Let me take you back to 2010, April 2010 to be precise. I was soon to finish my junior year in High School. Periphery just realized their debut self-titled record and the world changed. At least for me. I was massively into Radiohead at the time, A musical misstep that I grew out of (thankfully!). One day I heard the song “Jetpacks was yes” Still my favorite Periphery song thirteen years later. Suddenly the echo of angsty Radiohead music was crushed by big distorted guitar tones and jazzy lead lines with some ambience sprinkled in.
I bring this up because all of the guitars on P1 were recorded on the then Axe FX Ultra unit. Misha back in the day talked about using the FAS Modern amp they used, and I thought that was the pinnacle of guitar tones. At the price of $ 2299.99 in 2010 money for a 17-year-old with a summer job the best I could do was a Line 6 PODHD300 a year later. Thus began many years of eyeing up Fractle products from afar while making excuses to never fork out the cash for a unit. Often and many times I get something similar that wasn't quite there in sound or feature set.
As I mentioned in a previous post I have experience with modelers by a competing brand, and to be fair. Modeling amps and digital amp sims have gone very far in the last decade. Even up until recently I always went with “Well it's too much for my needs, I will never use all of what it does!” or “I'd rather put that money into a tube head”. While both might be fair I had a small realization.
When I play guitar, I get the most satisfaction out of a simple rig. A mostly clean tone with a bit of dirt on it. An overdrive, delay, and reverb keep me happy. While I am high-gain amp curious and I love how others sound when playing something like a 5150 or Duel Recto I always feel like for myself there are diminishing returns. It took me years, thousands of dollars, and a huge number of amps, preamps, guitars, and pickups to realize that I am not a metal guitarist. High-gain guitar tones in my mind are John Sykes tone on Whitesnake's self-titled or Jake E. Lee’s tone on Badlands Voodoo Highway. So, not very metal by 2023 standards. Mostly Marshall-styled sounds with some Mesa Boogie mixed in too, but that's what makes me tone happy!
In my space and life, I can justify having maybe a maximum of two tube heads I really like, a single 1x12 cab, and maybe a combo amp. The caveat is that they must all be “keepers”. What I enjoy about the FM3 is the options it gives me, there are many and you can really get lost in this unit. While at first glance it can be overwhelming and you might gleefully go to try out a Mesa Mark II C+ model or a Friedman HBE. The FM3 is packed with amp models that are out of production or rare like a Tonewreck or the Marshall JMP1 preamp. While there are amps to high heaven my advice is to try out amp models you already know first.
Oh, one more final detail before I get into where I'm going with this. Did I mention I also play bass? Yeah, no room for an Ampeg Svt here. Fractal has me covered!
While Fractal has done a truly amazing job replicating most of the amps there are a few that made me scratch my head and a few that I didn't think I'd like but I'm totally all in for. An example of this is the Brit Silver, based on you guessed it, a Marshall Silver Jubilee my favorite amp. The Brit Silver does not sound like the Silver Jubilee, bummer. An amp model that I didn't think I'd like but love? The Archean is based on the PRS Archon amp, Yeah this might be my favorite modern-sounding amp on the whole unit. If I end up making a purchase of an Archon in the future it is solely because of the FM3.
Other amps I enjoy on the FM3? Well, I find myself getting lost for hours on the JTM45 model boosted with a Klon-style overdrive. Having an Ampeg SVT model also makes the bass-playing side of my brain very happy as well! Fractal Audio does high-gain metal tones very well, we all know that. I'm most surprised at how easy and quick it is to get a tone that is fun to play and inspiring very quickly. A fun side note, the effects are great representations of the real-world counterpart as well! I enjoyed the Klon emulation so much that I went and purchased a Klon-style pedal.
That said, there is a learning curve. The FM3 is deep, and I will probably be spending a good amount of time learning this unit. To create patches it is best to have the unit connected to your computer and use the FM3-Edit software since doing things topside is not ideal. This is a professional-grade unit and it does not hold your hand. I'm sure certain parameters will never be touched by me on this thing.
One thing I had to learn at first was how to make this sound appealing with headphones on. I found the High and Low cuts to be my best friend. You bet I was surprised to find an amp in-room control. Finding those three controls has really made it a pleasure to play on. When I do eventually move on to using the FM3 with a FRFR cab I know I will be having to make some new patches around not using headphones.
If I were playing in a band this is what I would be taking to every gig, jam, and rehearsal without a single doubt. While I haven't talked about the build quality at all, this box of tone is robust! Surprisingly heavy and if it fell on my foot, well I'd be a little concerned for my toes.
Does this change my enjoyment of analog gear? Will I sell my pedals and tube amps and only use the FM3 from now on? Will the FM3 create a life-changing opinion on gear? Can it make a pizza?! The short of it, nope. This is a whole different experience, while comparing is something we are all bound to do this is a tool at the end of the day. Pedals and amps are fun, the pushing of air and the creaks and sounds tubes make while they heat up are real tangible things that never get old with time and age. They are timeless and always will have a place.
I think if you have been looking at a unit like this or the full rack unit for a number of years and consistently go the cheaper alternative route. Stop, just take the jump. One of the nice things about the FM3 is you are not paying the same price tag as the full rack unit. The FM3 sits in the same ballpark as a HELIX LT and below the HELIX rack in price. Not to give too much of my own bias but, this is better than the HELIX LT. I've now owned both.
Will this be the last amp modeler I ever buy? Oh, probably not, but it will be the last one I purchase for many years. I'm looking forward to many weeks and months of learning this unit and using it. If you are interested in this unit, you should get yourself on the waitlist I'm sure has developed.