Did your AFX redefine tone for you?

jeremypodom

jeremypodom

Member
It has taken me months with my axe fx to really figure out what the hell I'm doing. And I don't just mean learning the controls. I mean that my understanding of what good tone should actually sound like and how to get there was completely off in so many ways. I've gone back to look at previous presets I had spent hours on, and at the time I was proud of, and holy cow do they sound horrible. I also remember listening through factory presets and thinking they were awful, but now I use them constantly. Fractal really hit the nail on the head with a lot of these.

Anyone have similar experiences?
 
It did, The ULtra did. Coming from the offering of Line6 and all the plugging for the computer the Axe ULTRA managed to actually shift my appreciation of great digital modeling. Axe II managed to take that ULTRA impression to a more realistic sound of an actual amp.
 
Nope

Pretty much dialed my old tube amp/board rig into the Axe and it sounds basically the same.

I really don't venture into any of the advanced settings or use any exotic presets for the music I play.

I did add a couple of new amps to the mix that I did not gig with before. However, the amps replaced pedals I used to get those tones (amps in the Axe sound better) :mrgreen
 
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I've always aimed for the sound that's in my head. I got close before the Axe but it was always hit and miss and unreliable. Going on stage sometimes felt like going onto a high wire.
The Axe allowed me to get where I wanted and then some. And when I have a sound I like, it'll be there every time. That's priceless.
 
I used to build amps chasing the grail tone. A very expensive compulsion. Entering into the black box and conjuring up a cool tone recipe is a beautiful thing. You can do things virtually that would blow up physical amps.

I have to force myself to practice because I find myself just drawn to mixing up tone recipes.
 
It redefined my tone which was good but so limited I was constantly frustrated. When the axe-fx showed up at my door, it about 10 days I had better tone, 10x the variety of tones, and tone at any volume that was the same in any room. I'd call that redefining my tone!!
 
jeremypodom said:
It has taken me months with my axe fx to really figure out what the hell I'm doing. And I don't just mean learning the controls. I mean that my understanding of what good tone should actually sound like and how to get there was completely off in so many ways. I've gone back to look at previous presets I had spent hours on, and at the time I was proud of, and holy cow do they sound horrible. I also remember listening through factory presets and thinking they were awful, but now I use them constantly. Fractal really hit the nail on the head with a lot of these.

Anyone have similar experiences?
Click to expand...

+1
Thats exactly how i felt but, for the first few days i was thinking WTF have i done, then after a few weeks it made me smile everytime i lit it up.
Still now, 7 months in when i switch it on its like christmas day, and another gift arrives when i discover new stuff in it, either on my own, or from the generous people here who are willing to help other users in the never ending quest for great tone and great sounds.

Hand on heart after spanking plank for 35 years, axe fx imho is the most exciting piece of hardware to hit the industry since the very first guitar fx pioneers began.
 
The AxeFx didn't "re-define" tone for me, but it did somewhat improve upon the tones I already used. I was looking for it to replace and consolidate all the tone shaping toys in one box, to free me from toting around a lot of gear while retaining a "big sound" at any volume. For me, the benefit was that I could replicate the tone(s) I already had and liked, plus it allows me the flexibility to explore other tones, and to fine tune (using the many tools available) the tones I like in a manner that would otherwise require many external stomp pedals and/or a rack full of other gear. Years ago, it looked really cool to carry around racks of gear with lots of flashing lights and stuff. Those days are gone for me now, thankfully.

I will add that the AxeFx is a very literal, accurate piece of gear, sonically, and it has somewhat forced me to examine my own playing, IOW, clean up some of the loose cheese that otherwise was somewhat "masked" using my previous traditional rigs (tube heads, stomps, rack gear). In this respect, my tone has improved greatly (IMO), and this is much due to the AxeFx, and also that it sounds so good that I play...and play...and play. I practice a lot more, and spend a lot more time tweaking and experimenting....It's a form of fun and relaxation for me.
 
it did redefine me a bit . Before I bought the Axe II my main amps (for a few years) were
Mesa MarkIV
Mesa Dual Recto
5150 II
I loved the 5150 II but it was pretty one dimensional.
My Mark IV was my main amp for a long time. I had always wished I could get an amp that was a cross between a mark IV and a Recto.
Fas Modern(and II) get me real close and lately I've been in love with the latest version of the mark IIC+ bright (f'n kiler)
but what I've found is that now that I have all of these Marshall based amps available to me I tend to gravitate
towards the JVM, the Atomica Hi, the JCM 800, TripTik modern,HBE, and the JMP-1.
I was a Marshall guy back in the 80's but hand not owned one since 1984 so maybe I'm just rediscovering what I used to love way back when.
I also play a lot more now than I did when I had my mark IV, last night I was playing around with that Leggi "Govan" patch someone shared and I was loving it.
It's so cool to have all of these amps at our disposal at the turn of a knob.
 
