External distortion pedal?

E

echo44

Inspired
A few questions:
Any recommendations hooking up an external distortion pedal,
is it better to place before the fractal after your guitar or to use the
effects Loop?

Also, When effects are bypassed in the chain do they still eat up processor
power?

Thanks
 
if you absolutely HAVE to do that (like putting ketchup on a steak), just put it in-line before the Axe, like you would a standard guitar hookup.
Not sure why you'd want to so that, given the excellent drive emulations already in the Axe.
 
hi.

drive pedals go in front of the Axe, unless you have something rather special planned.
thanks to the advanced parameters of the drive block pretty much any dirt pedal can be reproduced in the Axe tho.
They also end up sounding better...

bypassed block still cost DSP
 
I disagree - if I was going to use a drive pedal, I'd put it in the effects loop.

That way you could still have chains where you had comp -> dist -> amp

Or even try creative things like using it after the cab sim.

Of course, the cost for the added flexibility is that you have added complexity to worry about.
 
JustinAiken said:
I disagree - if I was going to use a drive pedal, I'd put it in the effects loop.
Click to expand...

while this certainly is an option, I'm not sure how drive pedals will react when the get the Axe output signal instead of a guitar signal. some pedals are bitchy like that.
 
thanks for all the responses. What I thought was really cool with the ultra is it actually took pedals
well! I have lots of cool boutiquee drive pedals. Haven't tried them yet with the axe II.
 
I found the Ultra really, really, really liked having a Lovepedal Darling Devil Distortion in front of it.
 
I just bought a Tweak Fuzz off Ebay for kicks. I'll put up a post if it offers something I can't get in the AxefxII. I haven't used boost/distortion pedals in years outside of the Axefx so it'll be interesting to see if I can really get as good or as horrible of a sound in the Axe2 as I can get with a pedal in the chain. I'm curious and it wasn't a lot of money to find out.

cheers,
Steve
 
Xrocker said:
Kind of like putting ketchup on a steak.
Click to expand...

I use Distortion, Fuzz, OD, Mid Boost & Treble Boost pedals in front of the Axe II (& Ultra) & they sound
excellent.

Regardless of the great drive pedals inside - external pedals definitely add another dimension to the Axe.

I would hardly call using a Skreddy Screwdriver “ketchup on a steak” :?

YMMV
 
FWIW. Input 1 has a soft clipping circuit which allows it to take pedals better than the other inputs.
 
I like just having the option of using a "boost" in front of the unit...I've used the Zoom PD-01 in the past..great colorless boost...but when it died I went to a Hardwire CM2 which works equally as well. You can get a new one on Ebay for about $70. Like you need more options, but it gives a little grit to clean channels...and I like the tonal burst it gives to the gain presets, just a little edge to sound waves imo. I think we're all about options here...lol.
 
"Why in the world would you ever want to do that?" "I'm STUPIFIED that anyone would want to do such a thing." "If you're going to do that, you should just use a regular amp because the axe-fx doesn't seem to be for you!" :)

Kidding aside, I've had good luck putting pedals in front of the amp as long as you're OK with how they sound when you don't need them. The reasons why are simple enough. For those who can't imagine why, here are a few examples:

* I've got a pedal that I like and I've not been able or haven't had time to dial in an equivalent on the axe-fx
* I like having a handy knob right over near me on stage for a quick change
* My MIDI board is already fully used and I'd like to have this pedal for some uses
* I only have an up/down midi pedal because I spent all my money on the axe-fx and have to save up for the mfc

plenty of legit reasons why someone might use external gear with the axe-fx (s/u/2)
 
dsl said:
I use Distortion, Fuzz, OD, Mid Boost & Treble Boost pedals in front of the Axe II (& Ultra) & they sound
excellent.

Regardless of the great drive pedals inside - external pedals definitely add another dimension to the Axe.

I would hardly call using a Skreddy Screwdriver “ketchup on a steak” :?

YMMV
Click to expand...

I so agree ! there isn't a lot of fun left if you don't even have to buy pedals anymore...
 
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ketchup on steak, or hot dogs (ask any Chicagoan), and if yer really bad you put it on eggs, like my mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmuther.
 
I but a zoom 9050 with a true-bypass switch in front. Remember that bendchorus sound. I was not able to get that sound from the AXE. Oh yeah and a Eventide Space behind ( Nice !! )
 
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