Some cool guitar sites

http://thecollectionary.com/club/guitars

http://www.facebook.com/MyCoolGuitars

I had the pleasure to play on that one !

http://fret-time.com/

Bank A update for firmware 12.02

How 'bout a little update ?

Check the screenshot for the cab used in user spots 60 and 79, and this link for more details : http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2013/10/axe-fx-ii-presets-v-1105.html

What's new (note that I use display offset = 1) :

presets 001-063 : no big changes but some small ones here and there

preset 064 : alternative to 018 (still working on it)

065 : another test of the new scenes feature

066-068 : try these with your expression pedal of choice ! You'll need to play in stereo for the full effect. I'll test other ideas in that vein soon.

069 : hum...  see for yourselves :) Still working on it. The envelope settings are tricky on that one.

070-072 : searching for new flavors for my Jazz Chorus sound, as used in presets 003 and 011

073-081 : testing somes alternatives for my main lead preset, with various cabs and settings tweaked for those cabs. 076 is the original one with some minor tweaks. You'll need the two third party free IRs (Catharsis & Framus) I included in the rar file ; but you'll also need commercial IRs : The Messiah 1 & 3 ( http://www.criticalcabs.com ), SA Freddy + Jimmy ( http://signalsaudio.com/site/simpulse , I mixed Freddy TWO-TWO and Jimmy 3 in equal amounts) and a free Bogner cab from Ownhammer which unfortunately isn't available anymore (Ownhammer : http://tinyurl.com/ac8vblm )

082-083 : testing some clean fenderish sounds (use X/Y on the amp block)

084-089 : like for 073-081, I'm using various third party cabs with the Recto amps. Probably my tightest recto sounds to date. Next, I'll combine some of those in stereo dual amp presets (like presets 014 and 015)

090 : A work in progress ; following the thread on the Strymon Big Sky pedal, I wanted to try to find the sound displayed at the beginning of the youtube video. I'm not there yet, and I also need to check Java Junkie's settings suggestions.

111 : latest version (tweaked again after I uploaded it to Axe Change) of "AtmoSynth lead 5 scenes", as used in this video :



The lead sound in preset 111 is also my main lead sound (although I think I didn't implemented it in preset 009, my main lead preset - must check)

112-113 : I changed the lead sounds

Enjoy !

Axe Fx II presets v 11.05

Here's the firmware v 11.05 version of my presets

Demo - Watch in HQ for a better sound !

Banks organization

Bank A

001-063 : Presets I use live. I use bank size = ten on the MFC. So the first group of ten presets (1-10) has 4 cleans, 3 crunch, 1 rhythm and 2 leads, from cleanest to dirtiest.
After that, most of the presets are song specific.

064-111 : empty presets. That's where I test new presets from other users, or develop new presets/new versions of existing presets.

112-128 : Presets I keep in bank A for the fun. Many special fx here, like looper lead (127), AtmoSynth Lead, Double clean+shimmer… Presets 117 and 118 uses custom harmonies (like preset 017), see my firmware 10 blog post for details. “Cheesy whammy” is a new, fun preset, don’t forget to try it with an expression pedal. I also reworked my three morphing presets (121-123). When I have a gig,  "Brian May Delay" (124) is perfect for testing the stereophony on a FOH system.

Bank B

129-202 : High gain presets, sorted by amp model. Those presets are either mine (sometimes with the prefix TDR), or stock, or from other users. An asterisk indicates that I edited the stock/other user preset a little (*) or more (**). Many of those other users prests are from older versions of the firmware so I had to adapt them (like those from Devin Townsend, Ola, Periphery, Marco Sfogli, Larry Mitchell…). In some cases, I combined different presets into one (Ola, Periphery, Sfogli), using or not using scenes (again, see my V10 video for details). 148, “leathers” is from Stef Carpenter (Deftones), but rearranged, as I wanted only his basic high gain tone. I also normalized his IR as it was too quiet.

204-215 : Vox and Vox-like amps

217-256 : blues and rock/fusion presets. Again, there’s stock or other users’ presets, most of the time tweaked to my liking. Example : 217 "Little Wing" is originally from Tyler Grund ( http://www.tylergrund.com/axefx2.html ) ; I kept his amp and cab settings, edited the reverbs, added a delay, a mid boost and a compressor, and changed the drive pedals. The preset uses 5 scenes, from clean to dirtiest, and was inspired by a youtube video of Andy Timmons covering that Hendrix song.

