Fractal vs valuable tube amps. 1 to 0

An engineer friend, who has achieved "legendary" status due to his work at Muscle Shoals Sound in its heyday, asked me to come jam with some of his friends. (They apparantly get together once a year for a jam). One flew in from Florida. These guys were all much older than me. Awesome musicians. There were 5 vintage tube amps set up when I walked in, and I mean classics, one from the 60's. I felt odd walking in ith the AxeFX2, I'll admit. I set up a QSC K10, my MFC and the Axe fx. I received some strange looks. However, after hearing it, they were blown away. It definitely held it own. I used the Vox AC30 and JTm 45 most of the night. Awesome product. Now I just have to get volume between patches set right.
 
Awesome! Everyone is always blown away at the tone I get from the axe. Best purchase ever.
 
Ive been getting similar responses using a matrix power amp and guitar cab, but never frfr. Seems most dudes near me just don't get the frfr thing (me included )
 
If you don't use REALLY good FRFR speakers it will not work.
It's not the Axe, it's the speakers.

going to have to disagree with this to some extent. I think a decent powered monitor and some good IR's will give good results. I have a k12 and i'm getting great sounds, it's not the cheapest wedge by far but i dont think you need to spend over 1000 on a monitor to get good results. If the montior is too boomy, get an ir with less low end. It's a dead horse i hope but IR's are way more important than people think.
 
Same here. I'm using the K10s/K12s and have gotten some great comments on the guitar sound... I guess it's just a matter of "using your ears" to dial it in.
 
An engineer friend, who has achieved "legendary" status due to his work at Muscle Shoals Sound in its heyday, asked me to come jam with some of his friends. (They apparantly get together once a year for a jam). One flew in from Florida. These guys were all much older than me. Awesome musicians. There were 5 vintage tube amps set up when I walked in, and I mean classics, one from the 60's. I felt odd walking in ith the AxeFX2, I'll admit. I set up a QSC K10, my MFC and the Axe fx. I received some strange looks. However, after hearing it, they were blown away. It definitely held it own. I used the Vox AC30 and JTm 45 most of the night. Awesome product. Now I just have to get volume between patches set right.

So was one of the guys Pete Carr? The reason I ask is because I had ran in to him on a forum a couple times, A really nice guy.
 
So was one of the guys Pete Carr? The reason I ask is because I had ran in to him on a forum a couple times, A really nice guy.

Awesome! No, it was actually Steve Melton, Jimmy Johnson's engineer. Go to Jimmy Johnson Music dot com or Google Muscle Shoals Sound and look at his discography-phenomenal. Jimmy produced, Steve engineered. Pete Carr is a great guy and player. They definitely recorded him many times. Pete played the famous guitar parts on Bob Seger songs and was a member of Leblanc and Carr. They had a hit with "Falling". Other amazing session players like David Hood, Jim Seals, and Will McFarland are here too. A guy by the name of Duane Allman got his start as a session musician here too. :) Fame Studios website where Duane worked will also give you a glimpse of Muscle Shoals. I have a studio here also where some of these guys record, but I haven't gotten to work with Pete.
 
I didn't say you can't work with or can't (subjectively) like lesser FRFR systems.
When you have to use a corrective IR or EQ to make the results of a particular system usable this should tell you something...
And don't forget to switch those corrections off if you're using the other output to the PA...

I was ALWAYS editing my patches when I was using the Verve and/ or the K10 as there ALWAYS was something feeling wrong with those speakers. This has completely stopped since I'm using my NX12-SMA's. The Axe sounds and feels like real amps now.
 
When the amp players kicked into a solo, it was loud and distinct, when I did, it would get lost in the mix. I tried a louder, solo type patch (I'm still using modified presets), like "gilmour lead" , but it was still buried. I've got to spend some time getting to know this thing. I love it though.
 
JC,

I'm over here just north of Huntsville. I've driven through the shoals but never checked out any of the studios.

Richard
 
The days of going into the studio to record loud amps is over for 99% of the population. In the late 1980s we were paying $300/hr for studio time, with each song requiring about ten hours to competition. Now you can buy the Axe for what a single song cost and take all long as you like at home via headphones.
 
Ive been getting similar responses using a matrix power amp and guitar cab, but never frfr. Seems most dudes near me just don't get the frfr thing (me included )

In my case, there was a period where my mind somehow readjusted to FRFR. Now, of course, you can't wait for the audience to adjust to it, so that's an issue.

Or it was.

Once I a) went 6.0 b) went matrix gt1000fx, c) went fEarfull enclosure (I tried mackies and qsc's, and they didn't do it), d) went with Scott Peterson's dual cab NF/FF combo (VERY important change to me - subtle on one level, a game-changer on another), the problem disappeared. Not saying it will for you or anyone else, but every single element in the chain I listed was CRUCIAL to getting a sound I could not only live with, but could love!
 
Hey JC_Muscleshoals, nice! Hey I now live in Opelika Alabama, I come up through that area every now and then to visit friends in Florence. I'd love to come up for some of those jam sessions sometime. Let me know when it's going down and if I'm not on the road I'll drive up.

Talk with you soon
Larry
 
Also on the standing out in the mix thing. Midrange is usually the key. Add more than you think you need when your setting up your patches, then add a pinch more and it will help in a live situation. :0) I have a few different set of patches. Patches for playing t home low volume and ones for playing the band. Way more midrange and less gain for the live band patches. Try it you might like it. :0)

Larry
 
Also on the standing out in the mix thing. Midrange is usually the key. Add more than you think you need when your setting up your patches, then add a pinch more and it will help in a live situation. :0) I have a few different set of patches. Patches for playing t home low volume and ones for playing the band. Way more midrange and less gain for the live band patches. Try it you might like it. :0)

Larry
pm sent
 
Hey JC_Muscleshoals, nice! Hey I now live in Opelika Alabama, I come up through that area every now and then to visit friends in Florence. I'd love to come up for some of those jam sessions sometime. Let me know when it's going down and if I'm not on the road I'll drive up.

Talk with you soon
Larry
I pass right by Opelika going to my in laws in Columbus GA. Thanks for the idrange info. I'll give it a shot.
 
midrange means frequencies in the middle of the spectrum, generally around 1k, so maybe 500, to 1k, to 4k or so.

oh wow larry, up to alabama huh? new gigs?
 
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