Hawary
Member
I apologize if my review is not accurate and my use of the proper scientific words to describe everything is of absence, after all, English is my second language, I have no idea why I'm writing this but I thought it might be helpful for some people, let me know if you understand anything :lol
It all started when I heard it online, man oh man did it sound great, nothing really sounded as good to me but the common stuff it had with the H8000 (or at least to me at that time) I bought one off of E-bay used because they were out of stock at the time and I needed one badly, it seemed in good condition however just a few days a few days later, I had it plugged through to logic and they both crashed and the Axe Fx II wouldn't open after that, after a few e-mails and not much time, it was shipped back to US and fixed in no time and at no cost, great customer service indeed. I was too scared to use it through USB after that and decided that using cables should do. I did GREAT recordings with it and it was great live too, just plugged it in directly to the mixer and it was magic.
I never had the chance to play through all the real amps modeled in the Axe like most folks here, which was a blessing and a curse in a way because I just dialed in stuff and whatever I liked I just played with, it was a curse because if i wanted a certain tone in my head, I didn't know how to get it, not to mention my small experience with the Axe itself that made it hard to achieve that most of the times.
A year passed and it was still going great, very versatile machine, tough (I never used a backup), and extremely light compared to the rig I would need to achieve the same sound, I never saw the reason why I would upgrade, but like they say, curiosity killed the cat, I upgraded from version 3 to version 8 and my sounds were completely shattered, whatever tone I dialed didn't sound as good to me anymore, I tried everything in my power to make it work but it didn't, I tweaked days and days till I couldn't do it anymore, I gave up. Then firmware 9 beta came out and I was saved once more, it sounded great again, for some odd reason almost everything I dialed in felt good. So I started recording with it again, different machine it was, but still a great one none the less, and then I went to a gig, not the same, something has definitely changed in the basic sound, so I just made peace with it for the time being due to the work overload we had and I had to make due.
When I became free I started tweaking and I realized that I honestly do not like the compressor at all ! read a bit here and there and decided after trials over days that I don't like the Axe's compressor, I'm not saying it's bad, just not enough knowledge and time for me to get the desired effect. So I bought a Carl Martin compressor and here's where it began, I started AB'ing most stuff that I could put my hands on with Axe-Fx and I liked more than 50% of the stuff that I tried over the Axe Fx, now here is a part when one would come to question how did I AB, did I use a correct accurate method ? And that's my point, in a time where I have 2 hours per day that are free, I think I need something that sounds GREAT plug and play at least stuff that should be great the second you plug them in, like drives, not "good but needs a few tweaks", but just something spot on, other than the delay and reverb, I prefer the Axe's to almost any delay reverb. So I ended up using it in the effects loop and that sounded great, better than I have could imagined.
That worked fine for a couple of month but then a new problem emerged, flights ! I now have to carry a moderate pedal board, the Axe, my guitar, a controller and a suitcase, so you could imagine the hassle I would be going through just to go the airport, not to mention the trip itself and the extra costs and so on.
I was given the TC 2290 as a present a few months ago, lucky bastard I know and although it sounds different to the Axe imo, I still didn't want or rather couldn't add more racks to my rig. I mostly use it in recording as I do find its Slapback superior to anything else that I've tried and it does have its own character.
So now I bought a timeline and I do intend to buy some reverb pedal (not sure which yet tbh but Im thinking eventide) and get a small controller with all my pedals in the loop and hopefully that will be it, maybe i will go back to the Axe Fx, maybe I won't but for now I think it will be in the studio as it is a recording beast. Anyways here is a small list of pros and cons that I made for anyone intending to purchase the Axe Fx, hope it's a fair one.
Pros:
1. Great price
2. Extremely versatile
3. Light in weight
4. Great in studio and at home recording (where loud noise or room capacity could be an issue)
5. Very money saving
6. Good plug and play sound.
7. Gives experience.
8. Unique sound and capabilities.
9. Upgrades and continuous work in progress to achieve a better sounding unit by its makers.
Cons:
1. Way too many options to me, a bit confusing as I am a perfectionist and like to think that whatever effect I'm using is really the most appropriate one. I recorded my first album with a tiny valves state Marshall amp and it was physiologically fine for me because i know that's the best that I can do and instead focused on the music.