Bank C

 257-288 : Marshall and Marshall-like amps (except the Friedmans which are in bank B)

292-302 : Special fx with distortion

305-384 : Cleans, special fx

Here's some more infos about the video demo and the corresponding presets :

1) For preset 002 (071 in the video), I used a new source for tonematching an acoustic guitar. Having just read that Alex Lifeson tonematched a Black Crowes song, I used the same. All my other presets containing the acoustic simulator chain (multicomp-GEQ-Para EQ-Tone Match blocks) still uses my previous tonematch settings, which was a recording of a friends electro-acoustic guitar). Those presets are 021, 062, 115, 128, 331.
Presets 001 and 114 are specifically for the acoustic model of the Variax JTV guitar

2) preset 321, "Marillion Clean", is originally from another user but I changed it a lot over the various firmwares, and the JC120 model itself changed a lot too

3) Preset 331, "Triple clean + Shimmer", combines three different clean sounds (the three lines that goes into the mixer block) and a shimmer effect. I had to edit that one while recording because when the Axe is used as a DAW interface, I had a CPU warning.

4) For preset 335, "The Wall pt 1", I modified the stock preset "Velvet sun". I use my own amp/cab/delay/flanger/reverb settings over the line with the wha/reverb

5) "Crystal echoes V11**" (preset 347) is a stock preset in which I use my own amp/cab/multicomp settings. I do that a lot on the special effects presets

6) The three "Astral flight" presets ( N° 362, 305, 306) originates back to 1993, that's a song I wrote back then (it's on youtube :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlq6GJUDBxE - sorry for the cheesy clip!). At the time I programmed those effects on a Boss SE50

7) Preset N°125 is originally from Yek, N°126 from Simeon and Clarky ; in both I use my own lead sounds. Again, see this video for more details on those presets, on N°127 "TDR's looper lead" and on most of my go to presets : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV6I7GqiO2c

8.) Preset 117 "Arabic harmonies" and 118 "Major penta harmonies" both uses custom scales. On the video @ 5:38 you can see my expression pedal moves on preset 117. Here's the custom scales for them, for a guitar tuned in Eb. If you tune in E standard, you'll need to play in Eb arabic for preset "Arabic harmonies", and Ab major for the "Major penta harmonies"

Arabic harmonies : Custom scales 3 (Voice 1) and 4 (voice 2)
Major penta harmonies : Custom scales 5 (Voice 1) and 6 (Voice 2)
Custom scale 3 : starting from 'A' SHIFT : 4 semi, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3.
Custom scale 4 : starting from 'A' SHIFT : 7 semi, 9, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 6, 7.
Custom scale 5 : starting from 'A' SHIFT : 3 semi, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3, 4.
Custom scale 6 : starting from 'A' SHIFT : 8 semi, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7.

9) Preset 20, "TDR FAS Modern LEAD", also uses two custom scales, to play Scorpions' "Rock you like a hurricane" leads in Eb. Watch the video at 6:02, scene 5 is for a small part, scene 4 a longer part, and scene 1 for the straight (no harmony) part.
Custom scale 9 : 4 5 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 4 3 5
Cutom scale 10 : 4 5 4 3 5 3 3 4 3 4 3 5

10) I double tracked the heavy rhythm presets (13, 14, 159, 15, from 06:16 on the video) to show how they would sound with standard recording techniques. All those riffs are from songs I wrote

11) For preset 122 (7:08-7:22 on the video) I'm morphing between two amp sounds, and changing the pickup selector between 4 and 5 (bridge) a few times

12) I got the Cab settings on preset 261, "Fat Plexi 100W Jump", from user Tonic (Nabstud on the French guitariste.com forum)

13) Preset 235 (7:37 on the video) is of of the few where I use an IR I captured from a Kemper

14) Preset 252 is originally from Swedish Chef of the Fractal forum, I didn't change that one a lot

presets update : firmware 10.12

First video is a short demo of two delay in series, varying delay times or feedback settings. The second one is a demo of two new presets, then an IR shootout using a single preset, with stock IRs, my usual custom IRs, other IRs captured from a Kemper and Ownhammer V2 MesaV30 IRs


Here's how everything is organized :

Bank A
001-062 : my main presets, for live use. Many changes, some small, some more substantial, since 10.02 version.
065-080 : tests ; mostly new presets using Kemper "Amp Factory" IRs (read below for more details). Preset 078 is from Steph Carpenter of the Deftones, with some tweaks (See http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-discussion/67140-working-stephen-c-deftones-week-check-out-our-progress-9.html )
107-128 : Other presets, some of which I sometimes uses live.

