Axe-Fx II presets for firmware 15.02

Here's a quick demo mostly focusing on the newest additions to my Axe-Fx II presets, for firmware 15.02.

Rundown :

00:16 Various electro-acoustic simulation presets (made for my Ibanez RG520)
01:40 Eighties style pristine clean sounds
02:14 Punchy clean sounds
02:40 Vox like crunch sounds
03:35 Marshall crunch sounds
04:34 Dumble lead (see video below)
05:01 Mid & high gain lead sounds
08:50 High gain user cabs shootout, using the same preset and a reamp. Check this part if you don't own the commercial IRs I use in my presets ; it will either help you to choose close sounding IRs from your user cabs, or convince you to buy those IRs !

Presets V15.02 : what's new - highlights

Besides updating the amp blocks to firmware 15.02, a few months of work have gone in this new collection of presets. Talking about them all would be too long but here's the main changes.

– Preset naming convention : presets with ** in their name are from other users or stock presets which I modified. Presets with only one * means that I didn't edit them. No * is a total creation.

– I added a volume block in all my live presets (ext pedal 3) ; previously I used a CC attached to the cab block level.

– Acoustic sim presets : more versions available, using various sources for tonematch. One version use the "Tube Pre" amp model.

– I tried many things for my "Eighties clean" preset (#003 and #011). Previously I used the Jazz Chorus model for it, and no cab block. This preset is now in Bank C (#318), with a new parametric EQ setting. In #003, I don't use an amp block, just EQs, and in #011, I use the "Tube Pre" amp model.

– Clean sounds : various refinements in the modulation blocks settings (chorus, flanger and phaser), crystals or shimmer effects added to some of the presets.

– Totally revamped "Vox" and "Marshall crunch" presets (#004 and #005). #004 in fact uses DC30 and Morgan amp models (alternatively in scenes 1 & 2, combined in scene 3), not the AC30TB. #005 is almost a do-it-all preset with it's five scenes, from crunch (scenes 1 & 2 - and almost clean if you lower the volume pot on the guitar) to rhythm (scene 3) and lead (scenes 4-5).

– For consistency, all the ambiant presets I kept from the stock banks or from other users (#332 to #359) now uses my own amp and cab settings (from my preset #004).

– Many presets from other users have been removed. This is a "collateral damage" of evolutions in amp modeling ; these presets weren't sounding like their authors wanted them to in previous firmwares and I didn't want to spend a lot of time trying to recreate them in 15.02. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it gave me empty spaces for new presets.

– Many new lead presets (#060 to #073), most of them from my "high gain starting pack" (see this link : LINK). Some of those presets uses new IRs. The"high gain starting pack" (#163 to #188) presets also uses different IRs now, not just "016 GH ThisOne" which still is my go-to IR for high gain.

– Many new IRs added ; I removed almost all the old ones who weren't used in a preset (also see below for more on my user cabs).

 

Presets organization :

BANK A

001-064 : Live presets

The first two banks (001-010 and 011-020) has most of my basic sounds :

Cleans : 001 to 004, 011 and 012. 001 is for my Variax acoustic model, 002 for my Ibanez.

Crunch : 005 to 007.

Rhythm : 008, 013, 015.

Leads : 009, 010, 019, 020. I usually have my lead sounds at the end of a bank so I also uses 029, 030, 039, 040, 049, 050… From 054 to 073, there are more lead sounds, using different IRs.

Some details on other presets :

014 Diary of Jane : for the Breaking Benjamin song. Scene 5 for the intro, scene 1 for the main riff and chorus, scene 2 for the verses. I use a guitar in dropped C# for that one (I tune in Eb).

015 : A stereo metal rhythm preset. One unusual setting is that the enhancer block is before the amp blocks ; I use input left in one amp block and input right in the other, this works very well for expanding the stereo spread.

016 Sweet child : Scene 2 for the leads, scene 1 for everything else (raise the exp pedal 1 for the verses)

017 A tout le monde : Scene 1 rhythm, scene 2 lead, scene 5 chorus. I use scene 3 and 4 for the end solo harmony when I'm playing without a rhythm guitarist.

018 Dumble lead : my blues-fusion main preset. Some radical reverb settings on that one (100 % mix in parallel ; there's also some short reverb in the cab block). Inspired by Robben Ford sound on his “Robben Ford and The Blue Line” (Live in Rockpalast) DVD. That's the preset I'm using in this video :

019 Blu & Red XTC whammy : Scene 1 Bogner XTC blue, scene 2 Bogner XTC Red, scene 3 both. I use that one for whammy.

020 Fas Modern Lead : also has harmonies for the solo on "Rock you like a hurricane", first three notes of the intro on scene 5, the others on scene 4.

021 Boulevard of broken dreams : for the Green Day song. See the end of this video for details : 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV6I7GqiO2c

025 Enjoy the silence : Lacuna Coil version of the song. Scene 1 rhythm, scene 2 synth (for verses), scene 3 both, scene 4 tremolo on the guitar + synth, scene 5 tremolo on the guitar and no synth.

026 Black hole flange : scene 2 for the intro bottleneck lead

028 Talk box : For Bon Jovi's "It's my life". Scene 2 lead

029 BE Ld + raygun + ringmod : use exp pedal 1 or 2 for some fun.

031 Wowy+Str+Still+Pr+AIWIY : five U2 songs in one preset. Scene 1 With or without you, scene 2 Where the streets have no name, scene 3 I Still haven't found what I'm looking for, scene 4 Pride, scene 5 All I want is you. Use the exp pedal for more gain and leads.

036 Ashes : see this video :

037 Hallelujah : for the Pain of Salvation live version of the Leonard Cohen song.

039 5153 Red MV test : master volume is controlled my envelope. I need to test this idea with another amp model where different master volume settings have a more pronounced effect on the sound.

