FM3 in the house, a few quick observations

jharpersj

Inspired
Have not had it long enough for a full review or vid demo but wanted to answer a few questions I have been seeing out there in case this helps.

1-Does is sound as good as the Axe3 - I have an Axe3 and love it, I feel like the Axe3 is the pinnacle of guitar amplification, to my ears I don't perceive much if any difference tone/quality wise. Axe3 has more horsepower of course (but I still have had no issues with anything I wanted to do with the FM3). Dialed up my sounds and they are the same to my ears. FM3 sounds incredible. I have an Axe8, which I love, it has been gigged constantly for many years, the FM3 sounds better and I prefer it.

2-Are 3 switches enough? This was my main concern, I would never have imagined that 3 switches would work, the short answer is yes this is enough, there are so many ways to get to the other functions. With toggle and hold functions you can do anything and everything. I do covers and originals and would not need anything more than this box. I don't even feel the need to add the two extra switches. This with an expression pedal and done. It is hard to explain how this is possible until you have it in front of you but the way Fractal has laid this out is genius.

Will post a full review and maybe some vids when I have more time!
 
Thanks for the review
I think thats the biggest 2 questions people have
Does it sound like the 3 and using switches

as soon as someone posts a comparison going back and forth maybe even a blind AB
Same model same cab that will be a moot point

glad you are loving it be awesome to see some vids later
 
Thanks for these answers.
I wrote it before but again it was a Genius decision of Fractal Audio to let the users decide how much switches they need. With the AX 8 I got a very heavy unit which had too many switches and in preset mode even sometimes prevented me from just playing as I always thought of hmmm do I want to play the Fender patch or the dumble patch or maybe the Fuchs? I went for the Fender Vibroking patch the most time and then concentrated on playing 😉 and another thing is that the FM 3 is the cheapest entry to FAS modeling technology ever as you do not have to pay for switches you don't need 🙂👍 I am looking forward to get my FM3 and I am very happy that G66 increased their warranty up to five years!
 
I am very happy that G66 increased their warranty up to five years!

Interesting, where did you read that because on their site, under the "Warranty and Liability" section (on the Terms page) it still says 3 years.

5 years would be great though and it would certainly justify some of the US/EU price difference, at least in my book.
 
Interesting, where did you read that because on their site, under the "Warranty and Liability" section (on the Terms page) it still says 3 years.

5 years would be great though and it would certainly justify some of the US/EU price difference, at least in my book.
Maybe they did not updated the terms Page, yet 😉 it is on the FM 3 site.
 

Attachments

  • _20200223_193734.JPG
    _20200223_193734.JPG
    207.4 KB · Views: 163
Thanks mate, I'll take your word for it since I don't speak/read German.

What's with the two prices (1200 and 1300 eur)?
1200 euros is the price for good guitar players and 1300 euros is the price for bad guitar players as they want to prevent bad guitar players to buy an FM 3 and even shoot a video and upload it 😱😀

Ok, just kidding.... It is their estimated price range for the FM 3. It is ok as they have to import it to europe, doing all the service and with five years warranty it is a no brainer 🙂
 
Last edited:
No worries, it is five years warranty.
But if you switch that page to english language there is nothing written about the warranty at the end of the page 🤔🤷‍♂️

1200 euros is the price for good guitar players and 1300 euros is the price for bad guitar players as they want to prevent bad guitar players to buy an FM 3 and even shoot a video and upload it 😱😀

Ok, just kidding.... It is their estimated price range for the FM 3. It is ok as they have to import it to europe, doing all the service and with five years warranty it is a no brainer 🙂

I’m a bad player 😔😩
 
Does the FM3 switch scenes and presets and seamless as the Axe Fx 3?
With 12.xx on the Axe3, presets and scenes change faster than ever before. Probably faster than any gear on the market that does similar high CPU processing - this is just my opinion on it. It’s so fast!

The FM3 isn’t on that level just yet, and it’s almost unfair I feel to compare due to the different processors. But it’s faster than the AX8 and possibly Axe2 at this point. Since the Axe3 can do it, we could see this speed on the FM3. But FAS will improve it as much as possible, rest assured.
 
Not yet. The stuff that speeds up the preset and scene changes hasn't been ported yet but it's on the docket.

Awesome. Im not at all a sensible to the little gaps on changing presets/scenes but in one of Leon's videos about the last fx3 firmwares it really wowed me how seamless it was.
 
People who use Fractal, but won't use midi patch switching, blow my mind. The 3 buttons should have never even come up when this was unveiled.

Thanks for addressing some of the concerns on the forum constructively man, you rock
 
2-Are 3 switches enough? This was my main concern, I would never have imagined that 3 switches would work, the short answer is yes this is enough, there are so many ways to get to the other functions. With toggle and hold functions you can do anything and everything. I do covers and originals and would not need anything more than this box. I don't even feel the need to add the two extra switches. This with an expression pedal and done. It is hard to explain how this is possible until you have it in front of you but the way Fractal has laid this out is genius.

Curious on how you have your AX8 foot switches setup, and in comparison, how you are running the FM3 switches. When I had the AX8, almost all my presets had 4 scenes in the bottom row, 4 FX on\off in the top row, and preset up\down, tap, tune for the F switches. Basically I was using 6 foot switches all the time, and the rest I could do without.
 
Curious on how you have your AX8 foot switches setup, and in comparison, how you are running the FM3 switches. When I had the AX8, almost all my presets had 4 scenes in the bottom row, 4 FX on\off in the top row, and preset up\down, tap, tune for the F switches. Basically I was using 6 foot switches all the time, and the rest I could do without.

that IMO may be tough with 3 switches without going to another layout
you could do it in 2 layouts with room to spare
 
Back
Top Bottom