A summary of my commercial presets packs for Axe-Fx II and AX8

Some people have been confused by the differences in the pack I sell for the Axe-Fx II and the AX8, so I thought of writing this recap.

I currently have four products on sale :

1) Axe-Fx Quantum 2.0/3.0 presets (40 $ for more than 384 presets) :
http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2016/02/fremen-quantum-20-presets.html

2) AX8 Quantum 2.x/3.x presets (49 $ for 52 banks of 8 presets and a few more) : http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2016/04/fremen-ax8-20-presets-pack.html

3) 5 scenes presets pack (20 $ for 51 presets for Axe-Fx II & AX8, both on Quantum 3.x only) :
http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2016/06/5-scenes-presets-pack-axe-fx-ii-ax8.html

There are already a few 5 scenes presets in products 1) and 2 ; but this is an expansion, with different amp models, so these are new presets based on the same principles. It started as a request from someone who wanted more of these do-it-all presets.

4) Acoustic simulation tonematch presets pack (10 $ for 45 presets for Axe-Fx II & AX8, both on Quantum 3.x only) :
http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2016/06/acoustic-simulation-tonematch-presets.html

I made this one cheaper because although there are many presets, you're likely to use a few only. Only three of those presets, the bonus ones, are already in my products 1) and 2) ; all the others are new captures tailored for different guitars/pickups, to maximize the chance that some will fit with your own guitar(s)...

Acoustic simulation tonematch presets pack

Here's my new Acoustic simulation tonematch presets pack for Axe-Fx II MKI/MKII/XL (originally for firmware Quantum 3.03, now for 7.02 and above ; both versions are included). AX8 users : this will work only for firmware older than Q7.02.

The idea was to use as many different electric guitars/pickups as possible and make tonematch presets for each of them. So if you have an Ibanez with Bare Knuckle or EMG or DiMarzio pickups, or a Fender Stratocaster, or a Gibson Les Paul, the corresponding presets should work to give it a convincing acoustic simulation sound (in FRFR systems of course !).



I used my Yamaha acoustic guitar sound as a base, and made tonematches for the following electric guitars :

- Ibanez RG 520QS with Bare Knuckle Holydiver and Emerald pickups (5 positions)
- Variax JTV 89 with DiMarzio Norton and LiquiFire pickups (5 positions)
- Fender Stratocaster USA with Suhr pickups (5 positions)
- Schecter Damien Platinium FR with EMG pickups (3 positions)
- Ibanez RGIR20FE with EMG pickups (3 positions)
- JTV89 Variax models of acoustic guitar (1 position), Telecaster (3 positions), Les Paul (3 positions) and Fender Stratocaster (4 positions)
- Gibson les Paul Standard- Gibson SG 50th anniversary
- Ibanez J Custom RG8540ZD

Bonus, the three existing acoustic simulation presets from my normal Axe-Fx II presets packs.
Each preset uses 8 scenes, which you can customize as you like.

Of course, you can try a preset made for one guitar/pickup position with a different guitar, that may work ! Although a preset made for a Les Paul neck pickup will certainly be way too bright with a Stratocaster bridge pickup...

Legal stuff :
These files are meant to be used with FRFR systems.

It is a digital download, so there will be no refund for any reason including purchasing by mistake. The download link will be emailed to you by e-junkie and I will receive a copy of that mail too. If you don't get it, please check your spam folder

These files are in a .rar compressed archive, which is a standard format. PC users can Winrar, Winzip or 7zip to extract them. Popular tools for MAC users are Stuffit Expander, Unrar x or The Unarchiver. Most computers already have tools for that, and most of these applications are free anyway.


Pack now available on my website (Axe-Fx II only, no AX8) : https://fremenpresets.com/

5 scenes presets pack (Axe-FX II & AX8)

It took me almost two weeks to finalize this new pack : 51 "5 scenes" presets, like the ones already present in my previous packs, but with different amp models. If you don't know what my 5 scenes presets are, check these videos (made with older firmwares) :





Here too, each of these new presets uses 5 scenes :

scene 1 clean
scene 2 edge of breakup
scene 3 crunch
scene 4 rhythm
scene 5 lead

They all use stock cabs, although I will add a custom cabs version too soon, as a bonus

This pack is for Axe-Fx II MK I/II/XL/XL+ (firmware Quantum 3.03 and above) AND the AX8 (firmware 3.51 and above) ; each machine has its own bank. It also for FRFR systems of course.Updates, if necessary, will be available for six months from release date.

Of course, you can tweak them as you like, specially by trying different cabs. Here I use 50 different amp models (there's two presets with one amp model, the Fender 5F8 Tweed) but much less cabs. Finding cabs which sounds as good with clean and high gain sounds is challenging ! It was also a challenge to achieve a clean sound with some of the amp models, like the Recto or MKIIC++...

Some more notes :

I used different amp models than with my previous 5 scenes presets : Fender (around 14), Mesa (6), Marshall (4), boutique amps (Carol-Ann, Bludojai, Carr, Two Rock, Cameron, Matchless, Dumble...), Cornford, Bogner, CAE+, Fryette, Hiwatt, and some FAS models...

