can't wait for more lessons...tip for people just starting is when you're choosing cabs, if you hit the pin button beside the X the cab list will stay open and you can just keep clicking around to change cabs instead of reopening the page
Hi Leon, great informative video. This is why I watch your videos. Simple, informative, logical instruction on a unit that has more parameters than I've ever seen before. I especially like it when you describe what a parameter does and how it effects the sound or feel of a rig. A good example of that would be when you explained the speaker drive parameter, in an earlier video. I would probably never even have turned that knob, because I didn't know what it was. Three main things motivated me to buy an AX8. Fractal quality and reputation, the community and how well users support each other, and your videos. Your knowledge of tech, music, gear, etc. gives me confidence and knowledge that I can use to make great sounds and music. When I picked my AX8 up at Fractal headquarters, I told Cliff that he should be paying you, for the help you provide to users and potential customers that want sound advice. Keep it up mate. :)
JHPRS thanks so much, they're my goals with these videos. I'm a big fan of the community aspect with Fractal; I'd love to meet Cliff, shake his hand and say thanks for saving me so much time, money and energy as a working musician.
When I first met Cliff a week ago, the first thing I did was thank him for the best product line available. He was humbled and thanked me for the kind words. The sales manager Andrew, is a great guy to deal with too.
I thought of a scenario that I would like your opinion on. I am mainly using an EV pa speaker with my AX8, but I still want the amp in a room sound once in a while. Here is a setup idea that would like to do, if it is possible. I would like to set up a simple patch, drive, amp, cab, delay, reverb. I would like scene 1 to go to output 1 and have the cab and power amp turned off. Then, I would like scene 2 to go to output 2 and have the cab and power amp turned on. That way I could switch between the two setups. Sounds like a simple idea, is it possible? :)
Try this preset; scene 1 (output 1) goes to the PA and scene 2 (output 2) to a power amp/cab. I've copied the same amp in to states X and Y but the Y state has the sag parameter at 0 (hence the power amp is off in the Y state). www.dropbox.com/s/h3wihete7zb1jp0/S1%20DI%20%20%20%20%20%20S2%20TUBE%20R.syx?dl=0
Thank You Leon for these videos. Most helpful in my setting up my rig for live performance. Learned about FRFR for first time as well !!! Great Guitarist too, Wishes for much success !
You still can’t go wrong with the AX8. I’ll never sell mine and I’m on the waiting list for FM9, but I also have the AXE FXIII that I use at home for recording only, and they all sound fantastic. I have most of the modelers and have sold several - Quad Cortex (not finished) and the Kemper floor. Too much tweaking to get good sounds for me, YMMV. I couldn’t get along with them and created issues in my workflow. Whatever you decide, make sure you try everything and see if it works for you, without too much hassle… Best! ✌🏼
@@Stashmanfpv Great, I think that Fractal should make floor units and Rack units have almost the same features, I wish I couls have Tone Match and Ir Capture, and some stuff but Im not a Studio Guy, but I think that Fm3 will be fine, and then I ll buy the Fm9 🔥🔥🔥
Hurry up with the next one please! my AX8 arrives on Tuesday! Thanks for all of these videos, i feel like i know how to programme an ax8 before even playing one because your videos are so easy to follow.
I demand episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5 be uploaded immediately haha. Helpful stuff Leon. When I follow along with the presets as you make them, I feel like I need to crank the input gain way up to have a similar rock/metal tone. A lot more of your high gain amps seem ready to go right off the bat in comparison to mine. I have spent months learning the various function of the AX8 and have a good idea of what does what, but I'm not still sure what the problem is. I'm using an Ibanez RG with an EMG 81 in the bridge that goes to the AX8 with a nice monster cable. From there, I use a humbuster cable to go either to my Matrix power amp / Mesa 2 x 12 (FX output) or straight into my Scarlett 2i2 (Main output) with KRK monitors. The cab impulses add more variables of course, so I'm trying to dial things in with my real cab more so now. I can't even get a 5150, a Modern 2, or a Recto amp to sound good, especially on the rhythm strings. The only one I'm having luck with is the Powerball 2 sim. Sorry for the essay, but I'm wondering if you think there is something wrong here for me to not be able to dial in a good metal tone? Cleans and effects sound good, but heavy presets... not so much.
my learning curve is about to get a severe dropkick, this is gonna be painful for a caveman like me, but i just got my ax8 today & i'm prepared to do whatever it takes to learn this computer stuff, God Bless you Leon for these videos, thx so much, your good at explaining this
Just bought ax fx 2, so im looking forward to your videos man, this shit is just too much for me to handle atm and i need all help i can get. Already rewatching your old videos to try to understand how to get a great tone out of this box. Thanks alot, keep it going bruh.
Good man. I appreciate your playing ability (of course), but your scholarly skills are fantastic! I’d guess you’ve been (or are) in some sort of “explanation” based field. You have a knack. Good stuffs. Thanks for spreading your wealth.
Awesome! Since you've had a AX3, could you say that the amp models.sound the same on both? Also...can I simply run this into a power amp then into one of my cabs bypassing the built in cabs? ? Thanks !
Hey Leon, before i never held down the F1 button to engage Latch mode, before i would just go to my bank & switch between my 8 sounds to play live, but now all the lights on my 8 are blinking & i have to hold down F1 to switch between my 8 sounds, did i do something wrong? how can i get it back to just going to a bank & switching between to 8 sounds on any bank ? thx again for all your great videos, your awesome
Great video as all ways Leon, informative, to the point and easy to understand. Please tell me you'll be getting the Axe III.....defo going to need some of your videos for that !
I think without someone like you showing what it can really do, many of us will only ever be using a fraction of its potential. I'm going for it as it will address some of the things we need to work around with the AX8 and will be the platform that is upgraded for years to come. I'm not expecting it to necessarily sound better as to my ears the current modelling is bang on, it's just the options for each preset are so vast.
Leon, these AX8 tutorials are very good. I like the fact that you dive right in and build a preset from scratch, but what value do you set your Level In 1 pad to please? Thanks
you all prolly dont give a damn but does anyone know a method to get back into an instagram account? I somehow lost the account password. I love any assistance you can offer me!
@Bradley Charles I really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and Im trying it out atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Hi I own AXE8 as well but when I plug in cable from AXE8 to computer is says disconnect in the axe8. What would be your recommendation for this issue? Or do you have FB to contact you. I really need help for this issue. Thank you so much for your great tutorial.
Leon, this is great, but what if I want to run my AX8 into a small Marshall Tube amp and play live? None of my tones sound good, and I can never get rid of that "tube" overtone, and every configuration I try sounds like shite! please help with a video of running say a Les Paul, AX8, straight to a small 12" tube amp without all the fancy shenanigans...Every video out there is great when dudes are using a studio monitor setup, but thats not realistic when playing live for my church.
If the Marshall has an fx return chuck it in there and turn cab sims off. If not, you're going to be using the AX8 like a collection of stomp boxes into the amp which is a totally different thing. Good idea for a vid.
Hi Leon, new ax8 user here. I’ve watched a bunch of your videos and austinbuddy and I’m a bit confused about levels! So to begin with we should set the instrument input pad in the I/O menu. And the higher the dB, so 6 12 and 18 in this case, the quieter the output becomes, and less clipping in the front LED lights? So if I have a single coil strat, 0db seems fine but with active pickups I’ll probably want to set the dB pad higher? Secondly He mentions if playing live through FRFR cans we should set our output 1 knob to full, and then roughly set the patches around -12db (or to the line in the levels bar) and to test it at 90db through speakers. Which I understand. But At 90db live sound are we just adjusting the bass/mids/treble and gains for tweaking our sound. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Sam
Instrument pad - as low as possible without hitting red too often. My understanding is tweak the amp controls and the cab high/low cut at those levels to get it dialled in for a gig. I really need to do a video about this.
Hey fellas I'm sooooo freaking confused on how to properly set this .. I know I'm clipping with this new Paul and it's making to my ears stuff muddy 😑 . I on now this is an old rag but any help would be soooo appreciated B.
Hey Leon, I was wondering what your IO Audio settings are live? I’ve downloaded quite a few 3rd party presets but they generally sound pants! although in demos they sound fantastic so I’m sure I’m missing something obvious in my settings, as others quite clearly get along with them fine.I go direct to a pair of AX7 s at home and live direct to PA, generally happy with my own presets, but 3rd party ones don’t cut it.
Curious to know, Leon, do you think the Axe FX, any of them, can nail the Rockmaster tone? Trying to move away from older rack gear for reliability concerns but haven't found anything that can do it.
