Anyone switch back from FRFR to power amp / cab?

Fryette power amp + AxeFX II=win
I'm waiting to try this LX II power amp as well. ..........................someday :(
 
Gasp100 said:
F*** it, what cab would you recommend. I'm a big boy, I can handle a heavy power amp until the 1U comes out.
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Ha ha!! That's the spirit!! Since when did all these guitar players become such pansies? Step up and carry a real power amp around!! I'm kidding of course, but I do find it sort of odd that people are so willing to dismiss tube amps because they are heavy. You think that rock solid feel and response of a tube amp is not without sacrifice?

Kmanick - are you running the 2502 or the 2902?

I'm thinking of going a mix of old school and new school.... A versatile digitial preamp with effects and all the routing switching you can handle (the AXE FX of course), and a stereo tube power amp, into real cabs.... And I might even go so rogue as to actually mic my cabinet!!! OH, NO YOU DI'N'T!!!
 
I crazily play through 8 studio monitors (in surround) plus two 4*12 mesa boogie cabs in stereo. I achieved 8 monitors at once using an Apogee Symphony

The two cabs plus my power amp (mesa simul) absolutely blow away the monitors though the monitors are great for blending with the cabs. I mainly use the monitors for playing back recordings. So yes always choose cabs if its possible as they are incredible for a live sound.

I actually use IRs because my cabs on their own sound dull.

This leads me to ask is there a way to make my cabs sound better on their own? I never bothered to try before because the IRs sound so good but perhaps Im missing out on something?
 
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I know LOL! really guys have you ever seen the inside of a freaking gym ?
take care of your bodies, if you don't have an injury weight really should not be such a big issue.

I was using the 2/50/2 but a friend of mine who is gigging quite a bit around Boston fell in love with it, so I sold it to him. (he uses it with a JMP-1 in front of it
it sounds killer)
if the LX II fizzles out I'll get it back from him other wise that will be ny next power amp.
I use a Recto 2X12 cab, when I had the Fryette I also had a Marshall 1936 with GT-75's and a Carvin Legacy 2X12 with Greenbacks.
the 75' run in stereo with the V30's sounded really good.
I shuffled them around a bit , I have a JSX head now and it sounds best with the Recto cab so I got rid of the other cabs (although in hind site I'd really like that carvin cab back now :( )
the power section of the JSX works really well with the Axe and I like it as a stand a lone amp so I set input to rear and I have an Effects only patch that I can use with the JSX.
(effect loop to output 2) and I don't need to change any wiring, with the change of one setting I can plug into either my Axe or my JSX and still use the Axe in an appropriate manner.
the best of all worlds in one package :)

nater said:
Ha ha!! That's the spirit!! Since when did all these guitar players become such pansies? Step up and carry a real power amp around!! I'm kidding of course, but I do find it sort of odd that people are so willing to dismiss tube amps because they are heavy. You think that rock solid feel and response of a tube amp is not without sacrifice?

Kmanick - are you running the 2502 or the 2902?

I'm thinking of going a mix of old school and new school.... A versatile digitial preamp with effects and all the routing switching you can handle (the AXE FX of course), and a stereo tube power amp, into real cabs.... And I might even go so rogue as to actually mic my cabinet!!! OH, NO YOU DI'N'T!!!
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Hey Nick, just curious (again!)... when you use the Axe for amp modeling along with the JSX power section, are you keeping Power Amp sims in the Axe ON or OFF? Also, what type of power tubes does the JSX have? And what volume levels are you typically playing at?

Still searching for the best power amp setup to use with the Axe. :) No FRFR for me (still, even with the the new Ultra Res IRs) with mid to high gain stuff. Been trying to learn some country riffs and licks with my new Tele build I just did from Warmoth parts, and I actually dig FRFR for that type of tone. But for mid to high gain... it's gotta be real cabs for me. :mrgreen
 
Here's my journey through gears:

1. I've been using tube amps almost 20 years before I converted to AxeFx2. Some of my rigs are Framus Cobra/5150/MarkIV/Triple Rectifier/JCM900/JCM800 and the last setup was triaxis/2:90/mesa 4x12 Mesa OS Cab (two in stereo). That was really awesome.

2. I bought the axefx2 and replaced the triaxis and used the 2:90 with 2x 4x12 Messa cab
That was even better than the triaxis and the axe had the effects which was great (downsizing the rig)

3. The Matrix GT800FX released and I got on that train and tried to replace 2:90
Didn't work.. sold the Matrix after 2 weeks.

4. I got the opportunity to buy two EVM2L classic elements and I started a new building project:
A custom 2x12 Cab made (dumle-style) with a matrix gm50 module.
That setup sounds so good. Every amp sounds great and they don’t have the mesa’ish colored flavor.

5. I thought I was limited with cab and when I got the invite for 2 CLRs (from the waiting list), i couldn't resist and ordered 2. I was thrilled to be using stereo again and not be limited to one cab sound. I used this setup for a couple of months

6. Two weeks ago I was going to sell my custom 2x12 cab but I decided to try it for one last time. Damn.. lucky I did. That cab sounded so raw/crushing I couldn’t believe it. Now I’m doing the opposite, selling the CLRs. Don’t get me wrong, the CLRs are great but Cab is what I want. Works best (for me) when practicing, rehearsing and smaller shows. I bet CLRs are better suited for bigger shows when you want same tone on stage and through foh. For me, my quest has ended (at least for now :) ). I stay with the cab, it’s actually not that heavier than 2 CLRs.
 
