Search the Community

My First post here and I'm sure that similar questions have been asked regarding dialing in tone for "FOH vs FRFR Cab", and when to consider Fletcher-Munson as a factor. Number 1 sound concern for me is that the best possible tone is going to the FOH mixer/PA so that the sound guy needs to do minimal EQing but just volume leveling and my guitar sounds warm and crunchy. I am loving my Helix (8 months) but I want to take experimenting and guess work out of tweaking my tones for club gigs performances. I have been building patches and EQing through my Atomic CLR or my Sony headphones and realize that the stage situation/volume will deliver to my ears something different from what I had originally built, perhaps the Fletcher-Munson phenomenon is at work here. (bass boomy or not, highs shrill or not, different rooms etc.) I can take into account this and adjust the EQ so my live stage sound is cool to my ears but it might be at the detriment of what i am sending to the FOH, (not really sure but maybe). I also want a god stage tone but am reluctant to put Fletcher-Munson 10-band EQ into each patch for fear what it will do to FOH signal, (or does FOH also need the Fletcher-Munson curve to guitar signals?). I don't have a PA available to tweak on, no time to tweak at sound check but I want a way to build tones/EQ at home that will sound good through FOH, as I'm less concerned with the stage sound because I may be going in-ear monitor for up-coming shows. 1) My 'Dream-world' Question, what headphones or EQ or monitor or 'tool' will represent live FOH sound delivery while I am making tones and rehearsing at home? 2) Question is for anyone who has live experience with Aomic CLR. I have been using the CLR wedge in "TILT" setting (not BL or FF). Which one of these settings (FF, TILT or BL) is closest to FRFR, or closest to how the FOH will deliver the guitar frequencies? Your comments and wisdom are appreciated, Cheers!

I’ve seen a few posts here and on the Fractal Forum.. So here’s my 2c worth on the Friedman ASM-12, having owned two myself. Loved them. Bought them purely because they were/are the closest thing to what a real cab sounds like, which was important to me. Yes, it’s FRFR and does the FRFR thing quite well, BUT, it does the ‘real sounding cab thing’ better than any other FRFR solution - this was what got me over the line. It was a no-brainer to buy. I used to own the Atomic CLR wedge and strongly disliked it. Too artificial sounding, didn’t sound anything like what I thought a mic’d up cab should sound like. Normal music sounded good through it, but playing your guitar through it didn’t cut it, not even close. I also owned 3 different active Alto speakers (a couple old Alto Elvis 10’ & 12’ which were actually quite good for a budget speaker). Might be a good time to just acknowledge that this is obviously very subjective; what sounded good to me may not sound good to you etc etc and vice versa. Having owned two Friedman BE100, Bogner XTC, 3 different H&K amps, EVH 5153, ENGL Steve Morse and Powerball etc (some decent amps I might add..), I had a pretty good idea what my ears would naturally gravitate towards tone-wise and cab-wise. I’ve only ever played 4x12 & 2x12s that were V30 loaded or combo V30+Creamback, if that helps. So, after years of playing these amps through these cabs, my ears have memory of the tone (if that makes any sense) and I knew what I would naturally like, or expect to hear. Back to the ASM.. It’s bulky and a little bit awkward to carry, but it’s worth the awkwardness given the sound that you get is precise but not over the top. It’s the only FRFR speaker that sounds very close to a real cab and pushes the air – which is what real cabs do, right!?! You can have it in the wedge position or the upright position. I kept it in the upright position 95% of the time. It could keep up with my other guitarists 100W JCM900 and delivered a good mid punch which I think A LOT of FRFR solutions really lack. Again, YMMV. Lastly, because I’m quite OCD, I had a couple custom covers made up for them because the shiny outer material looks like it can damage/scratch quite easily. Credit to Dave Friedman, the man makes some killer amps and some killer products in general, really. If I was to revisit the FRFR path, I’d get an ASM. Why did I get rid of them?!? Simply, I don’t play FRFR anymore – I’ve gone full circle and use my Helix to drive my amp which is my ‘A’ rig, and I use my Axe FX-ii with a valve power amp (VHT), which is my ‘B’ rig, into a Mesa vertical 2x12 cab.. actually, I use my two 2x12 vertical Mesa cabs! Awesome sound. Anyway, for what it’ worth I hope this helps. If anyone wants the specs for these custom covers that I got made up for it, just send me a PM. Georgy

I'd love to hear it in person - possibly try Helix with it. Don't mind tossing you some cash for your trouble just can't find it anywhere.