AX8 with acoustic guitars.

Y

Yryrky.

New Member
Hi Everyone--- ---I am a fundamentally acoustic guitarist who is very interested in the AX8. I use a variety of acoustics with different pickups (some of which I don't even recall anymore) into an AER amp and I get good results. With a mish-mash of this sort, could I expect good results from the AX8? Many thanks in advance for any input.
 
What I mean is you really wouldn't be able to take advantage of many of the amp models. The best feature IMO. The unit it's self is worth every penny.
 
I spent a few hours with my acoustic plugged in using the TubePre amp and some Takamine IRs from 3 Sigma (I have a Takamine so I wanted to A/B it with how I normally play which is direct in to a Bose L1). The sound was passable for sure - I haven't connected to the PA yet with my acoustic going through the AX8 but I'm pretty sure it could be dialed in to get a nice acoustic sound, plus take advantage of the AX8s FX. I'm interested in it for the looper too, but then also to be able to switch to electric guitar on a few songs. My partner plays acoustic guitar as well in our duo.
 
Brian Buzek said:
What I mean is you really wouldn't be able to take advantage of many of the amp models. The best feature IMO. The unit it's self is worth every penny.
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You're right. The amp models wouldn't be of much use to you. But the effects are killer. A well-placed notch can dial out some of that piezo quack. A touch of reverb does wonders. An almost-undetectable bit of Rotary can make it sound rich. Compression can even things out or spice them up.

Best of all is if you or a friend have an Axe-Fx. Then you can tone-match your favorite acoustic guitar and export it to an IR that you can load into the AX8 for a wonderful live acoustic guitar tone.
 
Absolutely. I play a ton of acoustic thru the ax8. The Parametric eq's. are an outstanding tool for acoustic tone.
Doesn't matter that you may not need the amp modeling (it's always there if you want it). For consistency in tone, ease of setup, flexibility in signal chain...the unit is outstanding. Most of my acoustic gigs are done with my ax8 and expression pedal in a backpack, and a guitar. Set up takes maybe 2-1/2 minutes and I get exactly the tone I want every time. Personal monitor not necessary if you use the house monitors.
I could go on and on but bottom line, I highly recommend it. I picked up an axefx 10 years ago, only hardware change ive made has been an upgrade to fxII before ax8. If I want an effect, it's in there. No more buying and selling of pedals etc..
I built the base of my acoustic presets 10 years ago and have never needed to change them...my presets are eq based not tube pre. I'll add or remove different delays from time to time....an occasional pitch shift or similar but never touch the eq's dialed in for my acoustic. Big fat notes, crystal clear overtones. I absolutely love it.
 
I'd think the FX8 might be worth considering? Basically you'd be saving yourself $300 by skipping the amp modelling. Not familiar enough with the FX8 to know if there are any downsides or additional upsides to it.
 
I used to make a decent buck playing solo acoustic in the ski area bars here in Colorado. I would have given my left arm for something as good as the AX8. The tube pre, reverbs, delays and choruses on the AX8 are so much better than the Rane Preamp and digital reverb I used to think was the bomb. Throw in the fact that you can loop and use expression pedals... YES the AX8 is a killer acoustic pre.
 
To everyone above--- ---many, MANY thanks. I bought an AX-Fx eight or nine years ago, and was pretty intimidated, and wound up giving the unit to a paramount shredder/ambient character, for whom it's become an integral part of his signal chain. I'm at the other end of the spectrum and almost went for the FX8 a few years back but never got to it. I would like a few patches with some modest Chuck Berry-crunchiness, which I gather is not what he FX8 is about, and I'm a delay-slut, so I think I'll go ahead on the AX8. And, Leon, my laptop has lost it's speaker abilities temporarily, but I'm looking forward to checking out your sounds on another machine--- ---Steve.
 
AndyOrr said:
I used to make a decent buck playing solo acoustic in the ski area bars here in Colorado. I would have given my left arm for something as good as the AX8. The tube pre, reverbs, delays and choruses on the AX8 are so much better than the Rane Preamp and digital reverb I used to think was the bomb. Throw in the fact that you can loop and use expression pedals... YES the AX8 is a killer acoustic pre.
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Hey Andy, .......I did the same, but in florida and some in New yorkfor many years. Always got a an OK sound but now............just light years better than what i had........
 
Apologizes for the partial hijack, but can you get a good acoustic tone with the AX8 and a piezo (under the saddle) pickup? Our do you really need one of the more advanced pickups to get a great acoustic sound with the AX8?

I'd experiment myself, but I'm waiting on UPS to deliver my AX8 :). Personally I'm looking forward to having a single rig that fits in a backpack, works for both my acoustics and my electrics, and allows me to easily use effects with my acoustic (I'm a tape echo freak :D).
 
Smittefar said:
He would also loose the ability to load tone matches in the cab block and the ability to use the tube pre amp block.

I like my AX8 a lot with my acoustic. I sold other acoustic preamps and pedals.
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This. You really want the option to load acoustic IRs to blend (or not) with your guitars' piezos.
 
Mark Scrivener said:
Apologizes for the partial hijack, but can you get a good acoustic tone with the AX8 and a piezo (under the saddle) pickup? Our do you really need one of the more advanced pickups to get a great acoustic sound with the AX8?

I'd experiment myself, but I'm waiting on UPS to deliver my AX8 :). Personally I'm looking forward to having a single rig that fits in a backpack, works for both my acoustics and my electrics, and allows me to easily use effects with my acoustic (I'm a tape echo freak :D).
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You can find 2 clips I recorded here. Both piezo equipped guitars. https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...ed-and-classical-guitars.125975/#post-1499052
 
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