Anyone using the Axe in church worship?

I have been Using it for over a year now. It is awesome and there is no going back for me. I started using it for different reason then more. The tone wasa actually 2nd for me. I had back surgery last January and I couldn't handle lugging around a head or rack set up plus cab ect ect ect. The FOH guy at my church also informed me that he was going to be switching me to a direct feed like it or not. Those two factors started my search into the axe. I liked what I heard and jumped on it. The tone coupled with its size made it a no brainer for me. The FOH guy loves it and we are all alot happier.
 
I also play 3X per week in the worship band. Standard w/ FCB1010-Uno, Morley light pedal for volume. Run to FOH, send L/R unbalanced outs to a small mixer,mix the rest of the band from an AUX on the console on the platform back to my ear buds.
We play Hillsongs, Jesus Culture etc..that requires alot of etherial, wet washes..Standard does it GREAT!.Also quite a bit of black R&B gospel (clean, grit, wah, delay, verb) does that great too..Mostly patch per song programming. Does take a lot time to dial it in, hard to do during rehearsals, so I tweak most of it @ home. I sometimes do wish for the Ultra, so if you can swing it..do it, but the standard will do 95% of it all. Been using mine for 6 mos. Tried Eleven Rack...not even close! Its worth every penny bro!
Used modelers previously with a B-Jr amp, DI's to FOH etc....Neva going back. I grab the Axe in 2 minutes, and take it home after playing..very portable. I mounted the Axe in a Carvin SV-2 amp box so I have a box w/ feet and a handle. Its's plug & play. best equipment purchase in 30 years! Designer has written good solid code, used premium components and DSP, solid construction & made in the USofA.
Peace Bro ><>
 
Been using the Ultra every week since July. Direct to FOH, using Aviom's and IEM's for monitoring. Sounds great every time unlike my last rig which only sounded great when I got everything right... Knobs in the same place as last week, EXACT same mic positioning. I ran a cab in a closet so I could crank it as loud as I needed to, but people went in and out of that closet and I was frequently told to stop playing when they went in. You really needed earplugs to go in there :)

We also don't have a very good keyboard and doing swells with the multi-delay set to plex-shift and octaves makes better pad sounds than our keyboard.
 
Hi SF,
I just bought a new Ebow for $85.00 US. It's going to be a must to keep covering Ian Hutton's (Hillsongs) ethereal stuff.
I love P&W! Played in bands for 30 years, playing in the best band, ever, now. The band leader headed up the FSU jazz band for 2 years..he's plays a new Yamaha board. Dude is fantastic, bassist plays a 6 string Warrior..bad to da bone chops, and big paws!..drummer is fast and precise. I am the least in the bunch. Prayin' for another exp. guitarist to round it out.
Peace Brother ><>
John
 
I'll add that last night we had a U2charist service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2charist) and the AxeFx absolutely stole the show. This is the 4th year that I've played this special once-a-year service. Every year prior I was using an amp based rig, the first year with a Boss ME-50 (lol), then a GT-10 using amp models, GT-10 with external OD's and the amp, then an M13 & TimeFactor + od's. I've always had a good knowledge of the Edge's guitar style and was able to program these rigs to sound pretty good. This year, however, the sound person commented that this was the best it's ever sounded of any of the previous U2 services. What was especially good was the ability to create every crazy effect I needed. Like the Korg A3 sound on Mysterious Ways. I recorded the audio from the service on a handheld. I haven't checked it out yet but I will probably put some of it online.
 
I do worship! I use the Ultra with a Ground Control Pro direct to FOH. It does exactly what I need. Any kind of tone for this genre (any genre really heh) I can make with the Ultra and the GCP effects on/off switches are just great. The "melancholia" (sp?) preset is simply a wonder for ambient parts or quiet parts of worship songs.

Sound dudes and other guitarists from other churches always seem to think my tone is good (one guy who got an invitation to play for Paul Baloche said, "Man, that's not like a typical digital tone!"), so I dig it!

I became Axe-itized when I was using a Digitech GNX3000 and before that, I had been using a Fender Deville 4x10. I liked my setups ok, but I wanted something stellar. I stumbled onto the Axe-FX while searching for Mark IV information on the John Petrucci website, and someone posted a link that sent me here, and I never looked back since then!
 