2. If you buy the Axe Fx know that you will most probably need either FRFR speakers or a cabinet for live use, along with a proper foot controller. Something that should have been clear but was absent from me.
3. Some sounds are not best represented by this machine, so it might discourage the player to use them although he would have if he would have walked into a store tried all the different ones made with different technologies and others companies point of views on how "x" should really sound and end up getting one, using it and increasing his library. I for example never liked wah's because I only tired the Axe's one but now I do have one in my board and use it regularly.
4. The screen is hard to see from most angles even when the contrast is set at max.
5. With every firmware upgrade you are at mercy of losing your sounds or having something "glitchy" going on, I've recently read a thread about someone who didn't like the new firmware because he had all his sounds old sounds on, then upgraded all his banks and everything sounded good, well, that for me is disastrous. You can say don't upgrade but most of the guitarists that I have met, seen or even heard, are looking for the perfect tone, so if hundreds are praising the new firmware, you probably won't be able to help yourself, as one of the reasons WHY you bought this is because you're looking for the perfect tone.
6. (IMHO) You need to be updated with what is happening in the forums, because if you find a new firmware and think "oh goodie!" and download it, you might later discover that something is wrong with Axe-edit's compatibility with your new firmware, guess where would you have to go to find out what you did wrong ? the forums ! So take the shortcut and spend some time on the forums, which is more time to spend without your guitar.
7. You need to be able to tweak the gear change, even if that's because the Axe Fx is more sensitive to pickups and your guitars than the normal amp or w/e, I really dislike that, amps behave differently with different guitars for sure but the scale between great and shit when changing gear is much wider with the axe for me.
One additional point. I think a lot of people worry too much if the Axe could get the tone of etc. or if it sounded like the real thing or not, I think the Axe Fx is simply the Axe Fx, its not trying to be anything else, there are a million demos of people showing off the real thing and then the Axe Fx II, If you keep looking at it that way then you're losing out imho, I've heard a million of demos showing off the Axe vs. something else, and to be honest, I couldnt tell whats what most of the times, but I think what people fail to notice is not whether or not can you tell the real thing from the Axe, it's whether you can notice a DIFFERENCE in the first place, and if you look at it that way. then you'll understand that you can never compare it to anything else.
It all started when I heard it online, man oh man did it sound great, nothing really sounded as good to me but the common stuff it had with the H8000 (or at least to me at that time) I bought one off of E-bay used because they were out of stock at the time and I needed one badly, it seemed in good condition however just a few days a few days later, I had it plugged through to logic and they both crashed and the Axe Fx II wouldn't open after that, after a few e-mails and not much time, it was shipped back to US and fixed in no time and at no cost, great customer service indeed. I was too scared to use it through USB after that and decided that using cables should do. I did GREAT recordings with it and it was great live too, just plugged it in directly to the mixer and it was magic.
I never had the chance to play through all the real amps modeled in the Axe like most folks here, which was a blessing and a curse in a way because I just dialed in stuff and whatever I liked I just played with, it was a curse because if i wanted a certain tone in my head, I didn't know how to get it, not to mention my small experience with the Axe itself that made it hard to achieve that most of the times.
A year passed and it was still going great, very versatile machine, tough (I never used a backup), and extremely light compared to the rig I would need to achieve the same sound, I never saw the reason why I would upgrade, but like they say, curiosity killed the cat, I upgraded from version 3 to version 8 and my sounds were completely shattered, whatever tone I dialed didn't sound as good to me anymore, I tried everything in my power to make it work but it didn't, I tweaked days and days till I couldn't do it anymore, I gave up. Then firmware 9 beta came out and I was saved once more, it sounded great again, for some odd reason almost everything I dialed in felt good. So I started recording with it again, different machine it was, but still a great one none the less, and then I went to a gig, not the same, something has definitely changed in the basic sound, so I just made peace with it for the time being due to the work overload we had and I had to make due.
