Quick Listen is where I capture and share guitar tones that I’ve dialled in. No exploration; little discussion – just a quick audio demo or two along with a documented signal chain.
Today, I’ve made a quick recording of Wampler’s tcd distortion pedal into one of my Axe-FX 3 pedal platform presets. Click through to have a listen.
The Quick Listen
Here’s Wampler’s tcd distortion pedal into my 65 Nashville Vibrato Mod pedal platform preset, using my Gibson Les Paul.
The Signal Chain
Today, I’m using:
- my Gibson Les Paul CR8 (aka GP)
- into the Axe-FX 3 (for the tuner)
- out to my pedalboard
- back into the Axe-FX 3 (for amp, cab, delay and reverb)
- out to my audio interface
- and into my DAW.
All the delays and reverbs came from my Axe-FX 3. No post-processing was applied, but I do level-match all of my audio demos before uploading.
The Guitar
I’m using my 2012 Gibson Les Paul CR8 (named GP). It features a pair of Bluesman Snakebite pickups from David Bowes at Sigil Pickups. (The rest of the guitar is all-stock).
I’m playing in the middle position (both pickups activated). The bridge volume is down around 9 (just above the point where the tone starts to clean up). The neck pickup is down around 7, and the two tone pots are rolled back a little to taste.
The Pedal
I’m using Wampler’s tcd for all the dirt that you can hear.
The settings are:
- bass just above 1 o’clock
- mids just below 1 o’clock
- treble just below 1 o’clock
- level around 1 o’clock
- gain just above 10 o’clock
- mode switch in the ‘down’ position
- internal DIP switches in their stock positions
The Amp And Cab
The amp and cab is a Deluxe Reverb amp model paired with official Celestion V30 1×12 open-backed cab impulse responses. This combo chases the way that Fender’s iconic amp is used by many Nashville session players.
I’m playing through Scene 2 of my 65 Nashville preset in the Axe-FX 3. This scene emulates the Deluxe Reverb’s vibrato channel with the popular ‘no bright cap’ mod.
I created this preset for Firmware 27.03. I have not updated this preset since. I recorded the audio on Firmware 31.03.
The Backstory
I’ve just spent the afternoon dialling in my Marshal Origin 20H as a pedal platform. I’ve been trying to figure out which speaker to recommend. At the moment, I’m having the most success with a Celestion V30.
While working on that, I went back to the Axe-FX 3, and grabbed one of my old pedal platform presets that also uses a Celestion V30 to compare against.
This preset was built back in 2024, when I was using Firmware 27.03. Fractal Audio have made a lot of improvements since then, but I’ve never remastered this preset. Even though the Axe-FX is now running Firmware 31.03, I’m still using the exact same settings in this preset.
Hopefully, you’ll agree that nothing needs touching!
Final Thoughts
The moment I started playing this signal chain, I just had to share this guitar tone with you. It also has Kristi’s blessing (her with the golden ears).
I’m really impressed with just how good Wampler’s tcd pedal can sound.