First time My Axe left the house

[cakewalkgg]

Had the axe2 for about 10 months and here is what happened.

I have never been able to improvise lead guitar. If you were to know the first 28 of my 30 (give or take) years of playing. Not at all.. zilch... I would have to construct every note of every lead and just memorize it. And truthfully, had some pretty good results.

I got what I thought was a serviceable lead tone from my pod hd when it came out (and it was, I still think it sounds really good on my recordings) but when I got the axefx I was really inspired by the way the strings felt when playing. There was simply something about the way the pick chirped, the squishy feel if I really dug in etc..
So the only negative thing about the experience (its not really negative) is that for the last 10 months, I've sort of transformed, and my play for pleasure guitar routine is to improvise over various backing tracks on youtube.. (opposed to writing songs)

This is totally a testament to how fun it is to play the axefx.. but it is at the cost of I don't write as much stuff as I did before.. I spend more time just enjoying playing (IFthat is a fault.. its mine)

Here is the fun part. one of my coworkers had a little get-together with a few fellas from work that play a little bit of guitar. I decided I would bring the axe and my monitors and try to re create what I've been accustomed to because ill admit, I was worried I wouldn't make as good an impression without it...

so I set up and started jammin.. etc. I even was able to bluetooth some familiar backing tracks to a stereo system and jam along..

it was amazing.. the axe sounded sooo good, just like i knew,.. and I improvised some pretty good stuff and everyone loved it.. I felt totally comfy playing it.

here is where I'm really stunned..

So after some stuff with MY guitar and MY familiar backing tracks.. each of the other guys asked me to play THEIR guitars on the axe. lo and behold.. not that much of a difference.. a little acclimation to a 6 string, and one of em had a bit of intonation issues but overall... I could get the same kinda authority with their axe.. even on some backing tracks they picked..

Then.... I played my, and their guitars, ON THEIR AMPS, and still had success with tone... some adjustment on how it reacted to palm muting etc..and it certainly was not sitting with the backing tracks like the axe did... but I got some of the blossom.. harmonics and just straight confidence with vibrato and everything..

That made me realize... having access to the wonderful tones and detail of modeling that the axe has.. over time has taught me how to get some of the tidbits in tone (from playing and not the amp) that I would have not realized otherwise.

Its sorta the opposite of "you don't know what you have 'till its gone"

Its "you don't know how to do it, 'till you have it"


PS.. my axe is back home... and safe...with me...

 

[cakewalkgg]

its easy to summarize for me...

I don't care that the tone comes from software modeling, or an amp.

when you have that lovely tone.. you learn lots about how to play the instrument.. which helps you improve your tone...

The axefx has done this for me and I am still giddy...

 

[Rex]

Excellent and insightful observation.

My friend had a similar experience with another aspect of guitar playing. He scalloped the neck on his G&L Strat. Loved the way he could bend and push the strings around. It quickly became his favorite.

When he switched back to a non-scalloped neck, he thought bends would be more difficult. To his surprise, they weren't. The bending skills he'd developed on the scalloped neck translated to other gear.

So yeah, the Axe helps teach you how to play.

 

[Jaz1956]

its easy to summarize for me...

I don't care that the tone comes from software modeling, or an amp....

Hi C - you've summed the Axe up perfectly there - it's just inspiring to play through and just encourages you to play more (and more)
Do you find that you've got a big smile or at least a blissful grin when you're playing? My bandmates keep telling me that I have

 

[rag246]

I know the feeling. When I started playing in the early 80's, I scored a 50 watt Peavy Classic 4X10 tube combo. I figured out how to dial in a tone that made me play better, period.

That amp bit the dust by 1988, and I've had many since, most recently a Marshall DSL-50. Some inspired me, but others just eventually pissed me off. Also had various effects: Boss ME 50, ADA-MP1, ART SGE Mark II, Digitech GNX3...too many pedals to list. All decent stuff, NONE of it could excite me every single time I plugged in, and they were all a bit of a hassle to deal with.

Since I got this FXII, I have been inspired every time...even when I wasn't really in the mood to practice or play. I've already found something that reminds me of that old Peavy (except I don't get shocked when I turn it on and off), and so much more. If you hit a wall, you simply try the next preset and start tweaking!

I was skeptical and hesitant to drop $2k on a single piece of equipment (knowing that devices like the ADA, ART, GNX etc wound up gathering dust in my closet), but I am glad I did. Assuming this box doesn't malfunction, I can see this lasting me the rest of my playing days. I wish I could take this in a time machine back to 1988...it would save me lots of time, $, and aggravation!