Am I one of the few Fractal Artists who uses the AFX II for Everyhing?

Webb said:
I'm not well-versed in all things Neil Diamond, so apologies if this is a dumb question, but will there be any new recordings with Hadley and the Axe II coming out from Mr. Diamond? Or is this strictly a live, touring situation?
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Every Neil Diamond album these days has a somewhat different approach. Rick Reuben has obviously had an effect (more sparse arrangements and emphasis on acoustic guitars over electrics) although he did not produce the last album. Obviously Neil's recent studio albums do not feature a lot of 'heavy guitar', but he leaves it wide open during our concerts. :) I view my position in the band as 'adding an edge' to the sound & 'rocking things up a bit', although I also love playing my acoustic/nylon string solos on such songs as 'Play Me' and 'Morningside', or 'Midnight Train to Georgia' (ballad version). I really cannot predict what the next album will contain guitar-wise, but I do plan to have my Fractal setup there at the studio for all future recordings...
 
Thanks Radley.
I've seen you years ago at a Neil Diamond concert in Phoenix. You sound and play great.

I certainly bought the AXE-FX II to use direct. Apparently FAS gets it and realize it's not just all about raw amp tone, but the space and air that exist in a mic'd amp are equally important.
I respect anyone who wants to use this as a preamp. It certainly shines there too!
 
And again, to be clear: I am using the AFX II alone for all processing for both acoustic and electric guitar tones, including all Amp, OD, & Cab emulations, all Acoustic guitar IRs, and all other effects both pre and post...
 
Radley said:
Every Neil Diamond album these days has a somewhat different approach. Rick Reuben has obviously had an effect (more sparse arrangements and emphasis on acoustic guitars over electrics) although he did not produce the last album. Obviously Neil's recent studio albums do not feature a lot of 'heavy guitar', but he leaves it wide open during our concerts. :) I view my position in the band as 'adding an edge' to the sound & 'rocking things up a bit', although I also love playing my acoustic/nylon string solos on such songs as 'Play Me' and 'Morningside', or 'Midnight Train to Georgia' (ballad version). I really cannot predict what the next album will contain guitar-wise, but I do plan to have my Fractal setup there at the studio for all future recordings...
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Thanks for the info. I love to hear how professionals are using the Axe Fx in a studio situation. I may even have to purchase my first Neil Diamond cd (my dad will be so proud!).
 
On a similar note as to what folks have "dumped for the Axe" and whether "artists use the AFX II for Everything"... I'm on the side of "my wife won't let me buy anything else so I had to go for broke when I bought the Ultra then later the Axe-fx II"... meaning I was forced to buy an all in one unit that had to do everything for me. Not because I couldn't afford it, but because I wouldn't hear the end of it from my better half. It happened to me with the Vetta II HD, Ultra and now the Axe-fx II. It's just been awesome that Cliff has made it a non-stop flight of goodness since day one! :D
 
Some
people consider me an artist and I use my axe fx II for everything and I have some nice amps in my studio but still use my axe fx II. Both live and in the studio. Electric and acoustic straight to FOH. I do have some tech 21 power engines o
And or EV small powered monitors on my van tours but. Most of my gigs are fly gigs so I roll with what ever monitor they have on stage and it's been great! :0)
 
These kinds of stories from full time pros totally rocks!

Thank you Radley and Larry. Those are best kudos fractal can receive though I imagine it puts shivers through the gear industry.

Those gigging full time live with only the black box and footswitch aren't as common as you'd think. Many are still in the process of weaning off the previous generation(s) of gear.
 
Don't want to get too far off topic, but if you want to hear a great Neil Diamond album get Home Before Dark. All acoustic, raw, with very little instrumentation. It's the opposite of what you'd think a ND album would sound like. Rick Rubin took what he did with Johnny Cash and applied it to Neil Diamond. Highly recommended (and I'm a metalhead).

jp
 
Hey guys,

I use the Axe-Fx II for almost everything on the recording end of things these days - it's just SO easy to sound good. I always hated miking and isolating amps so I jumped onto direct DSP recording real fast. Most of my gigs are FRFR driven, too. If I'm local I pack my all Atomic rig (50/50 + passive cabs in stereo). Again, so easy for me and the FOH guys. Also love the consistency. Don't get me wrong: I still have a serious pedal arsenal and tube amps (well "amp" at the moment) and they get used here and there as well. But, my Fractal/Atomic rig is the go-to situation. On the road the rider requests powered monitors for backline in addition to DIs to send to the house.

Look for my first releases with the Axe-Fx II on the upcoming Steve Jenkins CD (played on a tunes called Parallax along with Adam Deitch), six new TrueFire DVDs and my Hal Leonard book called The Guitarists Guide to Reading Music | Bridging the Gap Between the Neck and Notation.
 
Larry Mitchell said:
Some
people consider me an artist and I use my axe fx II for everything and I have some nice amps in my studio but still use my axe fx II. Both live and in the studio. Electric and acoustic straight to FOH. I do have some tech 21 power engines o
And or EV small powered monitors on my van tours but. Most of my gigs are fly gigs so I roll with what ever monitor they have on stage and it's been great! :0)
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Love that Larry.
Are all your patches made mono?
 
just this weekend i pulled the final pedals -- Klon, RC Boost, and Supa Quack wah from my pedal board, I no longer use ANY pedals. It's now just me, guitars, four expression pedals, AXE II, and a pair of Atomic Monitors. I play in Classic rock cover band and nail every tone from the record, it spooks people.
 
Hey Dramelot, interesting. Most of my patches are set up in stereo and only have problems maybe 10% of the times. But I also have 20 patches I use as a sideman that are duplicates of 20 of my main patches but they are set up in mono for those rare times.
Now my main patches in stereo are almost mono though, just a little delay bounce here and there, nothing too wide but for intros and specialty sounds i have things spread way wide and flying. It doesn't make a difference where your sitting in the audidecne you'll experience something cool guitar sound wise. :0) so for me the sound goes from normal sound to wide and huge instantly. :0)
 
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