Clockwork Creep
Power User
Hi there.
I am not a very rich man, so I've never had experience with high quality tube amps. before buying an Axe FX, during band rehearsals and gigs, I was playing through a solid state laney 60w combo amp that belonged to the drummer. We played a bunch of gigs in tiny bars full of drunk metalheads. Fun stuff. Was not happy with the tone, but it was loud enough to compete with drums.
At home, I was fairly happy with the tones I've gotten out of my cheap audio interface and VST amp sims. I also had a 15w practice amp, but it's garbage. The only downside- the ~15ms latency. However, I was so used to the latency so that didn't really bother me.
Anyway, I was always drooling over expensive tube amps. And later, when I found out about it - The axe fx. I think I found out about it from Ola Eglund videos, but I don't quite remember.
My logic went as follows: It has many advantages over real tube amps: Lighter, less maintenance, no mic'ing, more consistent, extremely versatile, all in one solution, and I get to enjoy it at low volumes at home. I did use a VST amp sim once live in a high end pub with a good sound guy and that went great. So, the axe fx just seemed like a no brainer.
I was completely fan boying over it for a long time. I thought it's a magical device that's gonna instantly make me sound huge. But the price of one of those seemed unreachable.
In one lucky summer, for a brief time (~4 months) I had a very well paying job.
The large burst of income was a very temporary thing and I've spent most of it on audio and computer gear. The biggest purchase - The Axe FX 2 XL. Firmware 15, i think it was.
I was searching for the cheapest way to obtain the unit and I've got it at Ebay for the best price I could. Getting one in Europe was not easy.
TRYING THE AXE AT HOME:
I didn't have studio monitors at the time. When I first hooked the Axe up, and listened to it through my monitor headphones (I was using those forever for all my audio mixing stuff), I noticed right away, that the Axe sounded more open and clear and without latency, but also - a bit weird, because it was so unlike anything I was used to and still... it sounded like me, not that "huge and pro" thing I was expecting. At that point I understood that there is no such thing as a "Magic device that is going to instantly make me sound huge" and it's just a tool and everything depends on how I use it. I will not sound like Mark Morton mixed in an expensive studio, just because I bought an expensive tool...
I remember I've spent hours trying to get a metal tone I liked, but I was simply never happy for the first few months. I couldn't get my high gain tones work in the mix... My first attempts were actually worse than what I've got from my previously used VST amp sims. I simply knew everything about them, including all their quirks, unlike the axe fx...
Also, I really didn't (and still don't) like that recording the axe Is far harder than recording with VST amp sims, as I can't just tweak the amp tone while the full track is playing. Huge disadvantage.
Since I never had experience with real tube amps, I had no idea how real tube amps are supposed to be dialed in. For example - I was under the impression that the master volume had to be, like, 8-9, because I've heard that real amps only start to sound good cranked up. I had no idea how much "Cranked up" is, and I thought "The more - the better".
There were so many buttons and tweaks for the amp block and the Cab block and I had no idea how everything relates to each other and I was tweaking EVERYTHING... Often, I thought I was improving something, but I was simply just moving away from the natural tone of an amp into something alien...
So, to put it shortly: I was really struggling with it at first.
Another huge mistake: I just don't mind playing with old strings, unless i am recording something important or gigging. I'm cheap, I know.
With previous amp sims, the high gain tone differences werent as clear, whether it's old strings or new. The first time I said "Holy smokes, Axe sounds kind of awesome now" is when I changed my strings.
So, at first I was confused and kind of disappointed with the Axe FX, to say the least, but since I've paid a hell lot for it and I've heard plenty of demos that sounded awesome, and people were constantly praising the axe, I knew that it was user error and I kept trying. I've watched many "How to record guitar" tutorials on youtube and they helped a lot.
MY FIRST REHEARSALS:
Having the Axe FX, and no money left for quality gear to amplify it is a PAIN.
At first, when rehearsing, everyone was wearing headphones. And it was very not satisfying. Especially, since we did not have decent in-ears at the time.
Later, I was amplifying it through the Laney solid state amp. The sound was garbage.
The drummer pretty much thought I was an idiot for spending so much for something that sounded so bad and was unusable for rehearsing normally or gigging on the small stages we've gigged on so far.
