PlexMan DW – Fractal Axe-FX III Preset

IMPORTANT NOTES

1. UPDATE YOUR FIRMWARE: Please upgrade the firmware on your Axe-FX III. and make sure to use the latest version of Axe-Edit III before installing this preset. If your firmware is not up to date, this preset may not load.
2. EVERYTHING IS STOCK: This preset does not use third party IR’s. If you’d like to experiment with 3rd party IR’s, feel free to do so in the cab block. 
3. FC FUNCTIONALITY BUILT IN: This preset was built to work with the Fractal FC-12 and an external expression pedal plugged into the ‘Pedal 1’ input. See the Per-Preset overrides and FC assignments below.
4. CYGNUS UPDATE: We have updated the amp block for the Cygnus firmware update. You’ll need to be running at least firmware 16.00 for this update.
5. TONE MATCH PRESET: This is a “Tone Match” preset, meaning we used the Tone Match feature to ‘profile/capture’ an actual amp. There are special instructions in the Import section about how to import the Tone Match file(s).

INCUDED PRESETS

1. PlexMan DW WT (SC)– this preset is voiced for single coils and low-output humbuckers
2. PlexMan DW WT (HB) – this preset is voiced for more traditional humbuckers

Both presets are the same except for the amp, EQ, and control switch settings. See the ‘Control Switch’ section below for more info.

HOW TO IMPORT THIS PRESET AND USER CAB(S)

1. Connect your Axe-FX to your computer using a USB Cable
2. Download and instal the ‘Axe-Edit III’ app from Fractal
3. IMPORT THE PRESETS: In the ‘Axe-Edit III’ app, select ‘Tools’ and ‘Manage Presets’. Drag and drop the folder of presets (or the individual presets) into the browser area, and save them to an open preset slot
4. IMPORT THE USER CAB(S): In the ‘Axe-Edit III’ app, select ‘Tools’ and ‘Manage Cabs’. Drag and drop the folder of user cabs (or the individual cabs) into the browser area, and save them to an open cab slot
5. ALTERNATIVE – IMPORT THE BUNDLES: You can also import the preset and cab bundles. To do this, you must select ‘Preset’ -> ‘Import Preset’  in the Axe-EDIT III app. Then choose the Preset+Cab bundle and import it. You will be asked to select a preset and cabinet slot. NOTE: You do not need to import the same user cabinets twice – just make sure they are mapped correctly in the preset.

TONE MATCH – 3RD POWER DREAM WEAVER

To create this preset we used the Tone Match feature to match (think: profile or capture) a 3rd Power Dream Weaver. The Dream Weaver includes multiple channels and voicings which you can blend together. Our favorite sound is the Plexi channel blended with the Blonde (Bassman) channel. We’ve matched both of these channels in this preset. The Cab Block includes the ‘Tone Match’ cabs. Tone Matching creates an end result that is nearly indistinguishable from the mic’d amplifier.

ASSIGN THE USER CABS IN THE CAB BLOCK

After you import the presets and user cabs (these are the tone match cabs), you’ll need to make sure they are assigned correctly in the ‘Cab’ block. This does not happen automatically, so you will need to manually assign the cabs.

1. Navigate the to Cab block in Axe-EDIT III
2. In Channel A, assign the following cabs to the correct slots:
   1. Cab 1L: WT 3P DW Plexi TM
   2. Cab 2R: WT 3P DW Blonde TM
3. You may alternatively use Channel B in the cab block – these are stock cabs. You won’t get the ‘Tone Match’ experience, but we’ve selected cabs that work well with these amp models.

