Axe with FR or Speaker Cab

[racetra]

OK, I have been using 2 2x12 speaker cabs and have been getting a killer sound. I am not playing big gigs anymore and when I do gig, it will be a small venue.....ie: old school dive bar....My Favorite!

I set up with my cabs split but know that they are very directional. I am thinking I will see a major improvement with this situation with an FR setup.

What I am wondering is will there be a trade off. I do have a killer tone but think it could be a little fatter.

I have heard that some FR setups are lacking the bitey/edgey sound of a speaker setup..

???

[stratamania]

Try some only you can tell what you prefer.

[Rex]

A hundred people, a hundred different opinions. Some people can't live without a real cab in the mix. Others don't feel they're giving up much of anything. Only your own ears can tell you if it works for you. Take your Axe somewhere that sells FRFR speakers, plug it in, and see what you think.

[Sixstring]

Find a quality passive FR cab, run op-1 FR with a cab sim that's closest to the cab your running, run op-2 with your guitar cab. EQ and tune the FR side to sound as close as you can to the guitar cab you have now.

[romanianreaper]

I normally play thru a Matrix GT1000FX into two Marshall 4x12 cabs. The other day I plugged my Axe-FX II into the computer via USB and just did some noodling, etc. into Audacity software. I like my cabs but realize I'm missing something without going FRFR. There is this warmer, rounder tone, as well as the ability to capture the feel and sound of actual guitarists. For example, when I play the U2/Edge patches thru my cabs, it sounds good. When I play into the computer, it sounds almost identical to Edge's tone. I like having those extras. I just gotta figure out a great FRFR solution for jamming.

[Mark's Tone]

A few years back a guy was bragging at the music store about his great killer tone.

That night went to see his band at the local pub. His tone was thin, raspy, and shrill.

Come to find out a few weeks later, the guy was going deaf. His tone only sounded good to his ears.

Poor dude, he was a good player.

[Mark's Tone]

I think the FRFR solutions are available and getting more prevelent by the week.

I just need to get past the idea of having 4x12 cabinets.

[racetra]

I was just playing now and setting up some scenes (Calling "scenes" a Bitchen feature is an insult to Bitchen Features) Anyways, Like I mentioned earlier, Guitar Cabs are very directional. My buddy Cragginshred has 2 RCF's and ....DAMN!!!! I am gonna buy a pair of these for now and when I can afford the RCF's, I will have a set of monitors.
http://www.carvinguitars.com/manuals/TRx12N.pdf
Just a note, The Citrus (orange amp) is killer

[Mark's Tone]

Steve Via has that "DOME OF AWESOMENESS" (clarky coined phrase)

Thats what I'm going for. I beleive if we like our sound we play better.

I am alway's asking for and welcoming feedback concerning my tone.
I'm 50 years old and my highs are starting to go away to my ears, so I want to push the high end up on the EQ.
Aint nobody got time for dat.

I need to get me some Paul Gilbert headphones.

[Mark's Tone]

Sorry for going off topic. My mind wanders.

[Trainwreck1446]

I feel like FRFR is for standard tuning. I got KILLER tones in standard with it. But in drop B or lower if just isn't there...

[Sixstring]

I feel like FRFR is for standard tuning. I got KILLER tones in standard with it. But in drop B or lower if just isn't there...

In the case of the solution your using, QSC's claims the K12 will work down to 52Hz @ -6dB, 42Hz @-10 dB according to (QSC specs???) that's quite a bit lower then 0 dB when it comes to volume. Frequency response wise my guess is Drop D is going to be about the lowest you could tune and still have everything sound like it's still there with authority.

In drop B the freq is 61Hz. The cab is somewhat deficient in that range already if we go by the specs that QSC has published. I would look for a solution that works down past the lowest freq your looking to play in and maintains as close to 0dB as possible, this way your lows won't sound so week.

[BenLevy]

I play through a guitar cab and am happy. Lots of natural controlled feedback. Feels like I'm playing through any number of killer amps. I have always wondered about FRFR but everytime I play through my rig, I really wonder if I'd get my money's worth going FRFR. Someone somewhere on this forum described it as listening to a great tone on a CD. I think I'm sticking with the guitar cab.

[DraggAmps]

I feel like FRFR is for standard tuning. I got KILLER tones in standard with it. But in drop B or lower if just isn't there...

