Are there any Axe FX owners here who have never owned a conventional amp?

[Cagey]

Makes me feel a bit dinosaury for a "millenial" but I feel like every guitar player should have at least one real tube amp.

I've had far too many of them, and finally sold my last one just a couple months ago. Fired it up one day for a visitor and one of the preamp tubes had gone microphonic, even though it was a fairly young tube. This, just after the same thing happened to one of my brothers with one of his 'boutique' tube amps. I said to myself "self... that's just about enough of that shit" and put it on eBay. Needy, heavy, power-hungry little buggers are more trouble than they're worth, especially if you own an Axe Fx. If I ever get the urge to wrestle with a tube amp again, I have freinds who still have some in their closets. I don't see it happening, though.

 

[StickMan]

That's quite a quantum leap in gear quality!
I bet you're really enjoying the Axe compared to the Spider.

Ha! I started out with one of these POS Darius SS amps:

And then, when I was about 17, I moved over to one of the very last pre-CBS Fender Bandmasters (as far as I could tell, made within a month or three of when I was born):

My Bandmaster had been USED. It had a big burn/slash across the tolex on the top of the head, and the grill cloth had a yellow tint to it that could only have come from many, many hours sitting in smokey bars.

 

[SoProg]

I would venture to say I'm probably in this boat to a degree. I purchased an Axe II for my son when he was 12 (he's 17 now). We had a line 6 Spider that wasn't quite working out for us. I had asked a friend at work who built amps, etc what I should get and he told me about the AXE II. So, that's where I stand today. Although, we mainly use the AX8 now.

Part of the decision making process for me was that I wanted my son to learn about amplification, etc from a 'digital' perspective since that is the direction this world is heading. I can probably say that I know more about how tube amplifiers work because of the Axe FX than most guys do who actually own the real thing. It's also opened my eyes to how various drives and effects work since it's typically more than just turning a simple knob.

Now, my son has been gigging every week for quite a few years now. It's always direct to FOH with in-ear monitors. Over the course of time, we purchased a little Mesa Express 5:25 and we built an amplifier as a science project (guytronix).

Since having the Axe FX, there's really only been a handful of times where we "lusted" over our analog counterparts. In those cases, we typically just do some forum searches to replicate some effect, or possibly find a cab to match an amp, etc. The forum here is outstanding and it really helps unlock the unit's full potential.

Adopt me?
I'm really good at chores.

 

[SteveW]

I have had a whack of tubes....Marshall Stacks, Fender Twin's, 5150 Combo, Mesa DR stack, then some SS's like, Pod Pro, Line 6 Spider's etc......and on and on.

Bought and sold everything I ever had over time...and finally stumbled across the Axe FX II XL+...and the AX8. I don't gig anymore; haven't in over 35 years, don't record...but I play a good hour a day on my Axe!

I kept some of my guitars from the 80's...like a Strat and Kramer Pacer, which today, through my Axe, sound just like they did back then when I played them through "conventional" amps.

The Axe II is definitely the last "amp" I'll ever need, until the III comes out!

 

[Piing]

I started playing more than 35 years ago with shit-amps and borrowing amps on-stage. I was never happy with the tone. I moved to modelers and FRFR amp/speaker with the Boss GX-700, then the Boss GT-Pro followed by the Axe-FX, Axe-FX Ultra, and now the Axe-FX II.


Before the Axe-FX I bought and sold so many rack pre-amps and effects that I cannot even remember them all. From the Triaxis to the Egnater RM4 Modular Tube pre-amp, eventides, even a Muse Receptor rack with plugins!. I got rid of everything somewhere between the Axe-FX Standard and the Ultra.

ps: Got Roland VG Guitar Modellers also (since the VG-8 to the VG-99), but the Axe-FX cannot substitute the guitar modelling. My dream is a Roland VG with Fractal Audio Quality

 

[TG3K]

I started with real amps as a kid, but started again many years later using only modeling.