"You should have bought an amp and a cab for that money, dummy". I had these thoughts reach me too, but I still had faith in my gear.
The drummer left, because he didn't agree with the vision I had for the band (Digital gear, backing tracks, in-ear monitors with metronomes). It's just not "tr00". The bassist was and still is on my side.
We found a new drummer who shares that vision and we work great together.
FIRST GIGS:
The first time gigging with the Axe FX didn't go too well. The new composition of the band didn't practice much (we found that drummer way too late!) before it, and we didn't yet have time to prepare any backing tracks and clicktracks at that time. We've rushed into that stage just to see what happens, because we had an opportunity. We had a few songs, but we played terribly.
While the guitar tone I've set up sounded ok at home, on stage - that's another thing. You change the way you monitor - you change the sound, obviously.
I was only hearing the guitar through the monitors and I knew already that something is wrong. There were no lows. I asked the sound-guy why is that, and he said that my lows are overpowering and it sounds ok from the audience perspective. I trusted him... I had no idea how it sounded from the audience perspective. Apparently, he high passed the audio for the audience and the monitors simultaniously. It was very underwhelming and uninstpiring to listen to myself play though these monitors and the thought "I should have bought an amp and a cab" has reached me again... the sound was so tiny.
Later, some friends from the audience told me that my guitar tone was kind of crap in comparison to those laneys on that stage, used by other bands.
I'd say it was mostly the sound-guys fault. This is the first time he saw a device like Axe FX and it seems he couldn't handle it, maybe?...
Another time I brought the Axe on stage was for a random musician improvisation jam thing.
This was also the first time for the sound guy do deal with an axe fx.
However, while the sound from the PA was nice, the monitors were freakin garbage and the sound guy couldn't make the guitar audible for everyone on stage. It simply couldn't compete with the real amps on the stage at all.
A month later, the musician jam event happened again. I brought the axe again. This time I prepared it to work with my midi pedalboard. Just effects. I was going to connect the axe to an input of a guitar amp. Because of a faulty MIDI cable, the pedalboard didn't communicate with the axe.... So the axe remained unused....
To put it shortly - at first, having an axe FX for live gigs was a terrible experience, merely because of luck and a lack of a proper way to amplify it.
AFTER SOME TIME:
After a lot of practice with setting up the axe and firmware updates, I am now very satisfied with the tones axe let's me achieve and I think it sounds leagues ahead of anything else I ever used.
Especially now with Ares firmware.
It's been years, and my band is nailing it now. All of our tracks are set up with clicktracks and I really love how my backing track device can change my FX automatically and I need no pedalboard. Not something that can be easily done with real amps and stompboxes.
I now have a GT1000FX and a Zilla cab.
So, for those smaller pubs, this works great.
And If it's a bigger stage, I just bring my axe and that's it. I haven't had a problem in live gigs ever since.
This is the only thing left that bothers me about the axe fx - The cost of getting a minimal stage ready setup for smaller pubs. While it's true that buying An Axe FX is cheaper than buying a hundred amps the Axe Simulates***, a small Laney combo amp is infinitely better than an Axe FX with no way to amplify it. And that amp and cab already cost as much as a GOOD combo amp.
The advantages I've listed before - Lighter, less maintenance, no mic'ing, more consistent, extremely versatile, all in one solution, and I get to enjoy it at low volumes at home. Some of them turned out not to be true. It's definitely not lighter, as it is in a rack case with a power amp. And it's not an all in one solution, as I still need my amp and cab, and sometimes - my pedalboard. And it's not easy at all. Setting it up for a live gig with my band (Headphone monitors, real cab, backing tracks, explaining everything to the sound guy, etc) is way more complicated than just plugging in a combo amp and playing...
*** It's not like I NEED hundreds of amp sims for the band, I only need one. Though, I like how I can just change my mind of which one it is, without buying anything.
I really like my Axe FX setup right now.
However, I might do some changes in the future to further simplify everything.
For example, building the GT1000FX right into the Cab, and maybe getting an AX8 (if it gets ares) or the Axe FX 3 equivalent, and build a pedalboard, just to avoid various connections and weighty stuff.