The Axe II has greatly simplified life in terms of getting the tones out of my head and into the air, not to mention the bonus on inspiration.
I've learned to take my time when tweaking complex presets due to ear fatigue setting in after a while (I like to venture into the depths of the advanced parameters, there’s a lot of magic in there), so I chime in on the preset several days in a row to fine tune with a fresh set of ears and save the results to a new location and re audition them the next day. Presets seem to mature/ripen better this way (don't force-feed your ears!).

Due to the Axe I’ve managed to reconquer a lot of real-estate in my house, due to massive equipment sales resulting directly from the satisfaction the Axe brought with it.
The axe journey was relatively easy for me having a background in electronic engineering and tube amp design, thus my need to poke around in the advanced parameters.

Thanks Cliff and all at FAS for paving the road.
 
jeremypodom said:
It has taken me months with my axe fx to really figure out what the hell I'm doing. And I don't just mean learning the controls. I mean that my understanding of what good tone should actually sound like and how to get there was completely off in so many ways. I've gone back to look at previous presets I had spent hours on, and at the time I was proud of, and holy cow do they sound horrible. I also remember listening through factory presets and thinking they were awful, but now I use them constantly. Fractal really hit the nail on the head with a lot of these.

Anyone have similar experiences?
Click to expand...

It's been the same for me. I've had the Axe for over a year but only recently do I feel like I've "arrived" in terms of understanding tone. What did it for me was tone-matching. At first, I thought my tone-matches and TMs done by others sounded horrible. Then, I started to question my own judgement and began to listen and analyze isolated guitar tracks from my favorite players. I realized I was way off and started to understand how the presets I had created differed. It took a little while but my ears adjusted and now I think I'm much more capable of crafting tones with the Axe that are much closer to my goal.
 
I've had an Axe for about 4.5 years not and I feel like I'm just on the verge of opening a bunch of doors. I've been able to get good to great tones for most of the time I've had an Axe. It's WAY easier now, almost a no brainer. I had tube amps for years, so I know the basics of a lot of tones I like. What's starting to open up to me is some of the amps types that I never owned either because they were too loud or just different from my basic needs and never explored. I've mostly been a Fenderish person and have had a boatload of somewhat similar amps...Tone King, Carr, Allen, Music Man, Matchless (more Voxy, I know), Ampeg, etc. Now I have the Dumble family, the Marshall family, more Voxes, Trainwrecks, etc. It's opening me to different sounds and different ways of getting sound. Getting drive just from the amp, not so much pedals, though pedals are still fun with gainy amps.

I feel like my grip on my basic sounds is really solid with the Axe and it's fun to try some different things. I used the Carol Ann at my last gig and it blew my mind with a strat. Gorgeous singing sustain while still retaining guitar characteristics. What fun.
 
It didn't redefine anything for me, but learning to work with the Axe-FX over the years has increased my comprehension, understanding and ability to dial up mix ready tones much faster and with much more satisfaction than ever before.
 
Yes, the AxeFX continues to educate me in amp and cab/speaker/mic tones because I never really had a chance to experiment much with that stuff before. Now with my CLRs (and the recent firmware and cab progress) I really feel like I'm getting an education in tone. The CLRs allow me to hear all kinds of details at different volume levels which has really opened the door to auditioning and mixing IRs, auditioning amps, and then dialing in the details. I'm pretty amazed and ecstatic. I always dreamed of a product like the Axe-FX, but it's so much better than I could have ever imagined.

Now that I can really hear and make use of the tonal differences of my instruments, I'm on a quest to find the right guitars for the long term.
 
The AxeFx is the absolutely first guitar electronic device which I don't need to modify (with my soldering iron, some parts and my ideas:mrgreen) - for the Standard I needed approx. 4 months to "learn" it, on the AF2 it took me 6 hours (!!). If you not believing this, check these:
http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-recordings/64922-musicbox-preset-245-a.html#post801705

and well, "the month" later (one and a half month)

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-f...p-featuring-bassguy-65-ods100.html#post830108

It redefined what I can do with it! And yes, I LOVE it!!! AxeFx II is the best piece of gear I ever owned (since 1990). Thanks to Scott (Peterson) who wrote his "This is a monster"-threads at TGP, those made me thinking in getting one in spring 2008!
 
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