Has anyone transitioned from [Fractal -> FRFR] to [Fractal -> power amp > guitar speaker cabinets]?

Sorenspete

Inspired
I know the question of FRFR's vs guitar speaker cabinets has been posed before, but I wanted to hear from people who have made this transition and what it was like - as well as whether you stayed with cabinets or went back to PA/FRFR's.

I've posted about my long-term plans before, which is to run my Axe-Fx III into a power amp and into multiple guitar speaker cabinets - this is something I am technically doing right now but 1x 1x12 is a different ballpark to 2x 4x12's . Being in New Zealand (something else I have also talked about lol) my options are limited, so I figured I'd start with the tried and true Marshall 1960B's.
 
I started a short time ago with FM3 into Katana 1x12 combo - I was just using the power amp in on the Katana. I was disabling the Cabinet IR on the Fractal- I was happy. I did two gigs with this setup, it worked great. I kept reading about FRFR and couldn't resist - So, i bought an EV PXM-12MP FRFR, that sounded great but, couldn't get used to it - something was off? So now Im using a Celestion F12M150 FRFR speaker into traditional guitar cabinet - I think this may be it for me! - I hope- Maybe? its a crazy ride so far. the more I read the worse it could get - ignorance is bliss - beware LOL:)
 
I was using a CLR but now prefer the sound of the Axe into my ToneKing Gremlin 1x12 with kt66 and Alnico cream speaker. Out of the CLR it sounded great, but like a mic’d cab, naturally, and normally I prefer that but the sound of the Alnico Cream is so good and that much more “real” and directional while being in an open back cab, so get some extra room sound too, all adds up to just a way I prefer to hear the guitar these days.
 
I started a short time ago with FM3 into Katana 1x12 combo - I was just using the power amp in on the Katana. I was disabling the Cabinet IR on the Fractal- I was happy. I did two gigs with this setup, it worked great. I kept reading about FRFR and couldn't resist - So, i bought an EV PXM-12MP FRFR, that sounded great but, couldn't get used to it - something was off? So now Im using a Celestion F12M150 FRFR speaker into traditional guitar cabinet - I think this may be it for me! - I hope- Maybe? its a crazy ride so far. the more I read the worse it could get - ignorance is bliss - beware LOL:)

Go back and read old threads from longtime users who settled on their permanent solution that
ended up not being so permanent. It's VERY enlightening to see how that didn't last as long as
even they thought it would. Hmmmm......

I take most people's convictions about gear and what I should use with a grain of salt. Ok, less than
a grain of salt. :) It seems around here that those with the strongest convictions I have never actually
heard play. So they are disqualified almost immediately.

Add it all up and it means, I get to trust myself and my own ears. Who'd have imagined that???

It also means I don't chase the tails wagging on all the excited dogs around here.
 
I’ve only recently been toying with power amps and cabs, so I’m not an expert by any measure. I have an old Atomic 50/50 tube power amp I’m using, which is ridiculously heavy but sounds good and makes decent stereo power. The reason I jumped in to comment is that I am using a Marshall 1960A 4x12 with Greenbacks in it as one of my test cabs. It sounds incredible. I wouldn’t hesitate to use two if I were going that route. What I’ve experienced here is that if I like a cab for regular head/cab playing, I like it with my Axe Fx, too. It makes sense, but you do have to test these things, right?

Considering my gigs, I doubt I’ll ever be able to justify using large cabs again, but it’s loads of fun to experiment. And if that arena gig ever comes through, I’ll be ready! :)

Happy experimenting, @Sorenspete !
 
I think it all depends on if you're talking live playing and having to set this stuff up every night, or at home where you don't have to move it.

The reason I say this is because the absolute best tone I've heard outta this thing at loud levels so far is, using both FRFR and a power amp + cab
at the same time! Best of both worlds! Would I want to set all that up gigging out?.......no! But having both a pair of CLRs in stereo and a Matrix 1000 watter into a 4x12 all at the same time is glorious!! If I want to get loud, that's what I play through. Otherwise, I just go through some A7X's
and call it a day. lol
 
My journey so far is/was Axe 3 into studio monitors for many years with varying degrees of happiness. Recently switched to SS power amp and 2x12 cab. For straight amp tones with minimum effects, it does the job perfectly for me. I recently hooked up a pair of small JBL monitors out of boredom one day to see if I could make a good w/d/w setup. Now that to me is where it’s at for patches that use delay/chorus/reverb, etc. for home use.
 
