Can't make a choice

gabrielthorn said:
I don't know how much longer I can resist buying the MKI with the footswitch included for less money than the MKII... :rolleyes:
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I have been considering purchasing that one as well. If it would've been a FC6 instead of a FC12 I would have already bought it. The upgrades the mk2 provides are not necessarily must-haves, but psychologically it feels somehow better to have the latest and greatest when spending this kind of money.
 
gabrielthorn said:
I don't know how much longer I can resist buying the MKI with the footswitch included for less money than the MKII...
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The differences between the MK I and MK II are completely negligible at this point and have absolutely nothing to do with sound quality.

The MK II:

1) Has room to store more user presets
2) Has an IPS display for improved contrast, better viewing angles, and more vivid colors
3) Offers the ability to change the color of the logo on the front of the unit
4) Has more flash memory

So, unless you need A) room to store 1,000 vs. 500 user presets B) improved contrast, better viewing angles, and more vivid colors or C) the ability to change the color of the Axe-Fx logo on the front of the unit, then the better deal is truly the Axe-Fx III MK1 with FC-12. The only thing worth considering is that used units aren't covered under the warranty.
 
Jason Scott said:
The differences between the MK I and MK II are completely negligible at this point and have absolutely nothing to do with sound quality.

The MK II:

1) Has room to store more user presets
2) Has an IPS display for improved contrast, better viewing angles, and more vivid colors
3) Offers the ability to change the color of the logo on the front of the unit
4) Has more flash memory

So, unless you need A) room to store 1,000 vs. 500 user presets B) improved contrast, better viewing angles, and more vivid colors or C) the ability to change the color of the Axe-Fx logo on the front of the unit, then the better deal is truly the Axe-Fx III MK1 with FC. The only thing worth considering is that used units aren't covered under the warranty.
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The guy who's selling it told me it's still under warranty with G66. Does this mean buying it will void the warranty?
 
gabrielthorn said:
The guy who's selling it told me it's still under warranty with G66. Does this mean buying it will void the warranty?
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G66 may cover it. When people were selling unopened Axe-Fx III MK1's on eBay (in the US) at inflated prices awhile back, it was mentioned that those units wouldn't be covered under the warranty; however, from what I understand, if the seller bought it from G66, the warranty is transferable.
 
gabrielthorn said:
The guy who's selling it told me it's still under warranty with G66. Does this mean buying it will void the warranty?
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I've seen nothing in writing that says anything about transferrable warranties with G66.
Yet there seem to be anecdotes out there confirming the warranty does transfer.

Not likely anything will go wrong with the unit, but to be on the safe side, or if it's a deal breaker for you, maybe email G66 and ask?

The footswitch/MkI combo really is a nice deal. If you go for the MkII, you'll be staring at that logo in 3 weeks wishing it was that FC12. I promise you that. Especially if you play with others or play live, as I said.
 
If it helps with your decision making, here's my Fractal experience so far for what it's worth:

I play in a covers band and gigged pretty regularly pre Covid (amazing that those days are now on the horizon again) I'm not a tweaker by any means and have always approached digital rigs as I would the real thing sticking to the basic controls with the exception of high and low cuts. I currently use 4 different amp models, 6 IRs and a fair few effects.

My first Fractal product was an FX8 to complement my valve amp. At the time the FX8 was the best bit of guitar kit I'd ever bought.

Within a year that rig was replaced by the AX8 - even better! More versatility, one board to take to gigs, stick it on the floor, plug in and you're in business. My guitar had never sounded better, although as it was my first time going straight to FOH monitors, there was a fair bit of trial and error to get my guitar where I wanted it to be in the mix. With hindsight I think that was more down to me needing to learn more about how guitars need to sound in order to cut through a mix rather than a lack of the "amp in the room sound"

By now I was a total Fractal convert and put my name on the waiting list as soon as the AxeFx 3 Mk1 was announced. Having the 3 has enabled me to build rigs without compromise in terms of numbers of effects and of course the modelling has never sounded better. I went for an FC6 and loved the smaller footprint, but found that to get the most out of the unit with as little tap dancing as possible the FC12 was a better choice for me. I now need far fewer presets to get me through a 30 song set and have pretty much everything i could wish for at my feet should I choose to throw it in at any point: from amp block +/- 1db increments to a smorgasbord of drive, modulation and lush verbs never more than a couple of footswith presses away. I think the FC controllers and their continual development for user friendliness and packing in features are easily on par with the genius of the main units.

