First post... Hi and lots of questions.

Tiny64

New Member
Hi,

I've been reading this forum on and off for a while. I'm currently thinking long and hard wether to buy an Axe Fx and hopefully you will be able to guide me in my decision.

Here is where I am at. Typical valve amp blues / rock player with a simple set up of guitar > wah > tube screamer > OD> amp. I'm a big fan of fender tweeds, blackface and early Marshall amps and I play material from the three Kings, Peter Green to AC/DC and Slash. Nothing 'heavier'.

In March 18 I'm moving from my current home where I am able to play my Tweeds at early break up volumes with no complaints. However, where I'm moving to I wont have that luxury and I'm passing my amps onto my son who will gig them ;-)

If I do decide to gig again (unlikely) I'll just borrow my amps back. So I guess where I am heading is, will I be happy with the tones I can get from the Axe Fx given I'm a low gain / crunch guy?

I'm very fortunate that I have studio monitors (Genelecs) and a Mac, so setting up in my new home will be just the cost of the Axe Fx.

I have in my mind that I will run the Axe Fx and my interface and spend time jamming to backing tracks using the Axe Fx. How easy is it to playback backing tracks and jam using the Axe Fx.

I'm sure I will have lots more questions, but any thoughts guys would be appreciated.
 
I think you will be very happy using the axe at home. In my opinion it is very easy to get great tones at lower volumes. It's playing live at volume and mixing with a band that seems to take a bit more work and knowledge to get great results. The axe does great edge of break up tones and you will probably want to check out Austin buddy's naked amp preset packs which sounds just right for you. Also the axe fx is on sale right now so don't wait too long. Super easy to pipe music through USB to jam to.
 
Tiny ..., welcome aboard ! I can only speak for myself. But ..., I did a fair amount of recording when I was younger. I always sat in the control room with my Amp mic'ed up in another room .... That meant I spent a lot of time listening/monitoring my amps as played back through the monitor system. I got very comfortable with the sound being directed back from in front of me .... In my mind, this is the biggest paradigm shift that most guitarists need to overcome. It was an easy adjustment for me ( or maybe no adjustment at all ), because I was already used to that way of hearing myself.

Jamming to backing tracks is VERY easy and that's pretty much what I'm doing 95% of the time these days ....

GOOD LUCK !
 
As long as you understand that the Axe FX is not reproducing the sound of an amp and cab, but rather the sound of an amp and mic'd cab, then I expect you'll be extremely happy. As mentioned, that's one of the biggest perceptual shifts most players who use a traditional amp and cab seem to grapple with.
 
As long as you understand that the Axe FX is not reproducing the sound of an amp and cab, but rather the sound of an amp and mic'd cab, then I expect you'll be extremely happy. As mentioned, that's one of the biggest perceptual shifts most players who use a traditional amp and cab seem to grapple with.
This. For jamming in your room, you could still use a standard cab similar to your old ones yet keep the volume low for a similar experience with a pushed tweed tone. For recording, the Axe will sound like a miced cab. No problems there.
 
OK, let me play the role of the devil's advocate. If you are easily overwhelmed with a lot of digital knobs and controls, you might want to stick to real amps. The Axe-Fx II is easy to use and pretty straight forward, but the fact that you can almost tweak everything might cause some psychological effect on certain people.
 
OK, let me play the role of the devil's advocate. If you are easily overwhelmed with a lot of digital knobs and controls, you might want to stick to real amps. The Axe-Fx II is easy to use and pretty straight forward, but the fact that you can almost tweak everything might cause some psychological effect on certain people.
I agree with the comment above, its very easy to lose yourself tweaking. That said, imho since FW7.something, I just don't tweak at all really. I use the fender tweed and AC30 models for the most part and they sound great with simple Drive, B,M,T and High cut settings.
 
OK, let me play the role of the devil's advocate. If you are easily overwhelmed with a lot of digital knobs and controls, you might want to stick to real amps. The Axe-Fx II is easy to use and pretty straight forward, but the fact that you can almost tweak everything might cause some psychological effect on certain people.

The trick is to understand which controls represent the real knobs on the amp and stick with them. Don't get distracted by the other parameters.
 
I'm another old guy who uses primarily various Fender and Vox models, with a few Marshal (or derivative) models thrown in for more gain-y presets. I also keep things simple and very seldom delve into the deeper parameters. I'm VERY happy with my tones when playing at home, and also get many compliments on my sound when playing live, which I do strictly via FOH and our PA wedge monitors...no backline at all.

I'd say go for it, especially while the sale prices are going on. Even if you absolutely hate it (which I doubt), the Fractal gear holds its resale value very well, and you'll be out very little money should you decide to sell later on.
 
Yeah, don't let the popularity of the Axe II among metal players around here fool you. The Axe II can create exceptional low and mid gain tones. Blackface and Tweed Fenders, Plexis, Voxes, etc. To me that is where it really shines above the competition the most. Rolling off the guitar's volume knob reveals the same awesome pallet of in-between tones you get with a great tube amp. It's quite addictive and you don't have to go deaf to get there.
 
Read the wiki. It's an awesome resource for tips and tricks. Hi and Low cuts on the cab block are key for me. Also get to know the PEQ block. It's very powerful.
 
Tiny ..., welcome aboard ! I can only speak for myself. But ..., I did a fair amount of recording when I was younger. I always sat in the control room with my Amp mic'ed up in another room .... That meant I spent a lot of time listening/monitoring my amps as played back through the monitor system. I got very comfortable with the sound being directed back from in front of me .... In my mind, this is the biggest paradigm shift that most guitarists need to overcome. It was an easy adjustment for me ( or maybe no adjustment at all ), because I was already used to that way of hearing myself.

Jamming to backing tracks is VERY easy and that's pretty much what I'm doing 95% of the time these days ....

GOOD LUCK !
Nailed it right there! Exactly what I've said to people in the past.
 
Thanks for all the input everybody.

I'm currently going through the wiki pages. I have to admit although a 'simple' amp guy, I do like the idea of learning a new technology. Its always good to keep an agile mind!

I'm glad to hear there is a much to offer in terms of vintage amps and for the lower gain players in this World.

Once again thanks for the replies.
 
I Play in a dire straits tribute band, and I'm very happy both when rehearsing at home and when gigging small and big stages. Just to let you know that you shouldn't worry about the Axe only being for the metal Heads ;)
 
PS. Forgot to mention, because of years and years with an amp behind me, I use a matrix amp plus matrix nl12 cabs, that feels exactly like my old amp behind me. Then I run a signal to the pa. best of both worlds
 
The trick is to understand which controls represent the real knobs on the amp and stick with them. Don't get distracted by the other parameters.

I disagree slightly. You can certainly get sucked into spending hours and hours tweaking obscure parameters and making a mess. That could be a death sentence for a newbie's enthusiasm if they don't have the right mindset.

On the other hand, I think there's merit in understanding at least a few of the advanced parameters, how they change the sound and feel of the amp model, and how that relates to what you want in an amp. But should you go tweaking those things in the first 30 minutes after unboxing the unit? No way.
 
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