FM3 - 8 of My Favourite Amps

[@GurtejSinghGuitar]

IIC++ is my all time favourite! Great tones bro and great amp selections!

[@LeonTodd]

It does it all

[@brandonproctor3639]

Hell yes! That thing sounds monstrous!

[@nicoroy123]

Thanks Leon, each time I watch one of your vid I learn something new with the Axe!

[@LeonTodd]

Glad to hear it!

[@PunyapatFungtammasarn]

When you add the delay and reverb, that's really beautiful.

[@LeonTodd]

That's the happy place

[@kingfisher7960]

I am surprised how many people are doing the FM3 videos and never showing any of the front panel functions. I would say its a very important part of the unit is you can do everything you did on the computer, in the units display. Or the fact you can select a parameter with a mouse click, then use the big knob to fine tune the digital one.

[@abacad]

Best demo of FM3/FX III. No disturbing echo, reverb, chorus claptrap effects, just clean demo showing why this gear is top notch. Many hidden tips, showcasing sound in the final mix (something that many will not demo, just the loner solo play). Also your choice of putting the chain in the upper right quarter, that's the cherry on top of the uber cake.

[@bryanfarless9579]

Sounds great!! Thank you. I bought a used FM9, should arrive today sometime. My electric is getting a set up but I do have an acoustic.

[@spetersonmusic]

REQUIRED watching/listening for Fractal players. Geez, Louise. Support Leon by checking out Ragdoll, they kill. Follow this guy, learn from him.

[@LeonTodd]

Too kind my man! I stumbled across your TGP thread when you got the original Axe-Fx the other day and enjoyed reading that. Seems it was awesome then and is degrees of magnitude more awesome now.

[@shamrock32]

Great playing, Dokken - 5 killer riffs, let's make it happen!!

[@LeonTodd]

Yes!!!!!

[@rastadarrin]

Leon Todd Yes Leon👍🏼

[@fabiol.9161]

The first clean is marvellous.. With that strat and pickups matching michael landau and stef burns sound.

[@JohnPaulHare]

The Holy Diver riff makes a return!!! The Atomica sounds awesome as always. The AC20 is great too!

[@EhsanImani]

Very helpful, amazing playing, great music samples, simple setup, thank you!

[@jackmeginniss6327]

Informative quick demo of eight iconic amps.

[@atomicdtune]

Just wanted to say thanks, your videos help. I've been using an axe ultra since 2007, watching your tones made we want the FM3 and now i have one your tones gave me a great starting point for my tones. Thanks again, great playing.

[@LeonTodd]

I appreciate that!

[@basspartout]

I would love to press the thumbs up button for every sound!!

[@Surfandmusicequipmentreviews]

THANKS FOR DOING THIS MATE - GREAT LAUNCHING PIJNT FOR THE FM3 - liking the sound of the ragdoll stuff by the way!

[@LeonTodd]

Much appreciated!

[@aidanmcguigan1724]

Went on the wait list for my first fractal unit (the AX8) on November 2018, still waiting........... and I suffer very badly from G.A.S. so has been hard not to buy a helix/kemper and haven't had the spare gig money yet (not many gigs at the moment with the apocalypse going on) to get my dream Mesa JP2C. Your videos are the ONLY reason I'm still hanging out to get the now FM3 so a huge thank you for your videos/tutorials and passion/inspiration, it really goes a long way. I'm a tube boy (EVH 5150 III 6l6 50w with a Mesa 4x12) so will be my old ass going digital for the first time, my back will thank you for dropping about 70kg off bump in!!!!! Keep the videos flowing Leon, your a gem!

[@jayess7350525]

If you are on the waitlist of the Ax8 since november, either 1- Fractal skipped your name 2- your invite is in the spam folder. Waitlist since April 27th 2019 and I got my invite today. Email them !

[@aidanmcguigan1724]

J Blanc yip have a confirmed email. Are you in Australia?

[@r.llynch4124]

Would love to see a Bogner Helios in the FM3. Great work doing this Leon!

[@beeeryce1]

My high gain presets I’ve tried sounded like complete ass, then I loaded this LT TV mix IR and it brought every single one to life!!! Couldn’t be happier. Leon Todd, you are the fucking man!!!

[@LeonTodd]

❤️

[@mikhael47]

Thanks Leon ! Your tips are invaluable!

[@TocoaPuffs]

8 of my favorite amps. I expected at least 4 of them to be the atomica high lol

[@producermind9030]

Really enjoyed that. Great playing and tones. The Rag doll stuff sounds tight!! Really dig the intro clip as well.

[@LeonTodd]

Thanks Bill! All the Ragdoll stuff is up here on YT.

