Anyone else running a pedalboard into Axe-Fx III?

boyce89976

boyce89976

Experienced
Just curious, if you are what amp models are you using? I've had great success with the Match D-30, the AC20, the Class-A TB and the Dumble Clean... all set to edge of breakup. I use input 1 (front) and input 2 on the back to run stereo from my board into the Axe III into dual amp models.

I held off getting an Axe III for so long because I had an awful experience with the Helix, and was lukewarm with the Kemper after 2 years. I'm so glad I finally took the plunge thanks to a friend of mine in Oz that got the Axe III a month or so before I did.

There is no way anyone would be able to tell I'm not playing an amp (or amps). Listening back to recordings, I can't even tell. Great job, @FractalAudio!

I play mostly at our church these days. We're pre-recording services on Saturday to air on Sunday mornings. Here's this past Sunday's service. I'm running two D-30 models for the entire set.
 
I am. I run a pair of Gibson EDP pluses in the rack and a small pedalboard of rarities the Fractal doesn’t have. The pedalboard will grow a little here in the next month or so and then it’ll be done.

I’ve been loving the heck out of the Route 66 model. I always wanted to try that amp and wow fors the model good.
 
I've had kind of a bug to put a little pedal board together with effects that I thought I couldn't get from the Axe 3 itself.

So far every time I sit down and go "Okay, how close can I get" I get way more than close enough and can usually expand on or extra specialize the effect to bond with my guitar or amp set up.

Things like the EHX HOG are still a bit beyond my knowledge (and potentially the capability as far as the gliss/freeze function goes). Tomorrow I'm going to try to get close some weirdo Earthquaker effects and probably push to that limit again, we'll see

I'd love to keep crossing pedals off the list with more and more updates! Sure do miss the pedal chase though..
 
cheap said:
I've had kind of a bug to put a little pedal board together with effects that I thought I couldn't get from the Axe 3 itself.

So far every time I sit down and go "Okay, how close can I get" I get way more than close enough and can usually expand on or extra specialize the effect to bond with my guitar or amp set up.

Things like the EHX HOG are still a bit beyond my knowledge (and potentially the capability as far as the gliss/freeze function goes). Tomorrow I'm going to try to get close some weirdo Earthquaker effects and probably push to that limit again, we'll see

I'd love to keep crossing pedals off the list with more and more updates! Sure do miss the pedal chase though..
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I've played with some of the reverbs and delays in the Axe III and there's no doubt it can get close enough. I have a couple of hesitations going all Axe though:
  1. The time it takes to do the initial tone matching for all of those effects (and this could be more of a user issue than an issue with the Axe, haha)
  2. I run my pedalboard with a Mastermind PBC looper/midi controller and there's some functionality in the PBC that's integral to my rig, and I haven't been able to duplicate it with the FC12... things like multiple commands on a single switch, or being able to link switches so that when you turn one on the other linked one turns off.
If the FC12 could do that stuff, switching to all Axe would be a no-brainer.
 
boyce89976 said:
I've played with some of the reverbs and delays in the Axe III and there's no doubt it can get close enough. I have a couple of hesitations going all Axe though:
  1. The time it takes to do the initial tone matching for all of those effects (and this could be more of a user issue than an issue with the Axe, haha)
  2. I run my pedalboard with a Mastermind PBC looper/midi controller and there's some functionality in the PBC that's integral to my rig, and I haven't been able to duplicate it with the FC12... things like multiple commands on a single switch, or being able to link switches so that when you turn one on the other linked one turns off.
If the FC12 could do that stuff, switching to all Axe would be a no-brainer.
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Couldn't you do the multiple on/off's with scenes??
 
jlynnb1 said:
Couldn't you do the multiple on/off's with scenes??
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Hmmm, possibly... I haven't tried that... I think I'd need to set up 12-15 scenes to cover every scenario though.

