Just in time for Christmas - a newbies progress from AC30 + huge pedalboard, to FX2

[Hugomack]

I can't remember when I ordered my Axe, but it never arrived.

Instead it evolved over enormous amounts of geological time from the Ultra to the FX2, which arrived with an MFC 101 on my doorstep a week after Sussi at G66 emailed me the glad tidings. I'd already bought a Matrix GT800 power amp, having decided to go the light-weight rack route to salvation, which was doing sterling work powering my studio monitors.

I decided to use EVM12L speakers - liking the flat curves on TT Cabs website. So having read good things about them I ordered two of their Rex M5 1x12 cabs. I knew who the sensible people were from the Forum (everyone - especially Yek and his blog), so I ordered humbuster cables, downloaded Axe Edit and started playing with patches, expression pedals and the two manuals. Some things were easy, others stupidly nightmarishly complicated until suddenly the penny dropped and it seemed obvious. Whole days passed like this, my Les Paul horribly heavy, and my head full of different sounds. Strange how your left hand fingers get tired hammering around the same old riffs in different patches. Finally I'd auditioned them all, and had a list of about fifty I really liked. Far too much. Help!!

So then I took the amps I liked: AC15 and Top Boost as I have a wild old AC30 which is great when deafening, and Plexi Treble. I organized the wah to work on all patches, and the rotary to mix in using my second Exp. So far I'm panicking a bit about needing to make choices, but all is well.

I then audition with a band. Decide to take the Axe - why not? I have the Axe and Matrix in a smart new 4u SKB, power cables shortened going into one power breaker plug board inside the SKB.

I take a small homemade pa wedge to the gig (1 x12inch speaker and a cheap horn), and after doing embarrassing stuff like plug my guitar into the headphone socket, achieve sound..... and the tiny wedge sounds like my Marshall 4x12!! The various effects I strung together into my various patches work fine. I stuck with the Plexi Treble. I get the gig Then calamity.

Back at home the Axe won't boot up - the lights just flicker. It's the weekend. I post some cries for help on the Axe Forum. Cliff himself responds saying he thinks it's the power supply. Feeling a bit like Moses on the mount, I'm impressed, but then annoyed as I still don't know what that means in terms of getting it fixed. Do I have to send it back to G66 - or to Cliff in the USA? I ask, but Cliff is busy with other things (like having a well-deserved relaxing weekend) and I'm going mental..... I email G66 with the same and go to bed.

Next morning, panicking back into consciousness, there's an email from G66 saying they're looking to it, then another saying it's the power supply, then third saying we've put one in the post for you, expect it in three days. Nothing from Axe Help, so forgetting about the 8 hours behind time zone thing, I post saying I'm very glad I live in Europe and have G66 to rely on. I get a reply from Cliff reminding me of the time zone thing, and a couple of comments from others about how impeccable Axe customer service is and how I"d never get any response at all from Zoom, Boss etc. (I bite my lip and don't reply that I've never had anything go wrong from them especially brand new - and I haven't....) I then receive an email from Marty in Axe service wanting to know where I bought my Axe. I tell him all is well, apologise to anyone who feels I might be criticising Cliff (but why didn't he also tell me it's a piece of cake to change power supplies - the man's a saint so doesn't realise how bad it is for a die-hard valve and hernia man to change to a dsp - let alone have it break and everyone telling him "I told you so, it's heresy, why with your beautiful old AC30 you'd just switch the valves around a bit or twiddle the pedal board jacks..."

and so..... three days later the power supply unit arrives, I open the casing.

There's nothing in it!!!!

At least that's how it looks compared to what I'd been expecting (a 1963 AC30 chassis is a busy little place). I fit it and all is well.

Next I get word from TT Cabs that my Rex 5's are on the way two weeks early. I've now made up two new heavy duty 4mm jack to Speakon speaker cables for them.

They arrive......

but one is dead as a doornail. Another surge of panic. Maybe they were right. This is heresy. At least I haven't sold the valve amps or pedals. I switch around cables, then remove the back. A broken solder. Solder it up..... still nothing. Switch around backs and wire sets. The speaker is OK. Speakon socket broken. I've never even taken the backs off any of my other cabs. Never had anything go wrong....

