Howie to the Courtesy Phone

[CandidPicker]

Howie,

Thanks for providing the link to your SoundCloud clip. Didn't know you had the legato speed drills within your repertoire. Very nice! When you said dirt, I imagined all sorts of grit and distortion. Your lead is a much more refined and a singing lead, rather than a crunch or gritty type. My choice is similar to yours, although I typically prefer an clean, edge of break-up tone like that of Larry Carlton.

My Fractal FM9 has this down pat with a "D" style preset that uses several incarnations of the "D" style amps, some clean, some with mid push, others with extra drive and overdrive dialed in.

I've also got several presets that are exclusively dialed in for jazz songs, and at least one Shiva preset with 2 separate scenes that are clean and high gain as well. I use that sparingly because simply because fewer songs in my repertoire require this.

My hope is that once I've created extra several presets that will cover the range of what I might need with various amps and adjustments, it'll be easier to also work with both dirty and clean tones for whatever purpose my playlists might require. Since my FM9 doesn't do pant-flapping, but provides just enough "grainy" tones to sit between clean and dirt, I'm relatively happy with that.

I'm also actively working towards learning how to edit existing presets and send them to my FM9 user folder, much like how you'd scan a document, edit an email and send it off once you were done with it. It's much less of an annoyance than you might think, if one knows how to work with a computer editing program.

Thanks again for the SoundCloud link. My goals this year are merely to practice more so that open-mic jams will be not so much of a hardship trying to accompany the house band, or, perhaps being better equipped to do unaccompanied leads on acoustic as I used to 2002-2006. Time will tell.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Thanks for the kind words. But that’s not legato. Every single note in that intro is picked.

And if the Axe has great Dumble tones, I really do need one…I’d love to hear some examples of the D tones in your FM9!

 

[CandidPicker]

Thanks for the kind words. But that’s not legato. Every single note in that intro is picked.

And if the Axe has great Dumble tones, I really do need one…I’d love to hear some examples of the D tones in your FM9!

If each note is picked, you've got some serious chops. Sorry for the lengthy post below. I promised myself I'd not write so much so that you'd consider this a huge dump.

As much as I'd like to provide some SoundCloud clips of these models, when I replaced my older iMac last year, I'd forgotten to order enough DRAM, and my DAW plug-ins typically crash my DAW app. I've yet to find a workaround to this, but may try to send an FM9 signal thru without using any plug-ins, allowing the FM9 to speak for itself.

Regards the "D" models, the FM9 & Axe FX III as well as the FM3 all have several "D" amp models, including an ODS-100 Clean, Mid-Boost, as well as a couple Robben Ford models and at least one HRM model.

Surprisingly, the "D" models are pretty good if you know how to tweak them correctly. The FAS forum has several threads devoted to dialing in "D" style amps which can be found via the forum search engine.

Anyway, my reality this evening is covering a range of topics from what I know to what I don't know. My head tells me to stop trying to make sense of the mindless entertainment I'd been watching and simply try to cultivate better habits. (Promised myself I'd bake some cookies for both myself and co-workers this week, and need to put baking pans in the oven and clean up before calling it an evening.)

Yet, here's a peek at Yek's Guide to Amp Models related to what FAS offers:

"Dumble is THE most expensive amplifier available, no.1 on Vintage Guitar’s list of most valuable guitar amps. Jackson Browne’s asking price for a silverface Dumble is $ 225.000. Famous Dumble players include Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, John Mayer, Carlos Santana, Keith Urban, SRV, Eric Johnson, Joe Bonamassa. Howard Alexander Dumble retired in the ‘90s. They say there are less than 300 Dumble amps. More info on Wikipedia.

There’s always a lot of talk on the internet forums about Robben Ford's Dumble tone. It’s an elusive tone, worshipped by a lot of jazz / blues / fusion players. Thick, mid-heavy, smooth, stable, very touch-sensitive. That trademark tone is not for everybody: hit a power chord and it may terrible to your ears. “Note flip” is a certain tonal characteristic attributed to the Dumble and some of its

ODS-100 (Dumble Overdrive Special) clones. So what’s this mysterious note flip? Quote: “It sounds KIND of like it’s starting to feed back,
but it’s not. It flips the note up so that a different harmonic order is heard, or something like that”.

There’s more to Dumble than Robben Ford’s tone. Each Dumble was voiced specifically for its buyer by Dumble. Replicating an original Dumble amp is hard. The amp’s circuit often has “goop” all over it, hiding the electronics.

