I haven't watched the video yet, may if I have a few moments, but I've seen him multiple times. I usually watch it for a laugh as he rips on the "talent" and some of the stupid things that they do or say. Its entertaining at times; at other times its just kind of mean.
But just reading the comments here I can tell that the main jist of the video is that expensive gear that does a bazillion things isn't going to make you a better artist and it's not necessary. I think that far too many people use their gear as an excuse.
As for the "attack" on the AxeFXII for being this high priced, snobby, type of exclusive product, well people need to calm down and look at the actual figures. Take a look at a decent pedalboard, amp, cab, microphones, recording interface and price all of that out. That's basically what you are going to need to record. Then you'll need a space to do all of that in. You may need to pay a professional to help you set up to get a good recordable tone. Now if you have a decent multichannel amp or a flexible pedal board you can get most of the sounds you'll need, but we all know that if you want to get a clean, Fender-esque tone for one track and a hot rodded Marshall Plexi style tone for another you aren't going to get that out of the same amp. So now you're looking at multiple amps potentially and at that point you've blown way past the cost of the AxeFXII.
But the single biggest point that everyone looking in from the outside misses with any unit that does multiple things is that the point isn't about being to do a bazillion different things. It's about having the ability to attain the handful of critical tones a player wants or needs. I could not care less if the AxeFXII had 10,000 amps if I couldn't get one preset that sounded amazing. Even going back to the days when I had the Ultra I would have about 10 presets that I spent time dialing in to perfection and I only really used 5 of them. The value is that one box can fit the needs of a metal head, an old classic rocker, a country player, jazz player, etc.
It's not about one guy making a million different sounds, but about a million different people being able to find their one sound from the same device.
I will add one other thing here. My tastes have changed over the years as does most people. It's been really nice to wake up one day and say "you know, I'd like to play something kind of clean" and then set out making a preset rather than having to go out and buy a new amp or whole rig. I never would have imagined that I'd like Fender amps even 5 years ago, but it happened. Cost me nothing to make that shift. It also costs me nothing to go back to those overdriven Vox sounds that I love....hell I just push a button and I'm right back.
Convenience, value, etc., are there in spades with the AxeFXII, but most importantly is the ability to dial in my tone, not a million different tones.
