RKF
Inspired
Greetings,
I've owned an AX8 for several years now (sold my first, regretted it, then bought another). And I've struggled since day 1 with my tone. Not because of the amp models, but because of the limitless IR options out there. I've spent days and days just flicking thru IR folders auditioning cabs trying to determine which mic, combination of mics, distance etc...I prefer. In the end it just wasn't fun anymore (and certainly not productive) so I put the AX8 aside and decided to go back to trying to make a pedalboard work.
I picked up a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 to run my pedals into and spent some coin on a Celestion Alnico Cream 90-watter for my Avatar 1x12 cab that had a V30 in it. As has always been the case, the pedals just didn't seem to cut it. They always sound either muddy and dark or shrill and fake to me. At the moment I have a Wampler Pinnacle and Ramble Fx Marvel Drive and both are just missing something.
On a whim, I decided to just plug the AX8 straight into the Powerstage and 1x12 cab and disable the cab block to see what it would be like to run the models into the same cab/speaker for consistent tone. It worked. All of the models so far sound great into the Alnico Cream and now I can actually play guitar instead of sifting thru one IR folder after another. The option to record direct is still there or I can drop a mic in front of the cab and go old school.
I always thought bypassing the cab block made no sense since you're essentially leaving behind half of the AX8's capability but with the right cab and speaker, there's no need to try thousands of other combinations.
Just wanted to share this "revelation" of mine. I'm sure others have discovered this long ago but it really is worth exploring if you haven't done so yet.
Rock on.
I've owned an AX8 for several years now (sold my first, regretted it, then bought another). And I've struggled since day 1 with my tone. Not because of the amp models, but because of the limitless IR options out there. I've spent days and days just flicking thru IR folders auditioning cabs trying to determine which mic, combination of mics, distance etc...I prefer. In the end it just wasn't fun anymore (and certainly not productive) so I put the AX8 aside and decided to go back to trying to make a pedalboard work.
I picked up a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 to run my pedals into and spent some coin on a Celestion Alnico Cream 90-watter for my Avatar 1x12 cab that had a V30 in it. As has always been the case, the pedals just didn't seem to cut it. They always sound either muddy and dark or shrill and fake to me. At the moment I have a Wampler Pinnacle and Ramble Fx Marvel Drive and both are just missing something.
On a whim, I decided to just plug the AX8 straight into the Powerstage and 1x12 cab and disable the cab block to see what it would be like to run the models into the same cab/speaker for consistent tone. It worked. All of the models so far sound great into the Alnico Cream and now I can actually play guitar instead of sifting thru one IR folder after another. The option to record direct is still there or I can drop a mic in front of the cab and go old school.
I always thought bypassing the cab block made no sense since you're essentially leaving behind half of the AX8's capability but with the right cab and speaker, there's no need to try thousands of other combinations.
Just wanted to share this "revelation" of mine. I'm sure others have discovered this long ago but it really is worth exploring if you haven't done so yet.
Rock on.