I can't help but wonder...why do folks care so much about whether or not it sounds exactly like a "real" amp? Think about it...what if every sound that the Axe-FX II makes had absolutely nothing to do with a real world counterpart. Would you sell yours? I really don't understand it...the question isn't whether or not it sounds like something else, it is whether or not you LIKE the way the AXE-FX sounds. Right? Am I going crazy here?
The Axe-Fx is marketed as sounding like other real world counterparts because it HAS to market it that way. They are tasked with selling you that what they have sounds as good or better; without the comparisons, this would be a very tough sell indeed.
If I made a new tube amp, I would say it sounds like a Marshall you grew up with, but better. It is a psychological game. As you can see right here, people care VERY much about their sound and their gear, as they should. I don't think that this reality means that the Axe-Fx must sound exactly like it is marketed or it is a failure. I would never have discovered the awesomeness of the approach if they failed to market their product. I doubt anyone on their artist list said, "Sure, replace my rig with it tomorrow." The sell has to be that it will sound exactly the same. But, once you've owned something for awhile, the marketing that got you to buy it should be somewhat moot.
I mean, perfect replicas of "shit" (my definition) are going to sound like "shit". Why does this bother anyone? Just turn the knob right past it and find something that makes you want to play guitar. As long as there is at least a few choices that you like, isn't that the same value as only owning and playing one amp anyway? Seriously, does anyone actually like the sound of a Big Muff? (this is a rhetorical question; I'm sure there is. I think it sounds like dogshit would taste if you sprinkled some Tabasco on it.) Just use your ears and pick something you like. The complaints should be that you were unable to make a group of sounds you like with ANY of the models. And if what you want from the Axe-Fx is to replace your amp that you love so much, I ask why. Why are you even here? Just play your amp and sell your disappointment in its replacement. Don't tell me you haven't bought and sold a ton of gear.
I know what my problem is...it is my ear. My ear sucks, and I don't trust it. I've spent hours mixing stuff only to later proudly unveil an absolute mess later in practice. I wish that someone could just hand me a guitar and when I played it, it would sound like the guitars on Blackest Eyes from Porcupine Tree. I think I'm going to be disappointed. Because if it did, I would have nowhere to go, and no appreciation of the journey. I think few doubt that the Axe-FX has the fundamental tools to make good guitar sounds or no one would be here.
Instead of worrying about getting it to sound exactly like something else, as marketed, you should be striving to make it sound BETTER than that something else.
I understand that all of those in cover bands whom take seriously the attempt to pay homage to the original will counter-argue my point, but I don't think of my Axe-Fx as a replacement for every guitar sound ever recorded.
If anyone EXPECTS this of their little black box, then I really feel sorry for Chris. In the next guitar lesson, I think I will demand that I come out of it playing like Larry Carlton.
Everyone seems to want to take the magic out of it all...I say leave some in. You might like it better in the long run.
Few will complain that you played the solo from Heartbreaker too cleanly and that it sounded better than Jimmy Page's original recording. I wouldn't give those that do the time of day anyway.
At the end of the day, isn't it the magic that inspired us to be here in the first place? Isn't anyone tired of the music being produced that was played by a computer?
The computer based Axe-Fx should be a tool used to create magic, not replace it. A computer used the right way.
Make your own music and your own interpretations of others that inspire you. Then, twenty years down the road, there will be people on a discussion board saying that their computer doesn't sound exactly like the Axe-FX you used to record your piece.
Just some two cents and then some from an admitted hack.
