AX8 through an amp

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David Milne

New Member
I have tried just about every digital pedalboard except AX8. All of them soudn horrible through the front end of a tube amp or even through the effects return. Some have been rediculously bad through the P.A. I want to order an ax8 but almost every review shows someone playing lead. Rythmn is where most of thes fall down into a muddled mess without string separation. How does the AX* play into tube amps and does it sound natural on low to medium crunch for rythmn
 
Yes, but it sounds better through a PA/FRFR. I will even go as far as to say as the clarity and note separation are better than my tube amp.
 
I don't think I agree that it sounds better one way or another. Variety is the spice of life. But playing through the effects in on a traditional amp sounds great. I also run it through a power amp into a 2x12 cab = sounds great. While going direct sounds great, the problem that can happen going direct is that sometimes the tone can be a little too Hi-Fi and full range to sound authentic. This can be remedied. But many people get so caught up in what sounds cool, that it starts losing a sound of authenticity - a real guitar playing through a real amp. For my ear anyway. This is totally up to the ear of the player though.

I understand and agree with what the op says about old multi-effects units, but the AX8 is a different animal. Without a doubt, you can make it sound bad. But you can also make it sound great. Rhythm. Lead. Whatever.

Direct or by traditional means, you can get good tones. The sky is the limit.

good luck
 
It sounds great both ways IMO. Just understand that low volume tones won’t sound the same at loud volumes and visa versa. But you can create seperare presets for that.
 
David Milne said:
I have tried just about every digital pedalboard except AX8. All of them soudn horrible through the front end of a tube amp or even through the effects return. Some have been rediculously bad through the P.A.
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I think if you've had this problem with every single digital modeler then the problem isn't the hardware. It might be your amp. Or it might just be your approach. I've had stellar results with Helix, AX8, Axe-III, and Kemper either through an amp's effects return or direct through a PA, and I'm not alone in this regard. There are major pro touring acts that do both of these things all the time.
 
To me it sounds like you might be looking for something more like the FX8? That's meant to be run in front of your amp, and the AX8 is better to be run into the FX return of your amp, bypassing the preamp of your amplifier. Straight into a PA the AX8 is just stellar and there are a lot of big acts running it like that.
 
Bman said:
It sounds great both ways IMO. Just understand that low volume tones won’t sound the same at loud volumes and visa versa. But you can create seperare presets for that.
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This is what I've found. Some minor eq adjustments need to be made depending on where I'm sending my signal, but all can sound some version of great.
 
bigfoamfinger said:
Looking to do this with the FM3. How did you set this up, simply bypass amp and cab in the editor?
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I used the AX8 with the amp modeling into the front of a couple of different amps. Just turned off the Cab in the presets. Worked much better for me rather than using the amps effects loop.
 
JoKeR III said:
I used the AX8 with the amp modeling into the front of a couple of different amps. Just turned off the Cab in the presets. Worked much better for me rather than using the amps effects loop.
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This is how I'd like to use it--straight into my Two Rock. Did you need to turn off the power amp modeling?
 
I sometimes run mine direct into my fender Princeton reverb RI. I think it sounds great, even running amp models I can get all sorts of sweet and crunchy tones.
 
I'd agree that it depends on the amp. I run with amp modeling on and cabs off into the front end of a Blackstar HT-20 combo's clean channel. Sounds killer for Country and Rock stuff. I also run into the Return of the loop on a Dr Z Maz18NR with way better results than running into the front end of that amp.
 
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