[@RiffandDestroy]

This Mult Delay is very, very beautiful! thanks for sharing

[@LeonTodd]

It's SO good

[@stevenmgyori3826]

Well done Brother! Great choices and Demo! Thanks for using the Strat Today! Be Well Leon and All!

[@LeonTodd]

My pleasure brother!

[@funfreq9282]

Sound really good Leon! I just finished my board for my FM3 waitting for the FC 6! should show up tomorrow afternoon, noodling around with factory presets right now having a lot fun!

[@LeonTodd]

What board did you use?

[@funfreq9282]

@@LeonTodd I built my own! I wood work as a hobby and like to do custom stuff for my gear. I don't gig out much nor do I make a living with music. Im one of those guys that has played guitar for fun while doing the occasional gig. I will post it up on the FAS board as soon as I get the FC installed.

[@LeonTodd]

@@funfreq9282 Look forward to seeing it

[@MarkPritchardGuitar]

Great choices Leon, for me i would have to add the Friedman models BE & HBE to that list 😊

[@RaymondPros]

Awesome tones with killer riffs..nice

[@hugo_duron]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, your videos its so amazing

[@LeonTodd]

My pleasure!

[@mickbuffalo]

Hi Leon just catching up here. The mk2c is a surprise when it’s boosted, a lot of character. I’ll try that with your settings. I had an original in the 80’s but never got the best from it as I always seemed to hanker the Marshall sound and not a lot of good pedals other than mxr dist and TS to boost it with. One amp on the FM3 i am really pleased with is the Diezel, I am running it through a Marshall 100 in the return and a V30 cab, its just got a great fat compressed chug! Also the lead sound is really fierce. Spoilt for choice with great amps now!

[@Mr_Bollie]

Looking forward to receiving my unit tomorrow. I'm amazed how good the models you picked soudn without any reverb or headphone-pleasing treatment. Trying that on my Kemper only produces a tones, that tends to put me off.

[@RobsSchoolofMusic]

Hey dude! Loving these videos. I just got me FM3 and your videos are suer helpful. What are the all the settings for the tone at 9:30? Its sick!

[@philiprobinson593]

Leon so good that video. one of your best. i want to sell my beloved ax8 and get the fm3 even more. great stuff. i am sorry i missed see you at the studio in collingwood.

[@MusicOfDreamweaver]

"It may not be that authentic Recto-thing now" - I like your approach to setting the amp Leon. The guitar is after all a midrange instrument and I still feel the american-ness (if that is a word) of the sound still comes through.

[@GianniCalicchio]

Great work! As usual!

[@LeonTodd]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Rrouthmusic]

Always good Leon!!! 🙌🏻

[@philiprobinson593]

Leon great video. Great tones. i like those pick ups . They seem to have a great strat attack sound if that is the correct phrase.

[@LeonTodd]

Likewise, I love them and they transformed this guitar!

[@Cherry_Sunburst]

EXCELLENT.

[@hackdog69]

Thanks for doing these!

[@COTG666]

Once I tried the Atomica High amp I stopped looking for anything else. It has everything I ever wanted an amp to sound and feel like.

[@Umbral_Heavy_Metal_Band]

Thanks!! Those presets sound massive, the Atomica is fantastic!!! 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@leonkloosterman]

You convinced me to ditch my kemper and just get a fractal

[@onniex]

Dweezil's Bassman is also incredibly good! Sounds great even with just stock settings

[@LeonTodd]

Yeah that one is like the Marshall from hell

[@massimomugnai1264]

Oh boy ... thanks ... really nice presets and good sound !!!!!!

[@LeonTodd]

Cheers Massimo, I hope you're staying safe and keeping well.

[@massimomugnai1264]

@@LeonTodd well thank you, in quarantine at home .... we hope to leave soon and that everything is over ..... :-)

[@philm.2812]

Leon, you’ve done it again. You’re a goddamned genius! I couldn’t understand the raves about the IIC++ but now I’ve dialed in a patch similar to yours and it’s really good! Can you just confirm the cab you used on that one? Sorry if I missed it ...

[@daveesco1]

This will be great to revisit in a years time. I saw where people who signed up on the wait list are a now a year later getting the invite. ugh. and then maybe there will be a wait list for the ax9 or fm4? lol.

[@cdh79]

I just got the email today.. had completely forgotten about it already, and just looked up some of the vids to reconsider whether I should buy it or not..

[@guitarfreak2105]

@@cdh79 it is 100% worth it. If you haven't tried any fractal stuff try this. If you hate it you can 100% sell it for what you have into it.

