Great Things – Phil Wickham – Fractal Axe-FX III Preset

In this video Brian is playing a Shelton Electric Instruments SkyFlite IV with Porter pickups

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.

INCLUDED PRESETS

This download includes two presets:

• Great Things WT (SC) – this preset is meant for guitars with single coils
• Great Things WT (HB) – this preset is meant for guitars with humbuckers

As with all downloaded patches and presets, you’ll want to dial them in to your specific guitars and playing style. These two presets should be a great starting point for your guitars. See the ‘Making Adjustments’ section of this ReadMe for more info on how to tailor them to your setup.

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): set to be somewhat transparent, general use comp.
   2. Channel B: Studio FF Compressor 1: Subtle compression
   3. Channel C: Dynamicomp – Dynacomp, lots of squish
   4. Channel D: Optical Compressor – LA-2A style compression
3. Pitch 1
   1. Channel A: Dual Chromatic (POG type effect, subtle)
   2. Channel B: Dual Chromatic (POG, more pronounced)
   3. Channel C: Crystal Echos (Shimmer)
   4. Channel D: Classic Whammy (Octave up Whammy – the ‘Control’ parameter is not assigned to an external pedal, so assign the control to an expression pedal and have some fun)
4. Drive 1 – First Stage OD
   1. Channel A: Tone of Kings (Analogman King of Tone)
   2. Channel B: SSD Preamp
   3. Channel C: FET Boost (set up to mimic a Klon)
   4. Channel D: Timothy 2 (Timmy)
5. Drive 2 – Second Stage OD
   1. Channel A: T808 Mod (Tube Screamer)
   2. Channel B: Tone of Kings (Analogman King of Tone, medium drive)
   3. Channel C: Suhr Riot Ge
   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. Amp 1: Matchbox D-30 (Matchless DC-30)
   1. Channel A: Voiced for single coils and lower output humbuckers
   2. Channel B: Voiced for medium to higher output humbuckers
8. Cab 1: (only channel A is set up):
   1. Cab 1: 2×12 Matchbox 160 C (Factory 2, 79)
   2. Cab 2: 2×12 Matchbox -R 121 B AB (Factory 2, 91)
9. Graphic EQ: Always on EQ (only channel A set up)
10. Chorus 1
    1. Channel A : Dimension 1 (subtle chorus effect)
    2. Channel B: Japan CE-2
    3. Channel C: Analog Stereo
    4. Channel D: Dimension 1 (more pronounced chorus effect)
11. Delay 1:  (Quarter and 8th note delays)
    1. Channel A: Analog Stereo (1/4 delay with a wide stereo field)
    2. Channel B: Stereo Tape (1/4 delay with a wide stereo field)
    3. Channel C: Analog Stereo (1/8 delay with a wide stereo field)
    4. Channel D: Stereo Tape (1/8 delay with a wide stereo field)
12. Delay 2: (All dotted eighth note delays)
    1. Channel A: Deluxe Mind Guy
    2. Channel B: Vintage Digital
    3. Channel C: 2290 w/ Modulation
    4. Channel D: Stereo Tape
13. 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)
14. Reverb 1: (‘Normal’ verbs)
    1. Channel A: Recording Studio C
    2. Channel B: Medium Room
    3. Channel C: Large Hall
    4. Channel D: Medium Plate
15. Reverb 2: (Big ambient verbs)
    1. Channel A: Stratocumulus
    2. Channel B: Cirrocumulus
    3. Channel C: Deep Space
    4. Channel D: Nimbostratus
16. Plex Delay 1: (Plex verb for huge swells and ambient reverb)
    1. Channel A: Plex Verb (big ambient reverb for swells)
    2. Channel B: Plex Verb (ambient reverb – not quite a huge as channel A)
    3. Channel C: Shimmer Verb (shimmer)
    4. Channel D: Plex Shimmer (shimmer – not as smooth as Channel C)
17. Out 1

SCENES

This preset is meant to be used with scenes to replicate different sections of the song:

• Scene 1: INTRO/RIFF – Lead tone with chorus (this scene includes a 2db volume boost in the output block under ‘scene levels’)
• Scene 2: CH/RHY – Slightly pushed tone for the chorus and basic rhythm parts
• Scene 3: VS 2 – Cleaner tone with delay and chorus for verse 2
• Scene 4: TURN – Bigger drive tone for the section right before the bridge
• Scene 5: BRIDGE – Clean tone with chorus for the bridge
• Scene 6:: BRIDGE BLD – Same as the bridge but more drive
• Scene 7: CH/RHY (+) – Same as scene 2 but with more drive – I like to use this on the last chorus
• Scene 8: SWELLS – huge ambient swells with shimmer

USAGE NOTES

STEREO

Everything after the amp runs 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 most blocks, We’ve set up multiple channels to give you different options for any given effect. 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

All three 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 all four delay blocks (that’s 16 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 four different flavors of quarter note delay, Delay 2 is all 8th note delays, Delay 3 is all dotted 8th noted delays, and Delay 4 is all stereo dual delays. Delay four 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.

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).

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. We recommending setting Buttons 6 & 12 on Layout 7 to Preset +/-1  inc/dec. This way you can cycle through your presets one at a time from Layout 7.

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: Drive 3 – Not used

PP12: Reverb 1 – Layout 8, Button 5, ‘Plate Verb’

PP13: Reverb 2 – Layout 8, Button 6, ‘Cloud Verb’

PP14: Plex 1 – NOT ASSIGNED

PP15: Delay 1 – Layout 8, Button 8, ‘1/4 DLY’

PP16: Delay 2 – Layout 8, Button 9, ‘1/8d DLY’

PP17: Delay 3 – Layout 8, Button 10, ‘DualST DLY’

PP18: Delay 4 – NOT ASSIGNED (Effect not used in this preset)

PP19: TremPan 1 – NOT ASSIGNED (Effect not used in this preset)

PP20: Chorus 1 – Layout 8, Button 11

PP21: Pitch 1 – Layout 8, Button 12

PP22: Scene 8/1 Toggle – Not Used

PP23: Control Switch 1 (Amp Gain) – Layout 8, button 4

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. The amp blocks are set up for single coils using Channel A and humbuckers using Channel B.

NOTE: If you want to use Channel B of the amps, please be aware that you’ll need to change to Channel B in every scene, otherwise the scenes will switch the channels. You may prefer to create a duplicate of this preset and copy the Channel B settings into Channel A of the amp block.

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.
• 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.