Going sans amp with the AX8 for the first time

SRegal

SRegal

Member
Hey guys,
I did my first gig last night with my AX8. And it worked great! I got compliments from the sound guy and quite a few other people. Our sound guy, who is also a guitarist, admitted he was skeptical at first but he said that pedal is friggin awesome sounding.

We in-ear monitor, so it didn't really feel any different than using an amp, although I was missing a little of the low-end thump that comes from standing in front of a 4x12 cab. I ran straight to FOH so, I need to tweak a few levels and do some minor eq'ing as I experienced a little feedback on the higher gain sounds. Overall, I was really pleased with the sound and performance of the AX8. I have to admit, walking into a gig and being completely set up in less than 5 minutes, without breaking my back, and still, have it sound awesome is kinda like "having it all".

I know, most of you probably will be like, duh, but I had to tell someone that might appreciate it. I tried telling my wife this, but she didn't really care... lol. Her only response was, "Great, does that mean you don't need your amp anymore and you can sell it?" :-/
 
It's great. I have been doing the same for a year and a half now, and I have no regrets. Before AX8, I was running my amp into a dummy load and Torpedo CAB, monitoring with in-ears. This just sounds a million times better, and it is much easier to set up.
 
Got the same reaction to a show I just did - only my second time using the AX8 live and direct to FoH and I was nervous as hell (to be ampless) - but the AX8 sounded great and the sound guy was blown away. He said he did have to roll off a little 250k but other than that - no adjustments to anything! Was totally pumped to hear people say how good my guitar sounded out front.
 
Wives just don't understand. Mine doesn't either. Just because your kids leave the house doesn't mean you disown them!! Lol in all honestly I emptied out my AC30 combo amps and use the empty cabs to carry cables and have them as dummy amps for visuals only on a big stage. I've been running direct for 1.5 years now and won't go back. It's changed everything for the better. And I, much like you had to share it with someone who could appreciate it because my wife was like, "Great. So now you can sell your other stuff?" No appreciation for the finer moments in life
 
I sold my marshall tube amp to afford the ax8 in the first place, so it was "all in" from the start.

As an amateur player with only a little band activity, the biggest benefit was being able to play with the same gear at home as with the band. I use monitors at home and a jbl eon610 + foh with the band.

100w of tube power isn't really that family friendly :)
 
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I played a festival a couple of months ago. After our show, a guy in another band said he loved how my guitar sounded in the crowd, but was shocked at how quiet we were on stage (He was able to go back / side stage). He asked if that "felt weird". I said "No. It took a bit of getting used to, having no cabs, but now I feel like I hear everything so much clearer, relying only on the monitors". Something about that over-all, lower stage volume just makes everything easier for me to hear.
 
SRegal said:
Ah...yeah, but you guys figured out what I was talking about, lol.
Thanks for all the feedback!
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- Hahaha! I was the same- thinking- hmm, I have a SansAmp pedal, hows it sound?! Actually I even just put my SansAmp GT1 on my tube rig in front of my '59 Bassman because the British channel on that thing sounds so good! I'm close to going full AX8 live- but have to really get my presets dialed in first. I tried it once and it was a disaster because the venues PA was so lame- but honestly in retrospect it might have just been that I didn't hear the sound coming from behind me- the audience actually complimented my tone and sound that night too- I thought they were just being nice because I was so disappointed- but the truth is maybe I'm usually way too loud with my tube rig!
 
Sturla said:
I sold my marshall tube amp to afford the ax8 in the first place, so it was "all in" from the start.

As an amateur player with only a little band activity, the biggest benefit was being able to play with the same gear at home as with the band. I use monitors at home and a jbl eon610 + foh with the band.

100w of tube power isn't really that family friendly :)
Click to expand...

+1 on the JBL EON 610 and also gig only a few times a year.

Really enjoying the sound... especially when I run both of them in stereo.
 
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