1. DL manuals
  2. Fractal
  3. Music Equipment
  4. AXE-FX II
  5. Quick Reference Manual

Fractal AXE-FX II Quick Reference Manual

Manual is about: preamp/FX processor

Summary of AXE-FX II

  • Page 1

    Axe-fx ii amp & cab quick reference guide for axe-edit amp and cab block parameters explained amp and cab descriptions amp speaker types matched with axe-fx cabs cliff’s gain controls guide drive block descriptions cc assigments sorted by function & cc content compiled from the axe-fx ii manual, wik...

  • Page 2

    Input drive – also known as drive, volume, gain, etc. It is the knob closest to the input jack. In many cases it has a bright cap so the frequency response will be dependent on the knob position. As the gain increases the tone shifts from a treble and upper mid emphasis to a bass and lower mid empha...

  • Page 3

    Low res freq/q/resonance – guitar loudspeakers have a low-frequency resonance, typically about 100 hz. This shifts up slightly when the speaker is mounted in an enclosure and is typically lower for open back cabs. This resonance causes an increase in the power amplifier response due to the finite ou...

  • Page 4

    Cf comp* – controls the amount of preamp compression and sets the compression threshold of the cathode follower. Many models default to zero as they do not have measureable compression. Dynamics – controls a dynamics processor that can be used to alter the dynamic response of the amp algorithms. Whe...

  • Page 5

    Presence shift – only available on mesa boogie mark iv’s with a “pull shift” on the presence knob (usa lead and usa rhythm). When engaged, it normalizes the amount of high frequencies produced in the power section. Presence will be more effective and will act on a higher frequency range. Note that i...

  • Page 6

    Low cut freq – reduces the amount of low frequency (10-1000hz) before the preamp input. Use this is to tighten up a tubby bass end. Somewhere between 10-150hz is generally where it will sound best for standard guitar tones. Also see cut (basic page). High cut freq – reduces the amount of high freque...

  • Page 7

    Top row bottom row tremolo freq/depth (bias tremolo) – works by varying the bias of the virtual power tubes, resulting in a particularly “organic” sound. Most importantly, the tremolo is “self-ducking” and decreases at higher signal amplitudes. On some amps high values of bias trem depth can result ...

  • Page 8

    Low/high cut – adjusts the cutoff point of first order low/high pass filters. Increase the low cut if the sound is too “bassy” or “boomy.” decrease the high cut for a darker cab tone. Common settings are 80-150 hz for high pass, and 5-7 khz for low pass. Proximity – causes an increase in bass or low...

  • Page 9

    Effect type hi-/ultra-res – mono processing of hi res irs (2048 samples, 43ms), or ultrares irs (up to 8000 samples, 167ms). Normal res – mono processing of normal resolution irs (1024 samples, 21ms). Stereo ultrares – stereo processing of ultrares irs. Stereo – stereo processing at normal resolutio...

  • Page 10

    1959slp jump . . . . . . . . . . Marshall 1959slp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Reissuse of a late 60’s 100w marshall super lead model 1959. See plexi 100w for the original. Emulates “jumpering the inputs” on a 4-hole amp. 1959slp normal . . . . . . . . Marshall 1959slp . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

  • Page 11

    Brit jvm od1 gn . . . . . . . . Marshall jvm410 (od1, green) . . . . .Od1 channel, green mode, hot-rodded. Brit jvm od1 or . . . . . . . . . Marshall jvm410 (od1, orange) . . .Od1 channel, orange mode, extra gain. For red mode, enable boost or increase the input trim parameter. Brit jvm od2 gn . . ....

  • Page 12

    Axe-fx amp based on description dirty shirley . . . . . . . . . . . . Friedman dirty shirley . . . . . . . . . . . . .40w, 6l6. Designed to be an ultra-fat, sweet-sounding, classic rock amp. Based on a jtm45. Div/13 cj $ . . . . . . . . . . . . Divided by 13 cj 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11w, b...