Cliff (FAS' founder) owns an Dumble with serial #213, 6L6 tubes and HRM circuit. The ODS-100 HRM amp models are based on this amp. The ODS-100 Ford amp models are based on schematics which supposedly represent Robben Ford’s Tan Dumble, serial #102.

“They call HRM “Hot Rubber Monkey” but what it really means is “Hot Rod Marshall”. The HRM Dumbles have a fixed Marshall tone stack at the output of the lead channel. This gives a little scoop to the mids.”

“The ODS-100 Ford 2 model is not based on the HRM model with the HRM tonestack removed. Whether or not the model matches any particular Dumble is unknown as we have not been able to procure a non-HRM Dumble yet. The model is based on schematics that were given to us that supposedly accurately represent Robben Ford's Dumble. Whether or not the schematics are accurate I do not know. The voltage divider at the output of V1B is set to 0.078 which is based on the values that are indicated on the schematic for the set-point of the trimmer. As no two Dumbles are identical it stands to reason that one person's interpretation of the ideal Dumble voicing may not agree with another's. Since V1 is running clean you can get more gain by simply increasing Input Trim. It will have basically the same effect as increasing the trimmer.”"

 

[Deleted member 5962]

CP, I promise you that every single note in that intro is picked. Thank you for the kind words, my friend. I really appreciate that.

I’ve been pretty happy with my Atomic AA3 and AA12, but I’m sure your FM9 is a step up. I really need to try one and see. I absolutely LOVE the tones Tag has been posting at The Gear Page of his Lous Electric Cobra and his Quinn TKT183, both of which are clones of a Dumble #183 that he owned. just SICK tones. Normally that wouldn’t be a tone I’d go crazy over, based on the stuff I like to play, but it’s SO good, I’d LOVE to get even close to that with a modeler. So thanks for taking the time to share with me some of the things the FM9 can do. I’ll look and check out some clips of it.

I know I joke around with you a lot but I’m sincerely appreciate of your kind words about my playing. THANK YOU!

 

[CandidPicker]

CP, I promise you that every single note in that intro is picked. Thank you for the kind words, my friend. I really appreciate that.

I’ve been pretty happy with my Atomic AA3 and AA12, but I’m sure your FM9 is a step up. I really need to try one and see. I absolutely LOVE the tones Tag has been posting at The Gear Page of his Lous Electric Cobra and his Quinn TKT183, both of which are clones of a Dumble #183 that he owned. just SICK tones. Normally that wouldn’t be a tone I’d go crazy over, based on the stuff I like to play, but it’s SO good, I’d LOVE to get even close to that with a modeler. So thanks for taking the time to share with me some of the things the FM9 can do. I’ll look and check out some clips of it.

I know I joke around with you a lot but I’m sincerely appreciate of your kind words about my playing. THANK YOU!

Howie,

There are several Dumble clones present in the FM9 as well as the dedicated Dumble ones. Bludotone, Carol-Ann OD2, Fuchs, Two Rock Jet 35, perhaps one or two others I've forgotten to mention.

If you're sincerely interested in an FM9, your only course these days is to either find one on Reverb without a warranty (warranties are non-transferable) at a silly expensive price, or save your cash and consider either an Axe III (Turbo is better) with an FC12 foot controller, or FM3 with FC6 or FC12 controller. The wait list for an FM9 is likely into 2023 and beyond currently because of the chip shortages/supply chain delays in foreign markets. Axe IIIs and FM3s are currently still available at discounted prices direct from Fractal.

The expenses add up quickly with the higher priced gear, but you can find a FC12 or FC6 at more reasonable prices used. I wouldn't skimp on the new Axe III or FM3; buy either new and be insured in case something goes sideways with the firmware or hardware.

Just to whet your appetite, there are a ton of amp models you'd have a wet dream over. Friedman, lots of Marshalls, Fender Viibro-Verb/Double-Verbs, Modded Plexis, FAS virtual models, Vox, Carol-Ann, the list is upwards of 400 amps, IIRC...

Then there's your cab choices...over 1024 separate mic'd configs that will all sound different with each amp that you choose. The variety gets overwhelming pretty fast. The good news is, there are many of like-mind on the forum who know tone and are exceptional players themselves. My feeling is that you build whatever rig you like within CPU limits (Axe III has 4 times the processing power of the FM3).

The caveat is that the FM3's CPU fills up quickly when you try to build a "kitchen sink" preset, so with the FM3 it's better to divide your preset within itself among various scenes. You can have up to 8 scenes in either Axe III, FM9, or FM3, but accessing these gets tricky because of the need to configure your foot controllers.

If you're a plug-and-play guy who tweaks settings sparingly, then Fractals are not recommended for you. However, if you like to learn new technology and can endure the first couple week's learning curve, then you'll be fine.