When I became free I started tweaking and I realized that I honestly do not like the compressor at all ! read a bit here and there and decided after trials over days that I don't like the Axe's compressor, I'm not saying it's bad, just not enough knowledge and time for me to get the desired effect. So I bought a Carl Martin compressor and here's where it began, I started AB'ing most stuff that I could put my hands on with Axe-Fx and I liked more than 50% of the stuff that I tried over the Axe Fx, now here is a part when one would come to question how did I AB, did I use a correct accurate method ? And that's my point, in a time where I have 2 hours per day that are free, I think I need something that sounds GREAT plug and play at least stuff that should be great the second you plug them in, like drives, not "good but needs a few tweaks", but just something spot on, other than the delay and reverb, I prefer the Axe's to almost any delay reverb. So I ended up using it in the effects loop and that sounded great, better than I have could imagined.
That worked fine for a couple of month but then a new problem emerged, flights ! I now have to carry a moderate pedal board, the Axe, my guitar, a controller and a suitcase, so you could imagine the hassle I would be going through just to go the airport, not to mention the trip itself and the extra costs and so on.
I was given the TC 2290 as a present a few months ago, lucky bastard I know and although it sounds different to the Axe imo, I still didn't want or rather couldn't add more racks to my rig. I mostly use it in recording as I do find its Slapback superior to anything else that I've tried and it does have its own character.
So now I bought a timeline and I do intend to buy some reverb pedal (not sure which yet tbh but Im thinking eventide) and get a small controller with all my pedals in the loop and hopefully that will be it, maybe i will go back to the Axe Fx, maybe I won't but for now I think it will be in the studio as it is a recording beast. Anyways here is a small list of pros and cons that I made for anyone intending to purchase the Axe Fx, hope it's a fair one.
Pros:
1. Great price
2. Extremely versatile
3. Light in weight
4. Great in studio and at home recording (where loud noise or room capacity could be an issue)
5. Very money saving
6. Good plug and play sound.
7. Gives experience.
8. Unique sound and capabilities.
9. Upgrades and continuous work in progress to achieve a better sounding unit by its makers.
Cons:
1. Way too many options to me, a bit confusing as I am a perfectionist and like to think that whatever effect I'm using is really the most appropriate one. I recorded my first album with a tiny valves state Marshall amp and it was physiologically fine for me because i know that's the best that I can do and instead focused on the music.
2. If you buy the Axe Fx know that you will most probably need either FRFR speakers or a cabinet for live use, along with a proper foot controller. Something that should have been clear but was absent from me.
3. Some sounds are not best represented by this machine, so it might discourage the player to use them although he would have if he would have walked into a store tried all the different ones made with different technologies and others companies point of views on how "x" should really sound and end up getting one, using it and increasing his library. I for example never liked wah's because I only tired the Axe's one but now I do have one in my board and use it regularly.
4. The screen is hard to see from most angles even when the contrast is set at max.
5. With every firmware upgrade you are at mercy of losing your sounds or having something "glitchy" going on, I've recently read a thread about someone who didn't like the new firmware because he had all his sounds old sounds on, then upgraded all his banks and everything sounded good, well, that for me is disastrous. You can say don't upgrade but most of the guitarists that I have met, seen or even heard, are looking for the perfect tone, so if hundreds are praising the new firmware, you probably won't be able to help yourself, as one of the reasons WHY you bought this is because you're looking for the perfect tone.
6. (IMHO) You need to be updated with what is happening in the forums, because if you find a new firmware and think "oh goodie!" and download it, you might later discover that something is wrong with Axe-edit's compatibility with your new firmware, guess where would you have to go to find out what you did wrong ? the forums ! So take the shortcut and spend some time on the forums, which is more time to spend without your guitar.
7. You need to be able to tweak the gear change, even if that's because the Axe Fx is more sensitive to pickups and your guitars than the normal amp or w/e, I really dislike that, amps behave differently with different guitars for sure but the scale between great and shit when changing gear is much wider with the axe for me.
One additional point. I think a lot of people worry too much if the Axe could get the tone of etc. or if it sounded like the real thing or not, I think the Axe Fx is simply the Axe Fx, its not trying to be anything else, there are a million demos of people showing off the real thing and then the Axe Fx II, If you keep looking at it that way then you're losing out imho, I've heard a million of demos showing off the Axe vs. something else, and to be honest, I couldnt tell whats what most of the times, but I think what people fail to notice is not whether or not can you tell the real thing from the Axe, it's whether you can notice a DIFFERENCE in the first place, and if you look at it that way. then you'll understand that you can never compare it to anything else.
