Hooking a pedalboard up to Axe-Fx 3

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Easye921

Member
I just got my Axe fx 3 and love it, but have a quick question that's probably been asked many times. I'm wanting to hook my stereo pedalboard to the axe. I looked at page 31 and still having issues. I know guitar goes in the instrument in spot. My first pedal should go to the input 3L spot, correct. Then my reverb pedal has a L and R output and that's where I'm getting lost. How do I hook these up to get stereo. I know one output of the reverb should go to output 3L, but not sure where the other cable goes.
 
You've got it backwards. The Output 3 Left of the Axe III should go to the input of your first pedal, then the output of your last pedal should go to Input 3 L (and R for stereo) of the Axe III. You'll then need an OUT 3 block on the grid to act as a send and an IN 3 block to act as the return in your preset's chain.

Output --> Input
 
luke said:
To be fair, it’s a pointless endeavor. There is nothing your pedals can do the Axe can’t, I’d avoid the wiring, power needs or complexity.
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Your probably right. I just wanted to know how to do it and mess around with it. I'll prob just leave my pedal board hooked up to my Bassman and Laney Lionheart.
 
TG3K said:
Good point, but none of those are stereo, are they? Couldn't any of those go between the guitar and the Axe-Fx? (Honest question, since I don't use any pedals with my Axe-Fx.)
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Yep, they definitely can. I put mine in loops so I could keep going straight into the Input. The Freqout is in loop 3 and resides in the rack while I engage it with a momentary switch on my pedalboard. The Talk Box just gets a send from Out 4 but doesn’t return, since a mic will be picking up the sound. I tried setting it up so the mic went into the AxeFX but was getting a lot of funky noises when switching between the amp block and the Talk Box chain. It’s surely possible, I just didn’t feel like spending a lot of time on it.

Those are the only pedals I still use, everything else is in a closet. Maybe the AxeFX IV will have a built-in speaker and a spot to stick a tube into! :D And I’m sure if they worked at it, they could get the Freqout built into it as well. I think it was Burg or Mark Day who made a preset that was close to the Freqout, but more meant for getting feedback at the end of notes. I play entire lines with the Freqout, so I needed more than the preset was offering.
 
I own a few outboard effects that the Axe doesn't cover, Gibson EDPs, 856 for Zellersasn, Moog Freqbox, etc., that often find themselves in the 'loops' so to speak. All are mono. Axe Fx makes integrating them super easy and super flexible. For example, all looper post processing is different from the guitar's post processing. I bought the Axe specifically to build this kind of rig and it works perfectly.

So it isn't just non-futile, it's a desired feature. The Axe can't and won't do everything. I am fine with that. It does what it does extremely well.
 
@Easye921
I run a stereo pedalboard into my Axe III 100% of the time and use the Axe III just for amps (which some would call a waste). I'm just not ready to give up pedals, and the FC12 won't do everything my PBC will do, control-wise.

Are you running everything in front of the Axe III's amps, or are you inserting your pedalboard somewhere else? I run everything in front and simply run two inputs from the stereo out's from my board (which lets me plug into the board instead of the Axe). I usually use Input 1 on the front and Input 2L on the back (Input 1 is supposed to have some impedance mojo).
 
When I first got it I just ran straight into the front of the axe. Right now I have it hooked up like mr. Fender recommended. I like it that way because I can put it anywhere in the signal chain I like. In the end, I'll probably just use the axe fx effects. I still have a ton of drives on the axe to try out. This thing is awesome though. First time in a very long time that I haven't had buyers remorse after buying. 😂
 
My signal chain has 4 separate insert points for different pedals:

Mono Input: Guitar > FreqOut > Axe Front In1
Mono Loop: Axe Out3 L > HXFX loop1 > HXFX Loop2 L > A few Fuzz pedals > Axe In3 L
Stereo Loop: Axe Out 4 L+R > HXFX in L+R > HXFX out L+R > Axe In4 L+R

My presets are generally:
In1 > Pitch Block, Compressor Block > Out3
In3 > drives/wah/phaser/etc Amp>Cab > Some time based Axe blocks > Out4
In4 > Some more time based blocks > Out2 (where my studio monitors are connected)

Super flexible setup!
 
boyce89976 said:
@Easye921
I run a stereo pedalboard into my Axe III 100% of the time and use the Axe III just for amps (which some would call a waste). I'm just not ready to give up pedals, and the FC12 won't do everything my PBC will do, control-wise.

Are you running everything in front of the Axe III's amps, or are you inserting your pedalboard somewhere else? I run everything in front and simply run two inputs from the stereo out's from my board (which lets me plug into the board instead of the Axe). I usually use Input 1 on the front and Input 2L on the back (Input 1 is supposed to have some impedance mojo).
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@boyce89976 what does your blocks inside fx edit look like? I am a newbie and want to use my stereo rig into the axe fx 3 as well. Input then amps then cab then outputs?
 
adidaschad14 said:
@boyce89976 what does your blocks inside fx edit look like? I am a newbie and want to use my stereo rig into the axe fx 3 as well. Input then amps then cab then outputs?
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If you run stereo, use input 2L and 2R, from there I go into two amp blocks (one set to left and one set to right, then panned left/right) then into a cab block with 2 or 4 cab IR's (with the 1st and 3rd IR panned left and 2nd and 4th IR panned right) then to output 1.
 
I am a big fan of the electro harmonix KEY9 type pedals. Turning your guitar into a steel drum is a hoot for "jane says"
 
I've always used I/O 3 and 4 for incorporating some pedals, mostly due to this line in the Wiki regarding those two:
"designed for unity gain applications such as 4CM, dual stereo inserts or general purpose"

It doesn't say that for I/O 2 so I've always assumed it was intended for some specific use. Is there any reason NOT to run pedals in that loop? Is there something else that I/O 2 is "supposed" to be for?
 
boyce89976 said:
If you run stereo, use input 2L and 2R, from there I go into two amp blocks (one set to left and one set to right, then panned left/right) then into a cab block with 2 or 4 cab IR's (with the 1st and 3rd IR panned left and 2nd and 4th IR panned right) then to output 1.
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@boyce89976 Awesome thanks. I am also running stereo outputs to the console as well. So I would need 2 outputs correct?
 
astrolux said:
I've always used I/O 3 and 4 for incorporating some pedals, mostly due to this line in the Wiki regarding those two:
"designed for unity gain applications such as 4CM, dual stereo inserts or general purpose"

It doesn't say that for I/O 2 so I've always assumed it was intended for some specific use. Is there any reason NOT to run pedals in that loop? Is there something else that I/O 2 is "supposed" to be for?
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I don’t think it’s that you can’t use 2, but more that many use 1 and 2 individually for stage and FOH mixes, so 3 and 4 are generally available for other uses, such as 4CM.
 
adidaschad14 said:
@boyce89976 Awesome thanks. I am also running stereo outputs to the console as well. So I would need 2 outputs correct?
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Nope, just the one output. Each output is stereo capable. If you have XLR cables, simply plug those into the XLR outputs on Output 1 and you'll be good to go (no need for a DI, you can plug directly into the XLR snake from the XLR outputs on the Axe III).
 
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