. In fact, I would own one but this seems like way too much work to get something to sound good. Why should you have to throw a parametric EQ in the mix to get the sims to sound right? My guess is there has to be a signal path or cab hook up issue. Good luck, I'm sure you will get it figured out. It is a great unit. How does it sound going direct?

 

[sebby123]

This was my thought while reading this. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the Axe-FX and think it sounds great. In fact, I would own one but this seems like way too much work to get something to sound good. Why should you have to throw a parametric EQ in the mix to get the sims to sound right? My guess is there has to be a signal path or cab hook up issue. Good luck, I'm sure you will get it figured out. It is a great unit. How does it sound going direct?

The parametric EQ trick isnt rocket science its very simple, And its only really needed with use for a cab.

 

[manyaxes]

You don't need to do anything special to make it sound at least decent, just and amp block with the typical settings you would use in a real amp, no need for advanced tweaking. If that's not the case and you are struggling with it, there are two possibilities.

1- You have overlooked some basic hookup or configuration thing. Is the input meter barely reaching red when strumming hard? Are you clipping the outputs? Is your global eq flat? If you plug into the front input, is the front input selected in the config? Don't set up the master volume too high in the amp block unless you are using a plexi or a similar amp. 4 is too much for most real amps. Try a basic setting, mostly flat eq, a bit of gain (5-7), presence at taste (adjust with your ears), resonance low, master vol at 2-3, etc. If you don't like the feel of the low end, just like in a real amp set up a drive pedal in front and boost it. Disable or remove cab sims if you are using a real cab.

2- Your poweramp (or cab) is crap and is destroying your tone. Either solid state or tube is fine, but you need a good one.

You don't need a monitor, the axefx works equally as well with FRFR or cabs (or both at once).

 

[Purchaser@ANN]

turn off cab sims?

 

[mixohoytian]

 

[Audioholic]

kinda confused with your routing, seems like its backwards for some reason, at least how you wrote it

start here.

Plug guitar into front input on Axe FX. plug output from back of Axe FX (if mono, then L, if using both, the l & r) into the input on your poweramp. Make sure you set your levels right, both on input and output (don't want to overdrive your inputs on your poweramp, otherwise may get real nasty). Start with your output from the axe fx only just up a few notches, start very conservative. Then plug the output of your poweramp into the input of your speaker cab (minding correct ohmage)

Walla

Disable global Cab simulator (I believe hit global, then scroll over till you reach the cab sims, then turn off) you don't want a cab sim while going into a cab generally. I would generally leave the power sims on.

Should have a basic good sound from here. then its juts a matter of tweaking. If its too bright, try adjusting the damp, as well as the treble and presence.

 

[prsdiezel]

Is it new?

what verison is the software?

might need an update

 

[hank]

It should at least sound ok with just the defaults. Make sure you're on firmware revision 9.3 - much less tweaking for great tone. You're using an SS amp which should be relatively transparent so amp sims ON. You're using a real guitar cab so cab sims OFF. Minor tweaking from there. If you're trying out factory patches make sure they don't have the Stereo Enhancer block on since you're not going stereo - otherwise it will definitely sound like crap.

Actually best to forget the presets for now and Keep It Simple. Pick a slot and clear out everything. Add an amp jam out. Change amps and hear how they sound. Then settle on an amp and then tweak the amp Drive, Bass, Mids, Treble to taste just like a real amp. On the second page you'll probably want to set Presence. It's a little different. It defaults to 0.0 but 5.0 is the real neutral on the Axe-Fx, so 0.0 is actually cutting presence. I always set it to 5.0 to start and go from there - usually cutting a little (depends on your guitar, preferences, etc). And every amp is different, just like the real thing. Settings for one won't translate to another.

For the more advanced parameters join the Axe-Fx forum and read the Axe-Fx Wiki.

 

[ejecta]

This was my thought while reading this. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the Axe-FX and think it sounds great. In fact, I would own one but this seems like way too much work to get something to sound good. Why should you have to throw a parametric EQ in the mix to get the sims to sound right? My guess is there has to be a signal path or cab hook up issue. Good luck, I'm sure you will get it figured out. It is a great unit. How does it sound going direct?

As someone who has had two....... IMHO it's a HUGE headache to even get in ball park of a tube amp and still you are left wanting big time. Again YMMV.

 

[neilrocks25]

This was my thought while reading this. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the Axe-FX and think it sounds great. In fact, I would own one but this seems like way too much work to get something to sound good. Why should you have to throw a parametric EQ in the mix to get the sims to sound right? My guess is there has to be a signal path or cab hook up issue. Good luck, I'm sure you will get it figured out. It is a great unit. How does it sound going direct?

The parametric EQ trick isnt rocket science its very simple, And its only really needed with use for a cab.

I will have to try it as I ways run mine direct and thought it sounded bad with a cab

 

[prsdiezel]

Axe Fx haters unit!!!

I knew shaggy dog would chime in

He hated the 1st Axe Fx he bought so much he went out and bought another so he could complain about it twice as much

just joking..... just joking calm down

damn IMHO...... my sense humor is bombing like a kamikaze pilot thats blind!!!!

I'd better head on down to shantytown


Where cheap thrills pay the bills in shantytown

 

[Strat-O-Matic]

Thanks guys I'll try all this out in the morning and let you know how it goes. Also yes its new and it has atleast 9.02 because the Rockerverb sim is on it.

 

[Strat-O-Matic]

EDIT: I played with the parametric eq some more and got it to sound pretty good so I guess I'll just work from there thanks for all the advice guys I really appreciate it.

 

[messenger]

Did you make sure the cab sims are OFF. When I had my axefx I matched my stilettos sound in about 5 minutes.