Dirk at TT Cabs asks for a pic, but agrees with me that the wire set is faulty and sends another. A nice guy. Really helpful. Knows all about cabs and speakers. The wire set arrived today. I fitted it, then at last, ten minutes ago, I played the rig and it rocks!! Needs a bit more top end - but I can't let it rip in the house 'cos of neighbours, but it all sounded good at the gig through the homemade monitor....

SO a long but interesting road, having learned a lot about how guitar fx work, read a lot from all you amazingly clever and musical people, and it works!!

I still can't get over how something so light can sound so good. I'd always thought rock gear had to give you a hernia if it was going to do its job properly. Not so any more! Haven't heard it through a big pa yet, but I know from the studio monitors that it will be good.

So now I'm worrying about how to sort out the banks. I think I'm going to organise a couple of banks of amps I like and pedal boards to go with them for general playing and covers. Then once I get back to my own music, programme patches for the special sounds I've got in my head or in Logic.

I'm going to use the FX2 as an outboard effect - recording clean and not finalising the guitar sounds until the final mix. Saves a lot of computer processor power. I also love the ease with which the Axe hooks up by USB and becomes the input method for everything when I'm not actually recording multitrack.

BUt I bought it for live work, so all this is extra. And live it's a piece of cake. Clean even when overdriven and dirty. None of those inexplicable problems with level when using lots of fuzz, or bass players moaning about sudden uncontrolled burst of feedback or too loud..... and talking of bass.... by plugging in an extension cab into each of the TT Cabs, and using a clean amp - or the good old Bassman, I get a strong bass sound for gigging. I'd love someone to do a Gallien Kruger or other bass amp patch please.... Or may I'll get round to working out how to do that. Pay some of you guys back for all the wonderful advice and wisdom I've soaked up over all these months.

Is there anyone reading this and teetering on the brink of ordering.....? Yes....? Just do it man. This rig will keep me going when others are too old and knackered to carry theirs. Oh and I forgot to tell you about how it sounds using the slide with the Danelectro... compression, a clean amp, then adding a bit of dirt.... it's all so easy to set up. Ennuf.

 

[Hugomack]

I totally forgot my successful labeling of the MFC....

Having decided that stomp labels ought to be visible in darkness, I ordered custom from pedalboardlabels.com - Kick-ass labels for Kick-ass midi controllers!!. Sukh "Mr Labels Man" was so flexible in the 'custom' aspect of this that I was able to use my own font (Impact Bold which I think is clearer...) at no extra cost. He also sent me some prototype backgrounds to try out. I like his real stomp pedal designs, but am still messing around with the idea of actual pics of my old pedals - see below. This may be my next move...

I'm still trying to work out how to organise the banks and patches... Yek's patches are really interesting with some great sounds. I've modified them to use a second Expression pedal for expressing (ie not as a volume control). I also added a latching pedal to switch between A&B amps, retaining the standard conformation of the MFC. I'm still unsure about whether to use cab emulations with my EVM cabinets. I do use the EVM cabs in the patches - which may be 'doubling up' and muddying the sound - or making it less sharp. I'm still not sure yet. Advice gratefully received.

This is turning into a monologue, probably of naive nonsense as far as all you experts are concerned....

But I'm only a player, struggling to get a grip of all this very new stuff.

What might be useful to others like me is the thought that the individual effects on the factory patches seem to be very use-able as they are, and I'm finding I can tweak them as I would the real thing without getting into too much trouble. (You can always re-load the patch if it all goes wrong....) Unlike for example, the practical problems I had with noise, feedback etc when using a fuzz box to do Yardbirdswith my AC30. In fact, I'm coming over to the idea of just using different amps to get the various levels of fuzz and overdrive, and using a second overdrive stomp in the patch as a lead sound.

