Transcription
Okay, so I think we've got quite used to the idea of there being quite a lot of competition for the modeling world. And, uh, myself, I'm personally someone who's, you know, quite keen on using quite a lot of different stuff. My daily stuff that I use, in fact, is not even Fractal, right? It's, uh, Line 6 Helix and Helix Native.
However, when you see people kind of talking online and putting up kind of tier lists and what they find that they prefer, I think there are some things that we can kind of overlook with the Fractal world unless you're really inside it. This is what makes me think that still the most logical choice for pros is either the Fractal stuff or the Kemper stuff. And there are some key reasons why I don't think, for me right now, the Fender Tone Master Pro or the Quad Cortex might make the top of this list.
Um, but, you know, let's just talk about it. Some of this stuff freely. Um, caveat to make, of course, I do work a weekly video for G66, who are the distributors for Fractal. But I would probably tell you if I thought the Fractal stuff was rubbish in any particular area. Anyway, obviously, this channel is supported by TrueFire. TrueFire is an online library of lessons from some of my favorite players. There's thousands of lessons on there. You can use the promo code JN C 40 to get 40% off of any of their courses.
[Music] Wow. W. [Music] N. [Music] [Applause] [Music]
So, here's one thing that I think only Fractal do, and that is to improve, or at least adjust, and I think, I guess, it'd be kind of subjective as to whether it's improving stuff or not, their algorithms as a whole. So, you know, they, they're going through, I mean, the team and Cliff and making improvements to like key elements in a tube amplifier, like cathode followers, uh, uh, power amp modeling. This has been like, you'll see it as like something that they mentioned through lots and lots of different firmware updates. And so, realistically, none of the other companies do that. So, like Line 6 have actively kind of said online that they feel like they've got better at kind of the modeling aspect, but they've not gone back and remodeled certain amplifiers or any of the amplifiers. Like they've got newer models that some people think sound kind of better. And, and I think internally, there is a perception that they've got better at it since 2015. Um, but, you know, you've got a core chunk of the models there, like the AC30s, the Fender amps, most of them, the Marshalls, most of them, most of the amps that were there from the start have never been touched again since they were first modeled. So, all of those learnings that have been made in the last sort of nine years, have not reapplied to the stuff back along. Those algorithms are kind of still the same and kind of fixed. And those learnings don't transfer across.
Fractal is one of the only brands that I'm aware of, brands, companies, that is able to apply changes wholesale through their list of models because of the way that they do things. So, essentially, you've got 310, maybe even more than that by this point, amp models in here. But they're also getting updated throughout. So, you know, all of the elements of the circuitry of an amplifier are getting sort of improvements as and when Cliff makes these breakthroughs. And I think that's something that potentially is going to be the sort of thing that if you're really into this stuff, might attract you to the Fractal stuff. Or you might think, well, I don't really care, I just like the way things sound as they are, which is also a perfectly valid thing.
Fractal has far and away more models in there than any of the other modelers. So, as I said, over like 300 amps now. Of course, in terms of amps, they do separate out things like bright channels sometimes. And, uh, if you've got like a four-channel amplifier, that'll be like four channels and four separate models. That's kind of how they do things. Like most other modelers do, to be fair. Um, so actually, in terms of real numbers of amps, it's going to be less than 300. But you get the idea that compared to other modelers, there's vastly more. And what that probably means, it's more likely that you might be able to find whatever you're using in real life within here, or something pretty close.
A blind spot for Fractal, still, there's two key blind spots which I wanted to mention, maybe even three. But one is, well, it's not actually, 'cause they can do it. So, the, the capture and the profiling thing. The Axe-Fx can do tone match. It's just that the Fractal stuff in general is been considered by many to be so accurate that you don't really even need to do the tone match and stuff. So, it's not really a blind spot, is it? 'Cause it can do it. It's just one of those things is a bit more difficult to do than on a Quad Cortex or a Kemper. But you can do it, basically. You find the, the model or the amp that you're going to be profiling or something close to it, and, and it shoots an IR, all that stuff, through the rear lamp. And then you have a tone match, which is like a subtractive EQ, I think, to, to match it to whatever's in there. So, you can do that. So, that's not even a blind spot.
Uh, an actual blind spot, the, but Neural DSP are on the cusp of kind of figuring out and have figured out somewhat, and Line 6 do have covered, is the VST version, or like the software version of their stuff. So, I think that's one area for me that I really appreciate about the Line 6 world. For me, that makes it so that I stay in that ecosystem, um, even more, and even, and I'm even more likely to continue staying in that ecosystem because the hardware and software kind of thing, where I can just plug into my audio interface if I'm away or whatever, and get access to those same tones, pretty much. So, that's one thing for me.
And I guess the other kind of blind spot that you might consider is that the graphical user interfaces, the GUI, and workflow is maybe not as simple and streamlined as some other modelers. Um, so that is definitely a factor.
Now, I think something that is also difficult to get across is just how flexible the foot switching is on these. Um, and you may have seen that the Quad Cortex got this thing which kind of made the foot switches slightly more usable, but the layout is really quite limited. I think you can have like four stomps and four scenes, or, you know, some combination of that sort of activity. It basically, it's a bit of a weird setup. The Helix is actually pretty flexible in this regard. But the Fractal thing, you have like nine layouts, and you can use long presses and all that sort of stuff, to the point where actually, I'll show you on the floor now, what is kind of possible in here. But David B also did a, a video, I think yesterday, talking about his layouts that he uses. But, uh, basically, if you can think of it in the layout world within Fractal, you can pretty much do it. You've got nine layouts that you can switch between, and as I say, with long presses and toggles, you can get, get some really wild stuff out of just the FM3 by itself. Even you've got these layouts, right? So, you hold these, you get different layouts. So, here's my main gigging, um, kind of layout, where I have five, six scenes. Um, so we go into this, you can see that these are the scenes. Scene 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And you can toggle here, right? So, I can toggle.
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And now those scenes are actually gapless as well. Well, it's kind of crazy how much you can do, even with like the, the entry-level, uh, FM3. You could also have like a long hold on underneath each of these if you had different things that you wanted to go on, or, of course, you could pair it with another foot switch, or you get the FM9, which has extra stuff, you know, extra foot switches. This can only run one amp at a time, but of course, with the different scenes, you can switch between four amps. So, very powerful in that way. It's just, it's hard to get across in a video like how much more advanced the Fractal stuff is than your average modeler. Um, and that might scare a few people. But I think it's worth knowing. Um, if you're thinking, well, I'm seeing people say that like all these things are quite similar, the Fractal stuff really does stand on its own in terms of complexity and power, I think. Let me know if you think differently.
Pro-level and rack-level effects in here. You know, people like The Edge, people like Steve Vai, have got rid of, you know, thousands of pounds of like even high-end gear, 'cause they believe in the quality of the, the Fractal effects, which I think stand above any of the other modelers as well. I'd love to know from some of you guys what you think the, the, the best modeler for you is. Um, I guess the, the best modeler really is the thing that makes you want to play guitar and does the things that you need to get done live. Um, and maybe even speed has got to be a factor to consider there. Like, so, is the workflow of like the Fractal stuff potentially off-putting for you? Love to know your thoughts on that in the comments if you've got them.
Uh, Eric Johnson has been seen gigging a Tone Master Pro. I think my buddy Jeff emailed me and sent me, uh, some audio of that. I have yet to listen to it. But incredible to think that even Eric Johnson now is using some form of modeler live sometimes. Um, I guess a lot of us probably never thought that would happen. Um, but it, it does seem to be the thing. But Kemper and Fractal, I think, are still the things that I see most of in terms of touring bands at the very pro level.
Updates to the Fractal stuff, because it's kind of like a boutique kind of company, right? It's still run by the guy that came up with it. Has not been sold off to, uh, Yamaha or companies like that, or doesn't have, you know, like venture capitalist investment like Neural DSP. I think, I think that's confirmed true, right? Um, it's very much like a, a pretty small team just working on this stuff. And I think they made choices to keep it that way. But you'll see that the, the updates come in frequently. It's pretty much that every month there'll be something that's either been improved or they've added new models. Like, just this week, it was the, uh, Cutron, uh, which is like the Mu-Tron filter stuff, like the John Mayer thing. Um, you know, there's always new stuff coming along. So, in terms of, if, if you're someone who's interested in trying new stuff all the time as well, I think the Fractal stuff beats all of the other devices in that regard as well. Like, it's just the updates come more frequently.