Oh, the other thing with the FC12 I just thought of, is there's currently not a way to set an "off" button to have the LED off when it's programmed for a multi-step function (I think that's what it was, I haven't played with it for a few weeks)... it seems they only dim or brighten (off/on) In that scenario.
 
boyce89976 said:
  1. I run my pedalboard with a Mastermind PBC looper/midi controller and there's some functionality in the PBC that's integral to my rig, and I haven't been able to duplicate it with the FC12... things like multiple commands on a single switch, or being able to link switches so that when you turn one on the other linked one turns off.
If the FC12 could do that stuff, switching to all Axe would be a no-brainer.
Click to expand...
But the Mastermind is just a controller... No audio. I would compare that to the FC. You need one regardless ;)

My comments were about the actual effects.
 
Multiple commands on a single switch? Sell the mastermind, get a morningstar MC6 to add to the FC12, and you're set.

Though I thought the FC12 could do the multiple-command-per-switch thing, but I haven't looked into it.
 
I'm kinda wondering if you're getting hung up on comparing FC functionality to the Mastermind PBC and losing focus on the intended results. I can't imagine an end result that can't be achieved with the FC and Axe-III in tandem.
 
For as long as I used my II XL I used a Digitech Drop, and a Banshee talkbox, but I never used any drive pedals or anything. Honestly, I have not found a tone that I couldn't get close enough too that I wasn't satisfied. My band rotates about 200 songs, and I think I pulled off everything (tone wise) I ever needed with the XL.

Now with my III, I have dropped both of those pedals. I use the virtual capo now, (which Cliff says is about to get a lot better with the next FM update - SOON) and I just use the formant to fake the talkbox on the rare occasion I need it for some cover song. (sometimes I still like to bust out the real thing though - just for fun because I like playing around with a talkbox.)

My goal is the simplest, lightest rig possible, so I will no longer consider extra pedals or gear under normal circumstances. The III can do anything that I would ever need sound or tonewise. The FC12 is such a massive upgrade from the MFC - it was a game changer for me.
 
I was running some drives and a comp pedal until recently. I finally sat down and “cloned” them and am only using the Axe now. Well...I am still using my EDP looper too.
 
part of the question is, do you do one preset for everything or per song presets? I do per song, set up a scene for song sections and i'm done. Takes maybe 5-10 minutes to program a new song in, unless it's something super specific and unique. combined with channels scenes are very powerful
 
unix-guy said:
But the Mastermind is just a controller... No audio. I would compare that to the FC. You need one regardless ;)

My comments were about the actual effects.
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Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I haven't been able to figure out how to get the FC12 to some of the important things my PBC10 does.
 
Karl Houseknecht said:
Huh? I'm not sure I understand the logic there.
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Sorry, that wasn't clear... I mean with the PBC10 on my pedalboard I haven't been able to figure out how to replicate my pedalboard in the Axe III with the FC12. I've run out of switches the way I'm trying to do it. I may be looking at it completely wrong too.
Karl Houseknecht said:
I'm kinda wondering if you're getting hung up on comparing FC functionality to the Mastermind PBC and losing focus on the intended results. I can't imagine an end result that can't be achieved with the FC and Axe-III in tandem.
Click to expand...
You're probably right, but I haven't been able to figure it out after several hours of trying. Like I said in a previous post, it's probably user error.
 
jlynnb1 said:
part of the question is, do you do one preset for everything or per song presets? I do per song, set up a scene for song sections and i'm done. Takes maybe 5-10 minutes to program a new song in, unless it's something super specific and unique. combined with channels scenes are very powerful
Click to expand...
For 90% of what I do I have a massive master preset that does everything I need. I have instant access to any pedal, and a separate page dedicated to the Mobius effects - like bit destroyer, rotary, tremolo, etc...

I've created 12 copies of this master preset, and all I have to do is program tempo's for each song.

There are a few occasions where transitions require turning on/off more pedals than I can (like from a verse with light overdrive, short reverb, vibrato, and a specific delay to a chorus with more drive, a long reverb, and different delay). For those I program songs with a preset for each section of the song.

I need to look at the scenes like you suggested above. That may work.
 
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