Hating my Axe FX, any last words before I sell?

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The NL212 has a f response of 55-20khz. It was designed for tube amps, but also works well with solid state amplifiers rated up to 250 watts.
 
JCM800 sounds alright with a strat to me:

Jcm 800 nearly stock settings

Jcm800 with a tubescreamer in front:



.... curious, have you ever listened to your JCM800 recorded? Could you post them as a tonal reference to what your ears want to hear?

I usually can find pretty great mix ready tones with most amps in the axe fx pretty fast. Sure, not all are my cup of tea, and some amps sound downright bad.. but I'd first blame the amp circuit before the axefx.



And for good measure, a deluxe reverb:


Your clips are amazing! They are exactly the tones in my head, any chance of sharing some of them or making a thread on how you go about making them?
 
I can sympathize. I didn't fall in love with mine right out of the box either. It took me a few months of playing with it to figure out the things I needed to know to dial in the tones I "heard" in my head.

Patience is all it took for me to overcome my feeling of being overwhelmed by what this thing can do. Time afforded me understanding. Understanding has enlightened me.

Now that I've learned the nuances required to get desired tones there's no way I'll let this thing go.

Good luck man. Like I said, I understand the frustration completely.
 
Sell it, people sell their tube amps all the time too, it is no big deal. I have gigged for several years with the Axe, since the Ultra days, and it gets raves. Some use Line6 products and get great tone. Some have made hit records with solid state amps. Only you should care what you like.

Having said that, I get outstanding tones on the AxeFx, as I am told by the other musicians that come to see our band. But that is because it works for me, I love the sounds, the feel. Some people have a hard time with technology. It is like Jetsons vs the Flintstones. Nothing wrong with being a caveman. People love the Flintstones, they are funny, and have a mammoth that they use for washing dishes. Of course, there were no dinosaurs around when the cavemen lived, Dino couldn't have been a pet. But there were Fender amps, and plenty of them. Juuuuuuust kidding :)

"There's a town I know, where the hipsters go ... called BEDROCk ... twitch, twist ... "
 
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The NL212 is a guitar cabinet and should be used with cab sims off


There are no rules, I'm running my NL212 with cab sim ON, same as I do with my 2x12" Carvin V30 loaded and same as I used to do with my Thiele Designed Mesa / Boogie 1x12" EVM12L.
For me, cab sim ON with a standard cab just sound better then with cab sim OFF.
 
if the NL212 goes up to 20khz, then i can't see how it would sound that great with cab sims off. it's advertised as an "extended range" cabinet. guitar cabs roll off at what...8k? if everything sounds fizzy through it, then it seems like a no-brainer. cab sims on and enjoy the goodness. in fact i can't believe the op didn't try this at least once...even just to see what it would be like.
 
I may not be much help since I'm new to the whole FAS thing, but I love my XL. I've only had about 4 hours of use on it since I got it last week, but its freaking amazing. I started out my first patches using amps that I am very familiar with both in room and mic'd. I can nail my Roadster's recorded and in room tones pretty easily without adjusting any special parameters. Also the Bogner Shiva sim is spot on. I've played and recorded with both amps enough to know what in room and recorded tone differences to expect. I also am playing through studio monitors, so I'm sure I won't be getting the same experience you are with the power amp and cab. However, if it was possible, I'd atleast try playing through some studio monitors before I sold it. It might make a difference in how you feel about it.
 
if the NL212 goes up to 20khz, then i can't see how it would sound that great with cab sims off. it's advertised as an "extended range" cabinet. guitar cabs roll off at what...8k? if everything sounds fizzy through it, then it seems like a no-brainer. cab sims on and enjoy the goodness. in fact i can't believe the op didn't try this at least once...even just to see what it would be like.