  • Page 13

    Axe-fx amp based on description hipower jumped . . . . . . . Hiwatt dr103 (normal/brilliant) . . .Emulates “jumpering the inputs” on a 4-hole amp. Hipower normal . . . . . . . . Hiwatt dr103 (normal) . . . . . . . . . . . .Normal channel. Hot kitty $ . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bad cat hot cat 30r (ch...

  • Page 14

    Axe-fx amp based on description on most other amps. To achieve the best sound, also back off the preamp gain. Solo 100 rhy . . . . . . . . . . . . Soldano slo-100 (nrml/crunch) . . .Normal channel, crunch gain selector. Aggressive rhythm. Solo 88 lead . . . . . . . . . . . . Soldano x88r preamp (rhy...

  • Page 15

    Axe-fx amp based on description vibra-king fat $ . . . . . . . . Fender vibro-king . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fat switch on. Vibrato lux . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fender vibrolux reverb . . . . . . . . . . .1963 blackface model, 6l6. Early dire straits tone. Vibrato verb . . . . . . . . . . . ...

  • Page 16

    1 1x6 oval 2 1x8 tweed 3 1x10 gold 4 1x10 blue 5 1x12 tweed 6 1x12 black 7 1x12 blue 8 1x12 e12l (rw) 9 1x12 studio 10 1x12 emi open back (jm) 11 1x12 boogafunk blue (oh) 12 1x12 boogafunk e12l (oh) 13 1x12 tweed blue (rw) 14 1x12 tweed deluxe (rw) 15 1x12 brit blue (rw) 16 1x12 brit g12h30 (rw) 17 ...

  • Page 17

    1 1x6 oval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6” supro, 6x9 oval speaker used in some early amps (supro). Combine with a plexi for some zep. 2 1x8 tweed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1x8 fender blues jr. Really thin and cutting for roots blues leads. 3 1x10 gold ...

  • Page 18

    41 4x12 1960b v30 (rw) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Straight marshall 1960 with four celestion vintage 30s. 42 4x12 hi-power (rw) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1975 hiwatt se4123 cabinet with four vintage 50w fane purplebacks. 43 4x12 recto v30 (rw) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Oversized mesa rectifi...

  • Page 19

    86 1x12 hawaii mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ohau cabinet (producer pack). 87 1x15 tweed pro mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fender pro with 15” speaker (producer pack). 88 1x15 empire mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15” eminence speaker (producer pack). 89 2x10 super tweed mi...

  • Page 20

    1959slp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G12m, g12h, g12l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See g12m and g12h footnotes; 35 (g12l) 1987x. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G12m, g12h, g12l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See g12m and g12h footnotes; 35 (g12l) 5153 ...

  • Page 21

    Gibtone scout . . . . . . . . . 1x10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 4 (1x10); 84, 115, 116 (1xg12m) herbie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V30, g12k100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See v30 footnote; 54 (g12k100) h...

  • Page 22

    Understanding all the different gain controls the amp block in the axe-fx has a variety of gain controls that change depending upon the amp model selected. These controls are: input drive input trim overdrive master volume these various controls are located at fixed points in the virtual amplifier c...

  • Page 23

    Drive block description bb pre * . . . . . . . . . . . . . Xotic pedals bb preamp bender fuzz . . . . . . . . Classic tonebender circuit bit crusher . . . . . . . . . . A black box we found lying in the trash outside studio harshclip blues od . . . . . . . . . . . Marshall bluesbreaker esoteric acb ...

  • Page 24

    Amp 1 bypass . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 amp 1 x/y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 amp 2 bypass . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 amp 2 x/y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 bypass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 cab 1 bypass . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 cab 1 x/y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 cab ...

  • Page 25

    Input volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 out 1 volume . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 out 2 volume . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 bypass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 external control 1 . . . . . . . . . 16 ...

  • Page 27

    Revision history red text in a parameter description indicates a new function not yet accessible in axe-edit. 2015-01-17 – added cliff’s gain controls guide with flow chart by pacocasanovas. 2014-12-24 – firmware 17.03 update. 2014-12-14 – firmware 17.02 update, axe-edit 3.1.4 update. 2014-12-04 – f...