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jvhplayer

jvhplayer

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So I should get my coupon soon and I know this forum will be biased, but can someone explain why the axe 2 has any bad reviews? I've read so many good things and a few bad things about the axe. I haven't heard the axe 2 in person, but I've heard lots of recordings etc. Yes I can tell a slight difference between a real tube and the axe, but it's so small. The other thing I've noticed is some amps sound better than others so you can't really judge the unit based on 1 amp. You have to judge it's realism based upon how many amps sound real overall. So is it a purist mentality that keeps people from accepting the unit or is there something I"m missing in the clips I hear on the internet. Am I going to buy this expensive piece of equipment and be dissapointed? I've noticed some resells on ebay where people claim they don't have time to fool with dialing it. It seems like it's pretty much dialed in plus people are kind of enough to share their presets... Is it lazyness on their behalf? Anyways not sure if this is the right forum sub to post this in, but greatly appreciate everyones feedback. I really thing versatility of this unit is great, but i'm only looking for a few really good amp sounds... as unimaginative as this sounds I just want to recreate slash, van halen, and foo fighters sounds. I've sold several amps to fund this... even sold an afd100 cause I thought it sounded terrible not even close to slash. I'm keeping my dual rectifier and my 5150, but i'm tempted just to dump all my extra amps... maybe i'm crazy.
 
Honestly mate?

Opinion is all purely subjective, thats the fundamental thing you need to remember, bottom line.

Ive spoken to alot of people who have heard my amp live and said to me afterwards 'That sounded like a real amp was there, how do you do that?!', and then theres people who are set in their ways, mainly as you stated 'purists.

I recently spoke to a young 14 year old, (that is an alcoholic, yep 14, owns a JCM 800 2203 with a Small Marshall cab, the type of kid that loves battlejackets and hates personal hygiene...not that battle jackets are silly!) and his statement was "My Rig will kick the shit out of your digital shitrig anyday". Now judging by that comment, its a mentality/mindset thing, he had never heard of OR played through the Axe FX Ultra, but he had immediately made his mind up.

If you go into something (Reviewing it) with a negative mindset you're going to get a biased point of view. Me personally to be quite honest, I was a skeptic at first, but as I do with most things, take other peoples opinions with a grain of salt. So I put my 'open-mind' thinking hat on and I researched and researched and finally thought 'Just buy the damn thing!'.

I was pleasantly surprised, It was so realistic and unusual to be able to get my tones from my tube amps out of this small black box! So thats the thing people dont enjoy most, when they've spent thousands of dollars on vintage tube heads and cabs etc. to find a small black box for a fraction of the overall price recreates the exact tone... Well i know I'D be pissed off :lol

You will definitely not be disappointed mate, I think alot of the time with bad reviews is people who sit there and expect the Axe FX to sound good by just looking at it and tweaking the EQ on the Amp Block, thats definitely not how it works. You need to tweak and tweak with the Axe FX constantly, and thats half the bloody fun! My skills for studio work have increased tenfold since buying my Ultra (getting my Axe FX II in a matter of days!), so its most likely people who havent taken the time to understand the box and its complexities as there are SO many settings to muck around with!!
 
What are you expecting from clips you hear on the internet? They're not going to flap your pants leg like a real amp on 10, and they're not going to sound like 4 multitracked guitars sitting in a mix (unless of course, the clips are guitars sitting in a mix). You have to temper your expectations going in, a single unaccompanied guitar track is not the typical application for guitar. Therefore, you're not hearing the processed guitar in its natural environment. (Though I must admit, the 5.0 Beta clips that were posted sounded pretty damn good...)

I am going to exaggerate a bit here, but I would bet that if you are reading bad reviews, it's due to one of the following reasons:

1) Reviewer hasn't even tried the unit.
2) Reviewer has been personally insulted because a feature he wants is not implemented in the unit.
3) Reviewer lacks the patience/intelligence/tech-savvy to bother learning to use the unit.
4) Reviewer expects the unit to do things that the "real" modelled rig wouldn't be able to do (i.e., expect a single guitar track to sound like a mixed and mastered wall of sound)
5) Reviewer's expectations of the sound that should be produced are incongruent with the amplification being used (i.e., I once knew a guy who used to plug an acoustic guitar with piezo pickup into a marshall amp and 4x12 cab, and expect it to sound like an acoustic guitar on the clean channel...)