 

[NeoSound]

Great story and glad things smoothed out so you can enjoy playing Nothing can be more frustrating than getting something new that don't work, it's happened to me several times thru the years with electronics. never an issue with Fractal products though. Merry Christmas BTW!!

 

[paulmapp8306]

Glad things came together. Problems always seem to arise with new things - and when shipped. Not always but more often than other situations.

 

[shotgunn]

What a crazy ride you've been on. I'm glad everything is all sorted out now. I would have freaked out!!! I hate when stuff doesn't go MY way!!!


I'm a high gain djent djent meedley meedely meedely type player...

Sent from my iPod.

 

[yek]

Ha ha, great story, Hugo.
Time for a get-to-together in the new year.

 

[Phostenix]

But, through all of that, you didn't detail the info I really wanted. Most Vox guys are adament that there's never been a digital recreation of a Vox that was even close to the nuances of the old Vox amps. How do you feel about the Axe II's Vox tones? Does it feel & sound like your old AC30?

 

[Hugomack]

Hey - Merry Christmas All!!

Ah, the AC30..... Mine is a 1963 with treble channel and vibratrem. Weighs a ton, makes burning bakelite smells, sounds fantastic clean but also howls in the most soulful beautiful fashion - but has to be bloody loud for the latter; and only once stopped working (a capacitor needed replacing). It did get quite complicated using several overdrives and a fuzzbox to tame it's volume - explicable reductions in volume for example. And it's very noisy - sound men complaining at sound check and so on. None this with the Axe.

To be honest I'm amazed at how well it's been replicated in the Axe-Fx II, right down to the exact way it cleans up when you back off on the guitar vol. I particularly liked Yek's earlier patch 001 which I think used an AC30. (He seems to have opted for the JVM now, but I've yet to try it out...) The Top Boost is probably the most authentic model, but the AC15 works as well. (I used to go see Rory Gallagher in the days when everyone playing though double marshal stacks expect him - the treble-boosted sound works for me....) I think I'm also favouring the Plexi Treble patch which captures its characteristic sweetness when you back off.

But I'm now looking beyond my experience zone at some of the more modern high gain amps, to use instead of fuzz overdrives. I used to use a lot of pedals to get the AC30 sounding as it should without destroying everyone's hearing. Don't need to do that now!

I also have a Mesa Boogie II with a Marshall 4x12 or two hideously heavy 2x12- loaded with JBL E120's for bigger, more rocky gigs. With the Axe, I've definitely got the Boogie sound covered as well.

My next job is to try out the latest Yek patches!! They're very musical. I'm slightly confused at not having an expression pedal that turns on and off - I set "Auto Engage" to "Slow"... I still haven't worked out the best way to load the full set to audition - and Axe Edit is a bit confusing when you're also using the MFC - which is necessary if you're going to audition with expression pedals. . I'd like to load all Yek's presets into my Axe, then edit using the hardware - at least initially. Any tips on mass loading, gratefully received.

Plus I haven't worked out how to organize the banks - but I'll certainly have the first five as generic pedalboards for different amps. I did see a patch somebody posted for an Ultra ages ago as "the only patch you'll ever need" - for blues I think. That idea is interesting, along the lines of specific rigs for certain gigs. But I'll certainly go the "songs" route for my original material.

I'm also interested in Yek's use of cabinet sims. I've got two EVM and am just working all that out. So far, I do like the tone and power of the set up (with a Matrix). Maybe the bottom two strings get a touch muffled in some of the patches I'm using - or need to be a bit more treble .... I suspect this is fining tuning plus the need to use gig volumes when adjusting this rig. ....ennuf. Have to take GF to pub or all is lost.

Have a really great Christmas.

 

[Hugomack]

Another "Sorry I forgot to mention...." this time to Dirk at TT Cabs, and another to Sussi at G66.

TT Cabs sent me two large boxes, for each REX-M5 cabinet. In each one there was a chocolate bar and packet of jelly babies. When they send me the replacement wire set, there was another chocolate bar and packet of jelly babies. I'm not suggesting that this sort of thing is vital in order to have my custom in future, but it doesn't do any harm!! Thanks Dirk!

