jb70
Experienced
i did my first gig with the FX8 tonight. actually, i've done 2 jazz gigs with it already but i left it on one preset and used it in stompbox mode for both gigs. this gig was much different. it was with a 9 piece soul/funk/motown band in NYC and i used it with my redplate blackloop 1x12 combo.
first, the good stuff.....
i use about 8 different patches with this band and most of them sounded fantastic. yeah, there was the occasional level tweaking on a drive, delay and reverb patch here and there but those things can only be done on the bandstand. there's no way to replicate it in your house or apartment. the drives sounded really good and natural. i think there was a patch or two where i had to adjust the tone of a drive block to add some high end, but once i did it sounded great and blended in with the band perfectly. the wah, phaser, chorus and filter were equally as awesome!
now, the bad.....
i've said this before and now i will say it again now that i've used it on a gig where i have to use multiple presets. it is RIDICULOUS that you can't get from preset to preset in sequential order using the up/down buttons. i need to have access to both preset mode AND stompbox mode at the same time. i have a liquid foot 12+ midi controller and it's set up in a way where there are 2 up/down buttons that can quickly scroll through the presets while the other buttons turn on/off various effects. i think this is a major design flaw in the FX8 and hope something can be done about this soon.
there were also a few times during the gig where i was trying to turn on an effect and instead of turning the effect on, the X/Y feature was activated. it was annoying but it's something i think i can get used to. the other thing the drove me crazy was that i accidently activated the "scene mode" three times. i don't use scenes. i've never used them and really have no use for them and wish there was a way to permanently deactivate this mode.
overall, i'm pretty happy with the FX8. the sound of the effects is fantastic, it's just these couple of design issues that i'm hoping can be addressed in the near future
first, the good stuff.....
i use about 8 different patches with this band and most of them sounded fantastic. yeah, there was the occasional level tweaking on a drive, delay and reverb patch here and there but those things can only be done on the bandstand. there's no way to replicate it in your house or apartment. the drives sounded really good and natural. i think there was a patch or two where i had to adjust the tone of a drive block to add some high end, but once i did it sounded great and blended in with the band perfectly. the wah, phaser, chorus and filter were equally as awesome!
now, the bad.....
i've said this before and now i will say it again now that i've used it on a gig where i have to use multiple presets. it is RIDICULOUS that you can't get from preset to preset in sequential order using the up/down buttons. i need to have access to both preset mode AND stompbox mode at the same time. i have a liquid foot 12+ midi controller and it's set up in a way where there are 2 up/down buttons that can quickly scroll through the presets while the other buttons turn on/off various effects. i think this is a major design flaw in the FX8 and hope something can be done about this soon.
there were also a few times during the gig where i was trying to turn on an effect and instead of turning the effect on, the X/Y feature was activated. it was annoying but it's something i think i can get used to. the other thing the drove me crazy was that i accidently activated the "scene mode" three times. i don't use scenes. i've never used them and really have no use for them and wish there was a way to permanently deactivate this mode.
overall, i'm pretty happy with the FX8. the sound of the effects is fantastic, it's just these couple of design issues that i'm hoping can be addressed in the near future