The cherry on top of all of this has been the discovery of the RedSound LG-12. From the second I plugged my AxeFx into it I've never looked back and never been happier with my guitar sound. When I plug in now I just play, and ultimately that's what all of this is about. I'm so happy with the tone I have now that I even tried micing the RedSound at rehearsal to see whether it would sound as good for larger venue gigs and my band mates were blown away by the results. On the one hand it seems ludicrous to be micing a powered speaker that's running IRs of mic'd speakers, but on the other it worked. The jury's out on whether I'll bother to do that at gigs, but for home playing the RedSound is superb at any volume. If needed it's incredibly loud too.

So all in all my advice would be to go for the AxeFx Mk1 (you will not miss the added features of the Mk2) with the FC12 and to check out the RedSound range. As you're in Europe you may find them to be easier to get hold of than Xitone or CLR and if they're good enough for Marco to put his name to them, then they're more than good enough for the likes of us amateurs.

Oh and my AX8 was bought 2nd hand and G66 said that the renainder of the 3 year warranty was indeed transferable. My dealings with Sussi and G66 have been nothing but 1st class too.

Go for it, you won't be disappointed
 
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Davus PG said:
If it helps with your decision making, here's my Fractal experience so far for what it's worth:

I play in a covers band and gigged pretty regularly pre Covid (amazing that those days are now on the horizon again) I'm not a tweaker by any means and have always approached digital rigs as I would the real thing sticking to the basic controls with the exception of high and low cuts. I currently use 4 different amp models, 6 IRs and a fair few effects.

My first Fractal product was an FX8 to complement my valve amp. At the time the FX8 was the best bit of guitar kit I'd ever bought.

Within a year that rig was replaced by the AX8 - even better! More versatility, one board to take to gigs, stick it on the floor, plug in and you're in business. My guitar had never sounded better, although as it was my first time going straight to FOH monitors, there was a fair bit of trial and error to get my guitar where I wanted it to be in the mix. With hindsight I think that was more down to me needing to learn more about how guitars need to sound in order to cut through a mix rather than a lack of the "amp in the room sound"

By now I was a total Fractal convert and put my name on the waiting list as soon as the AxeFx 3 Mk1 was announced. Having the 3 has enabled me to build rigs without compromise in terms of numbers of effects and of course the modelling has never sounded better. I went for an FC6 and loved the smaller footprint, but found that to get the most out of the unit with as little tap dancing as possible the FC12 was a better choice for me. I now need far fewer presets to get me through a 30 song set and have pretty much everything i could wish for at my feet should I choose to throw it in at any point: from amp block +/- 1db increments to a smorgasbord of drive, modulation and lush verbs never more than a couple of footswith presses away. I think the FC controllers and their continual development for user friendliness and packing in features are easily on par with the genius of the main units.

The cherry on top of all of this has been the discovery of the RedSound LG-12. From the second I plugged my AxeFx into it I've never looked back and never been happier with my guitar sound. When I plug in now I just play, and ultimately that's what all of this is about. I'm so happy with the tone I have now that I even tried micing the RedSound at rehearsal to see whether it would sound as good for larger venue gigs and my band mates were blown away by the results. On the one hand it seems ludicrous to be micing a powered speaker that's running IRs of mic'd speakers, but on the other it worked. The jury's out on whether I'll bother to do that at gigs, but for home playing the RedSound is superb at any volume. If needed it's incredibly loud too.

So all in all my advice would be to go for the AxeFx Mk1 (you will not miss the added features of the Mk2) with the FC12 and to check out the RedSound range. As you're in Europe you may find them to be easier to get hold of than Xitone or CLR and if they're good enough for Marco to put his name to them, then they're more than good enough for the likes of us amateurs.

Oh and my AX8 was bought 2nd hand and G66 said that the renainder of the 3 year warranty was indeed transferable. My dealings with Sussi and G66 have been nothing but 1st class too.