The compressor, which is used on the first two scenes, can be tweaked for a less "squashy" clean sound. With some amp models, the first scene may then sound a little dirtier.

AX8 users : there's a bug with the Atomica preset, as this amp model doesn't react well with controllers attached to its gain. You may hear a "ticking" sound. I kept the preset in the pack anyway.

All the presets were made using and Ibanez RG with dual humbuckers and double checked with a Fender Stratocaster. Usually I use humbuckers for scenes 4 & 5, intermediary positions or neck single coil for scenes 1 - 2 - 3.

There's a bonus preset for Axe-Fx users (it's not possible to port it on the AX8, which doesn't have a second pitch block) : "Shine on 5 scenes", which you can see in action here :






NOTE : this pack has been replaced with an updated version for firmware Quantum 7.02 and above, with 90 presets. It's available on my new website here :

https://fremenpresets.com/

The "Shine on you crazy diamond" preset is now in another pack, "Fremen's picks"

Tribute to Pink Floyd videos

Here's some videos from a Tribute to Pink Floyd project, where I used the Axe-Fx II XL+ while the other guitar player used an AX8. The acoustic guitar was processed through an Atomic AmpliFire.





From rehearsals :



We also covered some classic rock songs during a second set :

Fremen AX8 Quantum presets

As I did for the Axe-Fx II, and after a few weeks of hard work, I'm now selling presets for the Fractal Audio AX8, with Quantum 2.0x firmware and later (they're compatible with firmware 6.00 too)





These are conversions of my Axe-Fx presets, plus more than 50 exclusive/new presets, including a selection of my best tonematches, which were not in my Axe-Fx presets pack. There's 52 banks of 8 presets, in two versions : normal, the ones I use (and which uses commercial IRs), and alternate, which uses only stock cabs, or free cabs. Of course, that means that they are for FRFR systems.

These presets are for a variety of styles, blues-rock, fusion, classic rock, heavy rock, metal, and even post-rock... My band cover songs of artists like Metallica, U2, Pink Floyd, Soundgarden, Linkin Park, Alter Bridge, Scorpions and many, many more so there's a lot of song-specific presets. I'm not trying to copy the guitar sound of the studio version of those songs, but use a sounds that works for me and my guitar for that.

There's also many presets using scenes, like those (note that this is a Axe-Fx demo with an older firmware but I was able to port them into the AX8) :



...and also all my "High gain starting pack" presets from the Axe-Fx. Please note that the 5 scenes works better if AX8 is not connected.

IMPORTANT

I use a lot of third party cabs. You will need them in your AX8 too, and at the same user spots, or many of my presets won't sound the same - or won't sound at all if the user spots are empty. As most of my main cabs are from free sources, I'm giving a separate download link for them, for free (else, it would be like I was "selling" them, when what I'm selling is the result of my presets creation work !). I also uses a few third party or stock presets, which I'm also sharing for free, even if they're also in my 52 banks. Here's the link for the free cabs and presets :

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fqhj6kqtlvop6hs/AAAvod_QCBHJ-9SoXqlVoBIIa?dl=0

If you use the "alternate" version of my banks, you won't need to buy anything. However, the "normal" versions of the banks are the ones that I use, and they uses many commercial IRs, mostly from Ownhammer and Fractal Audio Systems. I can't share those IRs, but there's screenshots of Cab-Lab 3 recipes in my commercial pack, and an .xls file which list them. This is for more experienced users, but if you learn how to do it, it's worth the effort !

Note that the two last banks, with the Pink Floyd presets, is a work in progress. I'm still in the process of tweaking those/building new ones for other songs, and I will update my Dropbox folder with new versions when available. I will also put any new preset I come with in the Dropbox folder.

NOTE : this pack has been replaced with an updated version for firmware Quantum 7.02 and above.

The new packs are available on my new website here :

https://fremenpresets.com/

Custom harmonizer settings (for Eb tuning)

"A tout le monde" preset : Custom scales 1 & 2
"Hurricane LD"  preset : Custom scales 9 and 10
"Arabic harmonies" preset : Custom scales 3 (Voice 1) and 4 (voice 2)
"Major penta harmonies" preset : Custom scales 5 (Voice 1) and 6 (Voice 2)

Custom scale 1 : starting from 'A' SHIFT : 3, 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4
Custom scale 2 : 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4
Custom scale 3 : 4, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3
Custom scale 4 : 7, 9, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 6, 7
Custom scale 5 : 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3, 4
Custom scale 6 : 8, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7
Custom scale 9 : 4, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 5
Custom scale 10 : 4, 5, 4, 3, 5, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 5

Send me any question/remark regarding those presets on thibderob@yahoo.fr or d3usxm4ch1n4@gmail.com

Some Quantum 2.0 demos

Here's, in one post, all the demos recorded with my Quantum 2.0 presets, which you can get here :
http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2016/02/fremen-quantum-20-presets.html

Joe Satriani "Always with me, always with you" cover, recorded with the new JS 410 amp model. I used a sound which is way brighter that I would normally use. Apologies for the blurry video, I did that on purpose as the picture quality of my webcam was bothering me (as on the third video... I'm getting a good webcam soon)



Some parts from "Pull me under" by Dream Theater. For the rhythm, I used a tonematch preset, made with the YouTube video of Petrucci playing the opening riff on a Mesa Boogie MK V 20 watts. I should have made the lead a little brighter this time.