[@cdh79]

@@guitarfreak2105 my FM3 and EV-2 pedal arrived today.. I quickly went through 20 or 30 presets and so far am definitely glad I did the purchase! Of course it will take some time to get to know all the ins and outs, but that's always with new gear.. (and I need to figure out why some of the presets have such big differences in volume.. some I need to turn all the way up and when I then switch to the next, it almost blows my brains out ;)) edit: I'm currently using it without a computer, and most is very intuitive.. I did need to look up some things though, like I don't understand that the wah isn't automatically linked to the expression pedal1.. I at first was afraid the pedal didn't work, or that I used the wrong cable, but gladly figured it out after searching online for a little while. Will definitely go through the manual this weekend.

[@guitarfreak2105]

@@cdh79 dude that is awesome! It is a bit complex for sure but when things are complex that usually means they are flexible. I like that. Also the auto on/off on the wah is so incredible I wish I had that on my Cry Baby when I first started. Once you learn the Fractal stuff it transfers to the next product. My knowledge from the Axe II transferred to the FM3

[@cdh79]

@@guitarfreak2105 right.. the more i play with it, the more it all makes sense.. like that the wah by default is linked to "external1", but in the settings you can link the expression pedal to external1 and then it's being used by default on all presets.. I guess the auto-off feature (i agree, it's awesome) was the reason, why when i initially tried to enable the wah (prior to it being linked to the pedal) i couldn't remove the "bypass". When trying to enable it, it always jumped back to "bypass" immediately, but if the value is at 0, because there's no pedal linked, it all makes sense. Step by step I'm getting there (and it's a fun journey, i have to admit).

[@jch5150]

Awesome FM3 video, thanks again Leon!! (still on the wait list as of April 2019 :(....)

[@LeonTodd]

Hopefully they serve you soon, it must be close!

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Would love one but after using software and hardware modelers, I rather just get a Dual Rectifier and high gain modded Marshall type amp. That is all I really need.

[@rogerbrown5247]

hey! Leon! axe fx 2 xl + or fm3 both same price ! any suggestions would be great , Thinking fm3! Thanks!!

[@LeonTodd]

FM3 is going to have all the newest effects/amps etc but you can't do dual amps like the II.

[@rogerbrown5016]

@@LeonTodd Thanks! Man appreciate it!!

[@guitarhero9147]

The Deluxe Tweed sounds "kinda' snotty"? Ew... Yet another great, informative video. Thanks Leon!

[@chromaticstatic568]

Guitar Hero That’s sorta the whole point of the 5E3 Tweed Deluxe, greasy, mid pushed, sloppy rock ‘n’ roll. 🤘😎

[@chromaticstatic568]

The Les Paul with the 5E3 is everything to me ❤️ I’d love to hear that config with the input drive cranked! Get some Neil Young action going!

[@mmilan67]

I hope the FM3 will come to Europe soon. I can not wait any longer. Thanks for your work Leon, I look forward to the next videos 🎸🎸🎸

[@LeonTodd]

The worth is wait it! Any video requests while you wait?

[@efirehawk]

@@LeonTodd Hi Leon! I know this is a long shot, but since you have so much experience in the amp modeling world and a lot of knowledge regarding tones, do you know anything that sounds close to the unique tone of the old Zoom 9002 units of the early 90s? Here is a video for reference: /watch?v=u2fpWwhL4j4 ... thanks!

[@mmilan67]

Leon Todd You have already answered so much, at the moment I can't think of anything. First I have to get the FM3 here in the EU, then I'm sure I'll have some questions. And I want to say a big thank you for everything you do, especially for Fractal Audio Community. Greetings from your Balkan-Friend 🎸🎸🎸

[@spi1262]

Hi Todd, love your channel - what are your deluxe and JTM 45 presets on axechange? I have the LT TV Mix 2 IR loaded - thx

[@ChrisMuellerMusic]

Beautiful tones as always. My personal favorite at the moment is the 1987X.

[@LeonTodd]

That's an absolutely lovely model.

[@nigelroman6867]

Had a wonder of my own. Forgive me if you have covered this in another video. But what is the overall purpose/explanation for the side line of pedals. We're the cables shoots off to a separate line. Having trouble understanding when to use it

[@LeonTodd]

Routing in parallel has a few advantages - you can create custom effects, for example a reverb where the tails are modulated by a tremolo but the main dry sound doesn't have trem, or you can use it to keep level/mix management easier.

[@indianajohn5669]

Nice video! Were you using the same cab/IR in the whole video? What was it?

[@mmarrinan]

Man this goes for $4,000 in Australia!!! That’s more than the Axe FX 3!

[@LeonTodd]

That's to stop people jumping the wait list. It's actually $2k

[@eltole4766]

WHAT CAB DO YOU USE WITH THE IIC**?

[@Santidie86]

Hey Leon I am so amazed by your drums! what are you using?? sounds killer man!

