Friend Demo'd The AX8 - He's Gettin' One

[PRSfreak4]

Hey friends, it's been awhile since I've been able to contribute on the forum with the lack of time in a new position, family of 4, and just life.

Wanted to share a success story for my buddy Randy who will be joining the forum soon as well as procuring an AX8:

Randy is a rocker, his main inspirations are: Rush, Van Halen, Grand Funk Railroad, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, etc. He can play all of them as also, very well I might add. His current rig is a Mesa Mark V combo, external cab, and a 60 lbs pedalboard.

Yesterday we were able to create two patches on my AX8 with the USA Clean+/Friedman BE, drives, comp, FX, and reverb. He was blown away and his comment was "you just can't get an amp to sound like that". I've been spoiled for a while with FAS gear so I had to contextualize where he was coming from. The Mark V's are amazing amps, but the dynamics of them can change easily depending on where you're gigging or what environmental variables you are dealing with. This has been Randy's struggle with the gear, the dynamics as well as the weight and effort required to transport/setup.

Just wanted to share and pose the question: have you had a successful demo to a friend, prospect, artist, musician that resulted positively? What was their feedback (non-guitar)? What was the result?

Keep rockin' friends, happy/merry early Christmas ya'll.

 

[jlynnb1]

yeah, 4 of the guys on my teams at church have switched and we are also going to them as backline at all current campuses and future campuses. all in all i will have helped sell about probably 20-30 before it's done....if not more, lol.

 

[RKF]

I've had a friend on the verge of buying one for months but he keeps trying to make do with his POD 2.0

I keep saying many of his tone struggles could be solved immediately but hey, everyone has to get there at their own pace.

 

[stdio]

I have a buddy that is scheduled to come over and check out my AX8 over the holidays this year too. He is a firm beliver in the 'tone is in your hands' camp. He is gigging with his funk band with a big pedalboard and an old Fender Cybertwin. Can't wait to see he reaction with new technology. Ibanezfreak, would you be willing to share the presets that converted your friend?

 

[PRSfreak4]

yeah, 4 of the guys on my teams at church have switched and we are also going to them as backline at all current campuses and future campuses. all in all i will have helped sell about probably 20-30 before it's done....if not more, lol.

Nice J! Hope you and your church community are doing well!

 

[PRSfreak4]

I've had a friend on the verge of buying one for months but he keeps trying to make do with his POD 2.0

I keep saying many of his tone struggles could be solved immediately but hey, everyone has to get there at their own pace.

I find that in the recording/instrument/musician industries it does not take much for individuals to find their path and stick to it. Have you tried matching what amp/cabs he's using in the POD to replicate in the AX8? Sometimes I find that to be effective where you take the POD and plug it in to your monitors, then build the identical preset in FAS gear. Usually it's a no brainer, sometimes it's just a familiarity.

I find that people who are not willing to use a computer to build a preset are the ones most apprehensive... They say "wow, that's a lot of work" wherein reality it's minutes compared to years of gear collection.

 

[PRSfreak4]

I have a buddy that is scheduled to come over and check out my AX8 over the holidays this year too. He is a firm beliver in the 'tone is in your hands' camp. He is gigging with his funk band with a big pedalboard and an old Fender Cybertwin. Can't wait to see he reaction with new technology. Ibanezfreak, would you be willing to share the presets that converted your friend?

For sure my man, and if you get me a rundown of his rig I can try to make a couple of presets that would work for him also! I'll hopefully post those presets to another response here in the afternoon when I'm in front of my AX8. I'll whip up a quick funk Fender preset for ya as well. What's your friend's name? We'll creep him out and name the presets after him

 

[jlynnb1]

Nice J! Hope you and your church community are doing well!

yeah man, it's just light speed around here, lol. launched 2 campuses this year, planning on 3-4 next year. it's a lot of work but it's a lot of fun!

 

[RKF]

I find that people who are not willing to use a computer to build a preset are the ones most apprehensive... They say "wow, that's a lot of work" wherein reality it's minutes compared to years of gear collection.

I think that's it. I mentioned that I do 100% of my AX8 editing on the computer and he seemed hesitant about that. I guess I can understand. If you're not much of a tweaker and just want to plug in and play, adjusting things on the unit itself without axedit is kind of a pain in my opinion. I know you're supposed to learn how to control the unit from the front panel, but using the computer is so much easier.

 

[PRSfreak4]

I think that's it. I mentioned that I do 100% of my AX8 editing on the computer and he seemed hesitant about that. I guess I can understand. If you're not much of a tweaker and just want to plug in and play, adjusting things on the unit itself without axedit is kind of a pain in my opinion. I know you're supposed to learn how to control the unit from the front panel, but using the computer is so much easier.

Same, since having the Axe-FX II MI and AX8, all I use is the software because it's just easier. Loving it and the ease of use. Cheers!

 

[PRSfreak4]

I have a buddy that is scheduled to come over and check out my AX8 over the holidays this year too. He is a firm beliver in the 'tone is in your hands' camp. He is gigging with his funk band with a big pedalboard and an old Fender Cybertwin. Can't wait to see he reaction with new technology. Ibanezfreak, would you be willing to share the presets that converted your friend?

Give these a shot, see if they are an eye-opener. I made a Funk STDIO for you also to try out. S1 is clean with verb, S2 dirty with FX, S3 auto-wah with envelope dirty.

 

[REDD]

I had a buddy about a week ago come over and wanted me to order him an AX8 after he checked mine out. He's not a computer guy so I said sure I'll help you. I made him an email address and got his credit card and ordered it for him but somehow it kept my email in the Fractal ordering page from my past orders. Now I'm getting emails on his order instead of him getting them so he checks with me on the tracking status. I know he'll love it and I'm sure I have my work cutout for me teaching him how to use it.