SOAWM
Inspired
Dear Fractal Users,
Recently I've won a talent contest with the grand price of 2000€ to buy musical equipment and I'm currently considering to buy an Axe FX 2 or a second hand Ultra.
Lets give a brief overview of my situation:
I play in a thrash metal band where I use a tube halfstack (Peavey 6505, Laboga 412 V30), some stompboxes and a Rocktron Replifex rack. I'm very pleased with the sounds I'm getting and I don't feel like going digital for this band. Next to this band I'm also starting a postrock band with friends and we'll soon start writing and hopefully rehearsing. I contributed to the talent contest with the purpose of hopefully winning and being able to expand my pedalboard for this kind of music (which makes uses of a lot of reverb and delays).
My initial plan was to buy a Strymon Timeline and an Eventide Space, which would give me endless possibilities for creating soundscapes. The only problem is that I haven't bought an amp for the postrock band yet, since we don't have a rehearsal space and I live in a small apartment. So basically I'm not able to store something like a Twin Reverb in my room, because it's too damn big and couldn't use it at home because it would be WAY too loud for our neighbors...
I've been tied to playing with POD's (with headphones) at home for years, but I'm getting tired of the sounds I'm getting. If I'd use the money for buying 2k worth of stompboxes, I wold probably get better results and I would be able to store patches that are song-specific. I've been gassing for a Strymon Timeline since it's initial release, but yesterday someone askes me: why don't get an Axe-Fx and forget about the pedals?
So I'm asking you, is it worth it to use all my price money for an Axe FX?
PRO's:
CON's / QUESTIONS:
So to end this wall of text: would the Axe FX be a wise decision in my situation or would I be better of with filling up my pedalboard and buying an old Fender along the way and keep the POD X3 for home and recording use? If I'd buy an Axe FX, which version should I buy? If I'd want to buy the second version, I would have to pay an extra 300 on top of my price money, while 2000€ could be enough to buy a used ULTRA and a MCF-101 controller. Small side-note: I don't have an interface, because I use the POD X3 directly for recording.
Sorry for the all the questions, but with large purchases I always want to make sure I make the right decision.
Cheers!
Recently I've won a talent contest with the grand price of 2000€ to buy musical equipment and I'm currently considering to buy an Axe FX 2 or a second hand Ultra.
Lets give a brief overview of my situation:
I play in a thrash metal band where I use a tube halfstack (Peavey 6505, Laboga 412 V30), some stompboxes and a Rocktron Replifex rack. I'm very pleased with the sounds I'm getting and I don't feel like going digital for this band. Next to this band I'm also starting a postrock band with friends and we'll soon start writing and hopefully rehearsing. I contributed to the talent contest with the purpose of hopefully winning and being able to expand my pedalboard for this kind of music (which makes uses of a lot of reverb and delays).
My initial plan was to buy a Strymon Timeline and an Eventide Space, which would give me endless possibilities for creating soundscapes. The only problem is that I haven't bought an amp for the postrock band yet, since we don't have a rehearsal space and I live in a small apartment. So basically I'm not able to store something like a Twin Reverb in my room, because it's too damn big and couldn't use it at home because it would be WAY too loud for our neighbors...
I've been tied to playing with POD's (with headphones) at home for years, but I'm getting tired of the sounds I'm getting. If I'd use the money for buying 2k worth of stompboxes, I wold probably get better results and I would be able to store patches that are song-specific. I've been gassing for a Strymon Timeline since it's initial release, but yesterday someone askes me: why don't get an Axe-Fx and forget about the pedals?
So I'm asking you, is it worth it to use all my price money for an Axe FX?
PRO's:
- A purchase which I will use 90% of the time. I only rehearse once a week with my band and only gig occasionally, so I'd mostly play and record at home.
- A vast array of sounds, which will be better than my POD X3
- I can write for the postrock band at home and use the AF for rehearsals and gigs, so I don't have to buy an old Fender Tube amp, which would only be used once a week.
- The Postrock band has chosen me for all the tech-stuff, so I'd have to make sure all the VST's for piano and strings are working live with our midi-keyboard. Since I'd always have to lug around my Macbook pro, I'd also be able to automate all my effect changes with midi (if we play with a click).
- Being able to do decent home-recordings.
CON's / QUESTIONS:
- How easy is it to change a couple of parameters when playing live or rehearsing? Different locations often require different settings for optimal sound. Since my Macbook would be integrated in my setup, would Axe-Edit be the way to go?
- I'm a little scared of having to adjust everything through menu's, I prefer having easy stompboxes in front of me. My Rocktron rack never gets adjusted during rehearsals, because it take to much time. Since it's always in our rehearsal room, I'm not really familiar with the menus. So with the Axe it should be less of a problem, because I'd take that home.
- I know the AF does modern metal well, because it's like the number one device for djenters. I mostly play thrash and death metal in the veins of: old Slayer, Morgoth, Autopsy, Kreator, Morbid Saint, Demolition Hammer,... Is the AX also capable of producing such old school sounds, without the polished digital sheen over it?
- At home I play a lot of different styles going from Blues, to Sludge, to Stoner/doom, to 70's Psychedelic,... How are those sounds represented.
- For postrock, I like to play with delay-parameters to get weird sounds wile playing. I guess for doing so, I need a good footcontroller and expression pedal? I do need stellar cleans and effects for the band.
So to end this wall of text: would the Axe FX be a wise decision in my situation or would I be better of with filling up my pedalboard and buying an old Fender along the way and keep the POD X3 for home and recording use? If I'd buy an Axe FX, which version should I buy? If I'd want to buy the second version, I would have to pay an extra 300 on top of my price money, while 2000€ could be enough to buy a used ULTRA and a MCF-101 controller. Small side-note: I don't have an interface, because I use the POD X3 directly for recording.
Sorry for the all the questions, but with large purchases I always want to make sure I make the right decision.
Cheers!