Considering "going digital"

armyguyenglish

armyguyenglish

Member
I haven't played modeling gear since I got a Line 6 Spider II when a Marshall I had died over a decade ago. IMO, it's a big deal for me to even consider going from a tube amp to a digital system. My biggest problem is that no one near where I live has an Axe FX of any type, so if/when I purchase, it will be blind. Anyway, enough history, my questions follow...

I plan on working up the money to purchase an Axe FX II, at first I will be working on settings and practicing transitioning from my current pedal tapping to "scene selecting", I figure with a preset for every song I have. (A side question, since I also plan on buying the MFC-101, can you "momentarily" switch on effects? I use the DD-6 solely in hold mode and use it as a momentary run away delay, my Boss flanger and Boss pitch shifter also live in momentary land.) Eventually, when I am ready to play with it live, I will be running it through my Stiletto's power amp and through my 2x12 cabinet until I can afford a Atomic CLR (and hopefully enjoy FRFR since that will also be a blind purchase.)

I have always wanted to go true stereo at practice and live, and have been planning on selling my Marshall so I could purchase a Mesa Mini Rec to use along with my Stiletto. But that was before I started researching into Fractal Audio's products. So down to the serious questions.

If I use Axe Fx II into my Stiletto's power amp, could I send a mono signal to the power amp (while forgoing any power amp/cabinet/mic simulations) while also going full stereo (with power amp/cabinet/mic simulations) direct into a PA? Would that be too much trouble to setup correctly in presets (where the crowd hears what I want them to hear, and I hear what I want to hear since I know both sends will be completely different)?

When I do go FRFR, my biggest problem will be stage volume. At gig's where my band has to provide pa, we really only put vocals to FOH, although we do mic guitars for monitors of which there is only one send to all monitors (we have a really shitty PA.) So for worst case scenario, I need to be able to have enough stage volume to project enough to be heard by everyone from stage. Best case, well... that would be taken care of and very rarely happens.
Since going FRFR, I would like to be stereo, I figure I would need two active Atomic Wedges, one for stage left back-staged, and one for stage right back-staged in the normal worst case. In the best case, we would actually have nice monitors and I could set both in front of me.

The other guitarist in my band uses a Vox Night Train 15w amp into an old Marshall 4x12. Being in a two guitar progressive rock band, can an Axe FX cut through the mix? I have yet to hear a solid state perform by a tube amp and cut. 13 years ago, my DSL 401 (40watt) would absolutely kill 100 watt solid states my friends had ridiculously easy (I'm not talking about tone, but I am talking about cut and volume.)

I figure the pedal that the Axe FX II couldn't emulate would be my Super Ego, so that'll definitely have to be worked in so I can freeze and play over myself in certain songs (in that case, most my pedals will end up in the Superego's fx loop creating a circus at my feet... MFC-101 and my pedalboard would look insane.)

If anyone out there could offer me advice, I would greatly appreciate it. If anyone needs more information to answer my questions, let me know.
 
I would venture to say yes to all of the above. I was also running amp/cab and straight to FOH, but we also have a shitty pa that's only mono. Check the global output settings. Out 1 should be able to run stereo while you can copy L->R for out 2. If I use an amp/cab, I run out 2 stereo into my 2:90 - recto cab (split to both sides). I can't recall off hand but I think I have out 1 copied L/R due to the mono pa. As far as I can tell, I haven't had any phasing issues going into the pa. Seriously though, it seems as if you've already really put a lot of thought into the axe. Just do it. It's HANDS DOWN the best piece of gear I've ever bought. Not to mention that this forum for the most part is fantastic. The members on here are really pretty cool and this place is a wealth of knowledge. Good luck.
 
armyguyenglish said:
I haven't played modeling gear since I got a Line 6 Spider II when a Marshall I had died over a decade ago. IMO, it's a big deal for me to even consider going from a tube amp to a digital system. My biggest problem is that no one near where I live has an Axe FX of any type, so if/when I purchase, it will be blind. Anyway, enough history, my questions follow...
Click to expand...
Believe me, you can't make a mistake with buying the Axe. Even if you only use 2 or 3 of the amp models and some few effects, it is already cost-effective. And you will love having everything in one box. No more backpain from carrying tube amps and 50 kilotons of pedals (Though, I won't lie to you ... the MFC weights a lot!). No more need to arrive 2 hours earlier than the rest of the band to do all the cable-work.
I plan on working up the money to purchase an Axe FX II, at first I will be working on settings and practicing transitioning from my current pedal tapping to "scene selecting", I figure with a preset for every song I have. (A side question, since I also plan on buying the MFC-101, can you "momentarily" switch on effects? I use the DD-6 solely in hold mode and use it as a momentary run away delay, my Boss flanger and Boss pitch shifter also live in momentary land.) Eventually, when I am ready to play with it live, I will be running it through my Stiletto's power amp and through my 2x12 cabinet until I can afford a Atomic CLR (and hopefully enjoy FRFR since that will also be a blind purchase.)
Click to expand...
You can have all switches momentary and latching. Though I recommend an external pedal for momentary switches (a BOSS FS-6 is my go-to there), as the switches of the MFC are very tight and sometimes are difficult to reach, especially in the upper rows.

I have always wanted to go true stereo at practice and live, and have been planning on selling my Marshall so I could purchase a Mesa Mini Rec to use along with my Stiletto. But that was before I started researching into Fractal Audio's products. So down to the serious questions.
Click to expand...
You should probably read some of the stereo threads across the board first. Going true stereo, which usually means spatial effects might or might not be a good idea depending on where you play at. If you want to go full stereo with spatial effects live, make sure to check your presets for mono compatibility by using the L+R sum output setting and headphones.