I tried it in the factory with sims on and off..
with the sims off it's really really bright.. as you suggested earlier, I headed straight for the global EQ and carved out all the highs..
then it sounded very good to me.. wicked low end..

with cab sims on [and global EQ flat] it sounded great too..

like everything I guess.. you have to EQ to that which you are monitoring through...
which is why have two sets of presets.. studio [through my monitors] and live [through my Marshalls]
 
When I got my first Ax Fx Standard I played it through a tube power amp and THD 2x12 w/ weber 1225's and loved it! However just couldn't like FRFR with Ir's, It took me well over a year to come to a place where I could use them ,but it did happen. That's all I've used since! I think the largest hurdle is getting use to the difference of hearing a miked amp coming at you instead of a speaker cab hitting you in the back of the legs , Big Difference! I use to try putting my amps (before the AxFx ) in front or to the side of me tilted straight at my face to lower stage volume, talk about ruining the vibe of a tube amp! it sounded like crap! Because I was hearing what the mic was! Time and trying different monitor options will get you there! If it just doesn't work for you it doesn't! just use your amps , but I believe you will be the only one enjoying it , I all ways liked my stage tone with my amps , but every time I went out front I didn't like what I heard from the FOH! Not the case with the Ax Fx ,Once you find an acceptable monitoring option, you will like the sound out the FOH even better!!
 
No cab sims?

Plug the Marshall into the Matrix sans cabinet and see how it sounds.

I'll say I was in a similar situation when I had the Verves and the RCF monitors. I've been happy with the CLRs. The Matrix stuff I heard at the NY Amp Show wasn't impressive. It's a shame since matrix has such a great customer service reputation and Atomic does not, but I was forced to go with my ears.
 
the quest for tone is as varied as fingerprints.
still, given the amount of posts trying to keep you in the flock, do give it another whirl, won't ya?:encouragement:
 
I'll try running it with cab sims on again- I've tried before and everything seemed kind of 'squishy' and I don't want to say this word, but digital sounding. Maybe I should have just bought a normal cab.

A lot of my complaints are moreso in the actual response of the amp, & overall dynamics. Of course the actual sound, but just the 'tactile feel' of the DRRI is immensely superior.

If I were to try to tame the Matrix to be more like a traditional guitar cab, what should I do with the global EQ? Roll off a lot after 8k?

I'm going to send Scott an e-mail. Maybe I'll have to mic up my actual rig or something, I'm looking for pretty basic gain staged tones. Clean w/ compressor -> breakup clean/crunch -> Crunch (AC/DCish) -> Palm Mutable Rhythm -> Lead. I also play in a country band, but find that a lot of my tones for my normal cover band stuff translate to country, I just use a little more attack.

Thanks for the responses. I just feel like I'm always 'giving the axe one more chance' and never getting anywhere, just getting more frustrated with each tweaking session. I take like 45 minutes to set up both my rigs and spend a few hours when my roomate's gone, only to get absolutely nowhere and wanting to sell the thing.
 
Fizz, in any real or simulated scenario can be fixed with EQ, fizz is just a frequency of the spectrum. Some times Fizz is needed in a mix, sometimes is not. In some cases Fizz was the missing ingredient in a mix.

To the OP, tools should not be a struggle getting in the way of your playing and development as a musicians, if a tool is not working for you then move on to something else until you find that magic combination of tools that just inspires you to play, that is what this ride is all about, finding your zone.
 
if the NL212 goes up to 20khz, then i can't see how it would sound that great with cab sims off. it's advertised as an "extended range" cabinet. guitar cabs roll off at what...8k? if everything sounds fizzy through it, then it seems like a no-brainer. cab sims on and enjoy the goodness. in fact i can't believe the op didn't try this at least once...even just to see what it would be like.

Big +1. An LPF that starts rolling off at 8K might clean things up, too.

Also, an even bigger Q for me (and as you and others have pointed out): assuming his JCM800 that he mentioned has a cab, and he's sitting there A/Bing them as he mentioned why would you NOT at least TRY using the exact same cab as a point of comparison? Especially if it is sitting right there?

Eliminate as many variables as possible when debugging, dood!

And finally the BIG Q: Four pages in and the OP only responds once? Hopefully it's because he is trying suggestions.

As others have noted though, if you are just hating it at some point it makes sense to stop throwing good many after bad. I still think the suggestions here are so easy and some are likely to really help that you should try them first, though...
 
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