electronpirate
Axe-Master
I will say, I was not initially thrilled with the update (it's sort of a trend with me), but after the last few nights putting this FW through the rigors, it is by far the most revolutionary of any one of them I've played. Believe me, it took some work. I had to cut the crap out of bass frequencies on most of my presets, made more adjustments on sag (and the preamp tube 'ideal' I fell in love with,) reduced some mids on most amps (too nasal), and bits an pieces here and there.
It sings, it howls, it cries, it's pissed.
Everything is 'clearer' for the lack of a better word. The (even slightly) overdriven amps feel just on the verge of (good) feedback, easily controllable and expressive. Every one of my 'go to's' with tweaks hit the mark on the button. Plexi 50, Top Boost, BE, JCM800, It was major effort to walk away and get some rest.
What clinched me: I moved to some amps I do not play often. Randomly I picked a Badger 18 and a Hiwatt. The Badger made it into my rotation playing a bit of Sister Hazel type stuff...it just killed. For the HiWatt I went to a bit of 'Jet' and ran through a few songs...tonally again...nailed. Had a fun few songs (all solo vocal/piano based) playing the USA IIc+ with a boost, delay, volume pedal and fading in fills...the feedbacky goodness was sheer pleasure.
On the other side, I'm still struggling with the clean/Fender models. There's a sweet spot there that I'm close to, but I'm amazed that the faithful Bassman is still my favorite amp (although that Matchless is starting to blow my skirt up for that 'crushed glass around velvet' thing it has going on...) Could be some problems with my Tele, but should be able to work around that...
While this is called a major upgrade, some of that might be lost in the noise as each incremental upgrade might have made it all feel moot. However, the 'feel' on this one is off the charts. It's like each model is like a perfectly dialed in tube amp. I'm not a huge wah guy, but I did like the improvements here (very nice 'quacka - quacka on 'Maybe I'm Amazed')
And it's the first time I will say: Okay with moving on to other parts of the box (cue the 'FX' crowd)...the amps are in a very happy place.
Thank you FAS, you have motivated me to find a band to play with after a long hiatus.
Ron
It sings, it howls, it cries, it's pissed.
Everything is 'clearer' for the lack of a better word. The (even slightly) overdriven amps feel just on the verge of (good) feedback, easily controllable and expressive. Every one of my 'go to's' with tweaks hit the mark on the button. Plexi 50, Top Boost, BE, JCM800, It was major effort to walk away and get some rest.
What clinched me: I moved to some amps I do not play often. Randomly I picked a Badger 18 and a Hiwatt. The Badger made it into my rotation playing a bit of Sister Hazel type stuff...it just killed. For the HiWatt I went to a bit of 'Jet' and ran through a few songs...tonally again...nailed. Had a fun few songs (all solo vocal/piano based) playing the USA IIc+ with a boost, delay, volume pedal and fading in fills...the feedbacky goodness was sheer pleasure.
On the other side, I'm still struggling with the clean/Fender models. There's a sweet spot there that I'm close to, but I'm amazed that the faithful Bassman is still my favorite amp (although that Matchless is starting to blow my skirt up for that 'crushed glass around velvet' thing it has going on...) Could be some problems with my Tele, but should be able to work around that...
While this is called a major upgrade, some of that might be lost in the noise as each incremental upgrade might have made it all feel moot. However, the 'feel' on this one is off the charts. It's like each model is like a perfectly dialed in tube amp. I'm not a huge wah guy, but I did like the improvements here (very nice 'quacka - quacka on 'Maybe I'm Amazed')
And it's the first time I will say: Okay with moving on to other parts of the box (cue the 'FX' crowd)...the amps are in a very happy place.
Thank you FAS, you have motivated me to find a band to play with after a long hiatus.
Ron