If there is a downside with the Fractal stuff, as you might be aware, uh, editing on the device itself is not necessarily as streamlined as it might be on some of the other devices. Like the Quad Cortex and the Helix are very similar. Um, and those were particular, I think, sort of game-changing for making things easy to use. I think the Tone Master Pro kind of continues in that vein. The FM3, comparatively, is quite menu-heavy. Lots, and I guess this is where the name Fractal comes from, really. You can go into sort of like a menu spiral if you're on the unit itself, where it's like, right, I'm on the EQ, I go across, all right, I've got three pages of EQ, etcetera, etcetera, like that. If you do spend time getting used to how the unit works on the unit, which is what I used to do before making videos for G66, where I was asked to use the editor, then it does actually start to get a bit more logical. Um, however, you know, the editor is a really great editor. Works quickly, works seamlessly, never had any problems with it. So, that is one thing. I think some of the pros using them would be taking a laptop with them anyway, so they edit with those if they're needing to make changes to presets. But, you know, simple things like, right, I need to put a foot switch with a flanger, uh, on this preset, is the sort of thing that actually on the gig is kind of tricky on the unit itself. Whereas like the Helix, you kind of just touch a button and assign it. That one is one area with the Fractal stuff where I feel like that is actually pretty tricky in comparison, unless you've done it loads of times and you really know the steps.
In the kind of shiny, shiny, obviously, you know, cutting-edge GUI stuff that you might get with the Tone Master Pro, or some of that clean GUI that you've got with Helix or Quad Cortex. However, I think what is most striking to me about the Fractal stuff is that the first feeling I had with it was kind of a bit overwhelming. And as I've used it like week in, week out, you kind of just get never bored of it. In a way that the Quad Cortex, I would turn it on and kind of go, "Hmm, what is there that I can do with this unit at this point?" After a few months or...
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So, this preset was one that I put together the other day, and I was just kind of thinking that just does sound really good. All we've got going on there is just a Tube Screamer TS808 mod, think set to like 2:00. Um, then a mono delay. And this is what I mean, like you can get into this sort of mode of, right, I'm looking at a lot of menus. But if you press edit, you get to the next kind of block. So, this is the amps that I'm talking about, as you see, there's 328 is the number that we're at at the moment. Um, bass and treble kind of set just below half, gain set like three, bright switch off. Um, then we're using Legacy cabs, and that's kind of a list of IRs. There is another mode for cabs now, which is a little bit more like what we see in other units now, where you can kind of position your mic and change your cab like this. So, so I personally think that's a big improvement on what was there.
[Music] Before, or you can use Legacy if you still got things there. Now, the thing we're talking about in terms of Fractal, so you've got like cabs, you go down, you've got your normal kind of stuff that you get, you know, high slopes, low slopes, proximity effects. Then also preamps, so you can use different preamps if you wanted.
[Music] To. Tapes, all sorts of stuff. Rooms, you then got like room stuff. And this is all within the cab block. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's pretty bonkers. Um, then reverbs, got, what is that? 54 types of reverb. Uh, some of which are amazing. Uh, it's just, there's just so much in here. Um, as well as, you know, things like the JC 2203. This is one of the more recent amps.
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Um, you know, things like our Plex delay. This is a really for.
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So, I think also worth knowing about, like the, the quality of the effects in here. I think really do rival like Strymon, particularly like for cloud reverbs and stuff like that. I think some beautiful stuff. Of course, you've got all your normal kind of modulation type activity going on as well. Uh, so, yeah, just a whole wealth of stuff in here. You know, in terms of even flangers, you've got like so many types of flanger.
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And one of the only modelers that actually has a model of a real Dumble owned by Cliff, the HRM. Uh, so that's a really, you know, added bonus.