With my Matrix Q12a and EBMM JPXI 7 string tuned to drop A, I get killer tones. I'll admit that a regular cab with Matrix power amp is probably "enough" if all I wanted to do was super tight high gain metal patches, because you don't need all the variances that different cabs get you with those tones. It's mostly just EQ differences at those gain levels, and a good traditional cab will work fine for that. But I still like the added flexibility and how brutally tight it can get and getting all sorts of different tones with different cabs, not to mention much more realistic amp simulations. It does it just fine, but I guess it just depends on the FRFR solution you use. The Matrix Q12a handles low tunings well for me.

I play through a guitar cab and am happy. Lots of natural controlled feedback. Feels like I'm playing through any number of killer amps. I have always wondered about FRFR but everytime I play through my rig, I really wonder if I'd get my money's worth going FRFR. Someone somewhere on this forum described it as listening to a great tone on a CD. I think I'm sticking with the guitar cab.

I know it's hard to imagine, it was for me, but FRFR can give you all of that controlled feedback and cablike feel and response. I just recently switched to FRFR for everything, including live rig. I was always skeptical and just couldn't imagine it sounding as good. Well, after some tweaking and relearning how to do things with cab simulations and all of that, I'm sold. As stated above, I use a Matrix Q12a and that's the only real experience I have with FRFR, but I have a lot of faith in Matrix and I imagine that it's just abut as good of an FRFR solution as you can get, if not the best. So maybe some peoples' experiences will differ, depending on their setup. But I am getting SO MUCH tonal diversity now and my patches don't sound like amp "x" into V30's, making them all have a similar character and color, they sound like whatever I want. Either a hybrid creation based on something I thought sounded good or my interpretation of what a particular amp should sound like, or a very accurate replication of an existing amp. A Vox or Fender amp sim can sound good enough through V30's, but the speakers of those amps is probably the single most important element that gives them their signature sound. So being able to use accurate cab/speaker sims for a given amp is what REALLY releases the versatility of the Axe. It can sound great through a traditional cab, sure, but far as being completely versatile and accurate, using a traditional cab is a huge handicap to the Axe, IMHO.

As far as the feel and the amps sounding "recorded" rather than "in the room", it's all there in my opinion. The feel is totally there, and you get more response, harmonics, and cab-like thump the more you turn it up, just like a cab. Although you don't have to crank it as much and it's much more cranked sounding at low volumes, still. I think the idea that FRFR can't sound like an "amp in the room" is just an old interpretation that has been fading away with each new firmware update. Even the last firmware for the Ultra sounds very "in the room" and authentic. I honestly don't even notice a difference with the Ultra, as far as sounding "recorded". It just doesn't if you know how to tweak it to sound like a cab in front of you. The Matrix may help with that, though, because it's not a wedge, it's a backline style setup that has a cab-style construction. I still think I could get the same sound from a wedge, though. The cab sims are just that good, even without using third party IR's, which are supposed to be that much better. One trick is to use a "touch" of reverb on everything, just to give the sound some depth or a sense of "space". Just a tiny bit. But yeah, especially in a live situation with the cab cranked up, you seem to get all of that feel and I honestly don't think you could tell the difference if it's tweaked right (which isn't hard to do). The versatility that using cab sims opens up is what the Axe is all about, IMHO, and it makes it totally worth it. Having the cab sims are a HUGE part of getting the most from the Axe. I know it's hard to imagine how a single 1x12 can have a huge 4x12 sound with the thump and the feel and reactiveness, but it does. And the Matrix DOES have the headroom and volume for it. There are cab sims in there that make it sound bigger than even my crazy expensive Bogner 4x12. I'm personally sold.

[Trainwreck1446]

The Q12a looks pretty cool. But my only FRFR experience was with the K10 and K12. It just did not have what it took on the low end for drop tunings. I am not opposed to FRFR, as I want a passive FRFR monitor for home use, and I'll just stick with my Port City Wave OS 4x12 for live/practice

[kmanick]

my RCF NX 12 handles my 7 string(s) no problem. I never go down below drop A but even at that range it works fine.
I've recently been running my rig in stereo with the RCF wet and my JSX combo dry and I love it. (FX loop return so no cab sims into the JSX)
I get the best of both "options" at once. Fills the room like crazy even at low volume, and I can get 'real" feedback from the JSX
much easier than with the RCF so it helps there as well. with this type of rig I can get for example the Real sound in the room of a Recto thru my JSX and the 'recorded' version thru the RCF, when you mix them together it sounds and responds to the player incredibly well.

[yek]

I set up with my cabs split but know that they are very directional. I am thinking I will see a major improvement with this situation with an FR setup

Why do you want to change? Different/better sound for yourself and the band, or for the audience?

If it's for the audience, I would advice against going FR because you won't solve the "directional" issue that way.