Rekster
Experienced
I have been a tube amp user for many years, and due to some bad experiences with modelers in the past I was skeptical yet fascinated by the capabilities of the Axe FX. So I took a chance about a month ago and ordered the Axe FX III.
I was pleasantly surprised, well beyond expectations. This is an absolutely fantastic piece of technology. The effects and routing options are phenomenal. I love being able to tweak things, throw delay before or after the preamp with a click of the mouse. As I run stereo amps, this required rewiring things in the past - a major pain. Not any more! The high gain tones I was using with my Mesa tube amps are replicated perfectly, and I'm enjoying my tone better than ever. My drummer is even commenting on how much clearer my tone is now. I'm honestly blown away.
My tone is amazing through headphones. It's amazing through my Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. It also sounds amazing through my guitar cabs (I'm sending the output to the power amp of both my Mesa MarkV and TC100 tube amps via the FX loop return).
But here's my dilemma. When gigging I can't be dragging out two expensive tube amps just for their power amps. So I've been trying to use my Cerwin Vega CVE-12 powered loudspeakers as FRFR wedges. But the tone is just not there, and is beyond satisfying. The best way I can describe it is that it sounds boxy. Absolutely nothing like my Yamaha HS8 studio monitors.. I've even made sure the DSP on the Cerwin Vega's was set to 'Flat/Mix' and still doesn't sound good to me. It's boxy sounding and lacks mids... So I'm stuck now knowing what my best option is at this point. The way I see it is I have 3 options to try:
1) Pick up a tube power amp (such as the Mesa 2:90) and continue to use my guitar cabs.
2) Pick up a solid state amp (such as the Matrix GT1000FX) and continue to use my guitar cabs.
3) More ideally, (and to take advantage of the cab blocks), pick up some new powered wedges and see if they perform better than the Cerwin Vega powered speakers I currently have. From what I'm reading one of the better options is the Atomic CLR Neo MKII wedges. (Although it looks like they aren't available at the moment)
My problem is, if I won't hear a noticeable difference between the Cerwin Vega and the Atomic CLR that it will be a waste of money. (And I just purchased the Cerwin Vega speakers 6 months ago....)
I realize there's a lot of threads on the various options out there and trust me I've read most of them over the last few weeks. I've even subscribed to Cooper Carter's Axe FX III Master Class in an effort to learn more. And I do realize that FRFR is not the same as what you get from a guitar cab.
In any case, based on my specific situation I'd really appreciate some advice. I play a heavier crunch style of guitar if that helps direct me...
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Cheers.
I was pleasantly surprised, well beyond expectations. This is an absolutely fantastic piece of technology. The effects and routing options are phenomenal. I love being able to tweak things, throw delay before or after the preamp with a click of the mouse. As I run stereo amps, this required rewiring things in the past - a major pain. Not any more! The high gain tones I was using with my Mesa tube amps are replicated perfectly, and I'm enjoying my tone better than ever. My drummer is even commenting on how much clearer my tone is now. I'm honestly blown away.
My tone is amazing through headphones. It's amazing through my Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. It also sounds amazing through my guitar cabs (I'm sending the output to the power amp of both my Mesa MarkV and TC100 tube amps via the FX loop return).
But here's my dilemma. When gigging I can't be dragging out two expensive tube amps just for their power amps. So I've been trying to use my Cerwin Vega CVE-12 powered loudspeakers as FRFR wedges. But the tone is just not there, and is beyond satisfying. The best way I can describe it is that it sounds boxy. Absolutely nothing like my Yamaha HS8 studio monitors.. I've even made sure the DSP on the Cerwin Vega's was set to 'Flat/Mix' and still doesn't sound good to me. It's boxy sounding and lacks mids... So I'm stuck now knowing what my best option is at this point. The way I see it is I have 3 options to try:
1) Pick up a tube power amp (such as the Mesa 2:90) and continue to use my guitar cabs.
2) Pick up a solid state amp (such as the Matrix GT1000FX) and continue to use my guitar cabs.
3) More ideally, (and to take advantage of the cab blocks), pick up some new powered wedges and see if they perform better than the Cerwin Vega powered speakers I currently have. From what I'm reading one of the better options is the Atomic CLR Neo MKII wedges. (Although it looks like they aren't available at the moment)
My problem is, if I won't hear a noticeable difference between the Cerwin Vega and the Atomic CLR that it will be a waste of money. (And I just purchased the Cerwin Vega speakers 6 months ago....)
I realize there's a lot of threads on the various options out there and trust me I've read most of them over the last few weeks. I've even subscribed to Cooper Carter's Axe FX III Master Class in an effort to learn more. And I do realize that FRFR is not the same as what you get from a guitar cab.
In any case, based on my specific situation I'd really appreciate some advice. I play a heavier crunch style of guitar if that helps direct me...
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Cheers.