playingitloud
Inspired
Hello Everyone,
I believe this is my first post here but I have enjoyed cruising the forum thread's in the past and reading through what has been posted there (a lot of useful discussions/information).
And I thought I should post something I discovered a few months ago after I finally opened my box and became acquainted with my new AXE FX II (I have the AXE FX ULTRA which I have only used for recording purposes (I am going to post someing on it in the proper forum later)).
Well, I am a BIG fan of the whole AXE FX thing (it changed my life forever and made it so much easier, believe me).
Okay, I should mention I suffer from bouts of OCD and had (until recently) 20 + different amps and preamps Diezel (Herbert, Einstein, Haagen, VH4S), Mesa Triaxis, Rocktron Voodu Valve Online and Prophecy, Marshall JMP1's (4 of them (modded and unmodded)), ENGL Special Edition and 100 Watt Power Amp, VHT/Fryette amps and power amps (2502, 2902, Pitbull), two Marshall EL34 100/100 (one with EL34's and one with 6505's), EL34 50/50, Mesa 2:90 and 2:100, Peavey JSX, EVH 5150 III, modded Line6/Bogner SpiderValve, SansAmp PSA 1.1, and the list goes on .... (seriously).
I have been (well, had been) looking for amps to record with at my home recording stuido and I found I really liked variety since I listen to a wide range of bands and I realized I like to play more than just one style over time (I do prefer a heavier tube driven tone but enjoy a nice crispy clean tone as well).
This is the reason I like(d) having so many amps because I found that you can get different tones/styles by combining different amps with different cabs (I also had 15 4x12 cabs until the AXE FX came into my life (now I just use a Mills Acoustics 4x12 (EVM's and V30's) or my Mesa 4x12 (same speaker combo)).
Life has become much simpler because of the AXE FX (I thanked GOD for awhile there since I didn't have to keep switching between all those amps any more just to record a few guitar tracks).
Also, it doesn't look like my beautiful wife will leave me now since the amp madness has ended, lol.
Now here is where some people might disagree with me about what I have found about the AXE FX in general.
It has been established as a GREAT recording preamp but I believe that it can lack as live unit (I have found a way to make it a great live unit for live playing which I will explain in a moment).
I know there are people who can get a great clean tone and decent lead tone BUT I don't feel the rhythm tone was too great or really convincing to me for live playing (I haven't heard anyone else use it live and I am sure there are ways to dial it in to get a better feel on it (I am going to the LA AMP show to see what can be done live with the beast without using my trick).
Well, I came up with a way to make it sing and get that "tube" amp feel that I love which can only come from a "tube" amp (which the AXE FX is not (sounds like one when I record but not live)).
Now there may be some people who have posted similar discoveries in these forums, but if anyone hasn't noticed lately, these freaking forum threads go on forever these days (which is great because it shows that the AXE FX legion has grown), and I just don't have that kind of time to dedicate myself to searching for similar postings to add to them so I thought adding a new thread might help some newbies or even some oldies that have felt the same as me but never say anything about (Hey, who wants to admit their girl doesn't really look that great with those new $5,000 bolt-ons (or in this case a $2500 preamp)?).
Okay, almost there.
I want to say that I am a big fan of the Marshall JMP1 (I have four of them and they all sound different due to different preamp tubes) and I really love the "tube" amp tone and feel I get using them (I switch between them to get a variety).
I have tried using the JMP1 with the AXE FX (II and Ultra) in different cable routings and have found mixed results (without a lot of tweaking).
I mainly was going to use the AXE FX for the fx's with the JMP1 as the preamp (I am going to post later a few ways that I did the routing and what I discovered for those JMP1 fans like myself).
I always lost some "oomph" as well as tone when I combined them (but I did get a few decent set-ups with them (explanation further in another post later (already too much here))).
Finally, I realized that if I wanted that "tube" feel coming out of the AXE FX (II and Ultra) I would need it to have a preamp "tube" or "tubes" to get it.
(Oh Cliff, one day please add at least one "preamp" tube to the AXE FX, pleeeeease ........).
Well, I didn't have a way to add one to the AXE FX so I thought of another way of getting one in the signal path before it hits the power amp.
I decided to use my JMP1 preamp tube.
I am now taking the dual master outs from the AXE FX and running them into the JMP1 dual fx loop returns which means I am bypassing the JMP1 preamp itself and using just the preamp tubes (nothing on the preamp affects the tone (and you must remember to set the fx control to 12 to get the most out of it)).
I am now getting a real "tube" amp feel and tone from my AXE FX.
It really rocks live, and of course always great for recording, but now I have the best of both worlds.
And I like to switch the preamp tubes between a few different brands to get variety.
I will experiment in the future with "tube" instrument preamps to see what can be improved (you can't use the JMP1 to affect the sound being passed through it like an actual "tube" instrument preamp (everything is bypassed)).
(Oh Cliff, in the future if you would only add preamp tubes to the this awe-inspiring device, pleeeeeeease ........).
And since I have more than one JMP1 then I am still able to use one for dual preamp tubes and another JMP1 along with the AXE FX (using the AXE FX fx loop).
Hopefully, we will see a new version of the AXE FX with preamp tubes so that arguments about the AXE FX not being a "tube" amp will fade away because this new AXE FX would be an official "tube" amp.
Anyways, I hope I have helped some new users out there improve their tone and feel a little more and possibly some current users may find something new to try as well.
If anyone has found something to place behind the AXE FX as well to get that "tube" tone and feel please let me know, and thanks.
And a final statement about adding preamp tubes to an already life-changing device:
Let it be said, let it be done .........
