Backup Amp or not?

Izzwardo

Inspired
I have had the AX8 for about a month now and am very happy with it so far. I run it through 2 QSC K10 powered monitors with XLR cables and it sounds great. I bought the Fremen presets and I use 4 different clean sounds and 4 different overdrive settings exclusively when I play and I love them. So now problem is that my Mesa Boogie Mark V25 and my BRAND NEW 1X12 rectifier cabinets (2 of them) just sit over in the corner angry at me. Believe me they are incredible sounding but when I have been playing my AX8 and then go to play my Mesa I got to say I get a little bored with the sound. I have contemplated selling the Mesa but I get a little nervous not having a "backup amp". Anybody else here going through the same thing?
 
I have had the AX8 for about a month now and am very happy with it so far. I run it through 2 QSC K10 powered monitors with XLR cables and it sounds great. I bought the Fremen presets and I use 4 different clean sounds and 4 different overdrive settings exclusively when I play and I love them. So now problem is that my Mesa Boogie Mark V25 and my BRAND NEW 1X12 rectifier cabinets (2 of them) just sit over in the corner angry at me. Believe me they are incredible sounding but when I have been playing my AX8 and then go to play my Mesa I got to say I get a little bored with the sound. I have contemplated selling the Mesa but I get a little nervous not having a "backup amp". Anybody else here going through the same thing?

Yep. Mine is not that fancy, it is a Carvin V3M head and a Quilter 101 Mini head. They are sad and alone...
 
I have a Tech 21 FlyRig5, and still like it. Something like that will work with your QSCs, and fits in the strap pocket of my PRS case. Once I got the AX8 as an alternate/backup to my XL+, I am all Fractal all the time.

I have never had a gig failure with my Fractal gear, but responsible business sense says you always have a backup. The FlyRig5 is $249 new... an easy backup you can carry in your cable bag. I also love Mesa gear, but my amps stay home... comfortably retired in the band cave.
 
Thinking about an Amplifire for backup. Nice and small to make it easy to bring to the shows.
 
I'm in a similar boat.. I had to sell my Mesa roadster to rationalize buying the ax8. I am lucky enough to still have my Mark V, and am also considering selling it. But I likely won't unless I'm starving... I've missed every mesa I've let go of, they hold their value pretty well, and most importantly, once you fire up your real amp again, you'll realize that there is something satisfying and great about playing it loud that not even Fractal can emulate.
 
I try to stay active playing with other people. I keep a practice space set up at my house. Friends come over regularly to make some noise.
With work, family, and other things going on in my life, it can be the light at the end of the tunnel. If you know what I mean... I keep amps, guitars, drums and pa set up at all times ready to go. Nobody has to bring anything. I love the ax8, but there is no way that anyone but myself would be able to jump in and start making some music. So I have amps that are easily dialed in and sound great for other people to use. Most of my friends have a hard enough time trying to make a two channel amp work, let alone trying to explain how a 4cm setup works!
I get the most satisfaction from playing with other people. The ax8, by itself, would not be an all in one solution for my situation. It's a tool, a really good tool, but you have to have more tools in the shed for a group.
The other reason I do this is because most people I play with do not have gear that can play with a band. Bedroom amps, practice combos, etc. I've found that most people aren't as particular about their sound as we are. I only have one friend with a decent amp, out of the dozens of people I have played with regularly.
 
I have had the AX8 for about a month now and am very happy with it so far. I run it through 2 QSC K10 powered monitors with XLR cables and it sounds great. I bought the Fremen presets and I use 4 different clean sounds and 4 different overdrive settings exclusively when I play and I love them. So now problem is that my Mesa Boogie Mark V25 and my BRAND NEW 1X12 rectifier cabinets (2 of them) just sit over in the corner angry at me. Believe me they are incredible sounding but when I have been playing my AX8 and then go to play my Mesa I got to say I get a little bored with the sound. I have contemplated selling the Mesa but I get a little nervous not having a "backup amp". Anybody else here going through the same thing?
I love having the amp around. Especially having eventually found one that is a great fit for my artistry. The AX8 does so much more, but that's no reason not to also use the amp. Mine can be fought over after I've passed on. [Note: the AX8 made it easy to get rid of another amp and most of the pedals, which would clearly no longer get used]

Maybe the deification of tone is being taken a step too far, or on some detour? I'm getting the impression that some players (not you) harbor a belief that if the AX8/Axe FX(or other device) were so great: One has to prove or justify it (to who?) by selling off the real amps? Seems daft. I certainly don't subscribe to any "thou shalt have no other amps before me" doctrine. I've got over a dozen guitars and probably 8 pairs of shoes, and I can't use them all at the same time (she tells me), but it's not like it makes any of them any less useful when they're needed, well, desired - maybe need is putting it too strongly. Depending on one's cultural outlook, maybe AX8 vs amps could be framed as wife and side chick thang.

