Yes, it IS a great design.
Please tell me some $100 pedals that can do what the Axe Fx does and how they magically know where in your effect chain you want to place your Whammy.
I'll wait
Try reading the manual. It's very well written and will make many things clear.
Hi - Wait no longer. No ~$100 whammy pedal has all the features that the Ax3 does...nor would I expect them to, as they aren't designed with those features. I think some of the 'offended' folks believe I'm saying the Ax3 is inferior to a cheap pedal. No. That's apples and oranges - you can't compare a fully-featured computer to a whammy pedal, but you can point out that the whammy pedal will give you it's intended FUNCTION when you connect a cable/power; while the respective 'whammy function' of the Ax3 computer involves a seemingly MUCH more complicated path to enable this functionality.
To the 'just connect a whammy pedal then' folks - - - I don't want my tone sucked, or signal path made even more complicated. It's why I purchased a top of the line unit like the Ax3 in the first place.' My rig is built around FRFR speakers, quality cables, etc - I'm aiming for a pristine signal chain to get the most out of the Axe3, I think most of us are.
To the 'this design is perfect' folks - - - it may very well be a great overall design, but the design certainly lacks with regard to this basic feature. A quick aside - I manage software engineers for a living, and it's very common to find features were overlooked when we get to UAT for example. No, you can't anticipate every user's need - but I have to think there is a compelling number of users who have a wah/whammy in their setup when you're talking about a pro piece of gear like this...and I have to think Fractal knows their base (which includes many pros who use whammy/wah). I've never understood the backlash from fans of a brand/model when someone points out a flaw or criticism. It's like, 'how dare you say our toys aren't perfect! Burn him!' Isn't our goal as users/fans of the product to give honest feedback to the company, so that we get a better product in the end? Anyway, perhaps it was a bad assumption on my part to ASSUME that my Mission pedal would simply 'work' with the Axe3 factory presets with a couple clicks. I saw folks using Mission pedals on YT when the Axe3 launched, and assumed it was safe to swim.
To everyone else - thank you for the constructive comments, they are appreciated. I'll begin sorting through them and will also study the manual (thanks to the guy with the page reference). My main limitation is time. Long hours, travel - and I also play/teach drums, piano, bass as well - beyond guitar (though it will always be my fav). So when I get a rare moment of 'free time', it's very frustrating to keep hitting the same wall with this whammy pedal thing. It's why my Mission pedals have remain disconnected and on the sideline since the Axe3 since it came out.
