New modeler day

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ClintN667
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My FM3 showed up yesterday and I pretty much have it up and running on my computer but not as an audio interface. It's just going straight into my interface. So far I like it. Some of the amp models seem darker than I remember. I also guess I should load some impulses.

Any of you guys have any tips for a fractal newbie such as myself? I am planning on getting another PA50 to use with it to have in case I just want to use it and a power amp and cab.
 
Best advice I still use regularly 5 years into owning Fractal gear-

Get your cab/IR picked before you start turning knobs on the amp, unless it’s a Mesa. I swear more people end up in rabbit holes they believe ALL those fuckin’ parameters are going to dial them out of when if they picked a good IR to begin with, they can just turn the amp knobs on the Tone page and be done with it, like a real amp.

I’m all about the DynaCabs these days. I haven’t touched an IR since they’ve been released, there’s no need and the IR search is the most tedious part of it all.

The other night I went to mod a 50-watt Plexi into a Jose, loaded the amp and cab blocks, picked the Friedman GB cabinet and didn’t touch the mic, went over and tweaked the reverb and then noodled for about 15 minutes before I realized I hadn’t touched the amp or cab block yet, everything was at noon with the mic in the dead center of the cab.



So if you load an IR or you’re on a DynaCab that isn’t sounding good or in the ballpark right out of the gate, fuck it, move on until you get there. Don’t let all the options convince you that it should be different than dialing in a regular amp. Pretend they don’t even exist until you’re stoked with your tone and have the desire to dig deeper and find something different in it.

FWIW, this is where I ended up with the Jose-mod on the 6CA7 Plexi (vintage voiced single coils on the Strat I’m playing), it took about 4 minutes to get there-
 
RevDrucifer said:
Best advice I still use regularly 5 years into owning Fractal gear-

Get your cab/IR picked before you start turning knobs on the amp, unless it’s a Mesa. I swear more people end up in rabbit holes they believe ALL those fuckin’ parameters are going to dial them out of when if they picked a good IR to begin with, they can just turn the amp knobs on the Tone page and be done with it, like a real amp.

I’m all about the DynaCabs these days. I haven’t touched an IR since they’ve been released, there’s no need and the IR search is the most tedious part of it all.

The other night I went to mod a 50-watt Plexi into a Jose, loaded the amp and cab blocks, picked the Friedman GB cabinet and didn’t touch the mic, went over and tweaked the reverb and then noodled for about 15 minutes before I realized I hadn’t touched the amp or cab block yet, everything was at noon with the mic in the dead center of the cab.



So if you load an IR or you’re on a DynaCab that isn’t sounding good or in the ballpark right out of the gate, fuck it, move on until you get there. Don’t let all the options convince you that it should be different than dialing in a regular amp. Pretend they don’t even exist until you’re stoked with your tone and have the desire to dig deeper and find something different in it.

FWIW, this is where I ended up with the Jose-mod on the 6CA7 Plexi (vintage voiced single coils on the Strat I’m playing), it took about 4 minutes to get there-
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I'm with this approach. I have been playing an Axe III or FM9 at home since 2019. I have never started playing with any deep parameters or constant IR changes. If I don't like the way it is going I just move on to the next preset. I have a couple of great IRs I use that seem to give me what I need from the get go so I don't feel the need to tweak. I need to spend more time with the DynaCabs but the few times I have I rarely (if ever) need to tweak once I like the way it sounds.
 
look at rosh roslin fm3 basics series on yt
also if dark try low cut at 8000 in cab block
 
RevDrucifer said:
Best advice I still use regularly 5 years into owning Fractal gear-

Get your cab/IR picked before you start turning knobs on the amp, unless it’s a Mesa. I swear more people end up in rabbit holes they believe ALL those fuckin’ parameters are going to dial them out of when if they picked a good IR to begin with, they can just turn the amp knobs on the Tone page and be done with it, like a real amp.

I’m all about the DynaCabs these days. I haven’t touched an IR since they’ve been released, there’s no need and the IR search is the most tedious part of it all.

The other night I went to mod a 50-watt Plexi into a Jose, loaded the amp and cab blocks, picked the Friedman GB cabinet and didn’t touch the mic, went over and tweaked the reverb and then noodled for about 15 minutes before I realized I hadn’t touched the amp or cab block yet, everything was at noon with the mic in the dead center of the cab.



So if you load an IR or you’re on a DynaCab that isn’t sounding good or in the ballpark right out of the gate, fuck it, move on until you get there. Don’t let all the options convince you that it should be different than dialing in a regular amp. Pretend they don’t even exist until you’re stoked with your tone and have the desire to dig deeper and find something different in it.

