Is there a way to try a III out in person? If not, I have an idea

Toopy14 said:
Commission. Once the person decides they want one, GC would place the order and have it shipped to that store on behalf of the customer. Same model as a car dealership.
Click to expand...
And you know Guitar Center was started by a car salesman, right? True story...
 
I also had an idea, long time ago...

I read an interview to an inventor named Cliff Chase where he talked about his first design of a device named Axe-FX (he also mentioned his wish to build a device to read the minds of the cats)

I could only find one user review (I think it was in that old forum called Huge Racks Inc) but it sounded too good to be true.
At that time there was absolutely no more info, recordings or reviews, an FAS was a totally unknown brand, so I imagined that the review could have been written by a friend of the manufacturer...

But I wanted to believe it. So I created a forum named "Fractal Audio Axe FX Forum" (now defunct) to call the attention of other users and know their opinions.
After few weeks of interacting with real users, I was confident enough and I trusted an user from the forum to send me the Axe-FX from the US to Spain (I believe mine was the first Axe-FX in Europe. G66 was not yet born).

So, I made a double leap of faith there. First, for sending money to an unknown person to buy the Axe-FX for me, and second, for buying an expensive device without testing it (with no warranty and with no chance to return it).

Now you have hundreds of reviews, youtube videos, famous players using it, and the product has developed through several advanced versions. And you are in the US, so there is a return policy. Come on! Do you really want to believe that it is as good as they say? What are you waiting for?
 
Last edited:
lqdsnddist said:
It’s where the soundman at the venue gets pissed when you tell him you’ll plug straight into the board and he says “no, we AlWAYS stick this Sm57 in front of the speaker of the amp” and you say you don’t use an amp, and his mind is blown lol
Click to expand...

Ah, that old chestnut. In the “Ultra” days, a soundman’s assistant at a local bar looked puzzlingly at my rig for a minute, and then placed an SM57 in front of the screen. I don’t know what he was thinking- I still had the sticker on it, so no sound could come out anyway. Later on, another local “sound guy” flipped his lid and wouldn’t let me plug in my Axe Fx, insisting it would “blow up” his board. He didn’t know the difference between line level and a speaker cab output, and he didn’t think I did either (apparently a previous guitar player had plugged his amp’s speaker output into the board’s line input.) Anyway, I pulled a page from the old “assistant’s handbook” and put a dummy SM57 in front of the screen. Those were the days...
 
Wait. You already have an excellent unit. The III is obviously better in terms of tone, but it is not a night and day difference. From what hear you already see that this is the way to go.

The 15 day trial is the way to go about a serious demo. Your gear, plenty of days to decide where to find the money to buy it...no way you can make a decision sitting in guitar center next to rookie guitarist on a Fender champ and a dirt pedal murdering Pantera licks.
 
Sell your AxeII on Reverb, even if you price it to sell quickly you'll clear $1600 after shipping and selling fees. That leaves you needing less than $1,000 on the upgrade.
 
Direct to consumer is the new thing. Get used to it. Why lower margin to remain competitive just so a number of middle men can add in their share? Direct to consumer eliminates sales reps and slow paying dealers who need 40% markup. (Guitar Center’s payment history to their vendors is notoriously infamous). It’s happening in virtually every hobbyist / enthusiast industry.
 
Hey, no-bad ideas, etc.. might just could be that the next idea could make Fractal a Trillion.5 in loose change, and earn the punter of said idea a free FX lll ..or at-least a coupon for ten bucks off and a free T-Shirt.. ... :rolleyes: ..I said might!!!

I guess, like has been said, it really does come down to who’s in the market for what. If you have a ll, and that makes you happy, then a person could logically assume that a lll will make them that much happier.

Then it’s all down to that cash to happiness ratio.

..I’d get a lll, but it’s not quite what I’m looking for in form factor - today anyway, so wouldn’t head to the store to even try one out. Because I already know what it is. Great. ..and I know how it sounds. More Spectacular. ..but it’s not what I want right now.

Having said that though, the Wife just signed off on my next acquisition...a brand new AX9!!!! ;) .. (just putting that out there)... ... ..Not sure I’d travel to try one out though, ...cause I already know what it would be. Great! ..And I also know how it would sound. More Spectacular!

Just another good-thing about these Fractal-thingies ...Just no need to travel anywhere to logically assume these things.
 
maxdown said:
Perhaps in the spirit of ye olde days, groups of Fractal owners in well populated areas could have a fairly regular but low key get togethers with their rigs and interested parties could come along and try things and chat (and leave a six pack of beer behind in appreciation). Organise it via the Fractal Users FB page or such to get an idea of potential numbers who would be interested.

If you're a country bumkin like me then you'd just have to be prepared to travel or stay at home and stick with the banjo.
Click to expand...
I ran one of these in the Seattle area for >2 years. Gave up on it after last year's last event -- it's just a ton of time and effort to put together, and I have become pretty jaded to the treatment of bass player's in FAS gear. I was getting 20-30 people through each time, which, for only having done a small handful of the events was not terrible (fwiw, I run an annual bass player convention that brings in players from all over the US and western Canada, so I've been through this before and know a decent amount of setting these things up :) ).

I think the 15 day return policy is good enough really. No one's going to master an Axe-Fx, AX8, or FX8 in that time, but, they should be able to make a well-informed decision.
 
I hear you

I was really just thinking a couple or three local owners sitting in someone's home basement every so often with minimum hassle factor rather than the whole nine yards type of event ....but yes, the15 day return is the biz in reality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom