Never Ever thought i'd say this....

neale dunham

Experienced
I've owned my Axe 3 close on 2 years now, and have always maintained the belief, that when using a Non-FRFR setup through conventional guitar speakers, a valve amp could not be bettered.

Then I find a Matrix GT800 online. I bought it.

Things have changed.....

I think I actually prefer it???

For a solid state Poweramp, the difference between the two I gotta say, that i hear, is negligible?

The Valve power-amp I got Is a respectable Fryette Powerstation so its no slouch of an amp, but the Matrix seems to keep up in almost everyway??

I literally cannot believe it.

Sure, the Fryette amp will need Valves every once in a while an weighs around 10kg. While the Matrix weighs a fraction of that and needs almost Zero Maintenance.

I think I'm converted.
 
I had a Freyette two/fifty/two for a few years, and then one day I got to try out a friend's Matrix GT800, thought it was fantastic. I got myself a GT1000, and promptly sold the Fryette as a result. Any benefit from using the Fryette was so negligible, I thought ...you know what, you can keep the change.
I saw little benefit to dragging around 17kgs for a microscopic perceived benefit.

I liked the Fryette a lot. It was solid, and they make great stuff. It was pretty neutral sounding which is what you want when using a modeller. Sonically, I thought the upper mids had a sort of sweetness that isn't present in the Matrix, but I don't miss it at all. In the context of a mix (which is the whole point), the Matrix arguably cuts through better.

That said, I'm always open to what's out there and I'm intrigued by the newer 1U Fryette LXII. It's still a bit on the heavy side, but they spent a lot of time developing it, and I'd be keen to try one out.
 
I guess it boils down to ears and what you get used to. I have a Mesa Boogie Two Fifty. I tried a friends. Matrix GT1000. There was not a lot of difference in tone, except warmth and more sustain with the Mesa. With the Matrix everything went sterile sounding, no matter how I set it. So I've stuck with the heavy tube amp for now. Of course noting really matters when going to FOH. So I'd rather be happy on stage.
 
I guess it boils down to ears and what you get used to. I have a Mesa Boogie Two Fifty. I tried a friends. Matrix GT1000. There was not a lot of difference in tone, except warmth and more sustain with the Mesa. With the Matrix everything went sterile sounding, no matter how I set it. So I've stuck with the heavy tube amp for now. Of course noting really matters when going to FOH. So I'd rather be happy on stage.

Yes, that's right, I had a Mesa fifty/fifty power amp before I had the Fryette. It coloured the tone a lot, and even explained that in the manual. Everything sounded all Mesa, and that's fine if that's what you're after. Again, I liked it, but it just had too much of it. At the time I wasn't also simultaneously going FRFR as well, so as you say, these days as I'm doing both, it might not bother me at all. It was a heavy sucker though :grin:
 
I'm really trying not to say it right now...

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Have to agree. I compared the GT1000FX to my Mesa 2:90 and was amazed how close it was. Did kind of dig the deep switch on the 2:90 tho.
 
Hmm interesting..
I have the new PS-100 on order, hopefully get it in about 4 weeks. Fryette says it has two modes, flat and coloured. I'm guessing the flat mode is for running power amp modeling etc.
A matrix popped up locally just the other day. If I hadn't paid for the PS100 I probably would've jumped on that. Keep hearing good things.
 
I think a a lot comes down obviously to the type of guitar you play, the music you like to play and the sounds you are used to hearing as the "norm".

Not just two weeks ago, I was on here saying how a SS amp would never hold a candle to a Valve amp...... Blah Blah Blah!

Oops!

How wrong was I ??!!!

My Apologies each and every SS user.

scurries off to hide under old copies of Guitarist Magazine
 
With the Matrix everything went sterile sounding, no matter how I set it.


When I first tried a Matrix Gt I had only just purchased the Axe 3 back in late 2018. The firmware version from memory was around 10.x

Now we are on version 14. I wonder if the constant tweaks from the excellent Fractal team, have really added some differences to the feel and response of the SS amps?