Hey Leon.. as discussed in the past, I've learned a TON from your vids... However, everybody uses the AX8 edit software and I completely understand why. It's a ton easier for sure.. However, have you mastered all these "adjustments" using AX8 without software? I know on my Line 6 stuff in the past, I learned both. Software and right from the unit .. pain in the a$$ and took a ton of time. If you have that figured out, I'd love to see some videos of making all edits right on the unit without software... BTW: I did buy the fracpad software and have been playing with that... what a great alternative for live gigs
Tho im not a metal head, but a bluesrocker, i find many many good thin gs in here
can't wait for more lessons...tip for people just starting is when you're choosing cabs, if you hit the pin button beside the X the cab list will stay open and you can just keep clicking around to change cabs instead of reopening the page
Hi Leon, great informative video. This is why I watch your videos. Simple, informative, logical instruction on a unit that has more parameters than I've ever seen before. I especially like it when you describe what a parameter does and how it effects the sound or feel of a rig. A good example of that would be when you explained the speaker drive parameter, in an earlier video. I would probably never even have turned that knob, because I didn't know what it was.
Three main things motivated me to buy an AX8. Fractal quality and reputation, the community and how well users support each other, and your videos. Your knowledge of tech, music, gear, etc. gives me confidence and knowledge that I can use to make great sounds and music. When I picked my AX8 up at Fractal headquarters, I told Cliff that he should be paying you, for the help you provide to users and potential customers that want sound advice. Keep it up mate. :)
JHPRS thanks so much, they're my goals with these videos. I'm a big fan of the community aspect with Fractal; I'd love to meet Cliff, shake his hand and say thanks for saving me so much time, money and energy as a working musician.
When I first met Cliff a week ago, the first thing I did was thank him for the best product line available. He was humbled and thanked me for the kind words. The sales manager Andrew, is a great guy to deal with too.
I thought of a scenario that I would like your opinion on. I am mainly using an EV pa speaker with my AX8, but I still want the amp in a room sound once in a while. Here is a setup idea that would like to do, if it is possible.
I would like to set up a simple patch, drive, amp, cab, delay, reverb. I would like scene 1 to go to output 1 and have the cab and power amp turned off. Then, I would like scene 2 to go to output 2 and have the cab and power amp turned on. That way I could switch between the two setups.
Sounds like a simple idea, is it possible? :)
Try this preset; scene 1 (output 1) goes to the PA and scene 2 (output 2) to a power amp/cab. I've copied the same amp in to states X and Y but the Y state has the sag parameter at 0 (hence the power amp is off in the Y state). www.dropbox.com/s/h3wihete7zb1jp0/S1%20DI%20%20%20%20%20%20S2%20TUBE%20R.syx?dl=0
Thanks mate, I'll try this today. :)
Thank You Leon for these videos. Most helpful in my setting up my rig for live performance. Learned about FRFR for first time as well !!! Great Guitarist too, Wishes for much success !
I can't say anything that's all ready been said below other than thank you for your time, you've made it easy to tame this beast!
This is a spectacular introductory series on the AX8 and has been most helpful. Thanks Leon. I think that it is destined to be a classic!
Thanks Leon, your channel has been a ton of help. The cab hint there(#149) was really good!
Because of the budget I'll have to buy an Ax8 and then save up for a Fm9, but I think this is gonna be good for me !!
You still can’t go wrong with the AX8.
I’ll never sell mine and I’m on the waiting list for FM9, but I also have the AXE FXIII that I use at home for recording only, and they all sound fantastic.
I have most of the modelers and have sold several - Quad Cortex (not finished) and the Kemper floor. Too much tweaking to get good sounds for me, YMMV. I couldn’t get along with them and created issues in my workflow.
Whatever you decide, make sure you try everything and see if it works for you, without too much hassle…
Best! ✌🏼
@@Stashmanfpv Great, I think that Fractal should make floor units and Rack units have almost the same features, I wish I couls have Tone Match and Ir Capture, and some stuff but Im not a Studio Guy, but I think that Fm3 will be fine, and then I ll buy the Fm9 🔥🔥🔥
Hurry up with the next one please! my AX8 arrives on Tuesday! Thanks for all of these videos, i feel like i know how to programme an ax8 before even playing one because your videos are so easy to follow.
