Is the Axe-Fx good for bass?

I bought a bass a little while back, I know nothing about basses, bass amps, setups, etc. Do you guys recommend using something different for a good bass tone or will the Axe get me what I want like with a normal guitar?
 
Well... If you nothing about bass, yes :)

Lots of happy use with bass here BUT there are definitely bassists here who will point out the weak areas.

@SeeD, @selta, @jimfist can provide input...

My bassist has been using his for at least a year. Sounds great - no idea what his presets actually look like, though. Uses it with fretted, fretless, electric upright and Chapman Stick.

I actually created a preset on mine for him to play with before he decided to purchase. It worked well for me... But my needs are mostly for occasional recording.
 
I think the Axe Fx II is good for bass sounds. You just need to get a good preset working for ,your bass
 
Yes. We've now got a decent variety of amp models (could always use more, but it's a huge improvement of only having the SVT model for years). The only thing you need is a good IR and a good way to monitor them.

For IRs, Ownhammer has some great ones (as always), and Dr. Bonkers has quite a few different cabs that don't get sampled often but sound great for bass, plus his prices are super cheap! I also have some from 3sigmaaudio that sound really good (and are also cheap).

Monitoring is another issue. I have two Xitone wedges that sound fantastic for guitar, but lack the headroom and punch for bass. I've been talking with Mick about ordering a bass-specific wedge from him, but I need to save up some cash first. :( Currently I'm using a Carvin 15" PA monitor for bass and it works OK, but is a little a bottom heavy and the midrange is a little harsh, but it will suffice for now. Before I got the Xitone guitar wedges I was also using Carvin 1x12 PA speakers with the same sonic shortcomings, so I'm sure upgrading to a Xitone bass cab will be an equal step forwards for the tone.
 
I'm just coming back to Axe-FX and been away since around Quantum 1. I had a bass player come over to do some recording last weekend, and wasn't even going to try the Axe-FX II because the results I was getting back in the old days weren't bad, but I immediately notices more punch and clarity when I went back to using a direct box into my mic preamp. At the time it just seemed to work better.

Flash forward to this past weekend: I didn't think about the Axe-FX until I was waiting for him to drop by, so I just went to the Axe-Change and downloaded a few presets, including one labeled Billy Sheehan rig, and a few that were supposed to be Dark Glass bass presets modeled after Periphery bass tones, I think. The Sheehan rig didn't grab me, but the first Dark Glass preset sounded pretty good, so I fired that up when my buddy got there, and he had a huge grin. Said it was much better than anything I had dialed in previously when he came to record. He didn't have his good bass with the active electronics, so I let him give my Schecter a try and he made some small adjustments to the BMT and pickup blend knob to dial in the bass tone he wanted, and we were off. Didn't have to touch the preset at all in the Axe-FX, and it was a great sound we could both live with.

So, to summarize, yes, I think the bass tones are in there. I didn't see a lot of presets on the Axe-Change, but that one did the trick for us quite nicely.
 
Yes - but be willing to experiment w/ amps and cabs. I have been very pleased with setting up patches that include a bass amp model into an IR of a bass cab along with second guitar amp (usually JTM45) model into a 4x12 IR. Being able to blend in the guitar amp model for some bite has really helped me make my bass heard without resorting to increasing the volume.
 
Thanks so much guys! I'm going to have to do some studying on bass but I appreciate the feedback. I'll tinker around and check some stuff out. I really really appreciate it!
 
I'm not a power user, and bass is not my primary instrument. I have a cheaper Fender MIM Jazz bass. It's taken me a lot of work to dial in a decent bass sound. My biggest challenge has been that a preset that consists of just amp + cab alone doesn't seem to sound good on its own. Most presets that I've found on this forum or elsewhere that make my bass sound good involve more complex routing (ex. two amps, multi-band compressors, handling the upper & lower frequencies differently, etc). Conversely, all of my basic guitars sound fairly good with a simple amp + cab combination. While this isn't wrong, it makes it more technically challenging, and as such causes me to be less excited to play overall.

Perhaps my cheap bass or its pickups are the problem. I don't have the real amps or cabs near me to compare. The Axe FX II is a fantastic product, and I don't want to knock the exceptional ability to route and tweak that it offers. Just sharing my experience with bass specifically.
 
I'm not a power user, and bass is not my primary instrument. I have a cheaper Fender MIM Jazz bass. It's taken me a lot of work to dial in a decent bass sound. My biggest challenge has been that a preset that consists of just amp + cab alone doesn't seem to sound good on its own. Most presets that I've found on this forum or elsewhere that make my bass sound good involve more complex routing (ex. two amps, multi-band compressors, handling the upper & lower frequencies differently, etc). Conversely, all of my basic guitars sound fairly good with a simple amp + cab combination. While this isn't wrong, it makes it more technically challenging, and as such causes me to be less excited to play overall.

Perhaps my cheap bass or its pickups are the problem. I don't have the real amps or cabs near me to compare. The Axe FX II is a fantastic product, and I don't want to knock the exceptional ability to route and tweak that it offers. Just sharing my experience with bass specifically.
Amp, Cab, Compressor... That should do fine.
 
I've had great luck with dialing in an awesome bass tone! I have a variety of patches thus far for different types of bass but recently using Nolly's Darkglass patches for a project. I have a few different bass guitars and able to get them sounding pretty on point for me. However if playing live, I would recommend running through an actual bass cab. Studio only - the Axe FX has filled all my needs.
 
Hi folks, first post here... i think. I'm a guitarist who plays bass for recording and I've had a pig of a time getting decent bass tones. The patches i've had success with have been complex jobs with both a bass amp and a high gain guitar amp blended for bite on one channel and DI on the other and also involving a multiband compressor. I'm using a pair of Rokit 8s and i don't think that helps but they do ok. The biggest improvement for me seemed to be FW9.3 and ML sound labs bass player cab pack. Pretty happy with it now.
 
There have been many many topic about bass wishes. So if you use search you can read all day.
Yes it works but bass doesn't get much attention. At least not nearly enough as the guitar side. I am not a big fan of the bass amps and cabs in the Axe. They are too muddy for me and geared more towards the rock player. But I like the Tube Pre and Fas bass amps.
I prefer it without cab block.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DLM
Cool UnixGuy,
It must be the way I'm creating my presets. I just cannot get the same 'OMG' that I get with guitar patches... _They_ sound like the real deal to me, however I've not yet been able to get a bass patch that sounds like a 'real' good bass amp (to me).
Care to share patches? I always love to learn from them.
Thanks
Pauly

I'm sure that's down to taste and needs... It most definitely does for me. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom