MRGN AC-20 – Fractal FM3 Preset

IMPORTANT NOTES

1. UPDATE YOUR FIRMWARE: Please upgrade the firmware on your FM3. and make sure to use the latest version of FM3 Edit 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. FOOT SWITCH/FC MAPPING: This preset includes custom mapping for the foot switches and Fractal FC Controllers. See the ‘FOOT SWITCH/FC MAPPING’ section for more info.
4. CYGNUS & CNFB UPDATE: We have updated the amp block for the Cygnus and CNFB firmware updates. You’ll need to be running at least firmware 5.02 for this update.

INCUDED PRESETS

1. MATCH DC-30 WT – this preset is voiced for single coils and low-output humbuckers
2. MATCH DC-30 HB – this preset is voiced for more traditional humbuckers
3. WT FX BLOCKS – this preset includes the additional effects blocks found in the Axe-FX III preset. Feel free to copy and paste these into any preset for additional functionality.

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

SIGNAL FLOW AND EFFECTS

MAIN PRESETS:

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: Four stages of overdrive
   1. Channel A: Tone of Kings (Analogman King of Tone – low gain)
   2. Channel B: T808 Mod (Tube Screamer)
   3. Channel C: Suhr Riot Ge
   4. Channel D: Shimmer Drive
4. Amp 1: Matchbox D-30 (Matchless DC-30)
   1. Only channel A is set up for each preset
5. 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)
6. Chorus 1
   1. Channel B: Dimension 1
   2. Channel A : Japan CE-2
   3. Channel C: Analog Stereo
   4. Channel D: Dimension 1 (more pronounced chorus effect)
7. Delay 1:  Quarter note and 8th note delays
   1. Channel A: Analog Stereo (1/4 delay with a wide stereo field)
   2. Channel B: Lo-Fi Tape (1/4 delay)
   3. Channel C: Analog Stereo (1/8 delay with a wide stereo field)
   4. Channel D: Lo-Fi Tape (1/8 delay)
8. Delay 2:  Dotted 8th and Dual delays
   1. Channel A: Stereo Mind Guy (1/8d delay)
   2. Channel B: Stereo Tape(1/8d delay)
   3. Channel C: Stereo Mind Guy (Dual stereo delay – 1/8 and Dotted 8th in stereo)
   4. Channel D: Stereo Tape (ambient stereo delay for swells)
9. Reverb 1: Four different reverb options
   1. Channel A: London Plate
   2. Channel B: Recording Studio C
   3. Channel C: Stratocumulus – ambient cloud type verb
   4. Channel D: Stratocumulus – bigger cloud verb for swells
10. PlexDly: Big verbs
    1. Channel A: PlexVerb – ambient cloud type reverb
    2. Channel B: PlexVerb – ambient cloud type reverb (bigger than ChA)
    3. Channel C: Shimmer Verb – Shimmer (uses a lot of DSP)
    4. Channel D: Plex Shift – Different type of shimmer verb
11. Out 1

WT FX Preset: This preset includes the additional effects blocks and channels found in the full Axe-FX III preset. Feel free to copy and paste these effects blocks into any FM3 preset. Please pay attention to signal routing – for example, the delays and reverbs are meant to be added in parallel paths.

1. Input 1
2. Pitch 1
   1. Channel A: Dual Shift (POG type effect, subtle)
   2. Channel B: Dual Pitch (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)
3. 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)
4. PanTrm 1
   1. Channel A : Tremolo – fixed tempo
   2. Channel B: Tremolo (1/4 Trip note sync)
   3. Channel C: Bias Trem – Rate is mapped to LFO1 for a ramping tremolo (make sure to copy the ‘Controllers’ settings into the patch for LFO1 to be correct
   4. Channel D: Tremolo (1/16 note sync – set for a choppy trem sound)
5. Delay 1: (All dotted eighth note delays)
   1. Channel A: Stereo Mind Guy
   2. Channel B: Vintage Digital
   3. Channel C: 2290 w/ Modulation
   4. Channel D: Stereo Tape
6. Delay 2: (All dual stereo delays)
   1. Channel A: Stereo 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)
7. Reverb 1: (Big ambient verbs)
   1. Channel A: Stratocumulus
   2. Channel B: Cirrocumulus
   3. Channel C: Deep Space
   4. Channel D: Nimbostratus
8. 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)

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 1, Channel A)
• Scene 3: DRIVE+. Med Drive (Drive 1, Channel B)
• Scene 4: P&W LEAD. Big drive (Drive 1B +Control Switch 1) with big verb and dual stereo delay (1/8 + 1/8d).
• Scene 5: AMBI CLEAN. Clean tone with stereo delay (1/8 + 1/8d) and big reverb.
• Scene 6: 80’s Clean. Clean tone with chorus, dotted 8th delay.
• Scene 7: ROCK LEAD. Lead tone with fewer wet effects
• Scene 8: SWELLS. Huge ambient swells. Engages the swells delay and verb (channel D on both delay and reverb blocks)

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’ in the ‘Effects’ layout if you use an FC-6 or FC-12. 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.

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 the Badger amp or 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.

DRIVE BLOCK

All four channels in the drive block are set up to give you access to four different levels of gain.

DELAY BLOCK

All four channels in the delay block are set up to give you access to four different delays, from subtle quarter note delay to huge ambient swells delay

REVERB BLOCK

All four channels in the delay block are set up to give you access to four different delays, from subtle quarter note delay to huge ambient swells delay

FOOT SWITCH/FC MAPPING & PER PRESET OVERRIDES

FC-6 // OMG9 Custom Layout

This preset is optimized for the OMG9 custom layout for the Fractal FC-6 controller. The OMG9 Layout is available here from Fractal: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/fm3-fc-6-omg9.160180/

The ‘Effects’ layout has been modified with custom overrides (see below) so you will see the effects that are relevant to this preset.

Per-Preset Overrides

If you would like to use custom overrides, we have set up Per-Preset overrides for both effects and scenes. 

HERE ARE THE PER-PRESET MAPPINGS

PP1: Scene 1

PP2: Scene 2

PP3: Scene 3

PP4: Scene 4

PP5: Scene 5

PP6: Scene 6

PP7: Scene 7

PP8: Scene 8

PP9: Drive 1A – ‘KOT’ Drive

PP10: Drive 1B – ‘808’

PP11: Drive 1C – ‘Riot’

PP12: Delay 1 – ‘1/4 DLY’

PP13: Delay 2A – ‘1/8d DLY’

PP14: Delay 2C – ‘DualST DLY’

PP15: Delay 2D – ‘Swells DLY’

PP16: Reverb 1A – ‘Plate Verb’

PP17: Reverb 1B – ‘Rec C Verb’

PP18: Reverb 1C – ‘Cloud Verb’

PP19: Reverb 1A – ‘CloudVerb+’

PP20: Control Switch 1 – ‘Amp Gain’

PP21: Chorus 1

PP22: Plex1 – ‘Plex Verb’

PP24:Tap Tempo/Tuner

*PLEASE NOTE: These per-preset settings will not override any of the default settings except for Layout 3 for the FC Controllers (the effects layout).

MAKING CHANGES TO THESE ASSIGNMENTS

If you’d like to change any of these assignments (either the Per-Preset Assignments or the Foot Switch assignments), you can do so in the ‘FC CONTROLLERS’ and ‘Per-Preset FC’ menus in FM3 Edit. 

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 FM3 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 FM3. 

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.