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Tom,
at very low volume I leave them on but I've started experimenting a bit and with the marshall based models I now turn them off once I start playing with any volume at all.
the JSX is an EL-34 based power section , I run it with KT-77's and I've gotten some really kick ass sounds out of it lately like this.
In particular with the Marshal pre (the JMP-1) model and the JVM Orange 1. those two sound really great with very minimal tweaking as does the Deizel Channel2+
the Mesa models don't sound as great with the JSX but if I add some additional Geq/PeQ to the patch I can make it work.
I really wish Fryette would release that Lx II already.
oh and Se7en, I'm kind of thinking along the same lines as you, the CLR may be overkill for use in my house, it really does sound and feel much better when it's cranked up a bit.
My Rokit 8's actually work quite well for low volume practicing.





Thomas-Hawk said:
Hey Nick, just curious (again!)... when you use the Axe for amp modeling along with the JSX power section, are you keeping Power Amp sims in the Axe ON or OFF? Also, what type of power tubes does the JSX have? And what volume levels are you typically playing at?

Still searching for the best power amp setup to use with the Axe. :) No FRFR for me (still, even with the the new Ultra Res IRs) with mid to high gain stuff. Been trying to learn some country riffs and licks with my new Tele build I just did from Warmoth parts, and I actually dig FRFR for that type of tone. But for mid to high gain... it's gotta be real cabs for me. :mrgreen
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My rig, sorry just iphone caps
AxeFx2->Matrix GM50->2xEVM2L
I can't believe how good this setup is..
..and is KISS (keep it simple stupid) verified!

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I have a Mosvalve 500 that I run with two 4x12 cabs (Ampeg w/ T-75's and a Avatar w/ Vin 30's) it was sounding harsh at loud volumes. Then I bought an Engl 840/50 tube power amp, made a huge difference, richer harmonics, punch, and a sweet sounding top end. I love it long time!
 
VHT 2/90/2 Inbound!! EVM 12L Inbound! I've been experimenting with cabs lately too. I've got a 1x12 open back with a Jensen Alnico Blackbird. Man, this is a sweet sounding speaker. It can do everything from clean to mean, country, jazz to Van Halen. I don't do any death metal, so I don't need that tight bass with drop A tuning, but for blues, country, classic rock, it just rips.

The beauty of going tube power amp/real cab for me is I can focus on getting a few great tones with all the feel of a tube amp. I love the AXE for all it's versatility, and the journey has been fun trying to nail all these variety of tones etc. But when it comes down to it, I only need a few great tones to call my own. I don't need to nail every tone from every record in the last 50 years. Be removing the poweramp modeling and the cab modeling, I can dial up simple killer sounding tones and get on with more playing!! It's very liberating!! I'm also simplifying my presets in the process too.

Before I sell my matrix, I'm going to run it in bridged mode to see if there is anything there to salvage. I was running one side into a 16ohm V30 and I had both the AXE and the Matrix dimed, it couldn't even touch my Bogner power amp running through the same speaker. Some have said you really need the Matrix to be cranked to get the tube feel, but I couldn't get there running one side of the matrix. The lower wattage (b/c of the 16 ohm speaker) probably wasn't helping the matter.
 
nater said:
VHT 2/90/2 Inbound!! EVM 12L Inbound! I've been experimenting with cabs lately too. I've got a 1x12 open back with a Jensen Alnico Blackbird. Man, this is a sweet sounding speaker. It can do everything from clean to mean, country, jazz to Van Halen. I don't do any death metal, so I don't need that tight bass with drop A tuning, but for blues, country, classic rock, it just rips.

The beauty of going tube power amp/real cab for me is I can focus on getting a few great tones with all the feel of a tube amp. I love the AXE for all it's versatility, and the journey has been fun trying to nail all these variety of tones etc. But when it comes down to it, I only need a few great tones to call my own. I don't need to nail every tone from every record in the last 50 years. Be removing the poweramp modeling and the cab modeling, I can dial up simple killer sounding tones and get on with more playing!! It's very liberating!! I'm also simplifying my presets in the process too.

Before I sell my matrix, I'm going to run it in bridged mode to see if there is anything there to salvage. I was running one side into a 16ohm V30 and I had both the AXE and the Matrix dimed, it couldn't even touch my Bogner power amp running through the same speaker. Some have said you really need the Matrix to be cranked to get the tube feel, but I couldn't get there running one side of the matrix. The lower wattage (b/c of the 16 ohm speaker) probably wasn't helping the matter.
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Awesome! Where did you source the 2/90/2? I can't seem to find one anywhere.

Thanks,
D
 
dschaaf said:
Awesome! Where did you source the 2/90/2? I can't seem to find one anywhere.

Thanks,
D
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Yeah, I got lucky, was talking to a guy who was selling something else and he mentioned the VHT so I told him I wanted it and we did a deal. He was getting ready to sell it anyways, so it was right place right time. FleaBay has a few listed, but I think one guy is trying to sell other stuff with it in a package deal. The 2/50/2 is also solid, it's EL34 vs. KT88 is the only difference. This is my first KT88 amp, so I'm going to see how it fares compared to my EL34 powered Bogner.
 
nater said:
Yeah, I got lucky, was talking to a guy who was selling something else and he mentioned the VHT so I told him I wanted it and we did a deal. He was getting ready to sell it anyways, so it was right place right time. FleaBay has a few listed, but I think one guy is trying to sell other stuff with it in a package deal. The 2/50/2 is also solid, it's EL34 vs. KT88 is the only difference. This is my first KT88 amp, so I'm going to see how it fares compared to my EL34 powered Bogner.
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Great! Thanks for the info :)
 
dschaaf said:
Awesome! Where did you source the 2/90/2? I can't seem to find one anywhere.

Thanks,
D
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That's the reason I got the Engl, couldn't find any Fryette/VHT's for sale. I'd still like to try one, but I'm very happy with the Engl.
 
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