[@LeonTodd]

They're all real drums, recorded at my buddy Troy's studio here in Perth and played by Cam Barrett. Troy and Cam brig all the magic!

[@MesaGuitarGuy]

thanks for these! I just got my FM3 a couple days ago, so still trying all the amps. Coming from the AXE II and AX8 so it's familiar territory but these new amps sound so clear and dynamic. Cheers

[@LeonTodd]

Yeah it's everything great about the II/AX8 taken up another level!

[@b13cartel]

How are you liking it compared to the AX8? I have a FM3 sitting in my cart online, ready to buy. Worthwhile upgrade over the AX8?

[@brandonproctor3639]

I want one soooo bad! I know I've said it over and over but damn they (FM3 and Axe Fx III) sound so great and so accurate to what amp it's modeled after. My only complaint about the videos from you is they're not long enough haha. And JW.. is there a single delay pedal to get that PlexDly sound? I just love that particular sound.

[@LeonTodd]

I'd happily do hour long videos if people want to hear it!

[@brandonproctor3639]

@@LeonTodd that would be awesome. Your live streams are the bees knees (when I can catch them). I just love the content man, you are easily my favorite KZbinr.

[@Rickles]

I'm really digging the Friedman BE C45 right now.

[@LeonTodd]

It was between that and the Atomica for this vid, North are sooooo good!

[@Rickles]

@@LeonTodd It was on your suggestion so thanks.

[@hypersonicmonkeybrains3418]

Should i sell my AX8 for an FM3 for playing live gigs?

[@matthewlewis281]

Leon what are you using for monitors? Can you recommend any? Something that won’t break the bank so to speak?

[@LeonTodd]

I'm using Adam a7x monitors. They make the T7 monitors which are a little less expensive but meant to be great too.

[@thomys-guitar-olguin]

I buy mi Fm3 today, 3 week to arrive and I just cannot wait to have it in my hands ajjajajajajaja

[@sequoia1171]

What is going on with the coloring of your headstock on that strat? Is that just from lighting? Looks like it's stained with something

[@LeonTodd]

It's gone a caramel kinda colour over the years, probably the lacquer reacting with some environmental factor.

[@sequoia1171]

@@LeonTodd what a sweet axe🤘🤘

[@keemarcello1000]

Hi, on the Fractal FM3, can 2 amps and 2 cabs be put in at the same time, like in Ax-FX 2?

[@LeonTodd]

Just a single amp and cab block. Each block has 4 switchable channels.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Oh shoot, was hoping this would be your favorite tube amps. I’ll be back though :) keep it up \m/

[@MrMariodraiby1]

Fm3 it sounds thinner than the ax8 ?

[@LeonTodd]

It can sound as fat or skinny as you like.

[@donprater6944]

Fuck it, I'm sold.

[@deeforty]

Secondhand axe fx2 or brand new fm3?

[@glennmathias1805]

Leon, what type of PRS is that? Thanks, Glenn

[@LeonTodd]

2008 SC245

[@MofosRealReviews]

Just curious why are you using the fm3 when you have the axe fx 3? Is there any difference ? Or just doing demos ?

[@Rickles]

Because it's new and lots of people are interested in getting into fractal at the lower pricepoint. The models are almost identical.

[@LeonTodd]

Pretty much what Rick said. I figure it's going to be a lot of people's first fractal unit so I like to show off what it can do.

[@YashVardhanTanwar]

Why is the logo hidden on the LP? haha

[@Dimiguitar]

Are you noticing a tonal difference in the amp modeling between fm3 and axe III? Cheerios

[@guitarfreak2105]

They sound exactly the same. The FM3 is just more limited and has less processing power.

[@Zhorellski]

Does your FM3 comes with the Headphone jack? Love those tones!

[@cdh79]

not sure if this is relevant in any way, but I got mine today and it does have a headphone input.

[@Rockerdudesg]

What string gauge do you use for your PRS? Do you down tune it any lower ever than drop C?

[@LeonTodd]

Elixir 10-52. I don't mind dropping the low string to A.

[@Jayyy_Wav]

I’m so tempted to ditch my pedalboard and get one 😭

[@zondarx7racer]

The intro sounds a bit like "lay down" of Priestess :)

[@Niksounds]

Hi, stock cab or external irs?

[@drockny]

What song is that at 3:36?

[@LeonTodd]

"Fire and Fury" by Gamble

[@drockny]

@@LeonTodd Haha I just checked out the video and saw Ragdoll in the back at the end of the video. I don't know how you kept a straight face with that outfit she had on. It was like if Kerry King had a one piece bathing suit designed lol.

[@LeonTodd]

@@drockny we played on that recording too. Man, that was a wild show! The secret life of musicians hey.

[@REDSTUDIORECORDS]

minchia :-o