The Effects
65
•
Energyball
- Based on a very high-gain German amplifier. Lots of bass, great for aggressive,
drop-tuned riff work.
•
HAD ODS 1
- Based on a very rare amp used by the likes of Larry Carlton and Robben Ford.
•
Wrecker 1
- Based on another very rare and expensive amp designed by Ken Fischer.
•
Brit JM45
- Based on a legendary British Blues amplifier. This amp was actually a copy of the
American “bass” amp that many guitar players were using but with different output tubes and
transformer. Made famous by Eric Clapton and others.
•
Das Metall
- Based on a high-gain, boutique German amplifier famous for its aggressive
sound.
•
Plexi 2
- Similar to Plexi 1 but with a different “bright cap” value and different transformer
model. Lower gain and more “vintage” sounding.
BRIGHT -
Many amplifiers contain a “treble peaker” on the volume control. Some amplifiers have
a “bright switch” that can be used to engage or disengage the circuit. On some amps this switch is
built in to the volume control as a “pull on” switch or as a separate dedicated switch. On others the
circuit is hard-wired.
The Axe-Fx amp types default to a particular state for the bright switch. If the amp had a hard-wired
treble peaker the default state is on. If the amp had no circuit at all the default state is off. You many
override this state by selecting the
TREBLE
control and pressing
ENTER
. This will toggle the state
of the switch. The text “BRT” will appear under the control when the bright circuit is active.
If the original amp did not have a treble peaker circuit, the bright switch uses circuit values most
suited to an amp of that type. On some amps the effect may be subtle, on others, quite pronounced.
DRIVE -
Sets the preamp drive. Higher settings equal more preamp distortion. On some amplifier
types the drive control has a treble peaker (like the original). When the drive is turned down the low
frequencies are attenuated more than the high. As the drive is turned up the low frequencies are
increased more.
Many amplifiers have this feature and it can be heard as the drive is varied. You can use this to
achieve the exact sound you’re looking for when a drive block feeds the amp. Adjust the drive
control of the amp to achieve the desired amount of input treble peaking and then adjust the drive
and the output level of the drive block to achieve the desired amount of distortion.
The Drive control has 40 dB of range. At a setting of ‘0’ the gain is 40 dB below the maximum gain.
BOOST -
Selecting the
DRIVE
control and pressing
ENTER
toggles the input boost. Use this to add
more gain to the amp simulation.
BASS, MID, TREB -
Tone controls. The active tone controls in the Axe-Fx have up to twice the
range of a typical amplifier. When a tone control is set to the 12:00 position (0.0 dB) it is equivalent
to the simulated amplifiers control at 12:00. However, the boost cut range of the control is greater,
+/- 12 dB, whereas a typical amplifier may have only +/- 6 dB or less. This allows you to get sounds,
like heavily scooped mids or boosted treble, that normally wouldn't be possible.