If I use Axe Fx II into my Stiletto's power amp, could I send a mono signal to the power amp (while forgoing any power amp/cabinet/mic simulations) while also going full stereo (with power amp/cabinet/mic simulations) direct into a PA? Would that be too much trouble to setup correctly in presets (where the crowd hears what I want them to hear, and I hear what I want to hear since I know both sends will be completely different)?
Click to expand...
Yes, it's a very common setup with the axe to run a power amp on stage and feeding the FOH with a cab block. Though having FRFR cab/monitors on stage has the beauty of hearing the same sound as your audience, which definitely has its benefits.

When I do go FRFR, my biggest problem will be stage volume. At gig's where my band has to provide pa, we really only put vocals to FOH, although we do mic guitars for monitors of which there is only one send to all monitors (we have a really shitty PA.) So for worst case scenario, I need to be able to have enough stage volume to project enough to be heard by everyone from stage. Best case, well... that would be taken care of and very rarely happens.
Since going FRFR, I would like to be stereo, I figure I would need two active Atomic Wedges, one for stage left back-staged, and one for stage right back-staged in the normal worst case. In the best case, we would actually have nice monitors and I could set both in front of me.
Click to expand...
Don't have atomic wedges, but from what I heard, they are well worth the money. Maybe think about an in-ear system if you got trouble monitoring? In-ear has become quite popular lately.

The other guitarist in my band uses a Vox Night Train 15w amp into an old Marshall 4x12. Being in a two guitar progressive rock band, can an Axe FX cut through the mix? I have yet to hear a solid state perform by a tube amp and cut. 13 years ago, my DSL 401 (40watt) would absolutely kill 100 watt solid states my friends had ridiculously easy (I'm not talking about tone, but I am talking about cut and volume.)
Click to expand...
Depends on the monitoring. The Axe alone cuts the same as any real amp if you desire so.

I figure the pedal that the Axe FX II couldn't emulate would be my Super Ego, so that'll definitely have to be worked in so I can freeze and play over myself in certain songs (in that case, most my pedals will end up in the Superego's fx loop creating a circus at my feet... MFC-101 and my pedalboard would look insane.)
Click to expand...
You can definitely create "freeze" type of effects with the Axe. Just needs some creativity. There is a hold function for delays and the possibility to smooth out delay trails. You can also add some nice plex shift effects on top or some rotary/phasing to make it feel like an organ sound. But if you dig the pedal, there's no reason not to use it.
 
Might not need in ear. The way I understand it, if you had 2 clr wedges on speaker stands pumping out 90 degree sound pointed in slightly differed directions, I can imagine it being more "present" than a 4x12 that's clearly hitting the people directly in front of it and had to be cranked for everyone else. Sounds like the CLR has plenty of volume for gigs and band practice. Can't wait for my name to come up.
 
Thanks for all the comments. My current sound can be heard here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uHXJUnTVJ4 (my first attempt at home recording) and there are clips of my band at https://soundcloud.com/paul-english-4 if you want to hear the type of sound I prefer. I'm usually panned more to the left and highly effected, and my distortion is way more modern than the other guitarist in my band. I haven't recorded with my P-Rails yet... can't wait to do that.
I enjoyed your sounds boardwlk17, I love the idea of being able to do so much routing in the Axe FX. Does anyone know if any of the harmony blocks are polyphonic? It seemed from something I read that it was only monophonic. How do most of Axe users set up their MFC's? I know there is 21 buttons with the ability to add 4 more. How many buttons do you usually use for effect on/off and how many for controlling the Axe (as in switching presets, switching banks, ect.) I'm used to having 13 switches at my feet (counting my channel switch) and I figure I will have to put a lot of thought into setting up the MFC.
 
Another two questions that just hit me, does the tone of your guitar get lost in all of the processing? I use P-rails and constantly shift from combinations of P-90's, Single coil rails, and Humbuckers...
Also, by using the input and Fx loop of my amp, could I put in my preamp as an amp block and bypass it for a model at will?
 
armyguyenglish said:
Another two questions that just hit me, does the tone of your guitar get lost in all of the processing? I use P-rails and constantly shift from combinations of P-90's, Single coil rails, and Humbuckers...
Also, by using the input and Fx loop of my amp, could I put in my preamp as an amp block and bypass it for a model at will?
Click to expand...

The tone of your guitar definitely doesn't get lost, quite the contrary, I find the Axe brings out the character of my guitars even more so than my amps, it's quite fantastic :)
For your amp setup question, yes, you can pretty much set this up any way you want. The Axe can be used with an amp in what we refer to as a 4CM setup, meaning the Axe will be connected to both the input and the FX loop of your amp, allowing you full control of how you want to place individual effects and blocks, whether you want to use your amps preamp, or a preamp model from the axe into your own poweramp etc :)
 
Indeed I do :) It's a great amp once you learn how to use it; like many Boogies it's a bit different to dial in. But once you get it cranked up and dialed properly.... schweeeet :)
And I especially love the clean channel for how well it takes pedals. The only downside is that it's so flippin' LOUD. I have to send my entire neighbourhood on vacation whenever I plan on cranking it up :D

But that's where the Axe comes in, sweet tones at whatever volume I want, whenever I want it :D
 
Luckily, I can get as loud as I want where I live. I keep it on 50 watts on both channels due to my cab being only 60 watts, but I can clear out my house of visitors any time I choose with sound waves, lol...
 
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