Do you supplement with external pedals?

Deadpool_25

Deadpool_25

Fractal Fanatic
So it seems like the FX8 can do about anything. If you supplement, what do you use and why?

I'm somewhat considering some kind of octave pedal (Sub n Up, POG, etc) because that seems to be a relatively weak point in the unit.

Next, I'm thinking maybe a Big Sky. Not because I think it can give me things the FX8 can't, but because moving the reverb off board may free up some valuable CPU space.

Maybe a good tremolo because I would want it after the reverb (those would always be my last two pedals).

Finally, perhaps a tuner.
 
Wow why a tuner? I only use an always on external Booster/Drive to give my character to the tone. I made a preset to match my previous GT-10 sound and consumed only 30% of CPU :D
 
Deadpool_25 said:
So it seems like the FX8 can do about anything. If you supplement, what do you use and why?

I'm somewhat considering some kind of octave pedal (Sub n Up, POG, etc) because that seems to be a relatively weak point in the unit.

Next, I'm thinking maybe a Big Sky. Not because I think it can give me things the FX8 can't, but because moving the reverb off board may free up some valuable CPU space.

Maybe a good tremolo because I would want it after the reverb (those would always be my last two pedals).

Finally, perhaps a tuner.
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Boss sy-300
 
Kingsley page.

Fender 6G15 outboard reverb. At the moment I can't seem to recreate that kind of "drip" with the fx8.

I do think the tremolo works great in the Fx8. (and it can be placed after the reverb block if you want to)
 
zakkrhoads said:
Wow why a tuner? I only use an always on external Booster/Drive to give my character to the tone. I made a preset to match my previous GT-10 sound and consumed only 30% of CPU :D
Click to expand...

Cool. I'm only thinking maybe a tuner. For two reasons. (1) Sometimes it seems like I'll tune with my Axe FX, then when I use my traditional pedalboard I have to retune with the Polytune. Not sure what's going on there or if it's just my imagination. I'll have to see if that's really the case. (2) A dedicated tuner just seems simpler and since it's used so often, I may do that. Maybe. Still not sure. :)

Jezzbro said:
Kingsley page.

Fender 6G15 outboard reverb. At the moment I can't seem to recreate that kind of "drip" with the fx8.

I do think the tremolo works great in the Fx8. (and it can be placed after the reverb block if you want to)
Click to expand...

I'd guess the sound you're looking for is in there (generally speaking) but it may take some tweaking. The FX8 just seems insanely tweakable, but it's hard to tell what exactly to tweak sometimes. I was only thinking about the tremolo if I do the Big Sky.
 
Deadpool_25 said:
Cool. I'm only thinking maybe a tuner. For two reasons. (1) Sometimes it seems like I'll tune with my Axe FX, then when I use my traditional pedalboard I have to retune with the Polytune. Not sure what's going on there or if it's just my imagination. I'll have to see if that's really the case. (2) A dedicated tuner just seems simpler and since it's used so often, I may do that. Maybe. Still not sure. :)



I'd guess the sound you're looking for is in there (generally speaking) but it may take some tweaking. The FX8 just seems insanely tweakable, but it's hard to tell what exactly to tweak sometimes. I was only thinking about the tremolo if I do the Big Sky.
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I must admit I have the same thing with the Polytune - i.e. I always seem out-of-tune with the other guitarists in the band when I use the FX-8 tuner. I know you can tweak it, but it just seems a bit of a hassle when I can use clip-on Polytune instead :)

Actually, I just tried again and the following 'Tuner Offset' settings on the FX-8 seem to enable me to match the calibration with clip-on Polytune:

E1 -0.70 cts
B2 0.65 cts
G3 0.00 cts
D4 -0.15 cts
A5 0.40 cts
E6 -3.45 cts

That's what works for me anyhow, though I guess intonation / different guitars are going to play a factor here too.
 
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I also use tuner offsets and no longer need an external tuner, my offsets though differ quite a bit from andyt's. The offsets I use are known as the Peterson sweetened offsets as they were devised by the folks at Peterson tuners. I've used these tunings for many years now and IMO they are far better then using standard tuning.

