Hi guys! New to the forum here. I have had the Axe III for about six months now and just got the LXII + Cab setup. I'll leave some comments on my experience so far and wanted to ask you guys for some advice.
1. First, some background
Before getting the Axe, I have been using modeling for a long time, since I am only a hobbyist who plays and records at home and I currently don’t gig at all. Problem with modelers was that albeit for recording I found them perfect (way better than the hassle of mics and cabs), I did not really like them for just playing. With time, it kind of took the joy out of playing altogether and I found out that, unless I wanted to record something, I wouldn’t just pick up my guitars and play anymore.
I wanted to change that and was divided between getting a low wattage amp, or give modelers one more go by getting a really good one. I chose the latter and bought the Axe III. I heard the difference in sound and feel right away, but was still not where I wanted. Next thing, I changed my studio monitors to see how much that could improve sound. Bought a couple of Yamahas HS8s and got better results for sure, but still was not there yet.
I figured that I was probably one of those guys that were missing the “amp in the room”. Thus, I decided to go for the Axe III + power amp + cab route. I figured that although going through only one particular cab would limit my sound in some ways, it could be just what I was missing to get the sound I wanted while just playing. Plus, I wouldn’t have to go through endless lists of IRs anymore (except for recording, which I still would keep Axe directly to DAW via USB), which I find to be a pain.
2. LXII setup
Long story short, I bought a Marshall 1936V Cab (2X12 Celestion Vintage 30 tuned for Marshall) and the Fryette LXII (after days of indecision between the Matrix 1000 or just getting two Power Stations 2) and connected my Axe III to them.
3. The best part
I have never been happier with my sound (tone and especially feel) in my life. It really was what I was missing for just playing. Now whenever I pick up a guitar I do not want to stop. And I am sure there is still a lot of tweaking to be done in the Axe to make it sound even better with this setup.
I don’t know if it is the cab, the amp, or both that made it sound that good. I did not have the chance to A/B this setup with any other (such as a SS amp with a cab, different cabs, passive FRFR with an amp), so I am not really qualified to tell the difference. I can just tell you that this setup is amazing and it beats everything that I have tried so far (even tube amps that I played in the past and still play nowadays at friends’ places, due to the better control and flexibility I can get with this setup compared to those amps).
I am more of a clean sounds, edge of breakup and classic hard rock guy. I like clean sounds, I like tube distortion and I especially like when I can get in between and have amazing dynamic response depending on how hard I pick. And for that, I just loved how this setup responds.
4. What I might change
4.1. I went with a 2x12 cab to try to get some stereo imaging, although I knew it would be minimum due to speaker proximity. And it is. So, maybe 2 1x12 cabs a little more apart from each other could have been a better route compared to the 2X12. Again, I have not A/Bd this setup so I cannot tell for sure. The 2 1x12 setup may have disadvantages over mine which I am not aware of.
4.2. Since stereo imaging is not really great on this setup and since I don’t need that much power at home, I wonder if I would be just as satisfied with a Powerstation 2 setup. It would be cheaper, may be just as effective as the LXII, and the PS2 offers a lot of functions that the LXII does not have. Also, the PS2 has reachable presence and depth controls, which the LXII does not (the internal controls are kind of ridiculous). Maybe even a set of 2 PS2s for stereo would be interesting. Again, never A/Bd with a PS2, so I cannot know for sure.
5. What is bothering me
5.1. Fan noise. Well, this has already been covered here, so I won’t get into too much detail. Suffice to say that fan noise is there and it can be a bit of a pain especially for playing at home. It bugs me to think that if the LXII was a 2U amp, this would be less of an issue. I would be ok with 2U or even 4U if the fan noise was reduced to a minimum. Heck, I may even try to mod it that way some day. I wonder if the PS2 has the same fan noise issue. If it doesn’t, this would also be plus for the 2 PS2s setup.
5.2. Hum. Now, I may be spoiled since for a long time I have been using modelers connected to active monitors and no hum at all comes from a setup like that. My LXII setup, on the other hand, has a LOT of hum. It is still playable and I can live with it, but I would really like it to go away, or at least reduce it.
I have isolated where the hum is coming from. If the LXII is connected to the cab, but nothing is connected to the LXII’s inputs, there is no hum at all. As soon as I connect the Axe III to the LXII’s inputs, I get a humfest. This also happens when I connect other devices to the LXII's inputs (such as the line outs from my Focusrite Scarlet). Thus, I figured it is probably ground loop hum. I bought humbuster cables to connect the Axe to the LXII, but the improvement was minimal.
I am kind of stuck and don’t really know what to do to reduce hum. It may be the case that this amount of hum is simply normal and, if so, I kindly ask you guys using the LXII to share your (hum) experience.
If yours is silent, I need to figure out how to silence mine. I just hope there is nothing wrong with the unit itself. I am from Brazil and bought this while I was in the US. I simply cannot return it and try another one to see if the problem goes away.
If anybody has any ideas, they are more than welcome. Sorry for the long post and, if you feel that I am hijacking this thread with my hum issue, please let me know and I will start a new one.
.
