Axe FX II - High gain amp showcase, 13 amp models

Metal is not my thing but I watched every second of that - 5 star entertainment all round. That just has to go viral round the guitar community.
 
First off great work. How did you decide on what cabs and mics to use? You used a ton of dif cab and mic combos
 
I started this project with v6.02 and the initial plan was to showcase 11 amps. I even had the video intro down with those 11. Then came v7.0 with two new toys which I had to include, especially the Herbert which is my absolute fave these days, bringing the number to a total of 13. I had to re-tweak some of the patches and redo the intro which took even more time. I think I was working on it for about a month and a half to two months, my memory is a bit blurry. Yes it was a lot of work but it was fun to do as I learned quite a bit about video editing. And it was totally worth it, I'm overwhelmed and humbled by all your positive comments :ugeek

But yeah what you are hearing, is all v7.0 except for the intro and outro songs which were recorded prior to v7.0 In case you're wondering, I used the 5150 II on the intro song and the VH-4 on the outro one.

Duh on my part, with the Herbert in there I should have known. Excellent work man. This could very well cause a spike in AxeII sales!
 
Simply awesome, great comparison. You helped me discover a great starting point for the Herbie Ch2+ which I'll be using for some new recordings!
 
One amp I was amazed at in the comparison was the JCM800. It really held it's own against the real high gainers. Love the mids from that amp.
 
One amp I was amazed at in the comparison was the JCM800. It really held it's own against the real high gainers. Love the mids from that amp.

same thoughts here, I use that amp sim all the time but not in that type of context.
 
I came home from work today without a clue and then I saw this...

This is awesome. It's going up on our Facebook page right now.
:shock! Just wow! Thank you, I was certainly not expecting such a warm reception. You guys are awesome! :D

First off great work. How did you decide on what cabs and mics to use? You used a ton of dif cab and mic combos
I don't have a specific way deciding on what to use. I've spent quite some time tweaking presets that I know the sonic characteristics of some of the cabs/mics. So lets say for example I'm making a preset that needs a lot of bottom end, Cali 4x12 can provide that, or some other cab paired with a D112 mic. It really depends on what I'm after. I usually go through a lot of combos when building a patch and when something finally "clicks" I let it be. I guess I just spend a lot of time doing that :lol

But yeah, my advice would be, slowly learn the sonic characteristics of some (maybe all eventually) of the amps/mics. It makes it a lot easier to get a tone that you might going for.
 
It's a very cool video, but I have a concern:

For an amp-only review, the amp eq's all sound WILDLY different. So different, in fact, that I can't even recognize some of the amp tones as being like that particular amp. For example, the Engl Powerball, it sounded nothing like what I have in my axefx, and didn't sound anything like my real Powerball head. Your version sounded really bad to me. Then, the JCM800, an amp I'm not a fan of in a modern metal context, sounded great. Nothing like the JCM800's I've heard before.

All of this was rather confusing for me. Were all the amp eq's set at noon? They sure didn't sound like it to me. I hate to sound like a jerk, but the tones here didn't seem like a fair comparison or representation.
 
It's a very cool video, but I have a concern:

For an amp-only review, the amp eq's all sound WILDLY different. So different, in fact, that I can't even recognize some of the amp tones as being like that particular amp. For example, the Engl Powerball, it sounded nothing like what I have in my axefx, and didn't sound anything like my real Powerball head. Your version sounded really bad to me. Then, the JCM800, an amp I'm not a fan of in a modern metal context, sounded great. Nothing like the JCM800's I've heard before.

All of this was rather confusing for me. Were all the amp eq's set at noon? They sure didn't sound like it to me. I hate to sound like a jerk, but the tones here didn't seem like a fair comparison or representation.

It's a showcase, not a shootout. There are plenty of those on YT if that's what you're looking for.
 
That was pretty damn incredible. I am not the hugest fan of really heavy music, but I love great guitar tones with attitude. That was some serious weight. I want those in my arsenal, just to scare the hell out of people!

Made me miss my Dynaudio speakers, seeing that BM5a set... need to replace the ones I sold!
 
Hea-veee!

the Mesa tones weren't as hip as many of the others and how heavy tones have evolved since they kinda set the standard with the Rectum Frier.

Secret80'sMan,

I'll have to respectfully disagree...Obviously "to each their own" and all, but I did NOT dig the ENGL Powerball and thought both Mesa Models (especially the Mark IV) were excellent, but my personal favorite (and one that I have not tried much yet...but will now - LOL!) was the Bogner Uberschall!!!! that was just...KILLER!

Anyways, that's what is cool about a demo like this, because you get to hear these models in context (albeit, not all treated the same exact way - I.E: different mics, cabs, EQ's, etc...)

Bill
 
This was great. Choosing different cabs/mics for each amp and making that combination sound good to you was the right way go.

On most of the patches you used two cabs, did you pan both to center to create a mono blend? And while tracking/mixing, did you use the same patch and same post processing for left and right, hard panned 100% left / 100% right?

You already explained how you approach choosing the right cab(s) for given patch. What about the drive model?

Can we expect to see those patches in Axe Change soon? :)

All this talk about guitar (amp) sounds, but did you use bass there? Is it just the guitars and drums because I can't hear the bass. Or was it mixed so low?
 
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