So....
here is the low down from the first gig I did with the FX8 last night - it's basically the result of all the work I've put in over the past few months to get the board built, configured and patched - with a lot of help from this forum, so thanks everyone for your support !
I have been a G System user for about 4 years - love it and it sounds terrific. I like the way it lights up on stage, I love the sounds, I love the switching, I love the fact you can run 4 pedals in any of the 4 loops in the front of it and I love the fact it has so many effects that even by today's standards, still beat the majority hands down. However, as time goes on, the product is not really supported by TC Electronics and updates haven't been issued since 2010 FFS ! So for me, it was time to move on - especially when I discovered the FX8 which looked like (remember the teaser photos ?) it would be a "next step up" version of what I already had.
Whilst on the waiting list, I was recommended to go FRFR and get a Kemper Profiler... which I did. It's a great unit and the effects on it are really great - I liked them a lot, which is not something the KPA is really known for. Unfortunately, I'm a bit stuck in my ways and soon I was going back to the G instead of reaching straight away for the KPA. The reason, was, that of all the gazillions of profiles out there, it takes hours of continually loading, listening, deleting ... lather, rinse repeat ... until I found one or if I was lucky, 2 profiles I liked. I was also finding myself blowing £100 a week on studio profiles to get the tone I wanted - which made me realise, the KPA was not for me. It sounded great - it did what it claims to do and does it very well ... but it did't give me that trouser flapping grunt I have come to love (and get stuck in my ways with) for a long time. After about 3 or 4 weeks of trying, I came to the conclusion that the tones I wanted were right there with the G and the Tubemeisters and no matter how much tweaking on the KPA I did, I would only get a close second to the gear I already had.
So I got rid of it.
September came, and the FX8 arrived with 2 EV-1 pedals, complete with a lovely thank you card and chocolates. I've never had the pleasure of eating chocolates while opening and unboxing a new FX unit but for those of you who didn't get your FX8 from G66 - you missed out on a very unique experience
So ... my current set up was going to be :
Pedal Board
FX8
ISP Decimator G String
MXR 10 Band Graphic
TC PolyTune
Cioks DC 10
RJM Mini Effects Gizmo which will switch in and out
1. Timmy
2. J Rocket Archer
3. TC Spark Booster
4. Xotic EP Booster
5. Spare - to keep my pedal GAS alive (ha ha)
Board - PedalTrain PT PRO
Cabling - 4 cable TRS with midi cable strapped (bought separately)
Wireless Unit - Line 6 G50
Amps
2 x Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 36 with a 1x12 TM112 cab each (Celestion V30, closed back)
2 x black milk crates - bought from ebay, complete with blue flashing lights (oh yeah !)
The big question your asking goes something like "why are using pedals when the FX8 has all these wonderful drives ?"
The big answer goes "because I've never heard a digital drive" that doesn't sound like "butt" !
So ... unboxed and first problem was where to mount the MEG - so to cut a long story short, it's still in the box - I'll explain later...
First impressions were very good - amazingly quiet (not like the G), incredible effects (better than the G), great looks (like the G), light(ish) (definately not like the G) ... and VERY CLEARLY LABELLED (than you FAS - this makes a MASSIVE difference when you set up, strike a chord and your heart sinks to the floor when there is no sound coming out. Easy to check ... easy to fix ... or easy to reassure me it's not the cables, it's more than likely I've got the tuner switched on (we've all done it)).
So, everything is looking good with the FX8 - apart from a couple of things ...
1. I have to use digital drives that are built in - (going to sound like butt)
2. The switching is erm ... let's just say "a lot different to the G" ........ !
So, I dialed in a whole preset of sounds from clean to lead that cover most bases for what I need. A lot of them are my "get out of jail free" scenes, because as the unit is new and I'm not used to the way it works just yet, I can pretty much get everything (ish) from this scene. The other presets are song specific, of which, I have done about 3 or 4 - purely down to time.
I switch channels on my TM36 amps - they are 3 channel and controlled by MIDI. This works very well indeed. Seamless in fact - all from the single PC message transmitted on each scene change - no need for a separate MIDI block - nice one FAS, this is exactly how I envisaged this to work. I use all 3 channels with flat EQ across the board - everything else comes from the FX8 and the MXR that I have in front. If you haven't tried this trick and you have some free time on your hands, then borrow an MXR 10 band or Spark Booster etc and run it into the front of the FX8 - see if you (like me) like how it enhances the tone - or maybe not, these things are subjective I know. You can use the front end PEQ on the FX8 too although I found the MXR much better than the FX8 on this side - it also looks cool
I like cool
I originally posted my big grumble about the FX8 and that was the crap switching - I'm used to 4 pedals across the top and 4 presets across the bottom. However, since using sticky scenes I've come to like (and prefer) the format that FAS has come up with. If you are one of the users who really need this, try giving sticky scenes a go - after a while, it makes sense to have it this way due to the sheer amount of sounds you can stuff into the 8 scenes (even though I have X/Y switched OFF, what I didn't know i that I can still use the X/Y settings per block per scene but just store them in the scene. They can be selected when changing scene (i.e. the X/Y is still available you just can't switch them via holding down the button) - please FAS can you update the manual to make this clearer because this would have saved me a lot of time.
So I like the switching - right ?
Erm - nearly ...
Since playing last night there are 2 things that made me grumpy.
1. In sticky scenes mode - can the FX8 start up in SCENE MODE instead of STOMP MODE. It's a PITA when getting everything up and running. I found instead of changing scenes to check the channel switching I end up switching on the WAH, then switching on the DRV then switching off the CMP etc becuase I think I'm in SCENE mode - it's a simple requirement, but as we guitarists know, the last thing we need when we have limited time to set up is dicking around with the FX8 to get it back into SCENE mode etc ..... GRR !
2. The "DEFAULT SCENE" feature sucks balls !
At the end of a song, I want to finish off crescedoing the ending and then have the next preset loaded ready to go. Because the FX8 loads the first (configurable) scene as soon as I bank up I get the sound of each scene while I'm playing - urghhh ! Please can we bank up to where we want and then the SCENE is selected which I hit the right button to engage it. So it kinda goes into "limbo mode" with the existing scene selected until I press the scene I want after banking up and down (like the G).
3. The SCREEN SUCKS BALLS !
In STOMP MODE the screen is fine as it is but when in SCENE MODE can I have the name of the PRESET AND THE SCENE in big letters please ? It's not easy the way it works currently.
But ....
It sounds incredible - the dynamics, response, everything is just insane. I had 3 sound guys with their hands on their cheeks in an OMG moment during some of the solos. Well done FAS - this thing is absolutely incredible. A few niggles to sort, but on the whole I'm delighted with the product and the tones I'm getting. The G is going on ebay soon so finally I'll be "all in" with the FX8 and it's a great place to be.
I'll post my default preset later this weekend if anyone wants it and I'll write some descriptions etc to explain what they are.
... oh yes - the drives....
erm I actually really like them (BB Preamp, RCB, ACB, Mid Boost, Rat, Fulltone OCD, TS808) and have no need for anything else. Which is a bummer because the MEG has to go on ebay now
If you have any questions - just ask - got to run, scrambled eggs are ready so sorry for any punctuation or spelling ...