I demand episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5 be uploaded immediately haha. Helpful stuff Leon. When I follow along with the presets as you make them, I feel like I need to crank the input gain way up to have a similar rock/metal tone. A lot more of your high gain amps seem ready to go right off the bat in comparison to mine. I have spent months learning the various function of the AX8 and have a good idea of what does what, but I'm not still sure what the problem is. I'm using an Ibanez RG with an EMG 81 in the bridge that goes to the AX8 with a nice monster cable. From there, I use a humbuster cable to go either to my Matrix power amp / Mesa 2 x 12 (FX output) or straight into my Scarlett 2i2 (Main output) with KRK monitors. The cab impulses add more variables of course, so I'm trying to dial things in with my real cab more so now. I can't even get a 5150, a Modern 2, or a Recto amp to sound good, especially on the rhythm strings. The only one I'm having luck with is the Powerball 2 sim. Sorry for the essay, but I'm wondering if you think there is something wrong here for me to not be able to dial in a good metal tone? Cleans and effects sound good, but heavy presets... not so much.
Fractal Best sound of all modelers !
Thanks Leon,
Ive had mine in the box brand new since 2017, just getting around to use it:)
Great job Leon. Can’t wait for the more advanced stuff.
Thank you for putting all these videos together! You are awesome for sharing your knowledge and experience with of us! A huge thank you!
My pleasure, thanks for tuning in :) let me know if there's any topics you want me to cover
Dude you make the BEST Video's !! you explain everything nicely, thx again
my learning curve is about to get a severe dropkick, this is gonna be painful for a caveman like me, but i just got my ax8 today & i'm prepared to do whatever it takes to learn this computer stuff, God Bless you Leon for these videos, thx so much, your good at explaining this
It's a steep curve but once you get it you'll be doing things you never imagined before. it's such a rewarding unit. Congrats!
Just bought ax fx 2, so im looking forward to your videos man, this shit is just too much for me to handle atm and i need all help i can get. Already rewatching your old videos to try to understand how to get a great tone out of this box. Thanks alot, keep it going bruh.
Getting an Axe-Fx is like tone boot camp, it kicks your ass the first week or two but then you wondered how you survived without it.
Good man. I appreciate your playing ability (of course), but your scholarly skills are fantastic! I’d guess you’ve been (or are) in some sort of “explanation” based field. You have a knack. Good stuffs. Thanks for spreading your wealth.
Thanks so much! I teach music for a living and my background is in maths and physics so i guess that comes through here.
Just got my AX8 up and running, any presets you can share, the Dropbox links in some old videos are dead. Thanks! Any help would be appreciated
Awesome! Since you've had a AX3, could you say that the amp models.sound the same on both?
Also...can I simply run this into a power amp then into one of my cabs bypassing the built in cabs? ?
Thanks !
Hey Leon, before i never held down the F1 button to engage Latch mode, before i would just go to my bank & switch between my 8 sounds to play live, but now all the lights on my 8 are blinking & i have to hold down F1 to switch between my 8 sounds, did i do something wrong? how can i get it back to just going to a bank & switching between to 8 sounds on any bank ? thx again for all your great videos, your awesome
Great job Leon. I got my AX8!
harry searia how are you finding it so far?
Actually all I've done is downloaded the software and updated the firmware. I'll get into it this weekend.
Your videos are a huge help.
You must be excited for the weekend!
Where i can buy and ax8 new??
Just bought the AX8 because of you Leon!
Fantastic! Keep me posted with how your enjoying it
yea I will. Heading home by the end of this month so can't wait to play it!
Maybe that 6 inch is for like … a pig nose or old crate practice amp emu. ?
Great video as all ways Leon, informative, to the point and easy to understand.
Please tell me you'll be getting the Axe III.....defo going to need some of your videos for that !
Davus PG I'm tempted just so I can crank out some videos and explore it in depth
I think without someone like you showing what it can really do, many of us will only ever be using a fraction of its potential. I'm going for it as it will address some of the things we need to work around with the AX8 and will be the platform that is upgraded for years to come. I'm not expecting it to necessarily sound better as to my ears the current modelling is bang on, it's just the options for each preset are so vast.
Hey Leon if I have question about routing in axe edit may I ask them here ?
Sure thing
Leon, these AX8 tutorials are very good. I like the fact that you dive right in and build a preset from scratch, but what value do you set your Level In 1 pad to please? Thanks
you all prolly dont give a damn but does anyone know a method to get back into an instagram account?
I somehow lost the account password. I love any assistance you can offer me!
@Imran Edward instablaster ;)
@Bradley Charles I really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and Im trying it out atm.
Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Bradley Charles It worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D
Thank you so much, you really help me out!
@Imran Edward No problem =)
Leon, where do you set your output level knob on the physical unit? I've read a lot of conflicting takes on this!