I am not a very rich man, so I've never had experience with high quality tube amps. before buying an Axe FX, during band rehearsals and gigs, I was playing through a solid state laney 60w combo amp that belonged to the drummer. We played a bunch of gigs in tiny bars full of drunk metalheads. Fun stuff. Was not happy with the tone, but it was loud enough to compete with drums.
At home, I was fairly happy with the tones I've gotten out of my cheap audio interface and VST amp sims. I also had a 15w practice amp, but it's garbage. The only downside- the ~15ms latency. However, I was so used to the latency so that didn't really bother me.
Anyway, I was always drooling over expensive tube amps. And later, when I found out about it - The axe fx. I think I found out about it from Ola Eglund videos, but I don't quite remember.
My logic went as follows: It has many advantages over real tube amps: Lighter, less maintenance, no mic'ing, more consistent, extremely versatile, all in one solution, and I get to enjoy it at low volumes at home. I did use a VST amp sim once live in a high end pub with a good sound guy and that went great. So, the axe fx just seemed like a no brainer.
I was completely fan boying over it for a long time. I thought it's a magical device that's gonna instantly make me sound huge. But the price of one of those seemed unreachable.
In one lucky summer, for a brief time (~4 months) I had a very well paying job.
The large burst of income was a very temporary thing and I've spent most of it on audio and computer gear. The biggest purchase - The Axe FX 2 XL. Firmware 15, i think it was.
I was searching for the cheapest way to obtain the unit and I've got it at Ebay for the best price I could. Getting one in Europe was not easy.
TRYING THE AXE AT HOME:
I didn't have studio monitors at the time. When I first hooked the Axe up, and listened to it through my monitor headphones (I was using those forever for all my audio mixing stuff), I noticed right away, that the Axe sounded more open and clear and without latency, but also - a bit weird, because it was so unlike anything I was used to and still... it sounded like me, not that "huge and pro" thing I was expecting. At that point I understood that there is no such thing as a "Magic device that is going to instantly make me sound huge" and it's just a tool and everything depends on how I use it. I will not sound like Mark Morton mixed in an expensive studio, just because I bought an expensive tool...
I remember I've spent hours trying to get a metal tone I liked, but I was simply never happy for the first few months. I couldn't get my high gain tones work in the mix... My first attempts were actually worse than what I've got from my previously used VST amp sims. I simply knew everything about them, including all their quirks, unlike the axe fx...
Also, I really didn't (and still don't) like that recording the axe Is far harder than recording with VST amp sims, as I can't just tweak the amp tone while the full track is playing. Huge disadvantage.
Since I never had experience with real tube amps, I had no idea how real tube amps are supposed to be dialed in. For example - I was under the impression that the master volume had to be, like, 8-9, because I've heard that real amps only start to sound good cranked up. I had no idea how much "Cranked up" is, and I thought "The more - the better".
There were so many buttons and tweaks for the amp block and the Cab block and I had no idea how everything relates to each other and I was tweaking EVERYTHING... Often, I thought I was improving something, but I was simply just moving away from the natural tone of an amp into something alien...
So, to put it shortly: I was really struggling with it at first.
Another huge mistake: I just don't mind playing with old strings, unless i am recording something important or gigging. I'm cheap, I know.
With previous amp sims, the high gain tone differences werent as clear, whether it's old strings or new. The first time I said "Holy smokes, Axe sounds kind of awesome now" is when I changed my strings.
So, at first I was confused and kind of disappointed with the Axe FX, to say the least, but since I've paid a hell lot for it and I've heard plenty of demos that sounded awesome, and people were constantly praising the axe, I knew that it was user error and I kept trying. I've watched many "How to record guitar" tutorials on youtube and they helped a lot.
MY FIRST REHEARSALS:
Having the Axe FX, and no money left for quality gear to amplify it is a PAIN.
At first, when rehearsing, everyone was wearing headphones. And it was very not satisfying. Especially, since we did not have decent in-ears at the time.
Later, I was amplifying it through the Laney solid state amp. The sound was garbage.
The drummer pretty much thought I was an idiot for spending so much for something that sounded so bad and was unusable for rehearsing normally or gigging on the small stages we've gigged on so far.
"You should have bought an amp and a cab for that money, dummy". I had these thoughts reach me too, but I still had faith in my gear.