If you take the time to read the manual and you think the feature set is "there," then the sound will take care of itself. I am like you, I don't need a ton of amps. I use 3 amps on the Axe-Fx and am happy with those. I don't mess around with the FRFR stuff, I play through a solid state poweramp and 4x12 cabinet live. There are also people getting fantastic results going the FRFR route, and tweaking cabinet IR's to the n'th degree. There is really something here for everyone and you will know if it's a good fit after reading the manual a couple of times.

I've got a friend mixing my band's album right now (guitar tracks were done on the Axe-FX Ultra). He plays NAMM shows, is a genius on his instrument, and I was pretty intimidated that he would think my tone was crap (never mind my playing). I recorded two guitar tracks for the album (one with a Strat, one with a Carvin CT6) and spent very little time dialing in the cabinet settings. I basically took my live sounds and found a cab that sounded the closest to my setup within 5 minutes. After giving him the tracks, I was expecting him to call back and say "well that's nice, but lets redo these tracks on a real amp." In reality, he was floored by the sound I got from my "digital" unit and told me it sounded better than tracks he was currently recording with one of his bands (they used "real" amps). That was all the validation I ever needed. The moral of the story is, you will get sounds of the Axe that will impress people, regardless of their credentials, if you take the time to learn it.
 
You've got nothing to loose. You're gonna get it for a reduced price. If you don't like it, you can resell it on Ebay for more than $2700. Do Advanced search and choose completed listings only. The guys in Europe that are much further back on the waitlist than us in the US and I'm sure one of them would be happy to take it off your hands if you're not completely satisfied.
 
Even though I have 2 Axe's now, I'm still not that experienced with them, nor was I ever with real tube amps (although I have a Boogie Formula and 20/20).

However, recently I got to visit a historical amp collector and played like maybe 6 of them. WOW! :) This great experience makes me believe we're still "far from it". Those amps were awesome in the way I could vary my picking both quieter *and* harder and seemed to have a very large range of expression and connectedness by doing that. The sound also seemed to change much more than in the Axe by doing that. OTOH, my experience w fw5 firmware is limited to a few hours, so really can't judge it that well yet.

I *am* very happy with the Axe II though, and (for now) would still rather have *it* than one or two good amps. But this experience makes me think more of it as two different worlds than before. I also wouldn't be surprised at all if the Axe can and does sound better than some of the original amps, but that's just one part of the experience we're looking for, isn't it.

But (esp. after this experience), the Axe can still give me a "disconnected / undynamic" feeling sometimes. It also depends on the preset and probably on the new adjustments in fw5. There's one or two things after playing through those amps I haven't heard or felt on a preset yet. I also haven't *obviously* recognized any of the sims vs the ones I played (well, much less than I hoped).

With the Axe my impression is more that it seems I'm already picking near max strength and I can only go a bit harder or a lot quiter. On the real amps, it felt more that there was a whole universe on both sides!

I don't think I'm missing real cabs, because I connected those a week ago and it sounded pretty crappy out of the box and didn't add anything for me regarding punch etc. (really surprised me and props to the Axe possibly).
I'm hopeful that what I mean is already in fw5 and may still get better somewhat.

If I had combo amps, I would at least keep one or two *and* get the Axe II.
Just one or two, cause I was also surprised that the characteristics I liked were there in all real tube amps and they didn't sound all *that* different to me.

I repeat: I'm the last one to call an authority on this... ;)
I also played a heavenly 335 and other guitars there, so it may all be part of my conclusions...

BTW: I have hardly heard any clips that do the Axe II justice. There are very old G1 clips that I like more than a lot of what I'm hearing out there. It's so much better in person!
 
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Bad reviews = They're doing it wrong!