041 Open your eyes : for covering Alter Bridge's song. Scene 1 rhythm, scene 2 rhythm + enhancer (for when the other guitar player takes the lead), scenes 3-5 cleans. Exp 1 lowers the gain

042 Blurry : for the Puddle of Mud song. Uses the exp 2 for the intro "tremolo melody", exp 1 to raise the gain (it's reversed) for the chorus.

043-045 Numb : for the Linkin Park song. The synth preset is originally from user Simeon.

046-048 : For Metallica "Nothing else matters" and "Enter sandman".

088-128 : misc presets

088 to 097 : various acoustic simulator presets, using different tonematch source material. #093 is an alternate version of #001, using the tube pre. #096 and #097 uses a sample from the Devin Townsend "Unplugged" album ; #096 is the normal version, #097 the ambiant version, like on Townsend's album. Both use radical compressor settings on purpose.

098 Nylon string electro : for a friend's electro acoustic classical guitar ; I'm currently recording songs for him.

099 Belew wave pressure : inspired by an Adrian Belew song.

100 Magnificent 2 : my band stop playing that U2 song but I kept it because of its various gizmos. Uses various scenes.

101-106 : presets where the Axe also process my backing vocals (through effect return).

107 Cathedral : you know the Van Halen song, right ? I used a tweaked version of Yek's autoswell settings on this one.

108 The Wall Pt 1 : check this video : 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOq4vxtNDbw

109 Fix you : check this video : 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR937sP5-r4
110 Mike + Benyo : a preset for two guitar players. I made that for two friends who played a full gig with it. Input 1 is for a Ibanez RG type guitar, input 2 for a Les Paul type guitar. Exp alternates between drive and clean for guitar player 1, exp 2 does the same for guitar player 2. Scene 1 is the normal rhythm settings for both, scene 2 lead setting for guitar player 1. Scene 3 and 4 trigger the tremolo for each of them on specific songs. Note : It was made in firmware 14.02 and I didn't update it as I would need their guitars for that.

111-113 : variations on a preset originally made by Clarky and modified by Simeon. Uses exp pedal 1 or scenes to change the synth chords.

116 Firth of fifth : for the Genesis/Steve Hackett song. Originally made by Simeon ; I changed almost everything, amp model included.

114, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120 : variations on the whammy effect.

121 Friedman BE - 6 scenes : a do-it-all preset. scene 1 rhythm, sc 2 crunch, sc 3 lead, sc 4, 5 and 6 various cleans.

122 SLICER : a preset by Simeon, which I uses as a starting point when needed.

123 Trem test : I made that one to test the then new scenes controller. Each scene trigger a different tremolo speed.

124 Brighton rock : for the Brian May solo on "Live killers". I use that one to test the stereo of PA systems. The preset was originally made by another user but I cannibalized it.

125 PinkFloyd G ctl (yek) : a Yek preset, with my own lead sound

Some presets uses custom scales in the pitch block, see my previous blog posts for details

BANK B

129-188 : mid and high gain amps presets.

163-188 are my "high gain starting pack" presets, updated to firmware 15. Different IRs used this time. See this video to understand the concept : 

226-256 : Blues, blues-rock, fusion presets, using mostly boutique amps. Preset 230 is from Tyler Grund, I edited it to give it an Andy Timmons vibe. I use the looper to record the chords of "little wing" and then solo over them. From scene 1 to scene 5, there's more and more drive added.

BANK C

257-282 : Marshall and Marshall-like, Vox and Vox-like amps.

285-294 : Ambiant & special effects (drive).

301-314 : Clean amps, same principle as for my high gain starting pack.

315-331 : Other clean presets.

332-362 : Ambiant & special effects (clean). As said above, they use the same amp and cab settings for consistency. 360, 361 and 362 is for one of my instrumental song, see this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlq6GJUDBxE

363-384 : Special effects with synth sounds, bass presets (not updated since many firmware as I don't have a bass guitar).

USER CABS

Here's my current selection of IRs :

A few words about user cabs

It has been said many times that the cab is at least half of the sound. Two months ago, I spent a few days testing litteraly thousands of IRs, free and commercial, and making mixes with Cab-Lab. These last days, while working on the firmware 15.02 presets, I again checked some new IRs (FAS cab pack #5, the latest Ownhammer, and some free ones) and made new mixes. I also found a recipe that works for me almost all of the time for high gain sounds. A classic combination of two mics on a cab is Shure SM57 for brightness+Royer R121 for fatness ; for authenticity, the logical step is to combine two IRs from the same cab, but it doesn't always works for me, specially when the provided R121 doesn't deliver the lows/low mids I want. 

So a few months ago, I started to use a Redwirez IR from a Mesa V30 or an ENGL V30 cab. It wasn't the Royer but the Beyerdynamic M160 then (in cone position, 0 inch or 1 inch), as I wanted to add low mids warmth, not lows, to some free IRs from Alu or GuitarHack which were a little too scooped for me. It works very well, and some of those IRs are still in my Axe (#017, #023, #35, #36...). A few days ago, I tried using a Ownhammer R121 IR from the High Gain Essential cabs (either OH MES-ST V30-EN 5881 121 HG or OH DZL-RL V30-EN 5881 121 HG) and it was a revelation. Instead of combining a SM57 and a R121 from a Ownhammer V30-CH8, for example, I use the SM57 from the CH8 but the R121 from the EN cab, which is darker/warmer sounding. The end result is less scooped and more pleasing to my ears, it's the best of both worlds ! In fact, I liked this so much that I tried the Ownhammer R121 with a SM57 IR from various sources (free IRs, FAS cab pack 5 IRs...) and it works very well with them too. So it seems I have a winning combination here, and much more tonal options than before for my high gain sounds.