Axe FX through power section of Mesa DR Head

U

Unmotivated

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I'm currently sitting on the fence about picking up an Axe FX. My current amplification is a Mesa DR solo head and I was wondering if any of you had ran an Axe just through the power section of a DR head bypassing the preamp section using just the return on the effects loop?

Also, in the above scenario how much is lost by having a mono output?

Any advice is greatly appreciated...Thanks
 
I have run it through my Mesa Electra Dyne power section and was not thrilled with the results. The Electra Dyne, like the DR, has massive low end. And at least with regard to the Electra Dyne, the majority of that low end is coming from the power amp as I have to set the global eq bass on the Axe FX way down when I hook it up to my Electra Dyne.

When I run it through my Mackie 1400 power amp I can leave the global EQ flat.

I have not used the Axe FX in a band setting, so I can't comment on that, but for home recording it is simply amazing. It's like you are sitting in the control room and off in the other rooms there are 70 other mic'd up amps to choose from that you can run through your monitors or studio headphones.
 
Assumer said:
Oh man, I was planning on starting with it in my Electra Dyne then moving on from there.
Click to expand...

You could probably get some good results if you are willing to EQ it for the Dyne, but there will be a ton of low end and a lot of coloring of the tone. It really highlighted how much of the Electra Dyne tone is in the power amp section, even at low volumes.

Also, if you plan on doing that, go ahead and get one of these, you will need it, BAD!
Ebtech Hum X Hum Exterminator and more Guitar Effects at GuitarCenter.com.
 
This thread got me to go and try my Axe FX through my Electra Dyne again.

I have a 1x12 combo so I turned off cab sime but left the power amp sims on.

As soon as I hooked up and started playing, there it was, the over the top bass. Too much bass by a lot. So I went into the global EQ and turned the 63hz all the way down (which I believe is -12 db) then turned the 125 down to -6. Left everything else the same.

I have to say I am very impressed with the results. For high gain, this setup is unbelievable. I tried it with the Mark IV, the Ubershall and the Recto and this is just a chugga chugga machine, holy crap.

Sounds pretty damn good now with my Plexi patches as well. I think if you are willing to spend some time with the EQ you could probably get the tone you want out of this thing. I am so impressed I am going to spend a bit more time with this.

Word of warning though. Atleast with the Electra Dyne which rumor has it has a pretty noisy loop, you absolutely must have the Ebtech humx. I am also using this
Whirlwind Little IMP | Sweetwater.com

I would think you may want to use them with a dual rec as well.

With the Humx And the little IMP I get just the slightest amount of groundloop hum which can only be heard when not playing, and even then just barely. And the ground loop hum is a constant volume and does not increase when you increase the output from the Axe FX.
 
As long as you are willing to tweak your presets while hooked up to the DR, you should be fine. I have ran my Ultra through the power section of a Bugera in a pinch and it sounded fine.

As far as the difference between stereo and mono, it's always nice to be able to run stereo but as long as you tweak your effects and tone in mono you'll be fine. The reality is that many clubs run a mono PA anyway and you're lucky if you have a sound man who has enough mic's and the skill to mic you up in stereo anyway.
 
Gosh, I was doing this all freaking wrong.

When running the Axe FX though my Electra Dyne power section, I had used the balanced output going through the little imp transformer into the effects return of my Electra Dyne. I originally did this because prior to getting the Ebtech humx walwart, this was the only way I could get rid of the groundloop hum.

Now That I have the Ebtech, I went and just ran a patch chord from the 1/4 inch output directly into the Electra Dyne effects return and it sounds great! All of that extra bass I was getting was apparently due to me using the balanced output with the transformer.

Now just running a patchchord from the unbalanced output of the axe fx into the effects return of the Electra Dyne sounds very good! I left power amp sims on but turned cabinet sims off and I am pretty shocked by the results. I don't even have to special EQ it for the Electra Dyne power section.

Of course it is not in stereo, but it sounds so good I would use this way before I would ever try the 4cm again.

Learned something new.
 
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