Anyone buy their first 'real' amp inspired by their AXE?

Doctor Wu

Inspired
I've never owned a valve amp, I've thought about it over the years, but for one reason or another it never happened. Now that I've had my Axe 3 for a year or so, I'm starting to get a feel for what I want from an amp, which ones may suite my style of play and guitars I have. So now I'm thinking I'd like to own one 'real' amp, probably a combo, to use just on it's own, plug in and play, as it were. I'm not going to rush into it, I want to make sure I get the right one for me and there are so many in the Axe I've yet to properly explore. Some will of course be ruled out by price and/or rarity, but I will eventually whittle it down to one and go for it.

I really like the Morgan AC20, I find myself returning to it again and again, but I don't think they come with any kind of reverb, which I'd really like to be included.
Like I say, there is a lot more exploring and experimenting to do (Woo-Hoo!!) and just as I begin to narrow the choice down, FAS will hopefully throw in a few more to make me think again, what a nightmare! :)

So has anyone else gone down this route and finally settled on 'their' amp or even bought a shedload on the back of owning an Axe? What did you buy? Were you happy with it? How did it compare with the expectations you had from using the Axe?
 
The Rockverb models got me into the Orange sound, so I bought an Orange TH30 which I think has that dirty sound while at the same time not being absurdly loud.
I also got a Dual Recto Reborn precisely because I really like the Recto 2 models, and I’m plannning on getting a Mesa Mark V because I ended up loving the Mark series sound.

Lastly, I fell in love with the Morgan AC20 too, so I’d like to get one at some point in the mear future.
 
I have owned tube amps for years, although I don't think I've powered one up since the pandemic began. Since acquiring the Axe 3, I find myself window shopping the AC20 as well. Perhaps I have reached an age where my 100w Recto is less useful than it used to be!
 
Well I traded for a 5150 combo after only owning one tube amp (H and K statesmen 50) after owning an axe fx for 7 years because I loved the 5150 so much in the axe fx. I would love to own an SLO 100 or 30 watt. Also been really digging the Dirty Shirley #2 lately. I just love that that axe fx lets us play super expensive and rare amps that are really hard to find.
 
I’ll probably buy a Friedman BE100 Deluxe in a few months, as the last tube amp I’ll buy. I’m really getting everything I need for my current and predicted use cases out of my Axe FX III, but I just want the Deluxe because I can.
 
Not gonna buy an amp any time soon but if I was, it would be a vintage Tweed Deluxe. I can cover a lot of ground with that amp.

Probably the best plexi tone I've heard recently was a Metropoulos, wow!
 
I've found several amps on the Axe that I would like to own. But they're not the same from day to day, so it would get expensive to own them all.

Also, there's no way that I can crank the real things up enough to sound as good as the models at low volume.

I've also found several amps that despite being loved by lots of people, I don't like at all, so the Axe has saved me from making the mistake of ever buying one of them.
 
So has anyone else gone down this route and finally settled on 'their' amp or even bought a shedload on the back of owning an Axe? What did you buy? Were you happy with it? How did it compare with the expectations you had from using the Axe?
My first, a Fuch ODS arrives tomorrow. I was not able to get the tones I hear in the yt demos with the Axe.

The following “inspired” purchase will be a Morgan Dual 20. Probably next month. I love the sound in the Axe and want to own the real deal.
 
Thing with buying the real amps is asking yourself how many real cabs you want to buy too.

Some people do it and power to them.
 
As a Fractal dinosaur around here, I have bought and sold several amps over the years. It always leads back to selling them because of limitations in the real world, that you forget exist on actual amps, that Fractal does not have to adhere to. If you want limitations, by all means. Absence makes the heart grow fonder for things, that when you actually return to, are inferior in almost all regards. Minus nostalgia. At least for me that has been the journey. Very similar to me trying to go Android every year. I always run back to Apple.
 
Six years ago I fell in love with the Plexi 50W in the Axe II, so I bought a Mojave Scorpion head...back then I felt it sounded better than the Axe, but with all these constant improvements in firmware the Scorpion lost ground, and it was a one-trick pony anyway, so I sold it last year, no regrets.
This was the last tube amp I owned, don´t see me buying another.
 
If I buy anything, I'll buy an FRFR Speaker Cab like a Gemini, Atomic CLR, or Xitone. I love the tones and punchiness I get from the Axe-FX III and my studio monitors.
 
I keep feeling the pull to buy a real Diezel VH4 head, given the amazing versatility the Fractal amp model has. You can pull about any type of tone out of that amp it seems. I haven’t bought a real one yet - but I sure am tempted!
 
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