New guy here, very close to purchasing the Axe-Fx III/FC-12. I have some questions

LeftyStrat

LeftyStrat

Member
A bit about me, I have been building and modifying amps and effects since my teens. I just turned 61. I have built clones of Dumbles (Skyliner, SSS) and Trainwrecks (Express, Liverpool, and Rocket). I have built and modified amps to customers desires, including a freak hybrid of a JTM 45 with JMP 50 filtering which the customer loved and called the amp Mary, after Hendrix Wind Cries Mary, achieving that "edge" tone where your playing dynamics can control the amount of hair or distortion.

I was blown away when Austin Buddy was able to reproduce the tone of the Dumble Steel String Singer by combining the Skyliner preamp with the SVT power amp, which is what an SSS really is. I also love I can tweak cold biased cathode followers, which is essential to two of the Trainwrecks and the Sodano.

I'm interested in the Axe Fx 3 and the FC-12. I easily have the amps and pedals to fully fund my purchase, I just want to know what pedals I can sell and which ones I need to keep. Here's my current pedal board:

Source Audio Ventris, Strymon Timeline, Source Audio Vertigo, TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 (Only used for Shimner), Hotone Binary Amp (yes this goes, but the sims are really good), various distortion and fuzz pedals. EHX Mel9.

TLDR; What pedal as an AxeFx III owner do you still need?
 
I sold 50+ vintage and boutique amps. I kept three pedals my wife bought me, but they have not been out of their drawer in many years. If you can’t do it in the III you are just not in the correct path and need to ask fir assistance.
 
The Binary amp can go straight out the window for sure, while the mel9 is a keeper, you cannot replicate it in the axe.
The others can probably be replicated but my suggestion is to keep them for now (if you can) so that you can compare them side by side, it might take some work to match them if you want 100% faithful emulations.
 
Sold every pedal apart from my King of Tone which I don't use, but waited so long to get!

Delays, reverbs and modulations are great in the III - so would say sell all of those.

I also find I use pedals a lot less, it's often easier to change the amp - since you have so many of them available
 
IF I WUZ U, I would keep the Klon, the Mel , and one of your favorite fuzzes. ...though recent updates have brought the the drives and fuzzes tantalizingly close to their analog matches...@DLC86 s advice is prolly best. ..Welcome to the forum, you will be blown away by the magic box..
(and no worries about your geezerness..I’m 65 and there are lots of us decaying boomers hanging here..)
 
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I had many pedals similar or identical to those you own as well as quite a bit of rack gear. I bought the Axe FX II way back when and the longer I owned it, the more pedals/rack gear I sold. When I upgraded to the III, I got rid of everything that I had. The only thing I have left now is a 1965 Fender Bandmaster that I am hanging on to just because of its age.
 
I’d keep the Klon strictly for the resale value, and the MEL9. I sold all of my Source Audio pedals, even tho they’ve been my favorites for the past 4+ years. The only pedal of mine that I’m considering keeping is an EHX Q Tron. Then again I haven’t really dug into the AF3 Envelope Filter yet. My goal is to have no other pedals, just an FC controller (or two) and associated EPs and switches.
 
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Keep the Mel9 and your favorite fuzzes, the rest can go with no problem.

I don't "need" any pedals with my Axe III, and most often gig with only the Axe, but I like to keep especially my germanium fuzzes around for special stuff and for the studio work.
The Axe III can get very close to the tone of the fuzz pedals, and certainly close enough for most players, but the interaction with the volume knob and the way a real fuzz cleans up can not be replicated in the Axe III.
So if a big part of your sound is germanium fuzz and you use the guitar volume a lot with those, then definitely keep the fuzzes.
 
Rocket Brother said:
Keep the Mel9 and your favorite fuzzes, the rest can go with no problem.

I don't "need" any pedals with my Axe III, and most often gig with only the Axe, but I like to keep especially my germanium fuzzes around for special stuff and for the studio work.
The Axe III can get very close to the tone of the fuzz pedals, and certainly close enough for most players, but the interaction with the volume knob and the way a real fuzz cleans up can not be replicated in the Axe III.
So if a big part of your sound is germanium fuzz and you use the guitar volume a lot with those, then definitely keep the fuzzes.
Click to expand...

I have a thread on fuzz, and someone suggested certain changes so that fuzz can behave properly. Not sure if you've tried it out but it may help. Something to do with buffer placement.
 
You need a Klon. The rest can go. I used to have my own business designing guitar effects and synthesizers. I had many famous clients. Sounds like we’re similar minds.
 
Budda said:
I have a thread on fuzz, and someone suggested certain changes so that fuzz can behave properly. Not sure if you've tried it out but it may help. Something to do with buffer placement.
Click to expand...

The thing is that going into the Axe III everything is buffered from that point onwards, no changing that.
I asked Cliff about this and he said that he couldn't imagine how he'd ever get around that.
As I said, the sound of the fuzz sim is very very good, but that volume interaction is not there.
Luckily tha Axe III takes pedals like a champ, and fuzzes in front of the Axe is a wonderful thing :)
 
Rocket Brother said:
The thing is that going into the Axe III everything is buffered from that point onwards, no changing that.
I asked Cliff about this and he said that he couldn't imagine how he'd ever get around that.
As I said, the sound of the fuzz sim is very very good, but that volume interaction is not there.
Luckily tha Axe III takes pedals like a champ, and fuzzes in front of the Axe is a wonderful thing :)
Click to expand...
It is buffered but you can change the impedance of input block... I think it's not exactly the same but closer.
 
Rocket Brother said:
The thing is that going into the Axe III everything is buffered from that point onwards, no changing that.
I asked Cliff about this and he said that he couldn't imagine how he'd ever get around that.
As I said, the sound of the fuzz sim is very very good, but that volume interaction is not there.
Luckily tha Axe III takes pedals like a champ, and fuzzes in front of the Axe is a wonderful thing :)
Click to expand...

"Many fuzzes depend on a direct connection between the guitar pickup and the input of the pedal. A modeler gets in the way because its input is always buffered. This means that a modeled fuzz will react differently than the actual pedal."

(firmware 4.00 for the Axe-Fx III) "Duplicating the behavior of a fuzz pedal requires that the pedal be the first non-bypassed block following the Input 1 block and the input block impedance must be set to Auto since fuzz pedals load down the guitar’s pickups."
 
Budda said:
"Many fuzzes depend on a direct connection between the guitar pickup and the input of the pedal. A modeler gets in the way because its input is always buffered. This means that a modeled fuzz will react differently than the actual pedal."

(firmware 4.00 for the Axe-Fx III) "Duplicating the behavior of a fuzz pedal requires that the pedal be the first non-bypassed block following the Input 1 block and the input block impedance must be set to Auto since fuzz pedals load down the guitar’s pickups."
Click to expand...
But I believe that still just changes the buffer impedance... It's not getting the actual load from the guitar which is the reason (as far as I understand) that a fuzz doesn't work well with a buffer.
 
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