4CM and stereo, possible?

Roadrunner

Roadrunner

Power User
I'm running my setup lately in 4CM, I like the result very much and was thinking if it would be possible to run it stereo.
I have 2 cabs and a Matrix GT1000 to do the stereo amplifying section.
So the pieces are the Axe, an amp head , Matrix power amp and 2 cabs.
The Matrix will feed the cabs, the amp head should give the amp / preamp source and the Axe all the rest with stereo out to the Matrix, is it possible? How would you connect the whole thing?
Thanks.
 
If I'm following what you want (i.e. amp head is only used for preamp section), this should work:
Cable 1: Guitar -> Axe-Fx Input
Cable 2: Axe-Fx fx Send L -> Amp Input
Cable 3: Amp fx Send -> Axe-Fx fx Return L
Cable 4/5: Axe-Fx Out L/R -> Power Amp L/R -> Cabs

The idea here is:
1. Plug guitar into Axe-Fx so you are feeding any effects before the amp.
2. Put your amp head's preamp in the Axe-Fx fx loop so you can insert it as desired. Effects loops on amps are just a tap point between the preamp and power amp so sending signal from the amp input to the amp fx send will isolate the preamp section.
3. Send the stereo signal from the Axe-Fx to your stereo power amp.

This is no different from the typical 4CM other than you are feeding the Axe-Fx stereo outputs to different a power amp than that of the amp with the preamp used in the Axe-Fx fx loop. You might get some nasty ground loops/buzz and signal level issues with this setup that might take some work to iron out.

If you wanted to actually use your full amp head (i.e. preamp + power amp), you can't do that without some sort of power soak to bring the power amp speaker level output down to line level.
 
Just tried your settings….WOW!!!
It actually convert the entire rig to W/D/W setup.
No ground loops buzz, no noises, nothing! I got my setup wired with good cables so all is working perfect.
This so great, I can blend the amp head and its cabinet between the Matrix / 2 cab stereo setup as I want, depends on how much volume I dial on the amp head.
I got all the compression, e.q blocks, down pitch tune blocks, Wah etc. going to all 3 cabs (amp head + Matrix) and modulations (delay, reverb, chorus, flanger etc.) only out to the Matrix setup in stereo and its sound so big.
I wish I could use this live but it's way too much for me to carry (the amp cabinet is a 4x12 and stereo cabs are 2x12).

Anyway, thanks for your help, the result is crazy good.
 
Interesting using the matrix as your power section. Are you doing anything in the axe to compensate for the power section?
 
I'm not a heavy drill down preset programmer so mostly not, leaving power amp modeling on and that’s it.
the sound is incredible.

I just spent the last 6 hours or so balancing all and adding the option to quickly jump between tube amp based presets (4CM) and full Axe based presets in a flick of a midi board click.

My tube head is a Mesa TC-50, this thing has built in midi so the RJM22 controls it simultaneously with the Axe and when I want the Axe to be in full and the head out, I simply call a preset without the FX loop block (which represent the head) together with FX loop ON + ch1 (clean) in the amp which makes it silent as a fish and all you hear is the stereo / Axe setup which include amp modeling.

It works very well and the sound is a real pleasure but I would never carry that much of gear for a gig.
Unless I hit Wembley arena which I don’t anymore and never did. ;)
 
No, I'm not, I got the "Amp send" connected to the Axe FX return, the connection is done as Dave76 suggested:
Cable 1: Guitar -> Axe-Fx Input
Cable 2: Axe-Fx fx Send L -> Amp Input
Cable 3: Amp fx Send -> Axe-Fx fx Return L
Cable 4/5: Axe-Fx Out L/R -> Power Amp L/R -> Cabs

I must say (again) that its really nice to have the option of jumping from full Axe modeling to real amp + FX and back with a quick click, no need to hassle with cables.

Also blending both stereo cabs and amp mono cab when playing 4CM, adds a very nice color to the sound.
 
Glad it worked out so well!

If you haven't tried it yet, another fun thing to do is put an amp block in parallel with the fx loop so you can blend a modeled amp with your real world amp.
 
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