And Sussi sends us all a black G66 tee shirt with Fractal logo on the back. I didn't tell anyone that I'd got my FXII, so when I wore the tee shirt at a friends' gig (he who had been waiting a long time....), there were tears and recriminations. Very enjoyable.

I think there ought to be an official Fractal FXII expedition to Holland to see Yek and his band play....? We could all wear our G66 tee shirts. I could certainly bore him to death afterwards with questions over a few glasses of amber liquid.

Amsterdam is a universally popular place for the weekend for some reason. So, are you playing there soon Alexander? Eurostar makes it a largely painless trip from London....

 

[enigma]

Enjoyed your story and the writing style! I'm about to start the journey you're on.

I'd appreciate it very much if you would share some of the names of the members who have helped you with your set up as well as with knowledge and patches, in particular.

 

[yek]

I think there ought to be an official Fractal FXII expedition to Holland to see Yek and his band play....? We could all wear our G66 tee shirts. I could certainly bore him to death afterwards with questions over a few glasses of amber liquid.
Amsterdam is a universally popular place for the weekend for some reason. So, are you playing there soon Alexander? Eurostar makes it a largely painless trip from London....

Ha ha, yes, January 28th, at The Last Waterhole (Leidse Plein).
If you come, lower your expectations.

 

[Hugomack]

Enjoyed your story and the writing style! I'm about to start the journey you're on.

I'd appreciate it very much if you would share some of the names of the members who have helped you with your set up as well as with knowledge and patches, in particular.

Ho Ho Ho! This is a bit scary - risking the sad fate of the Bridegroom who left out the two most critical of his friends in his wedding speech....

I must warn you about "Fractal Audio", who appears in most discussions saying things like "No you don't need to do that. Just do this." or "This will be sorted out in the next firmware upgrade". Everyone else refers to Fractal Audio as "Cliff" - the mythical geek who decided that electric guitar noise could be recreated so much more efficiently using a few computer components inside a very heavy steel box with total connectivity to everything imaginable plus expensive knobs on the outside. As with all the other computer geeks, they take over the world - in this instance every amp known to Man, and now all the possible cabinet and speaker combinations, stomp boxes and effects, reducing them to algorithms (which are mysterious things that are very much lighter than said speakers and amps).

Most people believe in Cliff, but maybe there's a time when you get to be senior enough, that they tell you the truth. I'm just happy to post my wish list (a Galleon Kruger bass head and 15 inch cab please Cliff), and hope I've been good enough to get one in the next firmware upgrade.

But I'm not fooled by this post. I think "Enigma" is actually just that - probably a plant to get me to do an appraisal of all the good people on this site - maybe the sort of HR thing they do in Fractal Audio Land between firmware upgrades. I do know for sure that various members here wrote patches for the FXII which were collated and tweaked to appear magically in the new machine.

But I'm actually carrying out an experiment. Yek seems most likely to be a real person; various others have met him and he posted pics of things like his FXII parcel being delivered by courier. (I wasn't too sure about that actually, as the guy did not at any point throw it anywhere as they do in reality). So I'm plotting to get a group of real world people across to the Netherlands and see him play.

Don (as in Scott really - my Freudian slip)) Peterson is one of several sainted souls who play in serious worship music outfits as well as more raucous venues. I mention this specifically as these guys are very interesting, having to deliver totally authentic rock and other sounds in a very tightly controlled environment. I dread to think how that was done with 20th century gear. Lots of large glass sound screens I'd imagine.

There are some remarkable creators of patches: I do like Yeks' for being really musical and thought-through in terms of switching, controls etc. People like Smilefan are masters at analyzing sounds of famous players and reproducing them by using the Axe to put together all the component parts. Take a look at any of the Robin Trower 'Bridge of Sighs" threads for example and you'll find lots of fascinating details by seriously technical people of how sounds are put together. You can of course just mess around with the settings, but my considered advice on this is to stick to one component at a time, and revert back to the saved version if it gets too crazy. I like to understand what I'm doing.... (The various components of the factory patches seem sensibly set and usable to me - unlike some of the over-the-top patches you get on other modellers.)