Bank B
129-209 : hi gain amps, sorted by model. Personal presets, tweaked or untouched stock presets or patches from other users, most of the time tweaked. Some new sounds since version 10.02.
203-216 : Vox amps. The Morgan preset (214) uses an IR from the popular Kemper Morgan AC20 profile (which I'm not sharing ; with it, the sound is, imho, 98% close to the original).
219-256 : Mostly boutique amps, for blues/fusion.

Bank C
257-291 : Marshall and Marshall-like amps (except the Friedman models which are in bank B)
292-302 : special effects with distortion
303-327 : cleans
328-384 : special effects


For more details about my presets and user cabs, see my post about 10.02 firmware presets : http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2013/04/presets-for-firmware-10.html

Note that I'm also sharing some Kemper IRs, made (with some EQ tweaks) from Amp Factory profiles. I got the permission from Andy of Amp Factory to share those, a big thanks to him !

Presets for firmware 10

My presets have been updated to V10.02... Here's a demo :

Note that I tweaked some of my sounds since uploading that to youtube. Leads (009, 010, 019, 020) are (imho) improved, some bugs have been fixed, I also improved the presets 14, 15, 16, 25, 31, 34, 62, and reorganized the patches in banks B & C.
I use 3 expression pedals with the MFC-101 ; for my live presets (001-062), pedal 1 usually controls gain or other special effects, pedal 2 wha or whammy, pedal 3 volume. Some MFC-101 settings : bank size = 10, switches 11-15 assigned to scenes 1-5, which I uses a lot in my presets, switch 16 = tempo/tuner, switch 17 = volume boost.

Here's how my presets are organized :

Bank A

001-062 : Live use. Basic sounds in bank  (presets 1-10), then song specific presets. Most uses scenes for variations.

063-087 : "blank" presets with a basic template in case I want to start a preset from scratch. I also upload other users' presets I want to test here.

088-091 : Temporary presets I use to record a demo for another band

074-107 : "blank" presets

108-128 : Other presets for live use, or just having fun at home

Bank B

129-196 : Mid and high gain amp models, for lead and rhythm, sorted by amp model. Presets are either stock (with V10 in the name), by other users (and usually tweaked to my liking), or by myself from scratch.

201-213 : Vox amps

217-256 : Boutique amps, presets for blues-rock or fusion

Bank C

257-290 : Marshall models (and clones, except the Friedmans which are in bank B, 175-183)

293-302 : Special effects, with distortion

304-384 : Cleans, special effects, synths, bass, templates. I tweaked the amps/cabs/EQ in most of the special effects presets so they're close to my basic clean sounds.

Here's some other videos showing some presets. The U2 one have been refined since. Please read the "About" on Youtube for details.

Combining presets (Periphery, Sfogli...)

Those who downloaded my presets for firmware 7, some months ago, may have noticed a preset named "Rectoball". Rather than a gratuitous display of my good taste regarding presets naming (although it would have been funnier with a "s" in the end), it was in fact a combination of two presets from Ola Englung, the chug master ( https://www.facebook.com/fearedse ), one using a "Rectifier" model (aka "Recto"), the other a Powerball. I panned one amp full left, the other full right. Sounded quite powerful.

Now, with the recent "Scene" feature, more things are possible with dual amp configs, like combining a rhythm and a lead preset into one, or two rhythm presets etc. Which I just did with the Marco Sfogli and Periphery (Bulb and Nolly) presets.

Here you' ll find three presets (right click, save as) :

http://pages.intnet.mu/fremen/Patches/Combined_Periphery_Sfogli_presets.rar

In the Sfogli one, I combined his rhythm and lead presets. Scenes 1-3 are his rhythm tone, without and with delay and chorus. Scenes 4-5 are his lead preset (although I added a reverb even if he doesn't use one, but you can bypass it for these scenes)

For the Bulb/Nolly rhythm preset, you have :
Scene 1  : Bulb
Scene 2 : Nolly
Scene 3 : both, panned hard left/right - that's right, an instant Periphery stereo rhythm sound :)

I did the same for the Bulb/Nolly lead preset, although a stereo panning (scene 3) is less interesting for leads

These are just some basic examples of what is possible. Don't hesitate to experiment these ideas, combining your own presets, or presets downloaded from Axe Change !

Standard/Ultra presets

I still get requests for the presets I used with my Axe Fx standard, before buying the Axe II. Get them here (right click, save as) :
http://pages.intnet.mu/fremen/Patches/Fremen_Axe-Fx_Banks_11.00.rar

Heres some videos from the Standard :

The first one I ever did (in 8 parts) :



Pachelbel's Canon, using two 8 seconds delays :



Some presets for two guitars - I did a full show with my friend here using these



And a last one for the road, much closer to what my final presets (firmware 11) sounded like ; the first video in this post was probably made with firmware 6

IRs shootout on Soundcloud

This is just a quick update to my Axe Fx II presets & IRs - Firmware 9.02 post, as I just added two IR shoutout demos on Soundcloud.

This one will help users who would want to "recreate" my user IR # 08, which I can't share, and for which I unfortunately didn't write the recipe. I use it for blues-rock/fusion sounds :
https://soundcloud.com/thib-de-rob/stock-and-dumble-ir-shootout


The second one is the same preset played through many "metal" IRs, some stock, some custom. I shared most of the free ones :
https://soundcloud.com/thib-de-rob/hi-gain-irs-shootout

EDIT 21/01/2013 : Also see this older video for more IRs tests and a demo of Axe-O-Matic :

Axe Fx II presets & IRs - Firmware 9.02

New firmware, new video...

I now use a MFC-101 midi foot controller, with three expressions pedals. One controls the "In Gain", the two others are external 1 and external 2. I shot that video just after starting updating my presets :

Here's how my presets are organized :

Bank A

001-073 : Live use. Basic sounds in bank  (presets 1-10), then song specific presets. Most uses scenes for variations.

074-103 : "blank" presets with a basic template in case I want to start a preset from scratch. I also upload other users' presets I want to test here.

104-128 : Other presets for live use, or just having fun at home. Preset 108 is a guitar matching block : http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-tone-match/61913-tone-matching-guitars.html

Bank B

129-136 : Recreations of some presets I used on the Standard. May sound slightly different now, they were created on firmware 7

137-199 : Hi gain amps, for lead and rhythm, ordered by amp model. Presets are either stock (with V9 in the name, except when there's also "TDR"), by other users (and usually tweaked to my liking), or by myself from scratch.

208-217 : Vox amps

221-256 : Boutique amps, presets for blues-rock or fusion

BANK C

257-286 : Marshall models (and clones, except the Friedmans which are in bank B, 182-187)

289-298 : Special effects, with distortion

302-384 : Cleans, special effects, synths, bass, templates. I tweaked the amps/cabs/EQ in most of the special effects presets so they're close to my basic clean sounds

User IRs - please read !

Most of my presets won't sound the same if you don't have my user IRs. Unfortunately, some of them are commercial ones, from Ownhammer, RedWirez, Signals Audio etc. and I can't share them. But I can give you the links for the IRs used, and some indications for the recipes where I use mixes (2 or 3 IRs combined into one using Axe-O-Matic DSP : http://www.ownhammer.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=81 ).

