Stef Carpenter of Deftones Releases His Presets for the Axe2

[Shodan5000]

Fractal Audio Systems Press Release

Stef Carpenter of the Deftones Releases Axe-Fx II "Koi No Yokan" Preset Pack

July 18, 2012, PLAISTOW NH - Fractal Audio Systems is proud to announce the first artist preset pack created by Deftones' guitarist Stef Carpenter and New Jersey-based engineer Kevin Antreassian. Tones are drawn directly from the Deftones critically acclaimed 2012 album, Koi No Yokan (Reprise) produced by rock powerhouse Nick Raskulinecz.

"We're loving firmware 10 and have finished presets for all of the songs on the latest record" says Stef. "For the Diamond Eyes record on back we did one preset for each record. We tone-matched the recordings of each album using the isolated guitar stems and made impulse responses (IRs) of the cabinets. Each of the albums have their own cabinet IR. For Koi No Yokan, we're releasing a preset for each song and the presets may have 2 or 3 scenes. For the older albums we're using one comprehensive preset for the whole record, so we're going with up to 8 scenes per preset. We may cut some of those down into different presets to make them simpler."

"Right now we're releasing the presets and cabinet IR for Koi No Yokan and we'll be releasing the presets for the other albums in the near future. We're writing up documentation on the patches so that people can understand how they work, including photos of the guitars used, pedalboard setup, and the expression pedal and switch set-up, so this will serve as the instruction manual for my live rig as well. I'm using the MFC-101 with 3 expression pedals and 2 external switches, which is a little bit simpler than what I've been using (which was 4 pedals/4 switches). The patches reflect my live setup where I run direct through the PA and also use an on-stage 4x12 cab as a personal monitor."

Stef is excited to see other players enjoy this look inside his rig and is looking forward to seeing what this will bring forth from the Fractal user community. "The one thing that I want to stress to everyone is that these are the actual presets that I'm using right now in my live rig. They sound great to me direct and through a cab. Also realize that these presets are constantly changing: they sound great right now, and six months from now they may sound better. A year from now, they'll be killer. More importantly, I'd love to hear what other people do to them. I may like some of their changes and add them back into my presets and I'm looking forward to that."

Manning the controls for this project, Kevin is the owner of Backroom Studios in Rockaway NJ. He met Stef at a Deftones show in 2011. They spent some time talking about the Axe-Fx and soon after Kevin was invited to come out to Stef's studio to work on his rig. Kevin has been a Fractal user since the Ultra, coming from a long line of other modeling products: "Aside from the unit being amazing, I was sold on the fact that I could go to the forum with questions or problems and get responses from the community and the product developers right away - that's awesome and it sold me on Fractal and their products."

Kevin records a lot of bands at his studio and the Axe-Fx is a big part of that process. "I'd say that 90% of the recordings I work on use the Axe-Fx II or the Ultra, and that's determined by listening tests with the artists. I like to run an A/B test with bands that come in. We set up a traditional rig using the best amps, cabs, preamps and mics and A/B it for them with the Axe-Fx and they almost always go with the Axe-Fx."

Additional releases from Stef and Kevin are expected in 2013.

[mymixesmeltfaces86]

Sweet. I'll definitely have to check these out! Thanks for sharing!