My parents bought me my first amp in the mid-60s when I was in about 5th grade. It was a silverface Fender Bronco that they bought new. They also bought my first electric guitar that day, a used Silvertone that ended up being impossible to intonate. By the next year, I needed an amp that had enough inputs for both my guitar (upgraded to a Harmony Rocket by then) and a microphone (some Shure model that I can't recall). So they bought me a lightly-used silverface Deluxe Reverb for $200...a lot of money back then for my parents. I still have that Deluxe. It took care of me through high school and beyond. (There were a few years in high school where I mainly used an Acoustic 150B solid state bass head into a homegrown 212 cabinet, but the Deluxe was still what I used at home.) By the late '70s I was using the Deluxe as my clean channel and a Music Man 65 watt 210 combo (into a Music Man 412 cab) as my dirty channel, and I toured with that setup for a few years before getting out of the business. I was burnt out, and for all practical purposes, I stopped playing guitar. I still GASsed a bit, so over time I picked up an ADA MP-1, a Quadraverb, a Boogie .22 combo amp, and even an Ibanez RG550 with one of those newfangled Floyd Rose things. None of them got much use after the newness wore off.

Then about 25 or so years later, I got the urge to start noodling with the guitar again and doing some cheap home recording, so I picked up a POD II. That got sporadic use for a few years, then I ended up with a POD XT Live. That also only got occasional use, since I really didn't have the motivation to come up with new music. Fast forward another chunk of time and I ended up moving back to my home town and hooking back up with some of my musician buddies. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I found myself as the electric guitarist in and acoustic classic rock cover band. I was using the XT Live and running direct to FOH, and was relatively happy with that. Then I heard another local player gigging with an Axe-Fx, and I simply had to have one. It just sounded too real. The rest is history. I've gigged steadily and used nothing except for the Axe-Fx for the past 2-3 years and have no desire or interest in using a conventional amp again. My original Deluxe, the Music Man 210 combo, and the Boogie combo are stashed away in a back room. I don't think any of them have even been powered on for over a decade. (I take that back. I turned on the Boogie a few years ago just to see if it still worked. It did, but it also smelled of stale cigarette smoke after being stored in smoky rooms for about 20 years.) I did upgrade my Mk2 to an XL+ a year or so ago, and will consider the AFX III when it comes out, but my amp buying days are over. (Instead, I've invested in PA equipment, since the better the PA, the better my rig sounds.)

 

[Clockwork Creep]

All I had was a 15 watt fender practise amp. And I think it sucks.
Was playing mostly through Waves GTR3 at home.

 

[ghostofsparta]

I had a couple solid state combo amps when i first started playing, got a cheap tube head(Peavey Valveking), after that I dabbled with some plugins, then finally decided to go for the Axe.

Can honestly say its been the best investment in gear I've ever made.

 

[cemusic]

I was just curious about this, since I think it would be a pretty unusual perspective. Are there any Axe FX owners here who have never in their lives owned a conventional amp? If so, have you ever had any lust for a "real" amp or "real" effects? Let's hear your stories.

So as of today, maybe not that many. But think about 20 yrs down the line. I'll bet by then, the MAJORITY of players under, say, 25, will not have owned a 'conventional' amp. How long before only players who are part of a Going Back To Real Amps 'movement' will play them?

What happens to guitar sound after all aspects of it's reproduction have resided in the digital realm for a couple of generations?

 

[grogthecaveman]

Hmmm... $2000+ for an Axe FX is a pretty significant investment. $199 for a crappy strat and amp beginner's kit is much less. How much does the cheapo version of Amplitube or POD Farm cost? That's probably even less. I can see some parents saying "We'll buy you an amp if you stick with this cheap software."

 

[generaldiomedes]

Never owned a tube amp, I think it hurts me a bit as sometimes the AxeFX doesn't sound 'right' to my ears, and some software modellers sound better. Sometimes I do wish I had a reference tube amp just for comparison.