FWIW, this is where I ended up with the Jose-mod on the 6CA7 Plexi (vintage voiced single coils on the Strat I’m playing), it took about 4 minutes to get there-
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I needed to hear. I did make the mistake of not reading closely some of the settings like for the ts808. I thought the tone knob was the output so I cranked it to 100 and couldn't figure out why it sounded so nasally .

Gotta say I'm digging it so far. I've had the kemper, HX stomp, and QC before. Definitely like it better than the first two. Need another day before I can say whether I like it more than the QC. I do prefer models over profiles though.
 
Yeah, Dyna Cabs certainly changed things up for the better. You can leave a lot of amps at their default tone settings and move the mics for EQ. It takes me far less time to dial in a Dyna Cab then it does to scroll through endless IRs.
 
Congrats! The Dyna Cab feature is great but then so are many IR's as well.

I'm just repeating what was been mentioned above, but i was overwhelmed at first (3 years into my Axe FX now) and also quickly realized I'd better just narrow my focus down to a handful of fav models and IR's and run with that instead of convincing myself I needed to fully master or use every option in every nook and cranny of the Fractal (I give props to those endless divers tho, just not my thing lol). My goal was never to be a teacher or user that could explain to others what this and that does, etc, I just needed a unit that gives me pro level tones at home with some variety and with minimal tweaking (once I got a handle on literally just a few important areas to tweak), no different than my approach to my actual small real amps/cabs/mics stash. Just mix and match a few amps with cabs and make music! If I hadn't already been happily making tracks with the fav models and IR's I'd probably dive into the Dyna Cab stuff but honestly, I'm really satisfied with what I've been working with.

Good luck with it!
 
I start with a good IR that I know I will like and then everything sounds great from there. There are a couple that I love that come with the Fractal. I don't have them memorized but one is a Zilla 2x12 75 Creamback and the other is an Orange 2x12 Greenback I believe.. this is true with my real amps too. Having the right speakers makes all the difference. I used to hate every amp until I switched speakers in my real cab.
 
Dynacabs are great. After they introduced them, I stopped relying on regular IRs for the most part, as they’re so much more intuitive.

Also, feel free to experiment with the different amp models with everything at stock. I’ll usually try to get a feel for an amp before further tweaking the EQ or other parameters because they are already well designed models, and it just takes a few gentle nudges to get everything to sound good.

The FX are awesome, I’ve just scratched the surface but if that’s your bag, prepare for a few hours of fun tweaking.

Sounds great with a power amp as well, I used a PS-2.
 
I use mine mostly just as a FX processor with my heads since it is basically $10-20K worth of rack gear in a small box, but when I do occasionally use it to model, I've found that it's easiest to just approach it as if you were using a real amp. IE pick an amp and a cab, dial in a sound and stick with it for everything you're doing. Obviously add fx as necessary, but avoid going down the rabbit hole of excessively tweaking the tone itself or you'll find yourself spending more time tweaking than you do playing.
 
I bought the York 5163 pack and use it for everything from jazzy funk cleans to my homebrew periphery tones. No rabbit holes for me in the foreseeable future.
 
Same here with Dyna-cabs! I don't even need to scroll through IRs anymore. Such a time saver and it honestly sounds far better to my ears when playing live.
 
The Cooper Carter series is really good too. And similar to what others have said, I pick the amp and cab/IR that gets me close, before I start adding drive blocks or tweaking parameters. I get my amp, cab, and then drive blocks nailed down before I add anything else. I'm not dialling in my base tones through a compressor or with reverbs or delays. It's not altogether different than what you'd do with a conventional amp approach.

I also got the Austin Buddy naked amp pack. I'd go through the presets/scenes and finds the one that I liked, and then look at what blocks, settings, and signal flows that went into it.
 
Seems like every model I drop the bass way down to like 2, and turn the treble mids and presence up, so I'm with you there. I find the York Audio IR's just sound right to my ears. There's a bunch in there already they have YA in the title. Pick an IR you like and use it to build all your tones. I find switching IR's between presets just adds to the madness.
 
ClintN667 said:
My FM3 showed up yesterday and I pretty much have it up and running on my computer but not as an audio interface. It's just going straight into my interface. So far I like it. Some of the amp models seem darker than I remember. I also guess I should load some impulses.

Any of you guys have any tips for a fractal newbie such as myself? I am planning on getting another PA50 to use with it to have in case I just want to use it and a power amp and cab.
Click to expand...
Firstly welcome to the Fractal world. Secondly... DIGITAL BAD, TUBE GOOD. Now we've got that out of the way...

As others have said, grab some great IRs are you're good to go. Defo download Axe Edit and play around. Check for firmware updates etc. Axe-Exchange is a great place for presets.

If you run a cab, you can use the Output 2 on the rear to run a FX Send with no Cab Simulation. Or use an FRFR!
 
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