This unit is not for everybody. Its a tweakers paradise. You can go as deep as you want or not so deep. Hear a preset you like from another user? Download it and tweak to taste. I was happy with stock presets there for a while (circa 2007) and was not a "big" tweaker to begin with back then.

Its a HUGE toolbox! I like what it does, I luvz how it sounds and most of all it keeps me tuned in and playing. (NOT BORED)

Enjoy the ride!!
 
Thanks for all the thought and depth everyone put into their responses! I'm feeling a lot better about purchasing the unit... sounds like it's going to do exactly what I want. I may keep my 5150 combo and sell the dual rectifier. It would be incredible to just have the one unit, but I feel like it's probably best to keep at least one tube amp. I'm trying to keep things uncluttered. Who knows maybe after I get it I'll be so happy they'll all go! Anyways, thanks again guys!
 
I was playing mine with a single K12 while my friend was playing with a engl full stack. He started asking "How much does that thing cost? Let me see what that thing could do...." then started playing out of my rig. I get this all the time when I play with people =) Fuck everyone else's perception. I don't even care if it replicates other amps 100%. I like the way it sounds and other people do. I'll put it to the pepsi challenge any day of the year.

The one thing is that you get so involved with what the unit can do that it takes away from your practice time =)

-Nate
 
Tube amps are cool, but it´s nostalgic... If you know how to play, you can get a convincing tone out of almost anything. Maybe not your favorite sound, but you can fool lot of people to thinks it´s good.

Axe IS good. But it´s all in your head. Always IMHO..
 
vAmp said:
Even though I have 2 Axe's now, I'm still not that experienced with them, nor was I ever with real tube amps (although I have a Boogie Formula and 20/20).


But (esp. after this experience), the Axe can still give me a "disconnected / undynamic" feeling sometimes. It also depends on the preset and probably on the new adjustments in fw5. There's one or two things after playing through those amps I haven't heard or felt on a preset yet. I also haven't *obviously* recognized any of the sims vs the ones I played (well, much less than I hoped).

With the Axe my impression is more that it seems I'm already picking near max strength and I can only go a bit harder or a lot quiter. On the real amps, it felt more that there was a whole universe on both sides!
Click to expand...

I could hardly disagree more about some of this. I've probably owned 50+ tube amps and have a ton of them still. I think the Axe is incredibly dynamic when you have a patch set up right. For almost clean into hard rock level crunch the Wrecker is one of the most dynamic amps or models I've ever played. It matters hugely how you set up the gain on the Axe, on your guitar and with your hands. It also matters hugely what you run it through.

Given that I've spent about 3 decades with 3 tube amps I have a pretty good idea what I'm looking for, and often how to get it. I learn a lot here about how to deal with aspects that aren't the norm with tube amps like how to deal with cabinet IRs (thank Scott and others), but I bum out now when I think about gigging without the Axe. In a perfect world with all levels perfect, tubes perfect, all the pedals I love wired perfectly, there are things I can hear in tube amps that sound a little different, but with my Axe I can create a near perfect world that is easily replicable.

I do agree that I don't hear a ton of clips that give me what I want to hear out of the Axe, but that's ok, because I can make those sounds myself.

Get it. You can tweak like crazy, but it's just not that necessary now. I can get a great sound with nothing more than gain and tone controls, just like an amp. I can tweak the dynamics a little to make me even happier, but it's miles beyond the Ultra now in terms of immediate gratification for me.
 
MikeyB59 said:
I could hardly disagree more about some of this.
Click to expand...
That actually makes me happy and hopeful.
I know what you mean about the Wrecker though (well, mostly). I know it reacts perfectly and over a wide range to volume pot change and in theory that should be the same as varying your picking I suppose, and that I have yet to try more specifically with the Wrecker.
I'm just saying that all amps I played through there had it in spades and that for my feeling there seems to be a difference between dynamics controlled with your volume pot and the range of "live dynamics" you get when digging in with your pick.

