Full Band Dress Rehearsals with new AxeFX II XL

Sleestak

Power User
Last night we held the final full band dress rehearsal for our upcoming shows. I've only had my AxeFX rig for about a month, and this has been a very positive experience so far. Subsequent to the previous rehearsals, I've been tweaking tones and adding scenes to simplify getting around during the show. During last night's rehearsal, I received a number of spontaneous compliments from my bandmates about my tone and the clarity / depth of my guitar in the mix. Mind you, I've been using a Boogie Lonestar and a board full of boutique pedals to date. The AxeFX makes *that much* of an impression on the seasoned professional musicians in this band! We work with a multimedia production engineer as part our show, who handles video / lighting / environmental effects. Last night he was set up pretty close to my rig and asked "what is that new thing in your rack?". I showed it to him and explained the basic functions. He said it was the best guitar sound he'd ever heard, and that he couldn't believe it was all being done in that little two space unit.

Oh, and our lead vocalist was impressed by the MFC-101, ostensibly due to the blinky LEDs. See? The AxeFX setup has something for everyone :)

We're performing a number of shows in rapid succession and I'll be able to hook up the laptop to edit presets during soundchecks. I'm going to have to keep good mental notes of adjustments to make during the next opportunities. How do other users manage the process of making occasional adjustments on the road? I know it can be done via the front panel (and have forced myself to become familiar with it in case that is necessary) but it's obviously much easier via Axe-Edit.

...and so, the AxeFX adventure leaves space dock and engages the warp engines...
 
definitely get more acquainted with the front panel. i just can't imagine thinking during a performance "dang i have to go grab my computer to adjust something!"

it's all there. :)

but glad it's working out for you! the axe has been the best for "non rock band" situations that want a rock band sound.
 
+ 1 on using the front panel at a gig. Having the Axe connected to Axe Edit and the MFC can cause problems so you would need to remember to pause communications in Axe Edit or shut it down while you are actually playing. Plus it's 1 less thing to bring & 1 less thing to go wrong.
 
Very cool to hear! What set up are you using? Power amp & cab, frfr, PA? How about sharing a few of those great sounding patches :)
 
definitely get more acquainted with the front panel. i just can't imagine thinking during a performance "dang i have to go grab my computer to adjust something!"

it's all there. :)

but glad it's working out for you! the axe has been the best for "non rock band" situations that want a rock band sound.

I agree that knowing the front panel is invaluable during a show, but when working out sounds at home, Axe Edit is THE way to go.
 
Excellent to hear...

...curious, could you post one of your presets, or if you are shy with sharing details, could you post a clip of your sound?

I'm not trying to steal your preset or anything, I just like to hear what your bandmates and engineer where hearing to put the story into context.

Last night we held the final full band dress rehearsal for our upcoming shows. I've only had my AxeFX rig for about a month, and this has been a very positive experience so far. Subsequent to the previous rehearsals, I've been tweaking tones and adding scenes to simplify getting around during the show. During last night's rehearsal, I received a number of spontaneous compliments from my bandmates about my tone and the clarity / depth of my guitar in the mix. Mind you, I've been using a Boogie Lonestar and a board full of boutique pedals to date. The AxeFX makes *that much* of an impression on the seasoned professional musicians in this band! We work with a multimedia production engineer as part our show, who handles video / lighting / environmental effects. Last night he was set up pretty close to my rig and asked "what is that new thing in your rack?". I showed it to him and explained the basic functions. He said it was the best guitar sound he'd ever heard, and that he couldn't believe it was all being done in that little two space unit.

Oh, and our lead vocalist was impressed by the MFC-101, ostensibly due to the blinky LEDs. See? The AxeFX setup has something for everyone :)

We're performing a number of shows in rapid succession and I'll be able to hook up the laptop to edit presets during soundchecks. I'm going to have to keep good mental notes of adjustments to make during the next opportunities. How do other users manage the process of making occasional adjustments on the road? I know it can be done via the front panel (and have forced myself to become familiar with it in case that is necessary) but it's obviously much easier via Axe-Edit.

...and so, the AxeFX adventure leaves space dock and engages the warp engines...
 
First off: thanks very much for the great comments, all! This is a terrific community.

My setup is based on my objective to build something that was compact, flexible, and movable by ME. It's always nice to have additional help on the road, but for rehearsals / at home, I'm my own crew. So it has to be manageable by one standard-issue human.

Rack 1 (four spaces)
* Furman AR1215 power conditioner
* Line6 G90 wireless receiver
* Carvin EM900 in-ear transmitter
* Blank rack space (yes, I know... it's terribly sad to leave a rack space empty... I'll see if I can find a rack-mounted singing fish or something)

Rack 2 (four spaces)
* AxeFX II XL
* Carvin DCM2000LX

Pedalboard / Flight Case
* MFC-101 Mk III
* (3) Mission Engineering expression pedals

Speaker Cabs
* (2) Euphonic Audio VL110 full-range cabinets

My laptop hangs out in the dressing room during shows. My rack is behind me on stage, and there isn't time for me to get back to it between songs anyway. So I will just keep mental notes during shows and then (hopefully) remember to make minor adjustments next soundcheck. I mainly use the laptop as a safety net; it has my AxeFX backups, software for managing my power amp, and most importantly, select episodes of Monty Python. I don't care what kind of day you're having; Python will make it better.