I believe this is my first post here but I have enjoyed cruising the forum thread's in the past and reading through what has been posted there (a lot of useful discussions/information).
And I thought I should post something I discovered a few months ago after I finally opened my box and became acquainted with my new AXE FX II (I have the AXE FX ULTRA which I have only used for recording purposes (I am going to post someing on it in the proper forum later)).
Well, I am a BIG fan of the whole AXE FX thing (it changed my life forever and made it so much easier, believe me).
Okay, I should mention I suffer from bouts of OCD and had (until recently) 20 + different amps and preamps Diezel (Herbert, Einstein, Haagen, VH4S), Mesa Triaxis, Rocktron Voodu Valve Online and Prophecy, Marshall JMP1's (4 of them (modded and unmodded)), ENGL Special Edition and 100 Watt Power Amp, VHT/Fryette amps and power amps (2502, 2902, Pitbull), two Marshall EL34 100/100 (one with EL34's and one with 6505's), EL34 50/50, Mesa 2:90 and 2:100, Peavey JSX, EVH 5150 III, modded Line6/Bogner SpiderValve, SansAmp PSA 1.1, and the list goes on .... (seriously).
I have been (well, had been) looking for amps to record with at my home recording stuido and I found I really liked variety since I listen to a wide range of bands and I realized I like to play more than just one style over time (I do prefer a heavier tube driven tone but enjoy a nice crispy clean tone as well).
This is the reason I like(d) having so many amps because I found that you can get different tones/styles by combining different amps with different cabs (I also had 15 4x12 cabs until the AXE FX came into my life (now I just use a Mills Acoustics 4x12 (EVM's and V30's) or my Mesa 4x12 (same speaker combo)).
Life has become much simpler because of the AXE FX (I thanked GOD for awhile there since I didn't have to keep switching between all those amps any more just to record a few guitar tracks).
Also, it doesn't look like my beautiful wife will leave me now since the amp madness has ended, lol.
Now here is where some people might disagree with me about what I have found about the AXE FX in general.
It has been established as a GREAT recording preamp but I believe that it can lack as live unit (I have found a way to make it a great live unit for live playing which I will explain in a moment).
I know there are people who can get a great clean tone and decent lead tone BUT I don't feel the rhythm tone was too great or really convincing to me for live playing (I haven't heard anyone else use it live and I am sure there are ways to dial it in to get a better feel on it (I am going to the LA AMP show to see what can be done live with the beast without using my trick).
Well, I came up with a way to make it sing and get that "tube" amp feel that I love which can only come from a "tube" amp (which the AXE FX is not (sounds like one when I record but not live)).
Now there may be some people who have posted similar discoveries in these forums, but if anyone hasn't noticed lately, these freaking forum threads go on forever these days (which is great because it shows that the AXE FX legion has grown), and I just don't have that kind of time to dedicate myself to searching for similar postings to add to them so I thought adding a new thread might help some newbies or even some oldies that have felt the same as me but never say anything about (Hey, who wants to admit their girl doesn't really look that great with those new $5,000 bolt-ons (or in this case a $2500 preamp)?).
Okay, almost there.
I want to say that I am a big fan of the Marshall JMP1 (I have four of them and they all sound different due to different preamp tubes) and I really love the "tube" amp tone and feel I get using them (I switch between them to get a variety).
I have tried using the JMP1 with the AXE FX (II and Ultra) in different cable routings and have found mixed results (without a lot of tweaking).
I mainly was going to use the AXE FX for the fx's with the JMP1 as the preamp (I am going to post later a few ways that I did the routing and what I discovered for those JMP1 fans like myself).
I always lost some "oomph" as well as tone when I combined them (but I did get a few decent set-ups with them (explanation further in another post later (already too much here))).
Finally, I realized that if I wanted that "tube" feel coming out of the AXE FX (II and Ultra) I would need it to have a preamp "tube" or "tubes" to get it.
(Oh Cliff, one day please add at least one "preamp" tube to the AXE FX, pleeeeease ........).
Well, I didn't have a way to add one to the AXE FX so I thought of another way of getting one in the signal path before it hits the power amp.
I decided to use my JMP1 preamp tube.
I am now taking the dual master outs from the AXE FX and running them into the JMP1 dual fx loop returns which means I am bypassing the JMP1 preamp itself and using just the preamp tubes (nothing on the preamp affects the tone (and you must remember to set the fx control to 12 to get the most out of it)).
I am now getting a real "tube" amp feel and tone from my AXE FX.
It really rocks live, and of course always great for recording, but now I have the best of both worlds.
And I like to switch the preamp tubes between a few different brands to get variety.
I will experiment in the future with "tube" instrument preamps to see what can be improved (you can't use the JMP1 to affect the sound being passed through it like an actual "tube" instrument preamp (everything is bypassed)).
(Oh Cliff, in the future if you would only add preamp tubes to the this awe-inspiring device, pleeeeeeease ........).
And since I have more than one JMP1 then I am still able to use one for dual preamp tubes and another JMP1 along with the AXE FX (using the AXE FX fx loop).
Hopefully, we will see a new version of the AXE FX with preamp tubes so that arguments about the AXE FX not being a "tube" amp will fade away because this new AXE FX would be an official "tube" amp.
Anyways, I hope I have helped some new users out there improve their tone and feel a little more and possibly some current users may find something new to try as well.
If anyone has found something to place behind the AXE FX as well to get that "tube" tone and feel please let me know, and thanks.
And a final statement about adding preamp tubes to an already life-changing device:
Let it be said, let it be done .........
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