The drummer left, because he didn't agree with the vision I had for the band (Digital gear, backing tracks, in-ear monitors with metronomes). It's just not "tr00". The bassist was and still is on my side.
We found a new drummer who shares that vision and we work great together.
FIRST GIGS:
The first time gigging with the Axe FX didn't go too well. The new composition of the band didn't practice much (we found that drummer way too late!) before it, and we didn't yet have time to prepare any backing tracks and clicktracks at that time. We've rushed into that stage just to see what happens, because we had an opportunity. We had a few songs, but we played terribly.
While the guitar tone I've set up sounded ok at home, on stage - that's another thing. You change the way you monitor - you change the sound, obviously.
I was only hearing the guitar through the monitors and I knew already that something is wrong. There were no lows. I asked the sound-guy why is that, and he said that my lows are overpowering and it sounds ok from the audience perspective. I trusted him... I had no idea how it sounded from the audience perspective. Apparently, he high passed the audio for the audience and the monitors simultaniously. It was very underwhelming and uninstpiring to listen to myself play though these monitors and the thought "I should have bought an amp and a cab" has reached me again... the sound was so tiny.
Later, some friends from the audience told me that my guitar tone was kind of crap in comparison to those laneys on that stage, used by other bands.
I'd say it was mostly the sound-guys fault. This is the first time he saw a device like Axe FX and it seems he couldn't handle it, maybe?...
Another time I brought the Axe on stage was for a random musician improvisation jam thing.
This was also the first time for the sound guy do deal with an axe fx.
However, while the sound from the PA was nice, the monitors were freakin garbage and the sound guy couldn't make the guitar audible for everyone on stage. It simply couldn't compete with the real amps on the stage at all.
A month later, the musician jam event happened again. I brought the axe again. This time I prepared it to work with my midi pedalboard. Just effects. I was going to connect the axe to an input of a guitar amp. Because of a faulty MIDI cable, the pedalboard didn't communicate with the axe.... So the axe remained unused....
To put it shortly - at first, having an axe FX for live gigs was a terrible experience, merely because of luck and a lack of a proper way to amplify it.
AFTER SOME TIME:
After a lot of practice with setting up the axe and firmware updates, I am now very satisfied with the tones axe let's me achieve and I think it sounds leagues ahead of anything else I ever used.
Especially now with Ares firmware.
It's been years, and my band is nailing it now. All of our tracks are set up with clicktracks and I really love how my backing track device can change my FX automatically and I need no pedalboard. Not something that can be easily done with real amps and stompboxes.
I now have a GT1000FX and a Zilla cab.
So, for those smaller pubs, this works great.
And If it's a bigger stage, I just bring my axe and that's it. I haven't had a problem in live gigs ever since.
This is the only thing left that bothers me about the axe fx - The cost of getting a minimal stage ready setup for smaller pubs. While it's true that buying An Axe FX is cheaper than buying a hundred amps the Axe Simulates***, a small Laney combo amp is infinitely better than an Axe FX with no way to amplify it. And that amp and cab already cost as much as a GOOD combo amp.
The advantages I've listed before - Lighter, less maintenance, no mic'ing, more consistent, extremely versatile, all in one solution, and I get to enjoy it at low volumes at home. Some of them turned out not to be true. It's definitely not lighter, as it is in a rack case with a power amp. And it's not an all in one solution, as I still need my amp and cab, and sometimes - my pedalboard. And it's not easy at all. Setting it up for a live gig with my band (Headphone monitors, real cab, backing tracks, explaining everything to the sound guy, etc) is way more complicated than just plugging in a combo amp and playing...
*** It's not like I NEED hundreds of amp sims for the band, I only need one. Though, I like how I can just change my mind of which one it is, without buying anything.
I really like my Axe FX setup right now.
However, I might do some changes in the future to further simplify everything.
For example, building the GT1000FX right into the Cab, and maybe getting an AX8 (if it gets ares) or the Axe FX 3 equivalent, and build a pedalboard, just to avoid various connections and weighty stuff.
Last edited by a moderator:
I had some situations where the rig did't work 20 minutes before the gig. I am so happy that I never have to deal with searching for the broken cable from the 20-30 I had in my previous rig and to handle all the noise and stuff...