I didn't write the mixes recipes, but most of the time, the filename has the basic indications. Example :  IR 15, which filename is “15 RW 1960A-G12Ms-M160-ConeEdge0in(60)SM57CapEdge0.5(20)CapOffAx0.5(20).syx

This mix use three microphones on the same RedWirez Marshall 1960A cab :

– Beyer M160, Cone Edge, 0 inch distance (60 = the relative level of the IR, that’s the number I entered in AxeOmatic DSP, which I used to make mixes)
– Shure SM57, CapEdge, 0.5 inch (relative level = 20)
– Shure SM57, CapOff Axis, 0.5 inch (relative level = 20)

Here's the cabs I share, as they are free :

01 TDR Vox mix 1 Mk II.syx   (a mix I made from various sources, with some post EQ in a DAW)
02 VOX 412 GSH12 V30.syx  (from user "year2525" - http://tinyurl.com/ala83m9 )
03 TDR cln 80-20.syx  (a mix I made from various sources, with some post EQ in a DAW)
05 TG E130 B.syx  (from user Tyler Grunt - http://tylergrund.com/axefx2.html )
06 JS Altec Cone Paper U357 Ava.syx  (from James Santiago - http://tinyurl.com/b336qu4 )
09 TDR warmer Marshall.syx  (a mix I made from various sources, with some post EQ in a DAW)
10 TDR Marshall mix 01.syx  (a mix I made from various sources, with some post EQ in a DAW)
12 JS EJ1250 Cone Paper U357 Ava.syx  (from James Santiago - http://tinyurl.com/b336qu4 )
19 Alu Mesa Trad 4x12 V30 SM57 05.syx (from Alu of www.guitarampmodeling.com)
20 GH ThisOne.syx  (from GuitarHack)
21 GH JJ FRED45-HALF.syx (from GuitarHack)
23 Kalthalen 003Tube SM57 V30.syx  (from Kalthallen cabs : http://cabs.kalthallen.de/ )
45 Axe1 Brit 4x12.syx  (from Axe Fx Gen. 1)
46 Axe1 4x12 75W.syx  (from Axe Fx Gen. 1)
47 Axe1 4x12 T75.syx  (from Axe Fx Gen. 1)
48 Axe1 4x12 V30.syx  (from Axe Fx Gen. 1)
49 GTR body.syx  (free acoustic instrument IR, used for synths or tone matches)
50 Cello Body.syx  (free acoustic instrument IR, used for synths or tone matches)

EDIT 20/01/2013 : Here's a shootout of hi gain IRs :
https://soundcloud.com/thib-de-rob/hi-gain-irs-shootout

And here's those I use but can't share :

04 RW TweedBlue-M160-R121-SM7_Back.syx  (RedWirez mix with 4 mics, no recipe unfortunately)

07 Yek G12H30-EV12L cln mix.syx  ( Yek recipe : http://tinyurl.com/axzlfxj )

08 RW Uberkab goes Dumble.syx   (RedWirez mix with 4 mics, no recipe unfortunately - I'll record a demo of that one, alternationg with a stock IR)  Edit 20/01/2013 : demo is here :

https://soundcloud.com/thib-de-rob/stock-and-dumble-ir-shootout

11 1960A warm LM mix.syx (Larry Mitchell RedWirez mix, recipe (50/50) here : http://tinyurl.com/b59k7o7 )

13 G12M25 Warm mix.syx  (RedWirez mix with 4 mics, no recipe unfortunately - but the stock G12M25 RedWirez cab is almost the same)

14 SP Bogner-JCM800 mix.syx  ( RedWirez Scott Peterson recipe : G12M/R121/CapEdge 2"; User 2 - G12L/R121/Cap 3" )

15 RW 1960A-G12Ms-M160-ConeEdge-0in(60)SM57CapEdge0.5(20)CapOffAx0.5(20).syx  (detailed above)

22 The Messiah.syx  ( http://www.criticalcabs.com/ ) - Used on many presets, nice alternative to "ThisOne", my main hi gain IR

24 OH BognerBetaSM57(5)TC30(WF3)45-55.syx (Ownhammer : http://tinyurl.com/ac8vblm - unfortunately this free Bogner Cab, which was temporarily released as a beta, is not available anymore) - Used on some presets, nice alternative to "ThisOne", my main hi gain IR

25 OH Bogner G65 MA200 W-2M.syx  (Ownhammer : http://tinyurl.com/aymds9x )

26 SA Freddy TWO-TWO & Jimmy 3 (50-50).syx  ( http://signalsaudio.com/site/simpulse/ ) - used in only one preset

27 RW Mesa V30 warm mix.syx  (RedWirez - 1960A-G12Ms-SM57-CapOffAxis-3in + 1960A-G12Ms-R121-ConeEdge-3in)

One more video for the road, using a modified Tom Quayle preset :