HIWT 20 TM – Fractal Tone Match Presets (Axe-FX III, FM3, FM9)

NOTE: This demo was made with the Helix patch, but the Fractal presets sound and function very similarly.

INCUDED PRESETS

This download includes patches for Axe-FX III, FM3, and FM9. Please make sure to import the appropriate patch for your hardware – they are not interchangeable.

• HIWT 20 TM WT S – This patch uses the IR’s and is meant for guitars with single coils.
• HIWT 20 TM WT H – This patch uses the IR’s and is meant for guitars with humbuckers.
• NOTE: The FM3 folder includes an ‘FX” patch. This patch includes the additional effects blocks from the full Axe-FX and FM9 patches. Feel free to substitute any of these effects blocks into the main patch to suite your needs.

HIWATT CUSTOM 20, NOW IN YOUR FRACTAL HARDWARE

For these patches, we tone-matched the stock Fractal amp models to HIWATT Custom 20 amplifier. The result is a Tone Match User Cab that completely transforms the Fractal amp models, making the Fractal hardware sound exactly like our amp, and the microphones, preamps, and EQ chains that we use to record it.

The Custom 20 is a hand-wired 20-watt combo amplifier from HIWATT. It delivers the legendary HIWATT sound in a more compact and lower wattage package. It’s only 20 watts, but it can sound enormous. This amp shines for both clean tones and classic rock rhythm tones.

We mic’d the cab with a Royer 121 and Earthworks SR25 through a stereo Neve 1073 preamp.

SIGNAL FLOW AND EFFECTS

1. Input
2. Compressor
3. Pitch (POG)
4. Drives: KOT (yellow and red), 808, and more
5. Volume
6. Amp
7. IR (Tone Match)
8. Tremolo
9. Chorus
10. Delays: 1/8 delay, Dotted 8th delay, Dual stereo delay
11. Reverbs: subtle and ambient
12. Output

The FM3 presets cannot fit all the effects into a single patch. For that platform, we include the amp and essential effects in the main presets, and then we include the additional effects blocks in the ‘FX’ preset. Feel free to mix and match the additional ‘FX’ blocks into the main patches to suite your needs.

BLOCK CHANNELS

For each effect block, we set up all four channels to give you as many options as possible for each individual effect types. For example, in the Compressor block, there are four different types of compression. For drives, we use all available channels in each drive block to get different overdrive flavors. Please experiment with the channels in all the different blocks to find your favorites. Typically we use our favorites in Channel A.

The exceptions to this are usually the amp and cab blocks – for those we usually only set up Channel A.

CONTROL SWITCH 1 (CS1)

Control Switch 1 (CS1) is set to change amp gain settings. This essentially gives you another drive – pure amp overdrive.

In order to adjust these settings, on the amp block, right-click on ‘Input Drive’. Adjust the ‘Min’ and ‘Max’ values to set your desired amount of drive for when the button is off (Min) or on (Max).

We’ve mapped it to a button labeled ‘Amp Gain’ on the FC controllers. See the ‘Per-Preset Mapping and Overrides’ for more info.

You can control which scenes have the Amp Gain button on using the ‘SC Per Scene’ tab in the ‘Controllers’ menu.

SCENES

The following scenes are set up for instant access to various tones:

• SCENE 1: CLEAN. Base clean tone
• SCENE 2: DRIVE. Stage 1 drive tone
• SCENE 3: DRIVE+. Big rhythm tone
• SCENE 4: P&W LEAD. Lead tone with lots of delay and verb
• SCENE 5: AMBI CLEAN. Clean tone with lots of delay and verb
• SCENE 6: CLEAN TREM. Clean tone with tremolo
• SCENE 7: 80s CLEAN. Clean tone with chorus
• SCENE 8: SWELLS. Big ambient swells tone