E1 -2.30
B2 0.00
G3 0.00
D4 -0.40
A5 -2.10
E6 -2.30
 
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BOSS CE-5 Chorus Ensemble. I can't seem to get the wide 3D stereo imaging from the FX8 that the CE-5's "spatial expander" seems to do. When I kick it on it's like "Whao, surround sound!".
 
I have an Xotic EP booster and an original TS808 just collecting dust.. How are you incorporating these into your rig? I tried running the EP booster in front of my Axe Fx and it was super noisy.
 
Philosophically, one big reason I switched from discrete analog pedals to the FX8 was simplification and weight abatement (my analog board was getting pretty heavy going up and down stairs). For me, I haven't found anything I want to do with the FX8 that isn't at least serviceable. In other words, it might not always be holy grail (although I'm hard pressed to think of anything specific), but it will get the job done. So I'm actually delighted that I haven't had to supplement the FX8 at all in any way. I feel like I haven't even fully plumbed its depths. Certain sounds like the Bender Fuzz and Sun Plate reverb just delight me no end. Just the ability to control verb as easily as I can with the FX8 is a sublime pleasure.
 
i was getting curious about real pedals this last week, so i got out my Blues Driver, Tubescreamer Mini and Friedman BE-OD.

I forgot just how close the FX8 sounds to the pedals, it's nuts. Especially at live volume, there's no way I could be bothered using additional pedals when the FX8 covers 99.9% of the sound, and the ease of use easily makes up for that final 0.1%.

Sometimes you just need to do an A/B with the real thing, and you remember why you bought this thing to begin with :)
 
atyourlasthourrr said:
I have an Xotic EP booster and an original TS808 just collecting dust.. How are you incorporating these into your rig? I tried running the EP booster in front of my Axe Fx and it was super noisy.
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I use it after my fx8 but the amp, that way the booster isn't boosting into the fx8 and increasing the input gain.
 
t0aj15 said:
I also use tuner offsets and no longer need an external tuner, my offsets though differ quite a bit from andyt's. The offsets I use are known as the Peterson sweetened offsets as they were devised by the folks at Peterson tuners. I've used these tunings for many years now and IMO they are far better then using standard tuning.

E1 -2.30
B2 0.00
G3 0.00
D4 -0.40
A5 -2.10
E6 -2.30
Click to expand...

This is very intriguing to me. I've never noticed any tuning issues, but I don't have another tuner to compare. The guy I jam with has an AX8 so we would be tuned the same. Do these offsets work equally well with all your guitars?

I have found that the FX8 has cured my pedal GAS entirely. It doesn't do everything perfectly, but good enough for my tastes. I do still use my Bad Horsie 2 wah as I like the sweep, spring loaded auto-off operation, and tone so much. I look at traditional pedalboards now and see all the patch cables, power cables, switchers/loopers, etc; not to mention the size and weight... and I can't help but think, "YUCK"! I guess I am more OCD than I realized.
 
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Only pedals I have kept so far is my Bad Horsie2, Whammy 5, Strymon Ola, Strymon Bluesky and my Freqout. The rest I happily sold and never looked back once I got the FX8.
 
MusicManJP6 said:
I have found that the FX8 has cured my pedal GAS entirely.
...
I look at traditional pedalboards now and see all the patch cables, power cables, switchers/loopers, etc; not to mention the size and weight... and I can't help but think, "YUCK"! I guess I am more OCD than I realized.
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Definitely agree. The band I'm playing in has decided to refine and retool our overall direction to accommodate a very talented singer/guitarist we've landed as a new member. I'm hearing that cleaner sounds overall work better in this new mix. If I were still working with an all analog board, I'd be changing out individual pedals, spending a lot of time and money in the process, and hoping (with fingers crossed) that I guessed right with my new acquisitions. With the FX8, I already have a few lower gain drive blocks that work well in this new mix. I can use those and also develop new drive blocks without spending a red cent. I know the sounds I need are in there somewhere.

One other thing that I think gets lost... with discrete pedals, let's take a fuzz for example, a pedal might have a few good settings, but I would be forced to use the one setting that worked best for the entire gig. I just can't be stooping down between every song and tweaking knobs. With the FX8, I can optimize the setting of every block for every preset. This is huge! Assuming for the sake of argument that analog pedals might sound 1-2% better than the FX8 models (and I personally don't happen to believe that they do), just the ability to optimize the settings for each context more than makes up for any minuscule difference in sound quality.
 
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