Are we wrapped up in the tech of the axe fx

[phitho]

Sometimes you get people like me who don't have the time to even play guitar, let alone tinker with the Axe...I can't spend any time tweaking what's under the hood of the Axe due to life/work/health priorities (diagnosed as diabetic so now I've given myself no choice but to go to the gym at least 4 times a week and be active). Reading or posting on a forum like this is really my only way to stay connected and be part of a community made of fellow musicians/tone freaks/gear heads...the Net makes it easier for those like me to spend more time reading and writing about music/guitar/the Axe than doing it because I can do all of that from anywhere...whereas playing involves sitting down and allocating time (that I personally don't have)

I'm really thankful for this forum, that's for sure.

 

[maxdown]

If you've frig all else to do then twiddle the deeper params until you're blue in the face .... it doesn't matter to anyone but yourself after a while.

If others have frig all else to do but tell you that a real amp is better then it doesn't matter to anyone but themselves.

If you like what you hear using whatever and whichever then it's a winner.

I can piss most purists off just by saying - "Oh yeah .... I've still got all my tube gear in storage ..... but now I've got 200 amps to try .... OK I accept that I'll only probably really like and use 10 or so of these .... but I can quickly and easily try hundreds of cabs too. How many cabs and speaker combinations have you tried with your xxxxxx head? They can make a big difference you know."

 

[APOGEE123]

Takes me 5 mins to get great sound with the Axe Fx... I just don't look at it that way with this unit at all, love all the parameters at my finger tips

 

[Severed]

What's worked for me.

Education. Learn what it is you like about certain tones and how it was recorded and processed. Then you will have no problem quickly modeling it.

As for the competitive tube snobs.... Just tell anyone you'll challenge them to a sound clip comparison of an Axe FX II vs thier tube rig. After 2 years of many attacks on my choices on various online forums, I'm still waiting for a single naysayer to post something.

 

[swervedriver]

During the week I'm usually away from my Axe FX, so then this place is a bit of a surrogate.

 

[BigD1977]

IMHO Scott Peterson and Electronpirate hit the nail on the head.

My own way of working is to go to a preset. If it isn't working for the style of music then I switch guitar..... the benefit of having 20+ guitars. I've mucked about with the advanced parameters but always tend to go back to the defaults and just jam.

I like mucking about with IRs though. That's the extent of my advanced tweaking now.

 

[UnsungHeroGuitars]

I plugged into a Epiphone shitty Les Paul

 

[Danny Danzi]

My question is are we wrapped up in all the tech of the axe fx. We have all these threads about how to achieve great sound and what to do this and that etc. I plugged into a Epiphone shitty Les Paul into a Blackstar HT 40 and achieved a super cool hair metal tone. That easy. No discussion no tweaking no nothing.
And then I went home and played on my axe fx and it sounded great as well very close. But not quite there. But that's not my bitch. My concern is that we spend so much time talking about the ENDLESS things that the Axe fx can do that we lose sight of just playing and enjoying The great tones that are already inside it. Without deep editing

This to me is 100% true and what any tone chasers that may not be great players, should think about. It's way too easy with the Axe to get so wrapped up, your chops suffer due to tweaking more than actually playing. We definitely have to keep a happy medium because you can tweak yourself into oblivion, and then notice your playing is way off. Hopefully we can fix the playing aspect...but here's the kicker...

How many of us can really play and dig down deep with a tone when it has that little something wrong with it? That's been my downfall, I must confess. One of the big problems with my 2101 was, the tone was so close to the one I heard in my head, yet what was missing, I worked years on only to never find out what it was. I have no regrets as the OTHER side of the coin is...tweaking teaches you a lot about guitar sound, effects use and quite a lot of other things.

The Axe has so much power and possibilities, I sincerely don't think it's a box for someone to buy if they just want to plug in and go. Though you can do that, it's safe to say the majority of people who have one, bought it because they WANTED to have a custom, sculpted, tone.

If someone wants a tube screamer into a Blackstar or some other amp, and that's the sound they want, that's what they should get. If they want something with 1,000000 possibilities as well as a true relationship with a piece AND unlimited scenarios AND inspiration based on what this baby can do, the Axe is the better choice.

That said, as long as one remains focused on playing as much as tweaking, they should be in good shape. The other scenario is....you tweak on the Axe when you can, you use whatever rig you swear by until you get the Axe where you need it.

 

[BigD1977]

Oh my god.... don't worry about that...... that last Epi you sold me was something special (Epi with Burstbuckers). I plugged it into the Axe on the boutique preset, used my fingers, and HOLY SHIT!!!! I had the Brothers In Arms tone...... now, to put this in perspective, Mark Knopfler is the whole reason I play guitar! The only reason I don't hit you up any more is because I've found THE guitar.

Thank you.

So much.

 

[Phil emptiness.be]

Usually, the nerdy knowledge about something is good to have when you eventually want to do something simple, because your mastering of the tool lets you do so, quickly and effectively, so you can leave the rest of the time and headspace to imagination and inspiration. That's how everything works I guess. The axefx just has a bit of an extended (and extending) learning curve.

 

[UnsungHeroGuitars]

Oh my god.... don't worry about that...... that last Epi you sold me was something special (Epi with Burstbuckers). I plugged it into the Axe on the boutique preset, used my fingers, and HOLY SHIT!!!! I had the Brothers In Arms tone...... now, to put this in perspective, Mark Knopfler is the whole reason I play guitar! The only reason I don't hit you up any more is because I've found THE guitar.

Thank you.

So much.

My absolute pleasure Dave

Fellow Fractal Forum member FabioKTG knows just how good your '07 Les Paul is too!

Actually, I just sold another white Custom like yours - the customer specced WCR Godwood pickups with Jimmy Page wiring and holy smokes, that guitar is a veritable smorgasbord of tonal treats!

Anyhoo - we digress, but don't forget that the OP started it!

 

[kevrock]

Just to be clear I wasn't knocking at Epiphone. But it was like a $200 one. I get the sounds I want out of the axe fx pretty easily I'm just saying that with all the talk about all the stuff you can do it gets a little overwhelming and you feel like you should be doing more with it
I used to try to coax a tone out of the amp I WANTED to use. Instead of using the right amp. Lol now I have finally learned to tweek with my ears not eyes. And a lot of that is because of the smart and helpful people on this forum. So I try to pay my knowledge forward whenever I can.

 

[Horganovski]

One thing I've come to realize recently with the Axe - if you find yourself knee deep in the advanced settings trying to tweak to get what you want, you're probably using the wrong amp model for what you want to achieve. I've wasted time that way trying to coax the tone in my head from a particular amp without success, then I switch to a different one and go 'oh there it is'

 

[UnsungHeroGuitars]

Just to be clear I wasn't knocking at Epiphone. But it was like a $200 one. I get the sounds I want outback fax pretty easily I'm just saying that with all the talk about all the stuff you can do it gets a little overwhelming and you feel like you should be doing more with it

No worries kevrock - I wasn't hurt really

...much

 

[lqdsnddist]

This to me is 100% true and what any tone chasers that may not be great players, should think about. It's way too easy with the Axe to get so wrapped up, your chops suffer due to tweaking more than actually playing. We definitely have to keep a happy medium because you can tweak yourself into oblivion, and then notice your playing is way off. Hopefully we can fix the playing aspect...but here's the kicker...

This seems to suggest though that everyone who owns an axe, and or play guitar for that matter, should have great chops. Nothing wrong with that, but I think plenty of people (like myself) can quite happily suck at guitar and still find it a fun hobby, and the Axe for that matter, a great purchase.

Its like golf; should one have a goal of shooting under par, hitting a few hundred balls on the range each day before then going to spend an hour working on their short game ? Or can one simply think of golf as a fun activity which lets them go out, enjoy the sunshine and drink some beers with their friends ?

Now your points are good ones, in the case of those who want to be the best guitarist they can be. Mastering their instrument really takes one far further than shaping the perfect tone, BUT, it shouldn't invalidate the desires of those who don't care to be a monster player.

If I had the choice between playing with my Axe, my synths, and my other toys, or sitting practicing scales and modes, I'd rather noodle with the Axe. Guitar is just a hobby for me now, and frankly, I enjoy the gear as much as I do playing the instrument.

Maybe I'm not even a "guitarist", maybe my hobby is simply playing with electronics, talking about electronics, and buying more new electronics. I paid the same hard earned money for my Axe as anyone did though, so really isn't up to anyone else to tell me if I'm using it "right".

If I want to sit around, compare 3 FW versions for 2 hours and then spend 2 more hours shaping a tone, just to poorly play 3 chords through it, its my prerogative, and if that is my idea of "fun", then who is to say I'm not getting my money's worth ?

 

[lowlandr]

You have to have balance.

Just like with home recording you can get lost in trying to be an engineer and sacrifice your time and creative juice.

I've never been one to use dozens of tones anyway.

Then again I don't get my unit until Tuesday.

A couple of weeks from now I might need an intervention...

 

[Danny Danzi]

This seems to suggest though that everyone who owns an axe, and or play guitar for that matter, should have great chops. Nothing wrong with that, but I think plenty of people (like myself) can quite happily suck at guitar and still find it a fun hobby, and the Axe for that matter, a great purchase.

Actually, it doesn't suggest the above at all. At least that wasn't my intent. Sorry if you took it another way. What I was hoping to suggest is, if you aren't as good as you want to be, you can easily become worse if you tweak more than you play. It wasn't a shot at anyone nor was I implying everyone has to be great. In a nutshell, 4 hours of tweaking vs. 1 hour of playing constantly will not equal the chops you'd have if you did 1 hour tweaking, 2-3 hours practicing. It's very easy to get so wrapped up in the power the unit has, you lose focus on your playing as well as having a good time. It all depends upon your level of playing as well as your fascination or need for tweaking. Some times I don't have fun because I'm trying to dial in a specific tone. Other times I tweak more than I play, and trust me, I can tell. I just thought there may be others like me.

 

[HailHalford]

All praise to those who tweak and post their findings here; they have saved me hours if not days finding the better tones or effect setups that let me keep rocking without tearing my hair out. I salute you!

 

[Deaj]

I rather find the AxeFX II to be less effort to use than a tube amp, and with results as good or better than the actual amps (and I've owned a fair percentage of the vintage amps modeled epresented in the AxeFX II as well as a few modern production amps and boutiques). I use only the basic amp controls on page 1 (unless I'm trying to produce results beyond the limitations of the amp being modeled - rarely the case). I turn the AxeFX on, select one of the various presets I've built for myself, and play - that's it. It doesn't need to warm up, knobs are never inadvertently moved from my preferred settings, and variations in wall voltage have no negative impact on my sound. If I want to play at output levels similar to a cranked tube amp then I have the additional step of turning on a pair of CLR powered wedges.

I rarely post on the forums anymore because I'm usually playing when I would otherwise have the time to post. I haven't actively sought after any music gear since purchasing my first AxeFX (Ultra) in 2010. I do find it interesting to read what others are doing with the AxeFX and I occasionally learn new approaches to achieving desired results in more complex effect chains. Most of the time, however, I'm using an amp block, a cab block, delay, and reverb.

My observation is that folks genuinely enjoy discussing their gear and their use of it with other musicians. Some like tinkering mote than others. There may be users that get bogged down in details but I'd bet there are far more that are too busy playing to be posting on forums.

 

[swervedriver]

All praise to those who tweak and post their findings here; they have saved me hours if not days finding the better tones or effect setups that let me keep rocking without tearing my hair out. I salute you!

This! Haven't said it enough, but reading posts about how everyone uses the Axe to sculpt their tones has taught me how to get the best out of it for what I'm trying to do. I like tweaking and discovering how things work, but for a limited amount of time. Thanks everyone!