I purchased an Axe FX II in May 2012 and a Liquid Foot +12 foot controller. I have slowly been refining my tones and as I gain more understanding, I am gaining a new appreciation for how awesome this device is, and how I can customize it to sound exactly the way I want it to. That said, there is a learning curve, and I have programmed sounds that I thought would sound awesome, only to listen to the service archives and discover that I have missed the mark. Most of that is due to attempting to use headphones to program at home, and not having those patches really convey properly through a full sound system in a 1500 seat venue. One time, I was able to get a block of about 3 hours where they sound guys let me set up my rig on the 20th row, and program a few sounds while in the audience area, with my guitar turned up to "normal service time performance level" and this helped me tremendously. That time gave me a bench mark of what tone settings will sound good through our mains, and also a feel for how quickly reverb and delays dissipate in the room, so I can use those as place mats for building future sounds. The toughest part of my learning has been with using the out 2 and effects loop, specifically, getting the levels right, so as to feed my effects in the loop, without overdoing it. Fortunately, I dug an old Korg A-1 out of my basement and used it's input lights as a measurement to achieve unity in and out at levels that my pedals could handle, but it took me a few months to come up with that brainchild. The good news is, I'm starting to learn how to use this awesome gizmo in time to prepare for our Christmas services. Here are a few recent videos of me playing at church with my Axe II: rodzimguitar68 - YouTube
 
Laskyman said:
Just wondering how many of you all may be using the Axe in a worship setting- what are you using- Standard or Ultra? Did you come go Fractal by way of an amp, or did you use other modelers? Thoughts?
When I get an Axe, I will be using it n this capapcity- most likely running FOH...just interested in your experiences...
Click to expand...

I don't play for weekly worship services, only cantatas. For years I used a Roland VG-88, GR-30, and SonicCell to provide orchestra and guitar sounds (acoustic, nylon, clean, mild crunch, bass). What's weird is that after I got my AxeFx Ultra all the guitar parts I've had are classical-related. So I've only used the tube preamp and effects from the Ultra to process a Godin ACS nylon. It sounds great but I'm a little disappointed that I haven't needed an electric guitar and amp sim in 2 yrs. If I was to need them my choice would probably be a Twin or Maz 38 for clean, the Brownface for a really mild crunch, and a Matchless for a more modern sound. That's probably the most I could get away with at these churches.
As for how I run it: I've never played in a church that has a good monitoring system so I plug everything into a KC500 keyboard amp. The amp has an xlr output that feeds the house system. I usually turn the amp towards me so that the audience only hears the house mix. In a few weeks I'm going to play in a church that's having trouble with their sound system (I suspect human error) so I'm thinking of going old-school and just turning the amp toward the audience and not worrying about the house mix.
 
I've been using mine for almost two years now and haven't used an amp since. Frankly I haven't plugged into an amp for anything since getting the axe fx, my old expensive pedalboard just sits collecting dust, I have sold all but two of my amps.

I go straight into the board and set it on top of one elx-112 p behind me for an "amp" feel, for bigger venues I use my trusty home made 4x12 (actually 2 woofers and tweeters) 550 watt x2 stereo cab. Sooner or later I will have to take the axe 2 plunge.
 
I used my ultra for a couple years and have been using the 2 for 10 months or so now. I absolutely love it and so does the sound guy. My church just hired him as a MI graduate pro tools guy. Funny that now that I introduced him to the axe he became a believer. The first service he mixed he didn't believe me that it was digital gear.
 
I've been using the 2 and MFC in church for a few months now and couldn't be happier! The ambient delays and low to medium gain amps (Matchless, AC30, Budda, Deluxe Verb) cover 90% of the Hillsong and Jesus Culture stuff we play. It's a smaller church (about 250 / week) so stage volume was an issue with my previous Vox amp setup, and after some prodding from the main worship leader and sound guy I tried out various modelers to FOH before settling on the Axe. Sound check and leveling is the quickest and most consistent week after weeks that it's ever been. It requires some tweaking but I'm a believer now that I can get any tone out of it that I got out of my Vox tube amp. Great to hear from the rest of you P+W guitarists on here!
 
NorCal said:
I've been using the 2 and MFC in church for a few months now and couldn't be happier! The ambient delays and low to medium gain amps (Matchless, AC30, Budda, Deluxe Verb) cover 90% of the Hillsong and Jesus Culture stuff we play. It's a smaller church (about 250 / week) so stage volume was an issue with my previous Vox amp setup, and after some prodding from the main worship leader and sound guy I tried out various modelers to FOH before settling on the Axe. Sound check and leveling is the quickest and most consistent week after weeks that it's ever been. It requires some tweaking but I'm a believer now that I can get any tone out of it that I got out of my Vox tube amp. Great to hear from the rest of you P+W guitarists on here!
Click to expand...

Hey NorCal, I was wondering if you have posted any of your patches. I'm starting to play in church here soon and we play a lot of Hillsong stuff?
 
I've been using the Axe for a couple years now at our church.

Started with the Ultra and have been using the II since it basically came out. I've been really happy with it. You can get all the Hillsong-y / Brewster-y tones without much trouble. The FOH guys love it and last week at out sister church I had a couple people come up to me and ask if the amp was back stage. I thought that was a pretty telling question.

My rig is so simple now. Music Man JP6 or JP7, Axe II, and MFC-101. Easy to carry. Easy to set up. Sounds like butta.
 
Laskyman said:
Just wondering how many of you all may be using the Axe in a worship setting- what are you using- Standard or Ultra? Did you come go Fractal by way of an amp, or did you use other modelers? Thoughts?
When I get an Axe, I will be using it n this capapcity- most likely running FOH...just interested in your experiences...
Click to expand...

I use an Axe Fx II and some other gear before it and in the effects loop. Here is a short clip shot with an Iphone from a staff member on the front row, from one of our 4 Christmas Eve services yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4geM0FEmJ8

Merry Christmas!
 
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I've been using Fractal stuf in worship music every week since 2008 ! First a Standard ,to Ultra, to Ax II! At first i ran through a Randall tube power amp and 2x12 THD w/ Weber celstion 25 clones,Then went FOH and have been since! Monitored through house monitors for a while, personal monitors FBT, Atomic, now RCF , now everyone is required to use IEM's (which I have to tolerate) !:)! Do FOH and RCF in the bands I play in also!Aftre many amp configurations and rack systems, tons of expensive boutique pedals ,The Ax Fx Has been the best amplification system solution I've ever used! Period! And it just keeps getting better!
 
Me too. Been involved with worship music since the 80's. Switched to using modelers when the Roland VG-8 came out. Went back to amps eventually. When I bought my first Axefx Ultra I started leaving the amps at home again. Then switched to the AxeFxII when it became available. Everyone else is using amps but they're all in a back room so all you hear is what's in the house anyway. All monitoring is done via IEMs. Long story short the Axe is easier than lugging an amp and pedal board and sounds as good or better.

I actually keep the AxeFx off stage (we keep the stage really clean) and I just run a cable out to my MFC101 at the front of the stage. We run wireless to our IEMs and I'm wireless to my Axe. We have a service on Sat. night and three services on Sunday so I'm ready to go after that. When were done I grab my MFC walk off stage, then grab the Axe and I'm done. It gets me home about an hour earlier unless were playing at the end of the service.
 
I did do a rack video in June, but I've since replaced my flight case from (2) 8-space SKB's to (1) 12-space ATA case. I need more spaces to store my cables and spare parts, capo, strings, etc, but a larger rack won't fit in my car, so I also sport a duffle bag everywhere I am playing. I haven't changed the gear, or how it is routed though.

I either run my Line6 G90 wireless into the GCX switcher or I run a cable into the GCX. The first loop contains a BB Plus dual overdrive/distortion. The output of that loop feeds the input of the AXE II. The effects loop output of the AXE goes into a TC Electronic Gmajor2. The TC outputs go back to the GCX switcher in stereo. I have a Strymon Timeline, followed by a Line6 M13 stompbox modeler, and lastly a Digitech Timebender. The stereo outputs of the GCX return into the AXE FX. I run the AXE directly into the sound system. We run Aviom in-ear monitor mixers for each band member.

Please note, that in the video I posted yesterday, I am strictly running the Axe FX, with no other gear providing effects on that section. If you want to hear songs with my other gear also being used, you can click on other videos of worship sets, on my youtube page.

Thanks
 
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