Surrealistic Brillo
Inspired
OK...I don't want the conversation to devolve into a "my way is best and everyone else sucks" thread so...
Anyway, I see a lot of fellow AxeFx users swear by them and I'm sure for some applications they make sense but in my experience, I wanted my AxeFx to replace my various tube rigs and I found that there were maybe 3-4 different speakers I ever gravitated towards no matter what tube amp I was using...so when I tried out a FR/FR system I found I wasn't getting the kind of tone and feel I was used to. It sounded OK but it felt and sounded...I don't know...sterile or stiff is probably the best way I could describe it...at least compared to what I'm used to. Maybe too "mixed" is a better term. I felt that if I were playing in a band that used backing tracks or electronic beats live, or if I was playing with a pop singer who wanted everything to sound just like their recordings live, a FR/FR system would make more sense contextually.
For me, in a live band situation for the kind of music I most enjoy playing I find running the AxeFx with the cab sims off (I use the sims for direct recording) into a Matrix power amp and a pair of cabs with high powered guitar speakers (I like the combination of the Eminence Tonker and their EV clone) really gives me the sound and feel of my favorite amps. I've owned my AxeFx rig for about a year and a half now and I couldn't be happier with it. It's totally changed the way I create music in the best possible ways while retaining the things about the guitar in terms of tone and feel that I have always loved.
Anyway...which do you prefer and why?
Anyway, I see a lot of fellow AxeFx users swear by them and I'm sure for some applications they make sense but in my experience, I wanted my AxeFx to replace my various tube rigs and I found that there were maybe 3-4 different speakers I ever gravitated towards no matter what tube amp I was using...so when I tried out a FR/FR system I found I wasn't getting the kind of tone and feel I was used to. It sounded OK but it felt and sounded...I don't know...sterile or stiff is probably the best way I could describe it...at least compared to what I'm used to. Maybe too "mixed" is a better term. I felt that if I were playing in a band that used backing tracks or electronic beats live, or if I was playing with a pop singer who wanted everything to sound just like their recordings live, a FR/FR system would make more sense contextually.
For me, in a live band situation for the kind of music I most enjoy playing I find running the AxeFx with the cab sims off (I use the sims for direct recording) into a Matrix power amp and a pair of cabs with high powered guitar speakers (I like the combination of the Eminence Tonker and their EV clone) really gives me the sound and feel of my favorite amps. I've owned my AxeFx rig for about a year and a half now and I couldn't be happier with it. It's totally changed the way I create music in the best possible ways while retaining the things about the guitar in terms of tone and feel that I have always loved.
Anyway...which do you prefer and why?