It's wise to solicit sage advise on these important matters: I guess mine would be: "Don't be in a hurry to make a mistake" (Rilke). Take the time to decide.
 
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So now problem is that my Mesa Boogie Mark V25 and my BRAND NEW 1X12 rectifier cabinets (2 of them) just sit over in the corner angry at me. Believe me they are incredible sounding but when I have been playing my AX8 and then go to play my Mesa I got to say I get a little bored with the sound. I have contemplated selling the Mesa but I get a little nervous not having a "backup amp". Anybody else here going through the same thing?

I have a MK V25 and a 2X12 Verticle rec cab. The head is in a rack with a G-major and that was my set up before the AX8. That being said, I know there is a lot to be said for going FRFR, but I have decided to use the AX8 through the FX return simply because I'll always have a backup if something happens live. I'm extremely happy with the sound and it's still really portable.
 
I have had the AX8 for about a month now and am very happy with it so far. I run it through 2 QSC K10 powered monitors with XLR cables and it sounds great. I bought the Fremen presets and I use 4 different clean sounds and 4 different overdrive settings exclusively when I play and I love them. So now problem is that my Mesa Boogie Mark V25 and my BRAND NEW 1X12 rectifier cabinets (2 of them) just sit over in the corner angry at me. Believe me they are incredible sounding but when I have been playing my AX8 and then go to play my Mesa I got to say I get a little bored with the sound. I have contemplated selling the Mesa but I get a little nervous not having a "backup amp". Anybody else here going through the same thing?

I always bring a backup. Always. I had an amp crash on me at a gig many years ago and since then I ALWAYS bring one. The form has evolved quite a bit over the years, though. My current backup "amp" is a Pedaltrain Metro-20 pedalboard with an AMT Japanese Girl wah, which feeds a Tech 21 Richie Kotzen Fly Rig 5 which functions as the amp/cab, dirt, and delay, and runs into a TC Electronic Mini Corona pedal and then a Mini Turbo Tuner, which go through a Dunlop DVP4 mini volume pedal and then into a Fender micro DI, which splits out a signal into an unbalanced 1/4" to my amp (more on that in a moment) and an XLR to FOH. I power it all from an onboard Sanyo Eneloop Pedal Juice battery, and I use a little 9V to 12V converter I built to power the FR5 from the 9V of the Pedal Juice. It's small, weighs maybe 10 lbs in it's soft case, and sounds pretty darned good. Maybe not in the AX8 class, but it saved me when I had an Amplifire-based rig, which liked to crash at the wrong times. Nobody complained. :cool:

The amp is either a Yamaha DXR10 or DBR10 powered speaker (depending upon how much power I may need), a Quilter Micro Pro Mach 2 -12 combo amp with the neo speaker, or else (and which I have been using quite a lot recently) a Quilter Tone Block 200 head and a little old Lopoline 1x12 cab (configured as open back) with an Eminence Beta 12LTA wide band woofer in it, which sounds great and provides a nice amp-in-the room feel. I use it with the AX8 and it sounds great. My bandmates like it a lot, and it has PLENTY of power. One of my two bands plays really loud, and I run the Tone Block at about 40W and the AX8 at about half volume and I usually ride my volume pedal around halfway or so, and it has no problems being heard, just move the pedal up a bit for solos and back for rhythm. Gonna be using it (with the AX8) for some gigs this weekend, can't wait! :D

So, for backup for the AX8 and the amp/head, I bring the pedalboard and a powered speaker. Haven't had to use the backups since I bought the AX8, though. The AX8 is really robust and reliable. Like me. :rolleyes:
 
I had a Mesa Lonestar Special as a backup, but I finally sold it. I am retired and not gigging for a living, so I have less critical need for a backup. I do use a Line 6 Flextone XLII for a stage monitor, but only for certain gigs. I have both an FX and AX8 so as long as the PA is running, I can play. When I was a working pro, I had backups for all my critical gear, but that was a long time ago.
 
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