 

[Vertigo Pulse]

Where's the Crate love??? My Crate 15W with a metal zone in front defined my 90's death metal tone. You better believe it was on the clean channel too! I scooped the living hell out my mids. Then I got a roland cube which is actually pretty sweet. Then the AxeFx II XL+... and the rest is history.

Im more interested in studio monitors now then I am tube amps. I blame the AxeFx for this.

 

[Dr. Dipwad]

I think I qualify.

My first amp was a B.C. Rich "devastator" () that was only loud enough for bedroom practice.

I went from that to a 200 Watt Fender 2x12 that was so darned heavy I could never take it anywhere and barely used it. (Also, it had no distortion that I could detect unless I turned it up so loud that it could rattle windows...and I was mostly playing in churches at the time, so I totally had no use for that kind of volume.)

Instead, I bought a Digitech GSP-21 and plugged it direct through PAs and keyboard amps, using an EQ to make it sound good (barely) because it lacked any kind of Cab Sim.

Then I went to the GSP-2101 as soon as it came out, again, direct, with the built in "Speaker Compensated" outs.

Then the VGS-2120 combined with a Line 6 Pod XL Pro. Finally had something resembling amp & cab simulations.

From there I went to a T.C. Electronic G-Force in combination with a Sound Sculpture Switchblade and two Line 6 Pod XLs.

In ALL of these things, I was basically trying to cobble together an Axe FX from what was available at the time. (Axe FX hadn't been invented yet.)

Then Cliff invented it. (Finally!)

 

[Geezerjohn]

My first paid gig was in 1963. I have owned and gigged with a lot of different amps. I have owned amps from Fender, Gibson, Danelectro, Vox, Standell, Marshall, Ampeg, Peavey, heck, even Pignose. FAS is by far the best gear I have ever owned.

 

[prufroc8]

I have never owned a proper tube amp. Early on I had a Peavey Bandit, a solid state. Similarly, I had a very small crate solid state amp for a bit. Otherwise, I had a Line 6 Vetta that was my main rig for a long time. Before that I used a Digitech 2101 straight to the board.

 

[GotMetalBoy]

Does it count if I can't remember what a real amp sounds like?

I still have a super old Crate GX60 combo amp that I used to use with a Marshall ShredMaster pedal. I've owned a bunch of solid state combo amps but nothing I've ever regretted getting rid of.

The closest I've come to a conventional tube amp is a Mesa Boogie Triaxis and 290 power amp and Marshall 1960AV. I bought the 290 used and it needed the tubes replaced and I didn't know anything about tubes. During my search for tubes I heard about the original Axe-Fx. I bought all new tubes for my Traxis and 290 and expected the tones in my head to come alive. Well that never happened, so I connected my Triaxis, Boss GT-PRO, ART Pro Gate, Korg AX30G, Korg AX30B and Roland FC300 MFC into a big rig that was way to heavy to move around.

I then replaced everything with my Axe-Fx II Mark I, MFC-101 Mark 1 and 2 Yamaha DXR12 FRFR cabs. This is when I had my tone aha! moment. I think I found the Axe-Fx II so pleasing to my ears bc it sounds like a perfectly recorded guitar which is what I've always listened to in music and why real amps through real guitar cabs never sounded right to me. I still have my Triaxis and 290 but only use them a few times a year when I need a reality check what a real tube amp sounds like and why I'm still so happy I bought an Axe-Fx II and it's the best purchase I've ever made.

I replaced my MFC-101 with a FAMC LF+ (Liquid Foot Plus) PRO+ G2 MFC, which is like the Axe-Fx II of MFC's. I also have 2 Boss FV500H and 2 Boss FV500L that I use as expression pedals and modded them by installing bolts under the heel and toe, so I could adjust the travel and not have the horrible dead spots.

I still have my old Korg AX30G and AX30B FX processors and still like the FX in them, especially the odd sounding ones but I'm able to replicate most of the FX with my Axe-Fx II.

I recently bought a B stock Axe-Fx II XL+ and a FAMC LF+ 12+ G2 MFC.