Had them all, but only one matters

shawnb

Inspired
I've had my Axe FX 3 now for about 8 weeks. I've played guitar since '89 off and on but always through either a Crate GFX-65 amp or through a Boss GT-3/GT-10 into crappy headphones. Never live, tho. Haven't played with people. I just goof off.

I wanted to make decent recordings so over the years, I've bought:

Boss GT-3
Boss GT-10
Amplitube 3/4 FULLY MAXED
Bias Studio (AMP 2 Elite, FX Pro, FX 2 Elite, Celestion IRs, Etc.)
TH3 FULL, THU FULL
Waves VSTs (Platinum bundle, Diamond bundle, various others)
Helix Native
Presonus Studio One 3/4 Pro
Axe-FX III + ATH-M50x headphones (just wow)
Pro Rack DecimatorG noise gate

Guitar Rig must be the only major player I didn't use. I didn't like the Boss's so I barely ever used them. Too digital sounding.

I always went to the Bias FX until I got the Axe-FX. My ears aren't perfect and I've likely trained them to prefer digital amp sims but the AFX sounds the least artificial, more real to me and it's forcing me to learn what good sound is.

I don't fiddle around, there's really only a few sounds I want if I'm not trying to imitate my favorite artist. Some sort of early 90's metal sound, really nice cleans with sometimes a subtle delay, and a nice bluesy crunch. I've got the closest to my preferred sounds on the AF3 than the others.

We play our best when we get sounds that inspire us and I've had more inspiration from the sounds of the AF3 than any other gear/modeler so far.

Next, I'll have to pick up an expression pedal and FC-12.

I will note, tho... I liked the sound from Firmware 3.x much better than the new 5.x but either way, it's become my favorite unit and bonus points I don't have to run it through my laptop anymore.

The other sims make it too easy to load up a preset to sound like our favorite artist and I think I got too much into the pursuit of sounding like an album. The AF3 forces me to instead chase my own sound and simply have fun playing and who cares if I don't sound like someone else's recorded sound.

I still go back to Bias once in a while but AF3 is thus far the best gear investment I've made. It makes me want to play daily and improve, feel good recording, and sound the best version of me I've ever known. I was nervous at first because all the demo's I see the players are excellent to begin with and I'm such a profoundly average player with little knowledge how to tweak sounds but actually, the AF3 is the easiest to sound good straight from the box.
 
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