AX8 with tube amp

[MASSDEFECT]

The easy answer is that it depends on the tube power amp and the sims you are running really. If it's a really clean tube power amp like a vht 2/90/2, you can run pre and power amp sims on. it has tons of headroom and the kt tubes help. you can crank it up so loud and it wouldn't have any power tube distortion. But with a mesa simulclass, you can still get that mesa flavor no matter your volume.

As for using tube amps and plugging into the effects loop for their power amp. The common practice is to turn power amp sims off so as to not double the sag coming from the tube power amp. But some power sections of tube amps have also tons of headroom and are clean that running power amp sims on with the ax8 would also sound good. I find that amps that depend on preamp distortion have really nice power amp sections. That's why you see a lot of people running axe fx through an EVH 5150.

As for the preamp sims on the ax8/axe fx, some don't sound good running just as as pre amp sim. The marshall sims sound weird without the virtual tubes running because the whole sim hinges on the interaction between the preamp and the master.

 

[Smittefar]

I think it is a good idea to turn off sag in your setup - But even more, I recommend building your presets at rehearsal volume. It is the only way

 

[mmpete]

Hi Guitarno. Thanks for the response. In terms of modelling, I turned off the PA and the Sag is set to Zero. I do not have any Cab block at all so I suspect that takes care of that. I have seen posts that mention turning of Cab modelling globally. Is this something that sits on top of a cab block, and therefore should also be turned off ? Ultimately, I guess I need a bit more time (and maybe at volume) to sort out some better sounds for my setup. And ultimately, if I can't get there, then I will choose to use it for effects only and play through my head/cab, and use the modelling for home recording. Time will tell.

 

[Smittefar]

The global PA/cab off will allow to have the blocks in your patches, and then turn everything off globally, if you are going through power amp and speaker.

I would just keep doing what you're doing by setting SAG to 0 and no cab block.

 

[mmpete]

The global PA/cab off will allow to have the blocks in your patches, and then turn everything off globally, if you are going through power amp and speaker.

I would just keep doing what you're doing by setting SAG to 0 and no cab block.

Thanks. Looks like I have some work to do but am looking forward to getting a good result soon.

 

[mokkie]

It was first time for me to have a rehearsal with AX8 and a band at last Sunday.
At that time, it sounded completely different from at my house regardless I built my tone with AX8 and power amp that was adviced here namely iSP STEALTH PRO.
It sounded great in my room.
I felt down a little though, after some tweaking I got great tone.
I thought it's telling me you should finaly make sure those tone at very loud volumn.

 

[NavyChief01]

Hi Guy’s

I’m new to my AX8 and still looking for the ideal speaker that inspires me to play. I’ve tried QSC’s, the K12.2, K10.2, and now moving on to a Line 6 Powercab. Anyway, I came across this thread that discusses plugging “a” AX8 output into the return of the effects loop.

Can someone explain what output should I use on the AX8 going into the return jack of my tube amp and if any setting changes are needed. What is a 4CM? I’m learning about the AX8 but still not predisposed to wrapping my brain around how the the cab blocks work, what signals and outputs can go into what type of inputs and amps. Thanks.

 

[LimitlessGtrDojo]

I’m doing it with a Friedman Runt 50, Still working out the details and fine tuning it, but so far Its pretty cool!!

 

[TimMcG1011]

I had some extremely frustrating experiences with my AX8 when I first got it. It took me countless hours to get to where I am now. I've had it for three years now and I'm still tweaking.

I tried 4 cable method with a tube amp, going into the effects return of a tube amp (bypassing and using cab IRs) and finally broke down and got a $900+ FRFR. All were ok, but none of them gave me that tone I was looking for until I discovered how I needed to set my global EQ. I now use what I think would be considered a high pass filter on the EQ. I start rolling off at 2k and slope down to 0 at 16k. This got me close to having something that sounds like a real amp imo.

I don't think I'll ever be as happy with this setup as I was with a tube amp and pedals, BUT....People I play with love it and the people listening seem to prefer it as well. This also works well for me when I go "ampless" and just use in ears.

I still tweak constantly to get what I'm after and I've found that creating presets for humbuckers vs. single coil goes a long way. And finally, I use about 4 or 5 presets for everything I play (clean to dirty) and just blend effects as needed for songs I'm covering.