Grateful Dead Music Forum

Playing Dead rehearsal...good to know you guys are somewhat human. I was beginning to think you just got together at gigs and everything sounded just exactly perfect/
Actually just read through this entire post...lots of good info from way back.
I just had some troubles with my old Ultra and recently upgraded. Felt I didn't need the power of the III and the old II XL+ was at a great price. Then my old GCP started acting up and felt that the best backup would be an AX8. I'm in hog heaven. I was never very adept at programming the old Ultra from the front panel...USB connections for both of the new units and Edit software make tweaking things very easy.
I would have never gone this route if it weren't for all of Vic's help and am more happy with this choice than ever before. Hopefully this thread will stay alive for the new converts and us old folks that are forever trying to get things "just exactly perfect". Happy New Year to all.

I picked up an AX8 yesterday and after reading through this entire thread and some others online I've dialed in quite a nice Jerry tone. I still have much tweaking to do particularly with effects but I have a couple of gigs this weekend and not much time. Looking for some guidance.

1. How do I set this up so the OBEL works? I've seen reference but I can't seem to make heads or tails of it. I'm thinking it has to do with how the parameters are set on the scene?
2. If I'm looking for the phaser sound Jerry used on Waiting for a miracle where is a good place to start? Same thing with Dear Prudence.
3. Which Overdrives are best for say 1980 spring tour and then early 90s tone?

Thanks!

Anyone tried setting up an Earthdrive or Solar Flare like patch on a Fractal?

What OD did you guys use? I tried using the distortion plus - based on the mxr Jerry used and it's not nearly over driven enough.. I changed the diode out to see if that was the culprit.. not sure what I'm doing wrong as I've owned a real mxr that was way more dirty then this axe fx version. Mix is 100%

I'm also assuming most people use the dual reverb tremelo amp that's based of a blackface . I got the tone pretty close but it's lacking some of the sparkle I hear on other guys rigs.. namely Vic!

Reach out to Vic...

ace

It was really stupid lol.. I figured it out.. I had the other drive off the main line of effects and had a shunt feeding them so the signal was half driven and half clean. Not to mention it was for some reason jumping over to channel B on the dual reverb amp.. I've only had the unit for a few days.. Everyday I put about an hour of work into it and everyday my Jerry s getting closer - I'm using a telecaster thats very much not Jerry Garcia at all (More Blake mills to the heads who know who he is) - witha guyatone gold foil in the neck and a Gemini 52 bridge.. So my whole EQ is drastically different.

I had 2 jerry casters in my life - a Carvin I posted on here YEARS ago on here.. (I was 17 - I'm 32 now!) I realize just how much that buffer flavors the tone and helps get that growl in the lower notes... Maybe I'll break out the soldering iron and wire the buffer with an on/off and throw in a middle super distortion... will be hard convincing the wife I need more gear after spending 2k on the fm9 lol...

I do get what Vic said about the newer units reverbs not quite sounding right.. they sound a little too crisp and I'm having trouble getting the guitar to sit right with it but I'm sure i'll figure it out.

Did you guys do a lot of tweaking within the Preamp parameters? There's so much "Triode plate frequency1 +2) Tone Stack Frequency, I went with the 12ax7 RCA preamp tubes.. it can be a bit overwhelming but I guess this is what makes it so cool.

ski_rick wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:40 am Anyone tried setting up an Earthdrive or Solar Flare like patch on a Fractal?

Well the solar drive is based on the mxr distortion right? so the Distortion Plus - change the diode to be accurate to those late 70's units and tweak the EQ - I got a pretty good tone once I figured out the shunt issue.

playingdead wrote: ↑Sun Dec 23, 2018 9:21 am Not sure if the OBEL will work with the Kemper of Helix, but if the key is having two independent sets of inputs/outputs on the unit, the ability to manage the levels on each independently (so you can balance the effected/non-effected levels), and being able to choose where the signals leave and return to the unit on the other set of in/outs ... so you can make that happen before the amp/cab/reverb blocks. That way, when the OBEL is engaged on the guitar, your signal is going to all the effects then to the amp/cab/reverb, when the OBEL is disengaged on the guitar you signal goes straight to the amp/cab/reverb.

Not sure why that old video link doesn't work, but here's a recent Terrapin rehearsal which shows the basic tone I'm getting and a lot of the effects at the end.

https://soundcloud.com/vicderobertis/terrapin-rehearsal

Hey Vic! You have any more info on this? I'm about to jerrify my 3rd guitar (I sadly sold my others decade ago... ive shared them here) and now that my main rig is a axe fx I figure I should learn how to set the Obel up correctly.