External drive/delay pedals?

[pauliusmm]

I just bought Neo mini vent Rotary that i like very much and i started to want pedals again. Basically for the ability to tweak on the fly.
I was thinking to get a delay and drive pedals as well. Anyone still use pedals with axe? What pedals you use?

 

[slinky005]

I always worry about "tone suck" for non true bypass pedals.

 

[mwd]

I use my Ultra into a Big Sky. Sound is pristine.

 

[pauliusmm]

Im gassing for TC Alter Ego x4. Sounds great and you have 3 delay presets.

 

[Cagey]

...Basically for the ability to tweak on the fly.

I suspect there are a lotta people who want pedals for just that reason. I know just in my circle of playing friends/family, the majority dislike the menu-driven drill-down paradigm of parameter adjustment. They want knobs they can nail instantly without much thought or anything to remember.

Of course, you could argue (and I do sometimes) that the requirement simply reflects poor prior planning. I mean, it's not like you constantly have to re-program your effects on stage. You don't see the pros doing that. They have a schedule and/or set list and everything is set up and adjusted up front before they start wanking and cranking. That's what presets and scenes are for, right?

 

[groovenut]

I suspect there are a lotta people who want pedals for just that reason. I know just in my circle of playing friends/family, the majority dislike the menu-driven drill-down paradigm of parameter adjustment. They want knobs they can nail instantly without much thought or anything to remember.

Of course, you could argue (and I do sometimes) that the requirement simply reflects poor prior planning. I mean, it's not like you constantly have to re-program your effects on stage. You don't see the pros doing that. They have a schedule and/or set list and everything is set up and adjusted up front before they start wanking and cranking. That's what presets and scenes are for, right?

Ah yes but then there's the counter argument that goes "being restricted to planning and presets kills spontaneity" I am sure there are plenty of pedal guys who tweak knobs during the gig maybe even during the song, as the mood strikes them. I say there is no one size fits all remedy. Different tools for different situations. Fortunately you can use pedals with the Axefx and have the best of several worlds.

 

[Cagey]

That's true, too. I can see both arguments, and as you say, you do have options to have it both ways.

I know myself, it's sometimes frustrating to have to dig around for the right thing to adjust. With something as complex as the Axe, you have a lotta balls to keep in the air if you want to dink around with the thing on the fly. I suppose if you adjusted things a lot, it would get pretty easy. It's not a bad interface. But, if you're someone who rarely goes into the thing because most parameters are set where they need to be, it's tough to walk up to it and bang-bang-bang reset your delay time. But, that could just be me. I have the attention span of a butterfly and the memory persistence of a goldfish <grin>

 

[vinnieRice]

Guitar > TC Polytune > Cali76 Compressor > Budda Wah > Villanova Vibe > DMBL overdrive > 'distortion unit of the day' > Callisto chorus > Input 1 Front AxeFX
Output 2 Left AxeFX > neo MiniVent > TC Alter Ego delay > Strymon Flint > Input 2 Left & Right AxeFX. Buffers are switched on in the pedals that have them.

FX loop is at unity gain between the Amp and Cab and I can discern no difference in signal quality between engaged and bypassed

Sounds fantastic. You have to watch your levels on the effects into the AFX but the amps seem to react just like the real thing - which isn't a surprise really.

Finding fun Overdrive/Amp combos is a glorious killer of time.

 

[Hotplate]

I use various drive pedals and the original NEO Vent. pedal into the front of the Axe FX at times- haven't tried using the FX loop approach with the Axe yet. Works well.. favorite pedals for years have been an early Lovepedal COT 50, TIM pedal, Diamond compressor, Boss CS-2, Neo vent and a couple of various fuzz pedals- everything else is covered inside the Axe FX.

 

[dpavel]

I use a BBpreamp as a clean booster for my AxeFx2XL and everything is dead quiet , even with high gain...Love it

 

[scorch]

TC SparkBoost, Xotic AC+, Barber LTD, Jetter Gold Std. out front. Everything else in the box.

I like lots of 'flavors' of OD.

 

[javajunkie]

Currently I am using SUF Classic Violet Rams Head, MXR Classic Fuzz, Timeline, Mobius, Big Sky, POG 2, and an Eclipse. I route them with a Liquid Router and an RJM Effects Gizmo.

 

[miketheman]

Has anyone tried the new Korg delay?

 

[Bodde]

i started to want pedals again. Basically for the ability to tweak on the fly.
I was thinking to get a delay and drive pedals as well. Anyone still use pedals with axe? What pedals you use?

Yes for the same reason I use some pedals in front of the Axe fx. I want to be able to turn knobs on the fly and not go through all the menus. I also run Axe Edit live.
I use these pedals in front of the Axe: Hexe revolver pedal for short loops and stutter effects, Brunetti Mercury Box for drive and a Catalinbread Belle Epoch for tape delay. I am going to buy a Eventide H9 which I will run stereo after the Axe fx. I am on the waiting list for a Paul Trombetta Mini Bone. I don't use the fx loop of the Axe.

Unfortunately my GAS for pedals hasn't stopped after I bought the Axe fx. There are too many nice new pedals on the market with a sound that I am not able to get from the Axe.

Ah yes but then there's the counter argument that goes "being restricted to planning and presets kills spontaneity" I am sure there are plenty of pedal guys who tweak knobs during the gig

Good quote. Yes I am one of those guys. That's the one thing I miss in most multi-effect machines. Especially in improvised band settings I feel limited with fixed presets.

 

[gtrnstuff]

I'm sort of doing the opposite at the moment. Though I do miss the instant tweakability, I need the programmability.
And I still like what I hear from a real tube amp better than the models, generally. Though I'm not dissing the improvements since FW12.
So I have a tube head and load in the Axe FX loop.

So it's guitar>Axe in 1 using Axe volume pedal, comp, OD's, mod, FX send to Out 2>tube head of the day> Palmer load, full range out> Axe in 2 FX return using cab IR only, no amp model, post-cab FX like delays, pitch> Out 1 DI to FOH.