Need tips for plugging Axe-Fx II into a combo amp

GotMetalBoy

GotMetalBoy

Power User
I'm going to be playing at an open mic/jam tonight and they have a Peavey Windsor combo amp that I'll be plugging my Axe-Fx II into. In the past, I disconnected the guitar amp mic and plugged the XLR into my Axe-Fx II but they don't want me to do that, so I'll have to plug into their combo amp. I usually go straight from my Axe-Fx II to my FRFR Yamaha DXR12 powered cabs but I can't use them either.

I disabled the cab blocks in the Global settings and changed Output 1 to Sum L+R and plugged my Axe-Fx II into my super old Crate GX-60 combo amp to test how it would sound and it wasn't too bad. I'm going to bring my ART DTI Dual Transformer/Isolator just in case I get any ground loop noises.

I've never plugged a modeler into a real amp before and haven't used a real amp in over 10 years.

  • Is there anything else I should do to my Axe-Fx II or the Peavey Windsor Combo amp?
  • Should I plug into the High or Low gain input or the FX Loop Return on the combo? I'm thinking the FX Loop Return would be best because I think it bypasses the preamp.
  • How much should I turn up Output 1 on my Axe-Fx II? Can I cause any harm to the combo amp?
 
Firstly I suspect that using SUM L+R might cause some issues depending on your patches - you might get some odd phasing issues and weird echo/delay artefacts. Either just use one side of the stereo image or use COPY L-->R to prevent problems. If you find that you are going to be in the same situation more often then create copies of your presets specifically for mono use.
  • How you set the combo amp controls is debatable, try them all fairly neutral and see what happens but be especially wary of the volume. (Edit: just to add, any controls pre-amp related will not have any impact on signals sent to FX Return)
  • FX Return is your best bet because this is more likely to be expecting a signal level similar to the Axe FX. the Hi/Lo inputs will expect instrument level and you would be blasting them with considerably more than that.
  • Start with Output 1 low and work your way up to avoid any surprises.
Other people may have other ideas or suggestions, quite often there is no 100% correct way (or it can be subject to interpretation) but use the above as guidelines.
 
Just to add some detail around signal levels and similar...
  • +4 dBu is 'professional' line level, common in modern pro gear, (e.g. the Axe FX)
  • 0 dBv is an average line level, typical output from rackmount guitar/bass preamps
  • -10 dBv is 'consumer' line level, common with older and cheaper recording gear
  • -20 dBu is roughly typical of an instrument's output
  • -30 dBu is typical of a microphone or DI box's output
Just remember that guitar signal levels can vary quite considerably depending on whether the pickups are active, passive, or piezo (and hence a pre-amp already in the guitar).
 
If your really forced to go into the normal input turn the gain as low as possible (on the combo amp) before it starts getting colored tone wise. It should leave you with a large amount of open head room to still expand your AXE tones into. It will sound different frequency spectrum wise but its usually workable. When I do this I often Leave both amp and cab modeling on, since your not generally driving the amp enough to add that much color to it (depending on volume levels your pushing of course), or smooth the grit that is an amp without cab modeling.
 
Shenks said:
Firstly I suspect that using SUM L+R might cause some issues depending on your patches - you might get some odd phasing issues and weird echo/delay artefacts. Either just use one side of the stereo image or use COPY L-->R to prevent problems. If you find that you are going to be in the same situation more often then create copies of your presets specifically for mono use.
  • How you set the combo amp controls is debatable, try them all fairly neutral and see what happens but be especially wary of the volume. (Edit: just to add, any controls pre-amp related will not have any impact on signals sent to FX Return)
  • FX Return is your best bet because this is more likely to be expecting a signal level similar to the Axe FX. the Hi/Lo inputs will expect instrument level and you would be blasting them with considerably more than that.
  • Start with Output 1 low and work your way up to avoid any surprises.
Other people may have other ideas or suggestions, quite often there is no 100% correct way (or it can be subject to interpretation) but use the above as guidelines.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I'm planning to upgrade to Quantum 2 this weekend and I'm going to update all my presets and try to figure out how to make them mono. I kept toggling between Output Stereo and SUM L+R to test my presets and didn't notice too many issues. My levels are a little off because the cab Blocks are disabled and they change the tone so much and cause the Fletcher Munson effect.
 
I've experimented with using my old Peavey Classic 50 to monitor sometimes if I'm using my FRFR to produce the "FOH" sound. Out 2 straight from into the fx return of the amp with the fx loop block in parallel before the cab... So you could do that to prevent having to alter your presets too much and still be able to control the level you output to the amp. Then again, I probably have no idea what I'm doing.
 
+1 to all the suggestions above to get the combo sounding better.

Also - bring an extra XLR. Leave their XLR plugged into the mic as requested. When they aren't looking, swap the snake input with your XLR cable coming direct from the Axe. :p

Then you'll have the best of both worlds - great tone to FOH, and some combo amp stage volume as they've insisted.
 
I use my Deluxe Reverb for this sometimes and what I've found works best is to first turn the Bass/Treble/etc to 0 so I get as little added from the amp as possible. I go in the lower input on the Normal channel for the cleanest sound and then bring up the volumes as needed, and maybe a touch of bass if it sounds too thin.

If you can plug into the fx return that's much better because you'll be bypassing the preamp. You don't really want that coloration if you can avoid it. I'm considering trading my Deluxe for something w/ a loop just so I can have that option when I don't want to bring my Matrix and cab.
 
Hmmm, if you are being forced to use the Guitar In on the front of the combo amp then it's not going to sound great at all because you are effectively running 2 preamps in series - this will kill your normal tone and sound awful. If you have to do it this way, then try experiment with a preset that has no amp or cab, then just make use of the AxeFx as a normal pedal board with different drive pedals etc as you would with real stompboxes going into an amp.

I use the FX Return on my Marshall sometimes but you MUST have the humbuster cable for this to work cleanly. Also I bypass my cab in the layout using the FXLoop block so my signal goes via Output2.
 
I ended up leaving the cab block disabled in the Global settings and plugged into the Low input on the amp. The amp distorted too easily even with it's gain very low and Axe-Fx II Output low. The amp sounded like crap on stage but the mic'ed sound coming from the FOH actually sounded OK.

I've never liked a real amp sound or the amp in room sound. When I switched to FRFR I was able to get the tones I've always wanted. I think it's because my whole life I've listened to recorded music and always heard recorded tones. It's probably why I like modeled drum sounds like Toontracks and Addictive Drums and don't really like the way acoustic drums sound.
 
That distortion you heard was probably a symptom of the hugely hot signal you were giving the low input. +4dB when it wanted considerably less.
Did you not try the loop return on the amp?
 
Shenks said:
That distortion you heard was probably a symptom of the hugely hot signal you were giving the low input. +4dB when it wanted considerably less.
Did you not try the loop return on the amp?
Click to expand...

I tried the loop and it sounded real bad. I used the amp's low input, so I could use the amp's EQ. I needed to use EQ because I had the CAB Block disabled, so my tone was really different than I'm used to. You only get a few minutes to setup and tune and it was -1F degrees out that day, so my guitar was really out of tune from the temp changes. I had to waste most my time tuning and didn't have much time to mess with the amp. I know I'll never be satisfied with the amp sound and if I mess with it enough to sound ok, it probably won't sound good mic'ed. It's a catch 22. Overall, I sounded ok through the FOH and that's what really matters for the crowd.
 
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