As I'm working on a Pink Floyd tribute concert, I started making David Gilmour presets. Here's one I'll use on "On the turning away", a song I played for the last time in 1990 !



The following videos were recorded with older firmwares, so the sound have changed a little since, however they explain some of the presets concepts : the high gain starting pack, and the 5 scenes presets.





Last but not least, I didn't record a proper demo for my Quantum 2.0 presets, but there's one for version 1.0 here :

Fremen Quantum presets pack 1

I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and finally decided to do presets programming professionally. 

As a result, I’ve never put as much work as I did with my Quantum 2.0 presets. I had a base to work on, but it’s been a while, and many firmware revisions, since I checked/corrected all the scenes in specific presets  - the ones from my High Gain Starting Pack (HGSP, check this : http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2014/02/fremens-high-gain-starting-pack-bank.html ) or from the five scenes collection (check this : http://axefremen.blogspot.com/2015/05/1812-focus-on-5-scenes-presets.html ), just to mention a few examples. I also completely revised my clean sounds, making a preset for each amp model suitable (to my ears of course) for clean sounds (most  are in bank C).

Of course, I can’t ask for money for presets from other users (like Simeon, Yek, Tyler Grund or Bulb, to name a few), or stock presets, even if I modified them a lot, and most of the time I did. So I will still share those for free, in a bank where I regrouped them. Likewise, I will share my non-commercial user IRs for free. Here’s the link for both (the IRs are needed for my commercial presets, so get them) :

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/51289fhkibgeu2r/AADzkl4t4xUvFSPuShh5apu6a?dl=0

However these are not my go-to presets. You won’t find any of my acoustic simulation, clean, crunch, rhythm, lead, blues/fusion, song specific presets here, but mostly special effects, or some bare bones stock presets I like to keep as a reference for some amp models. My own sounds, those I use with my bands or in my videos, are not in there, but in the three banks I’m selling.

So, what are you getting in my commercial pack ?

- My full three banks of presets, most of which use third party IRs (meaning that they're for FRFR systems, not a regular guitar cab). These are the ones I use, with the most tonal variations. All has been updated to Quantum 2.0, and later on, 3.0. (EDIT August 2016 : they're compatible with 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 too). I took special care (read : hours and hours) on the MKIIC+, the VOX family of amps, and my clean Fender sounds. There is a significant number of brand new presets too (mostly with new or improved amp models etc)

- An alternate version of these three banks, using only free IRs (see the link to download them above) or stock ones. Easier to use if you didn’t buy any commercial IR libraries (but I recommend you to !)

- My collection of drive blocks, which you can load with Axe-Edit

- A spreadsheet detailing my custom user IRs, and explaining many presets

- Cab-Lab 3 screenshots of my user IRs recipes, for those I can’t share because they are commercial

NOTE : this pack has been replaced with an updated version for firmware Quantum 7.02 and above.

The new packs are available on my new website here :

https://fremenpresets.com/

Some more infos of the presets

I  made  all my presets 3 dB quieter than before, to have more headroom. I also took special care to balance the levels between all of them, not only those I use live, but all three banks.  There are two types of levels for my high gain sounds : rhythm and lead. Presets used for lead are around 3 dB louder.

Presets that were made for my high gain starting pack (with HGSP in the name) will have the “rhythm” level in scenes 1, 2 and 5, and “lead” level in scenes 3 and 4.

Boutique presets (end of bank B) are all made for lead playing so they are louder than the rhythm presets. Most Marshall presets too have the level set for lead playing.

The presets are sorted like this :

Bank A : my live presets, 5 scenes presets, fun and special presets

Bank B : high gain (sorted by amp model), high gain starting pack, blues/fusion

Bank C : Marshall, Vox, cleans, special effects.

Also note that I use a MFC-101 with bank size = 10, display offset = 1, and three expression pedals (exp 3 = volume, exp 2 and 1 usage varies but most of the time exp 2 is for wha or whammy, and exp 1 for various morphing effects. Switches 11-15 on my MFC select scenes.

Custom harmonizer settings (for Eb tuning)

"A tout le monde" preset : Custom scales 1 & 2
"Hurricane LD"  preset : Custom scales 9 and 10
"Arabic harmonies" preset : Custom scales 3 (Voice 1) and 4 (voice 2)
"Major penta harmonies" preset : Custom scales 5 (Voice 1) and 6 (Voice 2)

Custom scale 1 : starting from 'A' SHIFT : 3, 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4
Custom scale 2 : 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4
Custom scale 3 : 4, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3
Custom scale 4 : 7, 9, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 6, 7
Custom scale 5 : 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3, 4
Custom scale 6 : 8, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7
Custom scale 9 : 4, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 5
Custom scale 10 : 4, 5, 4, 3, 5, 3, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 5