Just got my Axe FX II XL+ and it ain't good

I had this exact same problem when I was on tour in the UK a few years ago. I've been using the rear input ever since which is a little awkward live. Front input still doesn't work, lol.
 
Good to see you got it all sorted. Very cool to post the video for others that may have a similar issue.

Last but not least, if you rip off that plastic screen saver you will be amazed at the tonal improvements!!!!! :)
 
K2347 said:
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Congrats on your repair! It's always nice when it's not something too complicated. I did get super nervous when I saw those needle-nose pliers, though. I've used those before for that purpose (on a guitar actually). I quickly learned that the proper tool is always worth another trip to the garage. I didn't mess up my guitar (thankfully), but the nut had a big ugly scratch across it after that.

Also, despite the plastic nuts, I think those are very good jacks. The plastic nut is every bit as strong as a metal one (especially when compared to some of those really cheap jacks). They also kinda' have an integrated washer and aren't likely to scratch the front plate of the unit.
 
Rane said:
Also, despite the plastic nuts, I think those are very good jacks. The plastic nut is every bit as strong as a metal one (especially when compared to some of those really cheap jacks). They also kinda' have an integrated washer and aren't likely to scratch the front plate of the unit.
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We use Neutrik connectors. They and Switchcraft are the best IMO.
 
Rane said:
Congrats on your repair! It's always nice when it's not something too complicated. I did get super nervous when I saw those needle-nose pliers, though. I've used those before for that purpose (on a guitar actually). I quickly learned that the proper tool is always worth another trip to the garage. I didn't mess up my guitar (thankfully), but the nut had a big ugly scratch across it after that.

Also, despite the plastic nuts, I think those are very good jacks. The plastic nut is every bit as strong as a metal one (especially when compared to some of those really cheap jacks). They also kinda' have an integrated washer and aren't likely to scratch the front plate of the unit.
Click to expand...
The nuts do not even have to be there.The philips screw in the middle of the input board is whats keeps it in place.The fake plastic nuts are exactly what they are.......fake.Now somebody buy me a beer!!!
 
K2347 said:
The nuts do not even have to be there.The philips screw in the middle of the input board is whats keeps it in place.The fake plastic nuts are exactly what they are.......fake.
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The nuts are real, and you want them to stay there. The nuts transfer stress on the jack (jacks get stressed when there are cords dangling from them) to the chassis. Without them, the stress gets transferred to the circuit board, which is not a good thing. :)
 
Disclaimer: I am a new Fractal owner - less than 30 days.

Two things I did to kill the noise:

1. Captain Obvious here: Insert a gate at the beginning of the effects block chain. I know the gate/input block has one, but any extraneous noise is immediately killed when I insert one at the front of the chain. If it is 60-cycle hum, you're still gonna get some once you break the threshold on the gate, but you won't hear it at idle.

2. Bought a Radial Engineering Big Shot ABY pedal (used for $60) and put it between the Fractal and the amplifier input (effects loop RETURN, in my case). The Radial ABY pedal has three slider switches for isolation transformer, ground lift and polarity 180. It knocks the 60-cycle to almost imperceptible. Best feature? The older Radial ABY (black/red/white) does not require power. No battery, no wall wart. They make a few different models, the Big Shot is older; also several other Radial pedals bear the "Big Shot" moniker, make sure you are getting the ABY pedal - the others look almost identical. Newer models (blue/black/white) are the "Bones Twin City" and "Shotgun." The newer ones will work without power, but they've added LEDs to indicate when it is on and the pedal mode.

The "Shotgun" is made for stereo rigs, but I have great success with the Big Shot in my stereo 2x tube amp rig. I run the Fractal into the ABY, flip the iso xformer and ground lift switches and then out of the ABY to the effects loop RETURN of one amp. The other Fractal output goes straight to the other tube amp's effects loop RETURN. Despite using 25-year old tube amps, the idle noise is very quiet, even at bedroom volumes. If the sound is kind of weak/wonky out of one amp, flip the POL 180 switch on the ABY and it should sound much better.

GC and eBay have lots of these available used and prices on new ones at a Radial dealer are reasonable. The cheapest used one I have seen is $50, but you have to pay shipping. If you have a a Radial dealer in your town, the most expensive one (Shotgun) is only $169. I cannot overstate how effective the Radial pedal was at taming the 60-cycle beast. It's money well-spent.

Hope this helps any other effects users out there. After reading down the posts, I see your situation is a bit different.
 
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Guitarus Rex said:
Disclaimer: I am a new Fractal owner - less than 30 days.

Two things I did to kill the noise:

1. Captain Obvious here: Insert a gate at the beginning of the effects block chain. I know the gate/input block has one, but any extraneous noise is immediately killed when I insert one at the front of the chain. If it is 60-cycle hum, you're still gonna get some once you break the threshold on the gate, but you won't hear it at idle.

2. Bought a Radial Engineering Big Shot ABY pedal (used for $60) and put it between the Fractal and the amplifier input (effects loop RETURN, in my case). The Radial ABY pedal has three slider switches for isolation transformer, ground lift and polarity 180. It knocks the 60-cycle to almost imperceptible. Best feature? The older Radial ABY (black/red/white) does not require power. No battery, no wall wart. They make a few different models, the Big Shot is older; also several other Radial pedals bear the "Big Shot" moniker, make sure you are getting the ABY pedal - the others look almost identical. Newer models (blue/black/white) are the "Bones Twin City" and "Shotgun." The newer ones will work without power, but they've added LEDs to indicate when it is on and the pedal mode.

The "Shotgun" is made for stereo rigs, but I have great success with the Big Shot in my stereo 2x tube amp rig. I run the Fractal into the ABY, flip the iso xformer and ground lift switches and then out of the ABY to the effects loop RETURN of one amp. The other Fractal output goes straight to the other tube amp's effects loop RETURN. Despite using 25-year old tube amps, the idle noise is very quiet, even at bedroom volumes. If the sound is kind of weak/wonky out of one amp, flip the POL 180 switch on the ABY and it should sound much better.

GC and eBay have lots of these available used and prices on new ones at a Radial dealer are reasonable. The cheapest used one I have seen is $50, but you have to pay shipping. If you have a a Radial dealer in your town, the most expensive one (Shotgun) is only $169. I cannot overstate how effective the Radial pedal was at taming the 60-cycle beast. It's money well-spent.

Hope this helps any other effects users out there. After reading down the posts, I see your situation is a bit different.
Click to expand...
I use the Big Shot ABY. Yes, those three slider switches take care of just about every potential issue when running two amps. The isolation transformer isn’t 100% transparent, but it’s plenty close enough for my purposes.
 
Tdavito said:
I am wanting to use an ISP Theta preamp with an FX8,
and use the relay 1 & 2 with the external control jacks on the Theta to
control jack 1: switches gain A or B.
control jack 2: turns on, off preamp 1, and preamp 2(distortion)

I tried using some different settings for Relay 1 and 2...
but as this point,
I set the ground to tip on both Relay 1 and Relay 2.
I am using a stereo TRS Y cable to two mono TS cables,
the TRS cable is connected to control jack 2 on the Theta, and
the two mono cables go to Relay 1 and Relay 2 on the FX8.

I read somewhere where it was possible to
have full function of the external control on the Theta
using both Relay jacks on the FX8.

I think control jack 1 would require a TS cord.
and control jack 2 requires a TRS cord.

since you had a Theta preamp, I was wondering if you ever hooked it up with
a fractal unit in a way similar to what I am describing?
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I think you would get better response of you post your FX8 question in the FX8 section of the forum. :)
 
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