Axe-X

If Fractal Audio can use MIMIC technology to get this ridiculously close (hell some might say dead on) to some of the greatest tube amp sounds ever created, why can't it be used to emulate great studio hardware?

How awesome would it be to have a multi in/out interface with FAS Systems emulating a host of compressors/limiters/distressors, tape/analog/digital delays and modulations, reverbs, console pres/strips, pulteq style EQs, etc. You could choose to record your audio through a series of rack-style effects, printing it to your recording. Or, come mixing time, you could route your audio through a series of internal outs/returns set up to host a series of effects presets that could be dialed up as you go or saved as preset strips. Now take that, and make it all routable/dialable through a software editing program similar to Axe-Edit...

My response would be something like:



It would be a game changer. A show stopper. A lay-many-competitors-to-waste type of scenario. We would crown Cliff as King - No! Emperor! - and all would worship the man that brought them an exact emulation of that Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor that costs $7,000... :encouragement:
 
Adman103 said:
I really want a JTV- but all of these stories about the darn things breaking is what keeps scaring me away from it. Buy a nice strat, play it for the rest of your life. But will the electronics in the JTV work forever? Just makes me nervous... but all the different tunings! The acoustic sounds! Ah!
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I have a both a JTV-69 and a Roland VG-99. I recently upgraded the JTV to high def and damn near bricked it. Even in high def, I didn't find it to be much better than my good strat with a GK pick up into a VG-99.

Personally, I believe something like the VG-99 set up that could be interfaced with any guitar with a 13 pin connector would be a better approach. That way you could either use a guitar retrofitted with a GK pick up or one with a piezo MIDI system like the Graphtech Ghost with the hexpander board, neither of which are battery driven. Line 6 electronics and the battery take a lot of wood out of the guitar.

I am currently having a PRS Private Stock built with that Ghost system on board to replace my JTV.
 
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Yeah, the idea of FAS getting into the modeling guitar market is an interesting one. Especially since that isn't something that has been touched upon much, besides for the Line 6 Variax stuff, which I considered for a few reasons, but in the end, I stuck with the fact that it was more important and logical for me to focus on being able to minimize the size of my rig while still maintaining a high quality of tone and usability and offering me the multitude of amps that I normally wouldn't even have any chance of owning or playing through.

I can't say that I'd be interested in modeling guitars simply because I'm an Ibanez player through and through and have no desire to play any other guitars, due to personal feel, but for those that have a wide range of guitars they enjoy, then I can see where this may be a good option and would be able to offer those players what the AFX offers us currently for amps and effects. It'll be interesting to see the direction that FAS goes for future products. I'm glad I'll be here to see the evolution. :)
 
One (my) ideal solution would consist in some kind of pickups modeling without resorting to hex pickups or any other special hardware but the "Axe".
 
If FAS would go into digital guitar modeling, I surely hope that they DON`T go the "guitar" route but instead choose to have it externally, like:

RackVax

I haven´t seen one Variax guitar that I thought looked good (enough, if we wanna set the bar low here). Add to that, the problems many have been reporting on regarding these guitars AND on top of that the price. And that IMHO, is a perfect example of how to NOT do it. That´s a lots of waste of resources (and many good ideas) in the wrong way.

A guitar is transported, moved, roughly handled, played, occasionally dropped (in worst case), vibrates/resonates AND often ends up in difference surroundings (in regard to temperature and humidity) within the same day if you´re playing out, it consists of wood (a material that may force its own tensions in abovementioned conditions) and have got whatever more factors you can think of that I may have forgot here. Conditions that probably aren´t the most optimal to DSP circuits. To have it "failsafe" means close to MIL or rough industry spec, but then no one (in mass market) would/could afford it based on that part alone. Problem is that a guitarist, when buying a guitar looks equally for how well the guitar is built as how it sounds (and how it looks too).

So there is the other half of the problem, no model fits nor appeals all guitarists (or at least enough of them). To cover that you have to mass produce huge amounts and/or offer several models. My guess is that none of which can´t really be done without cutting costs, there are always someone expecting a good turnover in the end. But how would you choose cutting costs, if not evenly spread out in all regards of what it is that makes this guitar a guitar (for you, the customer)?