Oh yeah. I started off with a Friedman ASC-10, then got a Xitone, then a CLR, then a second CLR for a stereo pair. After a couple of years of that, I tried out a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 through one of my cabs and thought it was a significant improvement over FRFR. A few months later I got a Fryette LX-II and that was it. I dialed in all of my presets for the cab and stopped the endless cycle of tweaking. It's been about a year now and I'm still happy with it.
 
It seems around here that those with the strongest convictions I have never actually
heard play. So they are disqualified almost immediately.
Funny, seems that you have some pretty strong convictions yourself, and I don't think I remember having had the pleasure of hearing you play! icon_jumpgrin.gif
 
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For jamming in a room the FRFR setup never sounded right and I tried everything. It was lacking the thump of a real guitar cabinet. Even a solid state amp->real guitar cab didn't cut it.

I ended up going with AF3->LXII->Mesa 2x12 and never looked back.
 
Oh yeah. I started off with a Friedman ASC-10, then got a Xitone, then a CLR, then a second CLR for a stereo pair. After a couple of years of that, I tried out a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 through one of my cabs and thought it was a significant improvement over FRFR. A few months later I got a Fryette LX-II and that was it. I dialed in all of my presets for the cab and stopped the endless cycle of tweaking. It's been about a year now and I'm still happy with it.
Exactly! I'm on the same setup as you and I can now set up my presets quickly and don't have to lose my mind with endless tweaking!

On a side note, for recording or playing at low volume nothing beats studio monitors. I just use the LXII & real guitar cabs for jamming purposes.
 
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Exactly! I'm on the same setup as you and I can now set up my presets quickly and don't have to lose my mind with endless tweaking!

On a side note, for recording or playing at low volume nothing beats studio monitors. I just use the LXII & real guitar cabs for jamming purposes.
Curious about this setup. Which power amp features (if any) are you disabling while running through the LXII? Thanks!
 
I always leave p. amp modelling on with clean hi headroom power amps (ie Matrix in my case but would be the same for LXII imo). Some amp models get a lot of character from the power amp section which will never be brought out with power amp modelling off into those clean hi-hdrm power amps. For hi-gain models, probably does not matter as much given most of their character is often just in the preamp, but
others like class-A would need p.a.m. on. Even into combo or head FX returns at low external volume / gain - p.a. modelling on if the external amp is not tunning hot enough to produce it's own character.
 
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Yes Axefx 3 >matrix power amp>2xVertical mesa 2x12, like it best, I have 2 MK1 CLR,s and 2 redsound MF10 ,but nothing feels and sounds like the amp+ cab setup
 
For what it’s worth… Dave @ Fryette suggested disabling power amp modelling with the LXII. But others feel otherwise…. ymmv
Wondering where you saw that? - surprised as here's Steven Fryette testing Axfx into Lxii when 1st introduced, with power amp modelling on. He mentions the purpose of the vid series (there were 4 afair) is to test modelling companies' typical recommendation that p.a. sims be on with such amps. Though he does not confirm directly by the end of the vid that this is also his own recommendation, he does seem to confirm it in a comments section post (makes sense - Lxii is flatish / will not produce heavy p.a. character, so amp models with heavy p.a. character will not properly reproduce thru an LXii (or similar) with amp modelling turned off.)
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In all his Lxii demo vids he's playing full amp models with speaker modelling off only as he's using a real cab. He talks a lot about how Fryette amps have very minimal color (even less on Lxii in flat mode) to preserve the input content (power amp models' coloration). He discussed the primary benefit of Lxii is to put back some playing dynamics taken away when using a solid state p.a., - no mention of trying to substitute an amp model's power amp tonal character with Lxii power amp tonal character.
 
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It was an email from Dave @ Fryette when I asked him about power amp modelling with LXII and AF3. He replied with: “PA modelling off.”
well if Dave says it, it must be correct - who am i to argue with Dave 🤣
 
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