Can I really live without scribble strips?

There’s an argument for this, absolutely. But it should be pointed out that a ton of pro touring acts are using RJM Masterminds because every button is very clearly labeled.
True, yet many of these artists have someone off stage doing their switching on a duplicate board though, or even midi controlled. I have seen John Petrucci for example just in random videos stare down at his MMGT and change things, definitely looking at it for a while. Did it kill the show? No, not at all. But he’s in dream theater, and primarily a guitarist who isn’t singing. They can typically get away with that if something else is the focus at the time. But he knows he needs to switch and get playing fast, and he does. He’s also playing while looking and switching.

I’ve seen many less accomplished guitarists stare at the text on their controllers while NOT playing though, so nothing is happening on stage. They are clicking and clicking trying to find a preset or something. And nothing is going on. That’s a show killer.
 
Clearly, scribble strips and color coding is totally unwanted and impractical in a modern for controller

FC-126side-by-side-1024x437.jpg
 
To answer the OP's question a little more in depth (from my perspective)

Yes, you can live without scribble strips I have done so for the last 2½ years, and I still love the unit.

That said, I think the physical user interface is the AX8's biggest short-coming. My biggest wish for an AX8-2 (should it ever come) is the AxeIII's big color screen and menu layout along with the functionality of the FC's

I really think, the usability of the AX8 is limited by the (lack of) button and front panel functionality.

Above, people say that you should learn your layout to a point where you don't have to look. Well yeah, that is nice, if it is possible. But that requires you to only use one preset or at least use presets with the same effects and button layout. I could never do that. I use way too many effects for that to work.

Example, say you have two drive blocks and you want to turn on your tube screamer. Well on the front panel, both drive blocks are called DRV, so you have no way of knowing, which one is the tube screamer. If you use the X/Y functionality, you are completely screwed, because you cannot know, whether your TS is on the X or Y state of which footswitch. Same story with delays (and most other FX). You want to turn on your single dotted delay, but you cannot know which is the dotted delay, and which is the huge lead delay. On the FCs you can make a scribble line for each channel of the FX, so it is easy to see, which effect you actually turn on. Combine it with color coding, and you can quickly identify which pedal will do the job.

I have chosen to use one preset per song, and I make scenes for each sound I need in the song. The most complicated preset uses 5 sounds in a single song. So I have five buttons in my preset layout: S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5. I lay them out chronologically, so whatever sound I need first is S1, and so forth. It works, but still, when I get to sound 5 (often the solo) and have to go back to the pre-chorus sound afterwards, I need to guess/count which number sound the pre-chorus is. This would be so easily solved with scribble strips saying, intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, solo - It would be even easier with color coding. I could set it up such that blue is always the verse, red is always the chorus, and the pre-chorus could always be orange.

So yes, you can live without scribble strips and color coding, but when people here try to downplay its usefulness and say that it will make you stare at your feet all night, it is just plain wrong.
 
To answer the OP's question a little more in depth (from my perspective)

Yes, you can live without scribble strips I have done so for the last 2½ years, and I still love the unit.

That said, I think the physical user interface is the AX8's biggest short-coming. My biggest wish for an AX8-2 (should it ever come) is the AxeIII's big color screen and menu layout along with the functionality of the FC's

I really think, the usability of the AX8 is limited by the (lack of) button and front panel functionality.

Above, people say that you should learn your layout to a point where you don't have to look. Well yeah, that is nice, if it is possible. But that requires you to only use one preset or at least use presets with the same effects and button layout. I could never do that. I use way too many effects for that to work.

Example, say you have two drive blocks and you want to turn on your tube screamer. Well on the front panel, both drive blocks are called DRV, so you have no way of knowing, which one is the tube screamer. If you use the X/Y functionality, you are completely screwed, because you cannot know, whether your TS is on the X or Y state of which footswitch. Same story with delays (and most other FX). You want to turn on your single dotted delay, but you cannot know which is the dotted delay, and which is the huge lead delay. On the FCs you can make a scribble line for each channel of the FX, so it is easy to see, which effect you actually turn on. Combine it with color coding, and you can quickly identify which pedal will do the job.

I have chosen to use one preset per song, and I make scenes for each sound I need in the song. The most complicated preset uses 5 sounds in a single song. So I have five buttons in my preset layout: S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5. I lay them out chronologically, so whatever sound I need first is S1, and so forth. It works, but still, when I get to sound 5 (often the solo) and have to go back to the pre-chorus sound afterwards, I need to guess/count which number sound the pre-chorus is. This would be so easily solved with scribble strips saying, intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, solo - It would be even easier with color coding. I could set it up such that blue is always the verse, red is always the chorus, and the pre-chorus could always be orange.

So yes, you can live without scribble strips and color coding, but when people here try to downplay its usefulness and say that it will make you stare at your feet all night, it is just plain wrong.

Yes. All of this!

This is also my biggest wish for whatever the Ax8 successor will be.
 
Well small scribble strips make you stare at it... for sure, exactly why i got rid of my Liquid Foot 12+. RJM no issue. subtract 30 years from my eyes... no issue on the Liquidfoot.

Personally I use general presets, some specific, but they all have one thing in common, 4 scenes. Those buttons are always in the same place, because singing and playing and switching are always fun to do at the same time. Just like where my wah is placed, It's right where it is from my mic position so i dont have to look.

Before I retire or die, i'd love to have a show running off a laptop where it did all the changes for me. That would be super amazing.
 
Yes you really can live without them. If you can memorize 8 functions. But. It's all about comfort I guess
 
I'd like to have the option to "write" a long string of my choosing. That would cut down on reviewing what each switch does each week, for each song. Then, if I find myself staring at them, I'll change them back to "S1", "S2", and "S3" so they are much less meaningful. :)
 
Agree w/ @Smittefar - I only use about 4-5 presets right now (in the past I used around 12-14) and for the most part, yes I know what everything does. But still, sometimes I won't play certain songs or won't use certain presets for a while - it really would be much better if we could at least have custom labels so I can remember what my CS does, which DRV is #1 and which is #2, etc.

So can I live w/out scribble strips? Absolutely - in fact I've never had a device that has had them. But I'd like the interface to give us more options.

I don't get the thing about "scribble strips will make you stare at your feet." It's not like they're displaying lyrics or chord changes. How long does it take to see that #2 is your Drive and #5 is your chorus? I take a quick look when I look down to go to a new preset to remind me what the switches do (and that's generally between songs). And then a quick glance to make sure I'm in position to hit the right pedal for changes. The rest of the time I can stare at my fretboard and still ignore the audience ;-) (j/k)
 
Hi all, first time poster here. Need some advice on switching over to the AX8. I currently own an Atomic Amplifire (three button version). My plan was to partner up with the Line 6 HXFX and use the HX to control the Atomic via midi, using the HX's scribble strips. I would use the Atomic for the main amp sounds and the HX for the drives boxes and other effects (along with a few miscellaneous pedals like the EH C9, Digitech Mosaic, etc). I've been working with the Atomic and I'm not really loving some of the vintage amp sounds. The Fender DR sounds good, but the Bassman, vox, and some of the other vintage type amps just sound kind of ratty. The cross harmonic distortions to my ears just sound like digital clipping (even though all the inputs are set relatively low). I understand why they do that, to try to make it more 'authentic', but it just sounds digital and harsh and over exaggerated to me.
So, since the tweed bassman is my absolutely highest priority sound, I got curious about how the Fractal bassman models (and some of the other Fractal fender and vox models) wound sound, so I found some clips online of the vintage fender models, including the tweed bassman, in the FXIII and they sounded incredible. Since the FXIII is way out of my price range, I'm starting to think maybe the AX8 should be something I look into.
My problem is that I just don't understand how people remember how they set the AX8 up since there's no scribble strips. How the heck do you remember which button is set to what, especially when you have multiple banks that you're switching between? I've gotten so accustomed to my pedal board, where I can instantly tell which pedals are on, and I've set up my looper so I can turn multiple pedals on or off with one stomp. That's the kind of flexibility I'm after with a modeler, but with no scribble strips, I'm terrified of being totally lost as to what presets are saved where. I know it sounds silly, but how do you guys handle that?

A couple ways to make it work on the AX8:

1. Use a small number of presets. This way you dont need to remember the details on a lot of presets.
2. Set up all your presets the same way. I only really need the bottom 4 buttons, as they are all set to scenes, and I can make all my changes within 4 scenes.
3. Keep tweaking one or two presets. I usually base all my presets on one good one that I have been dialing in. This way you know whats under the hood, and avoids having to reinvent the wheel every time.
 
TBH I don't even know what a scribble strip is, and I've been happily living and playing guitar for a long time!
 
TBH I don't even know what a scribble strip is, and I've been happily living and playing guitar for a long time!

Not sure myself, but I think they are the LCD’s below the buttons, like on the FC’s.
 
TBH I don't even know what a scribble strip is, and I've been happily living and playing guitar for a long time!
someone didn't read the thread ;)
“Scribble Strips” typically are a small additional LCD screen above each switch, which change depending on the Preset or Mode. digital mixers, guitar multi-effects and other similar items have them sometimes.

while they are great for reminders, it causes many people to “read the floor” often throughout the gig, which can get in the way of performance. nothing beats practicing and knowing what the switches do. of course as gear gets more complex, we need visual reminders via lights, colors or text. but i’ve seen it ruin performances for sure.
 
I would not let Scribble strips be a dealbreaker for me on an AX8. After using the Helix for a few weeks I looked at them for a few minutes and pretty much forgot they were their. Personally the color coding was way easier to ID on a poorly lit stage.

The one thing you might want to add to your list of things to think about is editing on stage with the AX8. I know most will say that you won't need to and you would do that at home on a computer prior to your gig.

The problem with that is when you get to a gig you usually have to change something, hopefully its during sound check. It has really been my only beef with the AX8 and that's trying to see which knob does what on a dark stage. If the silkscreening had been back lit instead this would have not been an issue.

This IMHO this is where the Helix shines! the U/I is literally at your feet and you don't have to bend over to change anything and you can see everything you need to make a change on that dark stage. Is it worth the tone difference? for me it wasn't.

This has happened to me a few times and is nothing a small light can't fix but it's still something to add to your list.
 
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