SIGNAL FLOW AND EFFECTS

1. Input 1 (the Input Noise Gate is turned off to save CPU).
2. Compressor 1
   1. Channel A: JFET Compressor (1176 Style Comp): set to be somewhat transparent, general use comp.
   2. Channel B: Studio FF Compressor 1: set to be somewhat transparent, general use comp.
   3. Channel C: Dynamicomp (Dynacomp): Lots of compression and squish.
   4. Channels D: Optical Compressor (LA-2A style)
3. Drive 1  – First Stage OD
   1. Channel A: Jam Ray
   2. Channel B: Tone of Kings
   3. Channel C: FET Boost (set up to mimic a Klon)
   4. Channel D: Timothy Up
4. Drive 2 – Second Stage OD
   1. Channel A: Tone of Kings (higher gain) 
   2. Channel B: Maxoff 808
   3. Channel C: BB Pre
   4. Channel D: Esoteric ACB
5. Drive 3 – Third Stage OD
   1. Channel A: Box o’ Crunch
   2. Channel B: Suhr Riot (Ge)
   3. Channel C: Eternal Love
   4. Channel D: Shimmer Drive
6. Vol/Pan 1
   1. NOTE: The ‘Volume’ parameter is NOT MAPPED. You’ll need to map this parameter to an expression pedal if you’d like to use the volume block
7. Chorus 1
   1. Channel A : Dimension  1
   2. Channel B: Japan CE-2
   3. Channel C: Analog Stereo
   4. Channel D: Dimension 1 (more pronounced chorus effect)
8. PanTrm 1
   1. Channel A : Tremolo (basic tremolo)
   2. Channel B: Harmonic Trem
   3. Channel C: Bias Trem – Bradford’s ramping trem settings (based on LFO1a) 
   4. Channel D: Tremolo (1/16 note sync – set for a choppy trem sound)
9. Delay 1:  (Quarter and 8th note delays)
   1. Channel A: Stereo Tape  (1/8 delay) 
   2. Channel B: Analog Stereo (1/8 delay)
   3. Channel C: Stereo Tape  (1/4 delay)
   4. Channel D: Analog Stereo (1/4)
10. Delay 2: (All dotted eighth note delays)
    1. Channel A: Deluxe Mind Guy
    2. Channel B: Stereo Tape
    3. Channel C: Vintage Digital
    4. Channel D: Stereo BBD
11. Delay 3: (All dual stereo delays)
    1. Channel A: Deluxe Mind Guy (1/8 and Dotted 8th in stereo)
    2. Channel B: Stereo Tape (Dotted 8th and Quater in stereo)
    3. Channel C: Stereo BBD (Quater and Quater Triplet in stereo)
    4. Channel D: Vintage Digital (Quater and Dotted 8th – huge washy delay for swells)
12. Reverb 1: (‘Normal’ verbs in parallel)
    1. Channel A: London Plate
    2. Channel B: Recording Studio C
    3. Channel C: Large Hall
    4. Channel D: Medium Plate
13. Reverb 2: (Big ambient verbs)
    1. Channel A: North Church (ambient)
    2. Channel B: Stratocumulus
    3. Channel C: Cirrocumulus
    4. Channel D: Nimbostratus (with shimmer)
14. Amp 1:
    1. Channel A: 1987x Treble (dialed in for the Tone Match cab)
    2. Channel B: 1987x (dialed in for the stock cab)
15. Amp 2:
    1. Channel A: 59 Bassguy Bright (dialed in for the Tone Match cab)
    2. Channel B: 59 Bassguy Bright (dialed in for the stock cab)
16. Cab 1:
    1. Channel A: 
       1. Cab 1 L: WT 3p DW Plexi TM (Tone Match User Cab)
       2. Cab 2 R: WT 3P DW Blonde TM (Tone Match User Cab
    2. Channel B:
       1. 4×12 Brit 70s GB 160 A
       2. 4×10 Bassguy 121
17. OUT

SCENES

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

• Scene 1: CLEAN. Basic clean tone with verb and quarter delay
• Scene 2: DRIVE. Light Drive (Drive 1A)
• Scene 3: DRIVE+. Med Drive (Drive A, Control Switch 1)
• Scene 4: P&W LEAD. Big lead tone with delay and reverb
• Scene 5: AMBI CLEAN. Clean tone with stereo delay (1/4 + 1/8d) and big reverb.
• Scene 6: CLN CHORUS. Clean tone with chorus
• Scene 7: SOLO. Traditional Solo/lead tone (fewer wet effects)
• Scene 8: SWELLS. Big ambient tones

USAGE NOTES

WET EFFECTS IN FRONT OF THE AMPS

All the wet effects (reverbs and delays) are positioned in front of the amplifiers in this patch. This recreates the experience of using a stereo pedalboard into stereo amps. The character of the reverbs and delays is greatly affected by the amps themselves. This is also why there is no ‘amp gain’ functionality in this patch.

STEREO

Everything after the v volume block is in stereo. If you are running mono, you’ll need to sum your signal to mono before going to FOH (if you only use the Left output, won’t hear some of the delays at all).

The easiest way to make this adjustment is in the ‘Setup’ menu:

• Choose ‘Setup’, and select ‘I/O’
• In OUTPUT 1 CONFIGURATION (choose the physical output you are using), change the ‘Mode’. Select ‘STEREO’ if you are running in stereo. Select ‘’SUM L+R’ if you are running mono. This will convert your output to mono and sum the stereo image. This will also cause all your presets to output in mono, as it is a global setting.

BLOCK CHANNELS

For almost all blocks, we’ve set up multiple channels to give you different options for any given effect. Feel free to experiment and find the sounds you like best. However, not all blocks have all four channels set up – some have just couple, and some only one. See the Signal Flow section above to see what is set up in what channel for any given block.

DRIVES

The drive blocks increase in gain as you go up, so Drive 1 is lower gain than Drive 2, etc. Within each drive block, all four channels are set up to give you different flavors of the same gain structure. Every guitar reacts differently with drives (and amps), so it’s good to have options. We’ve chosen our personal favorites within each block and left them in Channel A, but feel free to experiment with your setup to find what you like best.

DELAYS

We’ve used all four channels of three delay blocks (that’s 12 different delays!) . Each delay block runs in parallel with the others so the delays don’t run into each other. 

Delay blocks are separated into different delay times. For example, Delay 1 is all quarter or 1/8th note delays. Delay 2 is all dotted 8th noted delays, and Delay 3 is all stereo dual delays. Delay three is a bit different because each channel will give you different rhythmic delays, and Channel D is set to give you a huge wash for swells.

The delays run between the amp and cab to simulate an effects loop in an amp. This means the cabinet will filter the tone of the delays, making them a bit less clean/pristine (we prefer the way they sound this way). Feel free to move them all after the cab (but before the verbs) to experience them in a different way.

REVERB

We’ve set up reverbs the same way as delays – each reverb block contains four versions of the same type of reverb (normal and big).

Reverb blocks 1 and 2 give you ‘normal’ and ambient reverbs respectively.

PER-PRESET MAPPING AND OVERRIDES

This preset integrates with the Fractal FC-12. We’ve set up Per-Preset overrides for both effects and scenes, and we’ve mapped them to Layouts 7 (Perform 1) and 8 (Perform 2).  If you have an FC-12, the following assignments should be plug-and-play. Layout 7 will be your scenes and Layout 8 will be individual effects, plus swells.

HERE ARE THE PER-PRESET MAPPINGS AND THE BUTTONS THEY’RE ASSIGNED TO OVERRIDE 

PP1: Scene 1 – Layout 7 Button 2

PP2: Scene 2 – Layout 7 Button 3

PP3: Scene 3 – Layout 7 Button 4

PP4: Scene 4 – Layout 7 Button 5

PP5: Scene 5 – Layout 7 Button  8

PP6: Scene 6 – Layout 7 Button 9

PP7: Scene 7 – Layout 7 Button 10

PP8: Scene 8 – Layout 7, Button 11

PP9: Drive 1 – Layout 8, Button 2

PP10: Drive 2 – Layout 8, Button 3

PP11: Delay 1 – Layout 8, Button 8

PP12: Delay 2 – Layout 8, Button 9

PP13: Delay 3 – Layout 8, Button 10

PP14: Reverb 1 – Layout 8, Button 5, ‘Plate Verb’

PP15: Reverb 2: Layout 8, Button 6

PP16: TremPan 1 – Layout 8, Button 12

PP17: Chorus 1 – Layout 8, Button 11

PP18: Pitch 1 – Not assigned to a button

PP19: NOT USED

PP20: Drive 3 – Layout 8, Button  4

PP21: Tap Tempo/Tuner – Layouts 7  & 8, Button 1 (displays BPM for Tap, Press & hold for tuner)

PP22: Layout switch (layouts 7 and 8) – Layouts 7 & 8, Button 7

PP23: Preset Inc +1 – Layout 7, Button 12

PP24: Preset Dec -1 – Layout 7, Button 6

MAKING CHANGES TO THESE ASSIGNMENTS

If you’d like to change any of these assignments (either the Per-Preset Assignments or the Overrides), you can do so in the ‘CONTROLLERS’ menu on the Axe FX III. Press ‘CONTROLLERS’ from the Home screen, then select ‘Per-Preset FC Settings’ and make changes.

If you would like to go back to your default settings for Layouts 7 and 8, you can reset the Overrides from the ‘Overrides’ menu in the ‘Per-Preset-FC Settings’ section.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS FOR YOUR SETUP

SETTING THE PRESET UP FOR YOUR GUITAR

All guitars are different, so you may want to make changes to suite your playing style and guitar. To adjust the preset for your guitars, the primary controls to adjust would be:

• Input Drive (and/or Input Trim). If the clean sounds from this preset are too dirty, lower the input drive and/or trim. Do the opposite if you want more gain. This preset is meant to be on the edge of breakup at it’s cleanest settings (otherwise the drives won’t stack properly).
• EQ settings (amp block – basic). Once the desired gain staging is set, the next adjustment would be the amp EQ settings.
• GEQ settings (Graphic EQ block). The 5-band Graphic EQ allows you to make simple changes to the overall tone. Feel free to adjust these to your liking. Since this is a passive EQ, you can make rather large changes to the faders.
• Output EQ settings (amp block). The Graphic EQ on the amp block is a great way to make final EQ adjustments. We’ve set it to ‘Post P.A.’, which means the EQ settings will not be affected by the Power Amp section.

ADJUSTING THE OVERALL LEVEL OF THE PRESET

The Axe FX III offers very useful tools to check overall level of individual presets and blocks. In the Output block you can monitor the overall output level. You can also monitor levels of each block individually from the front screen of the Axe FX. 

We’ve set this preset up so that the loudest settings peak around 0db (or a bit above). If you’d like to adjust the level up or down (to match it with other presets), we recommend adjusting one of the following:

• Level (amp block – basic). This will adjust the overall level of the preset up/down. Avoid using the ‘Master Volume’ control, as this will change the tone of the amp.
• Level (cab block). This will also adjust the overall level of the preset up/down.

And finally, thank you so much for purchasing this preset!