How many amps , cabs , and effects are really enough ?

1poorplayer

1poorplayer

Power User
I hear a lot of guys complaining , they can't run 2 or more amps at the same time , and there's only X -amount of amps , blah blah.
To me , a floor unit is meant for a live situation.

A handful of sounds should satisfy most gigging musicians.
Each one containing :

1 amp and cab , a select number of quality effects , and some volume changes.

The VARIETY WAR amongst digital floor modeling pedals is a turnoff to me. Less is more sometimes. I've always loved a good single channel amp. A great sound in minutes , and use your guitar volume to do the rest.

I hope the AX8 has great amp sounds ready , out of the gate , so I don't HAVE to go into endless changes to a thousand variables , like the Line6 units. I get lost after a while. To me , most of these Ultra-realistic mic/cab/speaker/stompbox - changes , are merely EQ changes. Each one , stacked on top of the other. So , if I were to layer 5 or six different EQ curves over each other , where the heck are you , really ?
Tweakability is nice when it's an option , more than a necessity.
Looking forward to hearing it up close.
 
The AX8 will definitely have great amp sounds. However, if you're looking for a unit without a thousand variables, then the AX8 is not the droid you're looking for :D

As far as what should satisfy who, I suggest worrying about what will satisfy you and letting everyone else worry about themselves. Different people want different things, not everyone is looking to use this for gigging, etc...

Personally, I never used more than one amp at a time on my Axe FX2, however, I did have some presets that had multiple amp and cab blocks which allowed me to access four different amps (and their associated cabs) within the same preset via scenes. This was enormously useful, but assuming the AX8 lets one access presets on one row and other functions on the other row (such as scenes and IA's), I'll be able to do essentially the same thing with it with the added bonus of having perfectly integrated unit and floorboard functionality (that will be even better than the the Axe2+MFC setup can provide).
-
Austin
 
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WOOHOO !! ( a little off topic , but I just discovered the IGNORE list feature - on the forum )
.... Everyone has an opinion , as there is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL , with guitar audio. From the FRACTAL description above , sounds like the AX8 and I are going to get along .....just fine !!
Thanks again for the response FAS.
 
FractalAudio said:
Quantum is plug-and-play. Dial up an amp, choose a cab and go. With Quantum all you need to adjust is B/M/T and the gain knobs. You can dive in deeper if you want but I rarely do.
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And this right here, is a big reason why I stayed away from Fractal previously and am now on the waiting list for an AX8.

Well, that, along with the quality of tones, the form factor, and the price. :lol
 
FractalAudio said:
Quantum is plug-and-play. Dial up an amp, choose a cab and go. With Quantum all you need to adjust is B/M/T and the gain knobs. You can dive in deeper if you want but I rarely do.
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Which suits me perfectly since I've been mostly using the same 2 or 3 amps since FW6. HBE for high gain, and then a Fender (usually a twin, but sometimes a vibro or super) for cleans and then dialing to taste with a modest use of pedals. When every setting sounds good, I tend to just play.
 
My experience with the Ultra back in the day: I did gravitate to a few amps and built my patches around them. However, every once it a while I got bored, or had a little extra time, or heard someone else's patch that I liked, so I explored some of the other available amps in the box. It was quite delightful, and I was glad to have them there for such a time as that. I am anxiously looking forward to the AX8 so I can do that again!
 
FractalAudio said:
Quantum is plug-and-play. Dial up an amp, choose a cab and go. With Quantum all you need to adjust is B/M/T and the gain knobs. You can dive in deeper if you want but I rarely do.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^ is good news & just what I'm looking for!

So are the AXE-FX & AX8 amp models kind of set-up as to where they sound there best so to speak.....or are they just optimized to sound like a great version of whatever amp you select?

Thanks, X
 
pauliusmm said:
I always adjust Low cut parameter in the am block to around 120 Hz, otherwise it gets bassy in the mix
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i think this is ENTIRELY dependent on the type of tones you use, the amps and cabs you use, and the way you dial it all in. it's definitely not a go to rule that everyone should do. some tones/amps/cabs it cleans things up, some it's not necessary at all.
 
for me I could live with 10 or 12

Fender clean
Class A Vox ./13
Couple of marshall
Diezel
Recto
Tucana
maybe 2 or 3 others for variety

Cabs again Alnico ,Blue Silver golds ,Jensens for cleans
GB ,Creambacks, of the more vintage Hi gain
V30 or Lynchbacks on the modern Hi gain
 
Quality over quantity any day of the week. I can live with around 10 amps as well. American cleans and leads, British Distortion and I am done.
 
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