I’m just throwing this out there because I found that in watching and reading reviews of modellers as well as being part of forums that I have been influenced by all of this discussion to such a degree that I thought I wanted it too.
I have had my Axe FX III since January 8, 2020 ( I don’t think I’ll ever forget that date). After almost a year I am getting to the point that I can tweak a patch in the headphones and it actually sounds close through the PA which I have never been able to do with any other gear ever. I use in ears on stage so this is a great advancement for me. I absolutely love the tones I am getting, they are so satisfying to play. By the way I am 59 years old and have been playing guitar since I was 11. I have owned tons of great amps over the years including Fender, HiWatt, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie and other offerings that I experimented with here and there. Naturally there were some I loved more than others and they all had their “thing”. The Hi Watt was my first really good amp and I think I liked it the best but it was big and heavy and I was looking for an easier route. Here’s the thing, sure it sounded great in the room but I looked forward to the huge power of mic’ing it up in a club and hearing it through a big PA. I also liked hearing it on recordings if we managed to get the mics positioned correctly. It also occurs to me that any time I have heard inspiring guitar tones from my favourite players it’s only been on recordings or through a PA.
The amp in the room unless it was a stack was usually best heard by my lower legs and in the smaller clubs where i just used the amp the audience wasn’t hearing what I was hearing. That has changed since switching to modellers and now with the AF3 when doing a sound check it’s super satisfying to take my wireless guitar out into the room and listen the cranked up sound. It sounds like the ton I crafted just louder and bigger since I am in a bigger space.
This discussion, if anyone is interested enough to participate, is not going to have a right or wrong answer. It’s going to be completely subjective. I put this forward not because I don’t recognize there is a difference, there absolutely is. I think what I am getting at is WHY are we chasing that? Not WHAT it is. I recognize there is a link between the “what“ and the “why” but I am as happy and satisfied with the sound of my Axe Fx III recorded, through the PA and even in headphones as I have ever been with any amp in the room I‘ve played myself or listened to others play. I will admit that wasn’t always the case, with other modellers that I previously owned it was about the dynamics and feel but AF3 takes care of that. I guess it’s more about, if Cliff figures out a way to nail it so that everyone says “yes there’s that amp in the room sound I was looking for”, what will it do for us. And if i dial up a Fender Twin with a 2 X12 cab will I have to walk 10 feet from the sound source to hear the high end? (That was a joke).
I have had my Axe FX III since January 8, 2020 ( I don’t think I’ll ever forget that date). After almost a year I am getting to the point that I can tweak a patch in the headphones and it actually sounds close through the PA which I have never been able to do with any other gear ever. I use in ears on stage so this is a great advancement for me. I absolutely love the tones I am getting, they are so satisfying to play. By the way I am 59 years old and have been playing guitar since I was 11. I have owned tons of great amps over the years including Fender, HiWatt, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie and other offerings that I experimented with here and there. Naturally there were some I loved more than others and they all had their “thing”. The Hi Watt was my first really good amp and I think I liked it the best but it was big and heavy and I was looking for an easier route. Here’s the thing, sure it sounded great in the room but I looked forward to the huge power of mic’ing it up in a club and hearing it through a big PA. I also liked hearing it on recordings if we managed to get the mics positioned correctly. It also occurs to me that any time I have heard inspiring guitar tones from my favourite players it’s only been on recordings or through a PA.
The amp in the room unless it was a stack was usually best heard by my lower legs and in the smaller clubs where i just used the amp the audience wasn’t hearing what I was hearing. That has changed since switching to modellers and now with the AF3 when doing a sound check it’s super satisfying to take my wireless guitar out into the room and listen the cranked up sound. It sounds like the ton I crafted just louder and bigger since I am in a bigger space.
This discussion, if anyone is interested enough to participate, is not going to have a right or wrong answer. It’s going to be completely subjective. I put this forward not because I don’t recognize there is a difference, there absolutely is. I think what I am getting at is WHY are we chasing that? Not WHAT it is. I recognize there is a link between the “what“ and the “why” but I am as happy and satisfied with the sound of my Axe Fx III recorded, through the PA and even in headphones as I have ever been with any amp in the room I‘ve played myself or listened to others play. I will admit that wasn’t always the case, with other modellers that I previously owned it was about the dynamics and feel but AF3 takes care of that. I guess it’s more about, if Cliff figures out a way to nail it so that everyone says “yes there’s that amp in the room sound I was looking for”, what will it do for us. And if i dial up a Fender Twin with a 2 X12 cab will I have to walk 10 feet from the sound source to hear the high end? (That was a joke).