As soon as possible, I'll post some presets. Confession: I haven't downloaded or uploaded a single preset yet :?. Not because I don't want to. Just because I needed to find my way around the system and perform baseline programming in a short time. I have looked around on Axe-Change, and see a wealth of great sounds there! I will definitely do some exploring. My patches are probably rudimentary by comparison; mainly single-amp setups with ultra-res cabs and serial effects, plus some dual-amp setups with more complex parallel chains. I mostly play guitar, so that is the range of tones that compose the majority of my presets. More info to come, and I'm sure I'll have questions too!
 
JH. Thanks for the update Sleestak. We're looking forward to more as you tweak the beast. Run Awaaaaay!
 
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IMG_0506.JPGI took this iPhone picture just as we finished soundcheck before a recent show. I've been experimenting with stacking the EA cabinets rotated 90 degrees clockwise, which puts the woofer at the bottom. It seems to anchor the sound a little better behind me, at the cost of wider dispersion. I also noticed the (main) stage monitors seem to over-emphasize the high frequencies, which is helpful for vocalists but briefly made my wonder if all my patches were too bright. I did a bit of leaning in, so I could hear the EA cabs directly, and they sounded great. Then I hopped off stage during soundcheck to hear my tone from the mains. All was good, so I left it as programmed for the show. The MFC-101 is a dream for this kind of band and show. I have as many as five scenes for each patch, and there are four "general purpose" patches that are used for multiple songs. The really tricky songs (especially with radical solo / multi tracked guitar parts) have complex dedicated patches and require a bit of pedalboard polka. We have a photographer / videographer along for these shows, and I'll post some decent pictures once we start going through them on a day off.

The AxeFX is such a fantastic piece of equipment. It doesn't do the work for you - in fact, you need to invest significant effort to get top results - but it's so worth it. I love the way it sounds and responds to my playing. Sure, you can use the AxeFX in your quest to sound like your favorite guitarist... but you might find it makes you sound even more like YOU.
 
Badass rig. Enjoying your thread; thanks for sharing the details of your setup. Dig it!

You could use the computer to quickly touch things if necessary; but what I've found is that if you practice/rehearse like you play and it's right... it's right.

The rest is up to FOH.
 
Here's a couple of action shots from recent shows. By way of explanation: this particular band is a tribute to David Bowie, called "BowieVision". The show is a 100% live performance, with drums, bass, guitar, keys, sax, lead vocals, and two backup singers. We perform with an accompanying video / light show that is also created / mixed on the fly; our video engineer uses content captured at that show, mixed with prepared elements, to create a unique experience for each performance. I'm the only guitarist in the band, so I create densely layered tones to cover a lot of sonic territory. I have big boots to fill, recreating the sounds of Mick Ronson, Earl Slick, Carlos Alomar, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Reeves Gabrels, etc. This gig was barely possible with my previous rig (Boogie Lonestar 2 channel amp + big pedalboard with boutique pedals). With the AxeFx II XL + MFC-101 Mk III, I invested a lot of effort to build presets and scenes; onstage, a single click reliably conjures gorgeous complex soundscapes. It's so much more satisfying to perform this show when it sounds this good. Every time we perform I send happy vibes to the guys at Fractal for their engineering wizardry and fantastic support.

My computer hasn't been out for soundcheck in a week. I think I have my patches dialed at this point, and now I'm just digging the beautiful sounds :)

2014-05-24 20.03.16.jpg 2014-05-24 20.20.42.jpg
 
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When you created your patches did you your make 2 of each? One for live volume and one for practicing. Live gigs are always louder with the PA doing it's thing. Many of us struggle with the "Fletcher-Munson" effect.
 
When you created your patches did you your make 2 of each? One for live volume and one for practicing. Live gigs are always louder with the PA doing it's thing. Many of us struggle with the "Fletcher-Munson" effect.

Great question. I actually just made one set of patches on the AxeFX, using the rehearsal volume as my "this is the loudest I ever want to be onstage" reference point. By the way, that's not very loud :) I keep the stage volume fairly moderate for the sake of everyone's hearing (audience included) and because it lets the FOH sound operator have much more control over the mix.

What I did to give myself a loudness effect for lower volumes was to create a Fletcher-Munson curve on my Carvin power amp, using its built-in software package. I drew a loudness curve and apply it as I roll down the volume from the AxeFX. It's pretty effective, and lets me still have "big" tone when I'm turned down, especially when practicing at home. I use in-ear monitors on bigger stages, and those are eq'd to give me the same tone as the amp, but directly to my ears (and at lower volume). When I'm in the stage monitors / side fills, I struggle with how much brighter they tend to make me sound; it's partially an illusion created by their dispersion pattern, so I tend to avoid being in those mixes unless it's absolutely necessary for the room. It's always tempting to turn up onstage to hear ourselves over the mains, but that gives rise to a terrible sonic Ouroboros... if I turn up, so will our bass player and keyboard player, and the drummer will ask for his side fill to be louder, and then we will ask for the monitors to be turned up so we can hear the vocals. And then I'll turn up again because I wanted to be louder relative to those other sources in the first place... eventually the FOH engineer starts making painful angry faces at us because he can't get a decent mix out front with all of us blasting away onstage. Unchecked, we'd eventually turn up to the point where the sun goes supernova, scorching the solar system. And that would mean no beer in the green room after the show. Thus, I resist the temptation to turn up.
 
100% happy to share. I have an "open book" policy for all matters in music, be they business contacts or technical approach. We all benefit from sharing.
 
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