The mindset I prefer to use is much like how a good chef prepares a 5-star meal; each ingredient, technique and preparation method goes towards the dish. Once you've created your masterpiece, each time you create a new preset, you can use different ingredients and techniques until you're satisfied and happy.

This is my current rig with 2 external homebuilt footswitches (TUNER & HOME), FAS EV-1 Expression Pedal, the FM9, and Temple Audio Duo 34 board with Temple Audio XLR modules for connecting my XLR cables that feed my stereo HeadRush 108 FRFRs up on speaker stands either side of my workstation. I'll spare you the details because it's late and I need my beauty sleep. (No, I'm not cured yet...LOL)

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Yeah, I knew about the wait. That's why I stopped looking at them a few months ago. I'll keep watching and when it gets down to something more reasonable, I might get in line.

 

[CandidPicker]

FAS meanwhile sends you their regards. I think what's refreshing is the fact that a lot of the time, FAS will offer discounts, but that "hill" isn't going to move for you.

 

[CandidPicker]

Just thought to extend my greetings from the Fractal universe. I tried putting together a song recently but realized if you don't realize what you're doing, you can pretty much butcher a well-intended piece of music. Just so people understand, yeah, it isn't always about the music, as much as it is making sure you play well, and not butcher the music. I realize this now that the evening has worn on, and it's time for me to call it an evening.

The wait list for the FM9 will likely keep growing until computer chips make their way into the supply chain...your best choice is to opt for the Axe FX III or FM3. Personally, if it's financially possible, the Axe III would be the way to approach things. The FM3 is much more limited because of the ¼ processing power, though some enjoy theirs. The power users (@RickP included) prefer the Axe III.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Just thought to extend my greetings from the Fractal universe. I tried putting together a song recently but realized if you don't realize what you're doing, you can pretty much butcher a well-intended piece of music. Just so people understand, yeah, it isn't always about the music, as much as it is making sure you play well, and not butcher the music. I realize this now that the evening has worn on, and it's time for me to call it an evening.

The wait list for the FM9 will likely keep growing until computer chips make their way into the supply chain...your best choice is to opt for the Axe FX III or FM3. Personally, if it's financially possible, the Axe III would be the way to approach things. The FM3 is much more limited because of the ¼ processing power, though some enjoy theirs. The power users (@RickP included) prefer the Axe III.

I'm far more interested in the floor format, than rack, and honestly, while I know it's not going to be simple, the LAST thing I want is something that requires more time tweaking than playing.

Do you know what the current wait time is? I stopped checking that thread at TGP a couple months ago... assuming it's only gotten worse.

And, I'm not sure what you're referring to in the first paragraph. Are you saying that you're trying to learn a particular song and having trouble with it?

 

[CandidPicker]

I'm far more interested in the floor format, than rack, and honestly, while I know it's not going to be simple, the LAST thing I want is something that requires more time tweaking than playing.

Do you know what the current wait time is? I stopped checking that thread at TGP a couple months ago... assuming it's only gotten worse.

And, I'm not sure what you're referring to in the first paragraph. Are you saying that you're trying to learn a particular song and having trouble with it?

The thing about Fractal is that they're designed to be fun, but requires some learning curve first. It would be unwise to think you wouldn't be able to play without sacrificing some prior time setting up for your gigs. (TBH, it took me over 3 weeks to build about 6 presets, and several months after that tweaking them to be happy with them.)

The current wait time is determined by how many people have previously signed up on the waiting list. Since about Nov 22nd 2021, production of the FM9 was halted because of supply chain issues. At this writing, production of the FM9 is at a standstill. While folks have had ample time to make up their minds whether to wait things out or move on, interested ones are still signing onto the wait list. Although we don't. know how long you'd need wait before you received an option to buy, if you do sign on you'll receive an acknowledgment email and be told approximately what I've previously said. The longer you wait to sign on, the longer the wait list grows. Since I don't know how many folks have previously signed on, guessing the wait time isn't possible.

It's like trying to get a table at the Cheesecake Factory without reserving a table months in advance. No joke.

Regards the first paragraph, what I was saying was sometimes its a bloody mess trying to write a decent piece of music. I used the illustration of a butcher or a surgeon to describe what occurs. If I've not practiced enough to play cleanly without making a bunch of clams, yeah, that's called butchering the music.

Forgive the BC Comics reference. Clams in this instance means bad note choices (or bad jokes) that doesn't come across to an audience well.

It's like how you might kick a football and end up punting it 5 yards. Thought I'd try a football reference so you could understand the clams reference better.