Go for it, you won't be disappointed
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Thank you for sharing your story and thanks for everyone for their replies. Unfortunately, the MK1 with the FC12 has been sold on the day I wanted to trigger the buy button on Reverb so now I'm spending my days practicing and waiting for G66 to let me know when my unit is ready to ship :)

I've exchanged a few mails with Mick from XiTone and he seems like an amazing person, let's see how much I'd end up paying in total for the speaker before changing my mind and buying a RedSound unit.
 
After the long wait (supposed to be 2 weeks in November) I've received an email from G66 that my unit will be in the warehouse on Monday. It has been shipped today so hopefully I'll get my hands on it soon. Unfortunately my Tannoy monitors are still not with me (long story short, due to covid, moving back to my home country didn't turn out to be as easy as I've thought) so I may end up using it with 4 cable method on my Marshall plexi or just using the headphones output and use my computer speakers .. Does anyone has any experience with the Matrix Q12A? I know it's an old product so I assume the FR speakers are the way to go. I've just seen a unit on the second hand market and it doesn't look easy to find any good FRFR speakers without the usual long wait.
 
I have a Matrix Q12A that I have been using with my AxeFX II and will be using with the incoming FM3. It is a very good piece of equipment and has never failed me.
 
gabrielthorn said:
Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum, this is my first post. I've moved back to my home country this September and picked up the guitar again. I haven't played for a long time in total, I'd say about 3 years in total. Throughout the years I got my hands on a Mesa Boogie JP2C which I love, a Marshall YJM100, and a Marshall AFD100. I also have a Kemper profiler which I barely used. I'm not an analog fanboy and I have nothing against digital stuff. I've heard the Axe FX (not III, just the II) in live and I was blown away by the sound of it through studio monitors, and I also love the amp in the room vibe of using a 4x12 and my tube heads.

I'm really thinking about buying an Axe FX III despite the limitless possibilities and tweaking I've seen in YouTube videos are quite intimidating for me. I'm not an audio engineer by any means.

So I have a few questions:
  • does anyone here got rid of their Kemper after buying an Axe FX?
  • I have the option to buy an Axe FX III for a reasonable price (around 1800 Euros) or with the FC 12 for 2600 Euros
  • or I can wait 3 weeks for the Mark II and pay 2533 Euros
I don't know which one to go for.

I know the difference between the MK II and the first version are not huge but I'm still worried about that I'd feel bad knowing there's a "better" version of the unit I could get buy instead. (I know, it's a psychological effect)

I'm not planning to sell any of my tube amps but I was thinking about whether I'll need the Kemper after buying the Axe FX or not.

Thank you :)
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You CAN tweak a lot of stuff for a long time - but - you don't HAVE to. I've used some of the factory presets live with literally no tweaks and it sounded fantastic. I'd wait the 3 weeks to get the Mark II personally, just because it's the most recent but that's just my personal opinion. It sounds exactly the same as the Mark I. I also use the Headrush 1x12 and think it sounds great. As a matter of fact, the whole set up just made me 30 minutes late for work. :)
 
Brian Coonan said:
You CAN tweak a lot of stuff for a long time - but - you don't HAVE to. I've used some of the factory presets live with literally no tweaks and it sounded fantastic. I'd wait the 3 weeks to get the Mark II personally, just because it's the most recent but that's just my personal opinion. It sounds exactly the same as the Mark I. I also use the Headrush 1x12 and think it sounds great. As a matter of fact, the whole set up just made me 30 minutes late for work. :)
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I've signed up to the waitlist months ago, and the Mark II has been shipped today finally. Being late for work is legit in this scenario 🙂
 
I personally waited for the MKII for 2 reasons:

1) Didn't have the money when the MKI came around
2) My Axe FX II was an MKI and I just LOATHED having to overwrite factory presets.

I know it sounds strange to some, but I love going back to the factory presets now on my MKII AND still have more than enough room for empty slots to tinker with. I felt it really made a difference for me.

EDIT: I think you made a smart move (just read your last post)
 
My unit has arrived last Friday, and wow ... I bought 2 Headrush FRFR 112's on Thursday and tested it on the same day on a house party, honestly, I was happy with them. But when I plugged in my Axe FX into those on Friday. Is there anyone else who was thinking about selling his tube heads after the experience? Not only the sound rips my head off, it also gives me goosebumps.
 
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