Cutting to the Chase

Hi all,

Big fan of the Axe FX III. I play it through Yamaha HS8’s and love the sound I get. I am especially enamored with various Marshall models (others too but that was my holy grail benchmark when I bought it).

Due to a recent infamous thread here, I elected to buy a Marshall JVM410H as a result. Today I decided to get a 1960AV 4X12 too. I am excited to finally have the half stack I have dreamed of since a teenager but also curious about how the two solutions stack up against each other. I am well aware of the “amp in the room” discussion and frankly I am fine with both sounds each having value.

I am wondering if any others have these items on tap and what they think. I am planning to report my personal findings but I don’t plan to make it a apples to apples comparison. Perhaps this experience might help others understand the strengths and weaknesses each approach presents.

I am certainly excited at any rate!
 
I love it - so many people think modeling is killing the tube amp market, but you're evidence to the contrary; that it's inspiring people to buy the amps they hear :)

I have several very nice tube amps but never use them any more. It's just too convenient to plug into the Axe and start jamming; it's already fully integrated into my interface/DAW, no mic'ing, no heat from the tubes, no excessive electric bill, no upset neighbors... I still love my tube amps but the Axe sounds just as good (and arguably better) than my real Mark V, for instance.

Unless, of course, you were asking about your very specific amp/cab setup, in which case, I have no idea :D
 
Hi all,

Big fan of the Axe FX III. I play it through Yamaha HS8’s and love the sound I get. I am especially enamored with various Marshall models (others too but that was my holy grail benchmark when I bought it).

Due to a recent infamous thread here, I elected to buy a Marshall JVM410H as a result. Today I decided to get a 1960AV 4X12 too. I am excited to finally have the half stack I have dreamed of since a teenager but also curious about how the two solutions stack up against each other. I am well aware of the “amp in the room” discussion and frankly I am fine with both sounds each having value.

I am wondering if any others have these items on tap and what they think. I am planning to report my personal findings but I don’t plan to make it a apples to apples comparison. Perhaps this experience might help others understand the strengths and weaknesses each approach presents.

I am certainly excited at any rate!
Too bad, I have a JVM205H I would have sold you for a good price.
 
I love it - so many people think modeling is killing the tube amp market, but you're evidence to the contrary; that it's inspiring people to buy the amps they hear :)

I have several very nice tube amps but never use them any more. It's just too convenient to plug into the Axe and start jamming; it's already fully integrated into my interface/DAW, no mic'ing, no heat from the tubes, no excessive electric bill, no upset neighbors... I still love my tube amps but the Axe sounds just as good (and arguably better) than my real Mark V, for instance.

Unless, of course, you were asking about your very specific amp/cab setup, in which case, I have no idea :D
I love it too! I have no doubt the Axe FX III kills most tones. But the kid in me wants the visual Marshall half-stack along with the loud unruly V8 tone. Nothing wrong with seeking the best of both worlds if it ‘s what you seek. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. What a great time we live in to be able to choose and have both.
 
Well... plug your axe3 into the fx return of your new tube amp and you’ll be amazed again. AxeFx as a preamp is another haven
especially when you do the unity gain and disable power amp and cab in in your axefx
settings :0


Hi all,

Big fan of the Axe FX III. I play it through Yamaha HS8’s and love the sound I get. I am especially enamored with various Marshall models (others too but that was my holy grail benchmark when I bought it).

Due to a recent infamous thread here, I elected to buy a Marshall JVM410H as a result. Today I decided to get a 1960AV 4X12 too. I am excited to finally have the half stack I have dreamed of since a teenager but also curious about how the two solutions stack up against each other. I am well aware of the “amp in the room” discussion and frankly I am fine with both sounds each having value.

I am wondering if any others have these items on tap and what they think. I am planning to report my personal findings but I don’t plan to make it a apples to apples comparison. Perhaps this experience might help others understand the strengths and weaknesses each approach presents.

I am certainly excited at any rate!
 
I now have a JVM 410 HJS and a 1960TV (basically a tall 1960AX) after first “auditioning” a 410 H. I am patiently waiting for a used 1960 AHW to pop up used. I am starting to think I may be dead before that happens.

The 410 H is a great amp, just had some quirks that were addressed in the HJS that ultimately led to replacing the H with an HJS.

You will probably find that the OD1 & OD 2 Channels feedback a lot if you turn the gain too high (like above 9-10 o’clock).

The H implements MIDI PCs, so you can automate preset changes. The H does NOT implement MIDI CCs, so you will not be able to change channels or modes directly via MIDI. You can do via preset changes on the JVM though. Learned that one the hard way. I also learned the MIDI spec very well through that exercise.

I would suggest you study how the FX loop works if you plan to use it. It is a hybrid parallel/serial loop. Some people say it has some unusual implementation details, others say that it works fine.

There are some mods you can do to “tame the beast”. If you go over to JVMForum.com they have a lot of info about the 410H and the mods you can do.
 
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I would suggest you study how the FX loop works if you plan to use it. It is a hybrid parallel/serial loop. Some people say it has some unusual implementation details, others say that it works fine.

I once used JVM410 at a rehearsal space (with my pedals) and I assumed the FX loop was serial, but I was wrong :) I had serious phase issues and I had to bypass the serial loop and put all the pedals in front.
 
I once used JVM410 at a rehearsal space (with my pedals) and I assumed the FX loop was serial, but I was wrong :) I had serious phase issues and I had to bypass the serial loop and put all the pedals in front.
It is parallel until you turn the mix knob to full wet then it is supposed to be serial. Some people have claimed that it is not 100% wet even then.
 
It is parallel until you turn the mix knob to full wet then it is supposed to be serial. Some people have claimed that it is not 100% wet even then.

Yep, exactly. Even with 100% wet, I was still noticing phasing issues (which means some dry signal is still bleeding).
 
I really appreciate the input given here... especially about the effects loop nuances. Thanks so very much!

I have elected to cancel the Marshall 4X12. Nice cab but too heavy for me at this point. Instead I’ll evaluate the head with a couple of Fender EVH III 2X12’s loaded with Creamback 75’s. A speaker I prefer over the Vintage 30’s. We’ll see how it goes.. ETA on head is end of month.
 
Marshall is making some nice 2x12s too...

But you need to be careful running a 100 watt head with a 2x12. The wattage of the speakers is cumulative, so a 2x12 with 30 watt speakers is a 60 watt cab where a 4x12 with 30 watt speakers is a 120 watt cab.
 
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