Something has definitely improved since the last time I played a SS amp.!!
 
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Yes, that's right, I had a Mesa fifty/fifty power amp before I had the Fryette. It coloured the tone a lot, and even explained that in the manual. Everything sounded all Mesa, and that's fine if that's what you're after. Again, I liked it, but it just had too much of it. At the time I wasn't also simultaneously going FRFR as well, so as you say, these days as I'm doing both, it might not bother me at all. It was a heavy sucker though :grin:
Mesa Fifty/Fifty is a different beast than the Mesa Two/Fifty (newer model). I had both, plus a Two/Ninety. The Fifty/Fifty was voiced a lot like the Two/Ninety, where the Two/Fifty is cleaner with a different preamp structure. Mine is voiced with 6L6s.
 
When I first started drooling over AXE FX I would see pictures in peoples racks with the Matrix amp in it. At the time thinking what is this POS and how much for that thing? Turns out they are a force to recon with. Bought a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 700 after I was having an issue with the matrix muting output every so often at a gig. Must have been a brown out or a speaker cabinet wasn't plugged in all the way, still a mystery so I didn't use the Matrix for three months after that. Decided to try the matrix again and no issue at all since. Just seems like the Matrix is more fun to play than the SD.
 
I had a Fifty/Fifty too, had been using it since way back in the Boss GT-3 days. I always liked it except yea it does color everything Mesa, and weighs a lot (especially in my old rack which was wood ;-(

I switched to a GT800 and never looked back.
 
Years ago I bought a Line 6 Pod something... it was their top of the line and big, pre-Helix floor. And, it was OK, but horribly unresponsive.

Then I sold that and bought a Helix floor when they came out, early enough that I got the backpack, and it was better, but still didn't respond to picking or the guitar's volume

I sold it and bought an AX8, but, because I was so used to my tube amps, it didn't measure up, though it was good, so I sold it and focused on my amps and building pedal boards I really, REALLY, liked, and used them and they sounded wonderful.

And then the virus hit. In order to practice I needed to be almost silent, so headphones and electric guitar into something. I bought another Helix floor, and with the latest firmware it sounded good, but I expected even more, so I signed up for the FM3. That finally came in, I sent the Helix for repairs (yeah, that) and began experimenting with the FM3, which is head and shoulders above the Helix.

Long story a bit shorter, now I use my studio headphones into the FM3, with the USB into my computer, send songs from the computer to the FM3 and work on stuff completely silent because of the headphones. And, so far, the output sounds amazing through my FRFR speaker too when I plug into it.

I've got three well known and well respected boutique amps, and love them, but... dang... I gotta say that modeling is here in force and isn't going anywhere. The sounds I get from the FM3 are stunning, for amps I could never afford.
 
I've owned my Axe 3 close on 2 years now, and have always maintained the belief, that when using a Non-FRFR setup through conventional guitar speakers, a valve amp could not be bettered.

Then I find a Matrix GT800 online. I bought it.

Things have changed.....

I think I actually prefer it???

For a solid state Poweramp, the difference between the two I gotta say, that i hear, is negligible?

The Valve power-amp I got Is a respectable Fryette Powerstation so its no slouch of an amp, but the Matrix seems to keep up in almost everyway??

I literally cannot believe it.

Sure, the Fryette amp will need Valves every once in a while an weighs around 10kg. While the Matrix weighs a fraction of that and needs almost Zero Maintenance.

I think I'm converted.
The Axe-Fx III is already modeling a tube power amp. For best results you want a clean, loud solid-state amp. The GT800 is just that.
 
Played for years with an engl tube poweramp. Changed to matrix gt1000 to take more advantage of poweramp moddeling within the axefx. You learn to train your ears just by playing around with the axefx and i noticed the engl colouring too much eventually.
Got a better tone, more flexibility from axefx and the weight difference is huge. 👍

Still got the engl, but only to have a backup of every part of my gear.
 
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