But sorry to rabbit on. The key for me making the Transition has been this Forum. Every electric guitarist is a gearhead. I Transitted because I wanted to make my own sounds - not something that Jim Marshall, Mr Fulltone, or even that nice New Zealander who makes Hotcakes decided I should make. The more I tried to change things, the more I had to add to the chain - until it was a huge one metre square box which could make humming noises at high gain, or go dead at critical moments. Compared with an MFC 1010, there's no contest. So.... I can't single out particular people. But I have followed Yek's FXII blog (- the thread "Incoming, Incoming, Incoming" ), and am now running several of his patches modified according to my own tastes and previous experiences (AC30 amps and rotary mainly - as I love them both, and have at times had to carry analogue real-world 'versions' that nearly killed me.)

Just saw Yek's gig post - a gig on 28th January. Hah! Let me fire up Google Earth and do some detective work...

If you want some really lo-tech reasoning about organizing the FXII and MFC, let me know and I'll splurge some more like this as I work things out. But so far I'm finding it all very straight-forward to get good sounds that can be modified on the run using the MFC. The real fun will start once I start creating particular sounds for my own songs. So far I'm really enjoying messing around with classic amps and a long line of effects.

 

[jesussaddle]

That's a really good, fun to read story. So glad it turned out well for ya, and I'm thankful about your giving your specifics about power amp and cabs, as I'm just now only playing through studio monitors and computer, but want to play out "one day". I also love seeing a mention of Rory Gallagher. Live he was SO underrated (not to mention the only musician I ever saw live that worked that hard, giving very long (maybe 4 hour) shows, and "taking a break" by doing an acoustic set inbetween the electric ones). It is strange that I never felt the recordings did justice to his particular sound. Had no idea what amp he used at the time.

This is one more reason why I need to investigate whether to put a coil splitting switch on my humbucker. I miss that simple and raw sound that a single coil has. Its interesting how humbuckers and single coils are so equally cool.

 

[Hugomack]

The Matrix and TT Cab EVM combination seems to work really well - although I understand that the EVMs need to 'bed in' with some loud playing for a while. It's certainly loud enough for any sized stage, and fine for most venues using just the one cab.

Rory Gallagher was a marvel at the time. You'd see the columns of 4x12's piled up on stage, then when Taste were coming on, just two 4x12's and a head for the bass player Ritchie McCracken, then the other side of the drummer a chair with one AC30 on it. He used a treble booster in line from the guitar - and that was it. Filled the largest hall very effectively. I wondered why Brian May needed a whole wall of them. (Probably just stage props - empty cabinets with the one real one miked up...). We Axe users can do that without all the unpleasant lifting....!

 

[Hugomack]

For many years I've had an active device on one of my Strats - a hardtail - that allows it to thicken up into a humbucker, or back off; five selections in all. It's been sol ong since I fitted it I've forgotten what it's called. Never had to change the battery, and it still works pretty well. Was it a "Tone Ranger"....? Or something a bit like that. It soldered into the wiring under the plate and replaced one of the pots with a five-way selector. I'll have to try it using the Axe. Altering the input seems to be pretty effective. Sorry - you're doing it the other way round, and there do seem to be split coil humbucker pickups for that. I'd be interested in how well it works.

 

[Tone Control]

If you are used to a humbucker, you may find tapping it to single coil creates a lot of hum, especially when sitting near an FX!
2 other options are: buy an EMG 89 / 89R set, which are full humbuckers switchable to hum-cancelling SCs (assuming you like the EMG sound), or use an EMG RPC control, which can dial in treble boost / bass cut gradually on a passive or active humbucker (I use the opposite SPC on my Single Coils)

 

[damienmcgauley]

The Last Waterhole! No Way! I stayed there when they had a Youth Hostel above the bar during my time inter-railing in my youth (nearly 20 years ago!).

My (36th) birthday is also on the 24th of January, ummm, tempting!