FRACTAL FM3 AMP MODELLER/FX PROCESSOR

Instantly stage-ready high-end amp and effect modelling

In terms of modelling amp and effects processors Fractal is pretty much at the top of the tree with their rackmount Axe-fx III. That said, it’s probably also fair to say that it’s out of the financial reach of most of us, especially if you add in the cost of a FC-6 or FC-12 controller for a fully functional setup that’ll work on stage as well as at home or in the studio. Now, though, you can buy into the Fractal experience with their FM3, a relatively compact stage-ready floor (or tabletop) unit - still not exactly cheap but a lot more affordable than a full Axe-fx III rig and competitive with floorboard rivals. The FM3 has about half the processing power of its larger sibling and less blocks in the signal chain from which to build your rig, (you are limited to one amp rather than two), but does feature the same ARES amp modelling and algorithms so can have the same sonic clout when the settings are the same. Some of the less essential Axe-fx III effects are absent (Vocoder, anyone?), but there’s still a massive variety of amps, cabs (including 1024 User Cab memory locations for your own IRS) and effects available to build rigs to fill the 512 onboard preset slots.

Some excellent, instantlyusable factory-programmed presets explore the range of the 269 onboard amps incorporating classic, mainstream and obscure boutique models. These are among the most realistic amp models out there, responsive to guitar dynamics and capable of authentic clean and just-breaking-up tones as well as all shades of driven. There are also presets for huge ambiences and off-the-wall FX as well as the more traditional. The effects selection covers all the bases with classy reverbs, delays, modulations, pitchshifts and much more, including some cool wahs to be exploited by plugging in an expression pedal. Besides those, two send/return loops will let you add your existing pedals into the signal chain. When it comes to creating and fine tuning your sounds there’s plenty of editable parameters to get into, easily carried out from the unit’s front panel but even easier via the FM3’S associated computer‑based editor.

The smart move when using the FM3 is to footswitch between ‘Scenes’ which is much more seamless than switching between presets. Scenes are effectively presets within a preset, basically a range of alternative versions of the preset’s rig. Each preset can have up to eight Scenes, each of which stores whether each block in the chain is active or bypassed and which of its four channels is active. Those four channels in each block open up real flexibility - you can have four different amps in the amp block or perhaps the same amp with four different gain levels. Likewise, each of the two drive blocks could host four different overdrives.

A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET SOME OF THAT FRACTAL MOJO