Killer series Leon. Really really killer.
Thanks man, I've found it's actually simplifying my thinking towards my own patches. Lots of fresh inspiration!
Hi I own AXE8 as well but when I plug in cable from AXE8 to computer is says disconnect in the axe8. What would be your recommendation for this issue? Or do you have FB to contact you. I really need help for this issue. Thank you so much for your great tutorial.
Contact Fractal support.
Hey! If you have a minute I was wondering the correct way to set up the ax8 running stereo to front of house?
Make sure the global output 1 mode is set to stereo, connect 2 cables and go!
Hi I'm about to pull the trigger on an ax8. If I'm a plug this direct in front of a combo amp is it ok? Pros and cons?
Fantastic Leon! Thanks! :)
leon what are you running your ax8 through in this video?
Been as iam new to the computer world can i just use my small ibanez amp??
Great tutorials, thanks so much for these!
Leon, this is great, but what if I want to run my AX8 into a small Marshall Tube amp and play live? None of my tones sound good, and I can never get rid of that "tube" overtone, and every configuration I try sounds like shite! please help with a video of running say a Les Paul, AX8, straight to a small 12" tube amp without all the fancy shenanigans...Every video out there is great when dudes are using a studio monitor setup, but thats not realistic when playing live for my church.
If the Marshall has an fx return chuck it in there and turn cab sims off. If not, you're going to be using the AX8 like a collection of stomp boxes into the amp which is a totally different thing. Good idea for a vid.
Great video as always, dude.
thanks BUT the whole reason for buying an AX 8 is to get rid of computers and get down to the actual buttons etc
GREAT !
Hi Leon, new ax8 user here. I’ve watched a bunch of your videos and austinbuddy and I’m a bit confused about levels! So to begin with we should set the instrument input pad in the I/O menu. And the higher the dB, so 6 12 and 18 in this case, the quieter the output becomes, and less clipping in the front LED lights? So if I have a single coil strat, 0db seems fine but with active pickups I’ll probably want to set the dB pad higher? Secondly He mentions if playing live through FRFR cans we should set our output 1 knob to full, and then roughly set the patches around -12db (or to the line in the levels bar) and to test it at 90db through speakers. Which I understand. But At 90db live sound are we just adjusting the bass/mids/treble and gains for tweaking our sound.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Sam
Instrument pad - as low as possible without hitting red too often.
My understanding is tweak the amp controls and the cab high/low cut at those levels to get it dialled in for a gig. I really need to do a video about this.
Hey fellas
I'm sooooo freaking confused on how to properly set this .. I know I'm clipping with this new Paul and it's making to my ears stuff muddy 😑 .
I on now this is an old rag but any help would be soooo appreciated
B.
Hey Leon, I was wondering what your IO Audio settings are live? I’ve downloaded quite a few 3rd party presets but they generally sound pants! although in demos they sound fantastic so I’m sure I’m missing something obvious in my settings, as others quite clearly get along with them fine.I go direct to a pair of AX7 s at home and live direct to PA, generally happy with my own presets, but 3rd party ones don’t cut it.
With my guitar I set the input pad at 12dB and the output at +4dB (L+R sum). Not surprising with 3rd party stuff, I find they're very hit and miss.
Thanks for your promt reply, I appreciate that, love your work by the way 👍
Great now I want an AX8 😂
Sounds like a Peavey Tockmaster preamp....that's a really good thing :-)
Love me some Rockmaster!
Curious to know, Leon, do you think the Axe FX, any of them, can nail the Rockmaster tone? Trying to move away from older rack gear for reliability concerns but haven't found anything that can do it.
Hey Leon.. as discussed in the past, I've learned a TON from your vids... However, everybody uses the AX8 edit software and I completely understand why. It's a ton easier for sure.. However, have you mastered all these "adjustments" using AX8 without software? I know on my Line 6 stuff in the past, I learned both. Software and right from the unit .. pain in the a$$ and took a ton of time. If you have that figured out, I'd love to see some videos of making all edits right on the unit without software... BTW: I did buy the fracpad software and have been playing with that... what a great alternative for live gigs
Yeah I became front panel fluent pretty quickly, having come from the Axe-Fx Ultra. I'll do an updated front panel vid in the next week.
brazil here
Great stuff! And i don't even have an Ax-8 .... yet :D
why oh why are so many demos aimed at sixteen yer old death metal heads so boring clone upon clone of Slayer