I'm not really disappointed about it. The Axe II has awesome amp like qualities, just puzzled why many think "we're there" and I haven't heard/felt some of the most particular experiences of playing through the amps out of a preset yet (in a lot of aspects, I have, and much more, just not the "feeling of digging in and the way that makes you feel connected and how it changes the sound specifically and "live, from note to note", instead of just giving a bit more drive when you pick harder, to put it too simply. I know there is a lot more Clifftech™ behind it already, but in reality I feel a big difference.)
 
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Here is my experience with the Axe Fx product. I've owned the Axe FX ultra and Axe FX II and while they are both great products they both don't sound as good as my egnater m4 live or for recording. The effects are great for a all in one box but I still find foot pedals sound better. I also have a issue with the 4 cable method. I tried to use the axe fx this way but it always caused a hiss sound on my high gain channels I could not live with and it's not a ground loop problem. I have my Axe FX II up on ebay right now because of these reasons. I played and tweaked for two years with the axe fx ultra and the II and I always felt something was missing but I never feel that way when I play through the egnater. I wish I could of at least used the effects with 4cm but the noise is too much of a problem. I also think a lot of these firmware updates are a placebo effect because every time there's a new one it's the best and cliff you finally nailed response. I actually thought the axe fx ultra sounded better at some amps then II but it was harder to dial in. As far as dialing in and tweaking I'm tired of that too because you got like 30 things or more you can tweak on the axe compared to only about 4 on my preamp and believe me I spent hours tweaking or should I say years and never was totally happy till I got the egnater and it only takes less than a minute to tweak to get the sound I like. So the axe is on ebay and my experiment is over I'm sticking with tubes.
 
Let me just say this. I have checked out various tube amps and have played with them .When i got the Ultra I owned it for a year and was shocked at how good it sounded. I mean I was about to get a Diezle Herbert with a 4x12 cabinet. But instead I thought why not give digital a try again. And I am serious,I didn't regret my move. When firmware 11 came out it was mind boggoling how good it sounded. Finally the Axe FxII came out and I liked it,yes I liked the easy ubsability and added features but I felt that until Firmware 5 came out there was nothing that my ultra couldn't do. But I must say I see why they released the II I felt Firmware 1 to 3 were pretty much like Firmware 11 on the ultra but with firmware 4 there was a slight difference but nothing like something that I can't live without. But when I heard Firmware 5 I just said to myself,it's a wise move that I am on the waiting list and selling the Ultra. Well the Ultra got sold at an amazing price since I sold it outside the US. The day I sold it I got my email of my coupon arrival and instantly made an order for the Axe FxII. I am about to recieve it in a couple of days and I can tell firmware 5 is a big change I can easily tell by the samples online. Here is what I say,if you have a great tube amp and you love it to death... Keep it. If you like to get something that really can replicate a ton of amps quiet convincingly once you get deep with it,then get the II. Opinions are everywhere but there is no denial that at this point the II stands head to head with tube amps,without a doubt. There was tube response on the Ultra as well but not as prominent as on the II with Firmware 5. The openess,richness,and warm "FEEL" can easily be heard on the sound samples. I can't wait to try mine. I loved the Ultra and will love the II as well. The routing capabilities are insane,if you don't want to get deep with it then might as well don't get it. Cause the II isn't everyones cup of tea. But I can tell you this,spend sometime with it and I gaurantee you'll love it.
 
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On most of my own presets (I never use the factory ones), I only use the first two tabs of the AMP block. I also use the same IR for almost all patches. This keeps the complexity down, so you have more time playing and practicing.
I also hear very little difference between firmwares, between 4 and 5 I just brought Resonance back up, and all sounded sweet again.
And this:
Kriig said:
If you know how to play, you can get a convincing tone out of almost anything.
Click to expand...

Have fun with it,

B.
 
Thanks again for the good and bad reviews! Exactly what I was expecting. I'm still getting one and can't wait to get the ticket. I see innumerable possibilities. I mean everything from direct recording to effects processor to preamp tube poweramp real cab setup. I don't really see how I can lose. I just hope it will pass for a real amp with direct recording, because this is ideal. If not I guess I can sell on the bay.
 
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