2nd gig with FX8 report

chris

Owner's Manual Reader
hey guys,

(long post warning!)

as many of you know, i received an FX8 a few days ago. this will allow me to help others with their FX8s in the same way i help people with their Axe-Fx and other FAS gear!

i received the unit on wednesday, opened it up and plugged it in without a guitar or any audio. i had read the manual 2 times before that. i then went through the menus and looked at all the settings, options, got a feel for how presets and switches and editing worked. also looked at the 2.00 updates and new options.

thursday i had an acoustic duo gig, so i decided to just bring the FX8 out already. i had about 20 minutes to setup a preset for the gig. i read about the Pre and Post style of effects and saw the different presets for Pre, 4cm and Post.

at first i setup the unit for Post only, since i would be using my acoustic guitar (majesty guitar actually) straight into the FX8, then straight out to the PA system. but then i stumbled on some Pre presets that i wanted to try and realized i couldn’t hear anything due to the separation of Pre and Post signal paths.

so i changed the settings back to a Pre setup, put a short 1/4” cable from Pre Out to Post In and bam, i had sound. a real life Shunt! as i looked at the diagrams, basically sound goes out from the Pre out to a guitar amp, then back in from its Loop send. putting a shunt cable there instead is just like an invisible amp. i believe there’s no loss of gain or quality, and i have access to all presets - Pre, Post or 4cm.

basically this allows me to plug my guitar into Pre In and keep the default settings. remember, i’m going straight to a PA system - no guitar amp. so of course the Drive pedals don’t sound good without a cab or proper preamp… but i have an idea for something, i’ll share later.

anyway! after i figured out that shunt thing, i then found a nice preset, i think Studio Verb somewhere in the E bank.

The Gig
my usual acoustic only rig is an LR Baggs Venue DI and Boss tuner… that’s it haha! the tuner on the Venue DI is absolutely horrible, but i like the EQ options and boost switch. so i changed that preset around to match this typical setup.

simply adding a Para EQ and Null Filter block for boost got me to the status of my LR Baggs rig. from there, i added a Comp block, a Pitch block set to Detune, a Delay block and adjusted the Reverb block from the preset. Acoustic preset done!

got to the gig, plugged in and adjusted some Mix parameters for effects, and wow, it sounded great.

it’s great to hear a FAS product that’s just effects only. with the Axe, i think i’m so preoccupied with the Amp and Cab blocks to get the basic tone, and i don’t really appreciate the effects as much. but with the FX8, the unit is just so clean and clear, really transparent, only adding the effects to the signal. using an Acoustic sound with such a full frequency range, it’s really apparent how transparent the FX8 is.

the FX8 is designed for Electric guitar going to a guitar amp. i know this. so what i described above stretches the use just a bit. this is apparent in that there is no physical output volume knob or a few other things that “tone generation” devices all have. but i basically used the volume knobs on my guitar - as i normally do at this type of gig - for adjustments after setting my nominal volume at the PA mixer.

it works perfectly that way. first gig done.

2nd Gig
i had my 2nd gig with it last night. this time i added an expression pedal for Volume (before post effects) and a TT Pro knob from Mission for a Master volume. i’m glad i added those things, because this was an unfamiliar gig situation - private party in a big ballroom. it was an acoustic duo again, but this one was a bit more dynamic, so having the volume pedal really came in handy, and having the dedicated knob for output volume also helped as the gig progressively got louder ;)

so far, this FX8 has been amazing. i know i’m not using it fully yet and not really using it as intended. but how i’m using it is very typical of musicians’ needs here, and the tone (or more so how it DOESN’T affect the tone) is phenomenal and definitely much better than other similar products i’ve used before from other brands.

Thoughts
i mentioned in other posts, it’s strange that it’s very similar to an Axe, yet very different. the single Page button took some time to get used to (double tap to move left!!!) and pressing the switches to access some menus and other specifics for it’s small form are also different at first. when i edit an effect, i made a habit of clicking the switch 2x to select and keep it in the same state, then hitting Edit to adjust things. i prefer that to using the Nav knob. once i get into editing the effect, i’m very familiar from working with the same blocks on the Axe.

i need to explore the looper a bit more. at 50% mix, i feel the loop is way too quiet. increasing the level there increases everything (i have the looper last in the path). so what i’ve done for now is increase the mix to 60% or so, then increase the level, and it worked ok in a pinch. maybe that’s how to do it, but i haven’t spent much time with the looper, so i’m probably doing it wrong.

i don’t own any guitar amps anymore so i’ll be using the FX8 with my Axe to experiment with the Pre and 4cm setups with an amp. once i figure it out a bit more, i’ll probably make some videos. i think the most difficult thing about the FX8 is transitioning from Analog pedals with physical knobs always there, to a digital unit with a menu structure and multi-purpose knobs and switches. that’s the biggest hurdle. once you get used to that, getting to the edit screens and working with your effects is just a matter of learning and repetition. but once you edit them, saving presets and using Scenes is a HUGE benefit over traditional pedals, among the many other features of the FX8.

here’s a pic from last night’s gig. it's great to take a FAS product that is this compact, vs my normal 6u rack with separate foot controller. for the big gigs where i'm gonna be there for a while and we have time to setup, i still prefer the larger rig. but for the quick gigs where they expect plug and play, nothing beats a compact unit that's ready to go. i can't imagine how amazing the AX8 will be!

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The Fx8 is a great piece of gear for sure.
Need good tweeking and for live use the best is that you have your own amp. If you use the house amp or from others maybe your preset will be different..
That's a point to consider...


I think that the Ax-8 will no be as good as the axe or the fx8...
I think that the amp/cab options on Ax-8 will not sound as good as the axe...
So... let's see.... :mrgreen
 
I have notice with also with some of the factory presets that are all post there is a big difference in volume drop. How do i fix this?
Thx ATR
 
hey guys, i plan on going through the FX8 block by block in upcoming live streams. i'll share some of the things i know, but also explore things i don't. so it will be a bit of impromptu hang out and we can all figure things out together.

please Follow my Twitch.tv channel - either Sign Up with a new profile or login using Facebook. Following my account lets you get notifications when i go live.

right now my schedule allows me to broadcast on Tuesdays and Friday - Sunday, but depending on gigs and other work. so i don't have a solid schedule yet. Following my channel will let you know when I'm on. (unfortunately not streaming tomorrow, but i hope i can on Friday!)

here's my Twitch Channel: http://www.twitch.tv/axefxtutorials

please Follow and let's hang out at my live streams!
 
testing out the Twitch stream right now. just hanging out and setting up my gear for later.

if you have any Axe or FX8 questions or just want to chat, come by and let's hang out!

here's a link to my channel: http://www.twitch.tv/axefxtutorials

the best thing to do is make a Twitch account and Follow my channel to get notified when i go online. thanks!
 
I'm getting used to Twitch, and they record my streams, and then I can create a "highlight" that is available on my channel. So I have 2 of those right now. It's not succinctly edited, and live streams tend to be more drawn out than a well-edited video.

Live is the way to go so you can interact with me on chat, but if you want to let longer videos just play in the background or while you eat or something (which seems to be a trend in online video lately), the highlights or even full stream videos could work out for you.

I'm still getting the hang of things. And again, I'm mostly treating my live streams as a casual hang out for now. I am going to work on more presentations like my Scenes presentation I did a couple of times recently. Thanks!
 
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