IMHO, external device is the way NOT a guitar.

My 2 cents...
 
stm113 : Axe-PC has been talked about since the Ultra days and will probably never see the light of day... but it could be done if you used the Axe-fx II as a huge dongle.

Speculum Speculorum: Slate Digital is already doing most of what you are asking for.

IMO, all FAS has to do is 'mimic' some of Line 6's best selling hardware and use Cliff's algorithms and they would have a winner each and every time.
 
Slate is already emulating some hardware, but they still run as plugins, some of which are EXTREMELY CPU intensive. There's no way I can run VTM on every track like I'm supposed to, especially with large projects. The idea would be to have an interface hard-wired with a bunch of emulations so that the processors within the interface could handle all of the programming. Also, as much as I think Slate makes a great product, I'm pretty sure Cliff could create a better product and would cover more ground. It would be awesome.
 
I totally agree that RackVax is smarter than Variax. I have McNaught Orion, Custom shop 90s Fly Deluxe, and Custom Shop Strat all with 13-pin.
 
This is in response to the MIMIC for studio technology idea. I forgot to quote the post. Love the idea of a FAS Variax whether internal or external.

As far as I can see, it's simply a FAS version of the UAD Apollo and/or other UAD systems. I'm not saying FAS wouldn't do a fantastic job of it, but the overall idea seems like the UAD idea (or the Pulsar/Scope idea which also included synths/samplers, too) and bits and pieces of ideas lots of companies are using. Or relatedly, the Muse Receptor which is a VST host with I/0 where you can do a lot of what you're talking about.

The question for FAS would be whether they could do it in a way that sets them apart from the rest of their competitors. In the guitar modeling and fx world, they're king, undisputed in my ear with nod to Kemper for an alternative some people like. In the world of plugin technology, there are a ridiculous amount of companies putting out software emulations of every imaginable kind plus things that are new to software. I think there's probably room for something like an fx only version of the Axe, but to dive whole heartedly into trying to best UAD would be a huge enterprise where the established competition is really well-respected and entrenched.
 
Line 6 was king of the modelers for a long time - one might even say entrenched when you've got guys like Trent Reznor fully supporting your products. FAS can't compete for production quantities yet, but boy do they create a more excellent product.

Has UAD developed anything new in their plugin arsenal as of late? And my original point stands, I think. The amp models sound friggin' awesome - even the FAS ones. What could Cliff do with let's say "FAS BUS CRUSHER" or something along those lines...
 
Admin M@ said:
I totally agree that RackVax is smarter than Variax. I have McNaught Orion, Custom shop 90s Fly Deluxe, and Custom Shop Strat all with 13-pin.
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So, I too love this idea. You drop a piezos/bridge and small board/connector into existing guitar... the connector links to a wireless/processor w/a receiver on the other end filled w/Fractal Models-technology. Allow all guitar manufacturers/luthiers to license/install the board/connector. Smokin' cool idea. 13-pin however is the weak link IMHO.
 
As good as the Axe fx can be, it can sound bad if run through a bad system! The vast majority of Axe owners runs it on a frfr system! So it's seems obvious there is a market out there for frfr systems and the ultimate answer to this would be a Fractal frfr system, active and passive! Would'nt it be nice to here exactly what Cliff is hearing while tweaking his Axe fx amps and effects? Time will tell but I'm pretty sure there is something going on about it! We'll see!
 
My "Ideal" concept of the FAS guitar would not be a guitar but a simple pickup, say a humbucker, that can be dropped in any instrument, wires to a standard 1/4 output and takes care of the guitar modeling. One pickup, 2 or 3 controls, period. All the electronics would be contained in the pickup and the control harness. The actual unit being a Hex pickup which individually models each string and then sums it up and sends it to an output. Controls allow volume, tone, model, pickup position, combination, etc. Oh, and a small USB jack in the back allows both firmware upgrades and charging the battery!
Stick that into one of your favorite guitars.
Yup, I'd definitely buy something like that.
 
yek said:
Not something I would be interested in.
I'm clinging to the look, body and feel of a great guitar, vintage or not.
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Your requirements and the OP's original request aren't mutually exclusive. :)
 
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