New user - need advice to get started

S

scott4rock

New Member
I am a proud new owner of the Axe FX II - I have a few questions about getting started and long term direction to get the most out of this product.

1.) What set up do you consider most effective to show the abilities of this unit ?

2.) Does it make any difference what amp you plug into ? i.e. (marshall, H&K, Mesa ...)

3.) Does it make a difference the cabinet you play through?

The reason for my question revolve around the premise... if you are changing from amp model or cabinet model... does the output change with the final speaker I decide to use ....
 
In my opinion you best bet for speakers is FRFR this way you can take full advantage of the speaker emulations and use various cabs that have been developed for use with the Axe Fx.

As far as developing a great tone I recommend setting up an amp block of your liking and find a good sounding cab to go with it. If you are going to use a real cabinet then you will need to turn the speaker emulation off. However using it in this method will limit the capabilities of this unit.

I also recommend reading through the manual and watching some videos on YouTube that will help with your initial setup. I also believe its a good practice to learn how to use the front panel controls on the Axe versus only using Axe Edit software through the PC.

I also don't recommend not using other peoples presets as I believe we all have a certain tone we are after and the sooner you know how to dial that tone in yourself the better off you will be. There are allot of great amps to choose from so don't get option fatigue from trying to many right away. If your looking for a classic rock tone or something close to that give the USA lead amp a try I have gotten some great results with that amp.

Once you have your tone dialed in you can start adding a few effects such as reverb and delay or what ever you love. The beautiful thing about the Axe is with time you will be able to pretty much get what ever sound your after. There are some great features like the x/y feature and the scene modes which I find awesome.

Finally don't be in a hurry to learn the unit, learn one thing at a time and move on from there before you know it you'll be helping others with issues they are having. I am very happy you were able to get an Axe Fx and wish you the best while creating new guitar tones while using the best preamp/ processor in the world. I hope this helped a little.
 
Congrats on your new AxeFX!! I'm also a relatively new owner of one as well and I must say that I'm sure you're going to love it. It will open up many doors for you regarding tone, effects and anything your imagination can dream up.

I attempted to use mine with my current amp setup, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get great tones out of it. That's why I'm currently in the process of going FRFR. I feel that it's probably the only way to maximize all the potential of the AFX, sounding the way things are supposed to sound and to truly utilize the cab IRs and such.

I am in agreement with Markmusicman's comments. I watch a lot of vids and try to read up as much as I can and am still only scratching the beginning steps of this unit so far. Be patient and continue to work through things one at a time. :) Good luck and let us all know how things are coming along. :)
 
I will be the contrarian here and say: put FRFR on the back burner until you get a good understanding of the amp and routing capabilities of the AXE. I am going on 5 years of using the AXE for gigging, so I have been down all of the rabbit holes that are possible (with the exception of making my own IR's - that is next).

If I were just starting out, I would get a good quality cab/speakers that fits the tones I like best. Next, decide on a poweramp that again, fits the style of music you want to play the most. Part of the versatility of the AXE is that despite whatever setup you have, you can approximate other setups with relative ease. Need a Les Paul to sound thin with accents of the high frequencies? No problem, well-placed PEQ/GEQ's are your friend. Think of the AXE as an entire recording studio in a box - you can do anything to manipulate your sound.

Once you get the routing possibilities and the amp blocks down, then move on to the effects, and lastly onto cabs/IR - they are their own animal.

I spent an entire year dialing in my tones with my custom Scumback-loaded cab and then miked the cab at gigs. It's ok to learn that way, one step at a time.

I don't buy in to the "you are not getting the most out of the AXE if you don't use IR's" line of thinking. By that same logic you should be using every effect in every preset. No, just use what you need to inspire yourself to play guitar and make music.

That being said, I went ahead and learned a ton about IR's and the cab block and it is now really important to my live sound, but it doesn't have to be. If a sound guy insisted on miking my cab I would say "cool" as I know my FOH sound would still be great.

My any other pearl of wisdom would be to learn to use the front panel. I went 2 years without touching Axe Edit and it has paid off very well at gigs where I have to make changes on the fly.
 
I am not saying you shouldn't do with a cabinet but in my opinion you will be limiting yourself by choosing to go that way. Why would you only want to sound like one cabinet? Having the FRFR gives you choices of having more than one sound and you would still b able to capture the sound of your favorite cab. In my current setup I am using I believe three different cabs and 4 or 5 different amps. All I am saying you will have much greater versatility using FRFR speakers. I wish you the best with your decision.
 
markmusicman said:
I am not saying you shouldn't do with a cabinet but in my opinion you will be limiting yourself by choosing to go that way. Why would you only want to sound like one cabinet? Having the FRFR gives you choices of having more than one sound and you would still b able to capture the sound of your favorite cab. In my current setup I am using I believe three different cabs and 4 or 5 different amps. All I am saying you will have much greater versatility using FRFR speakers. I wish you the best with your decision.
Click to expand...

^ This
With FRFR my Axe opened up and let me hear how much there's inside. Wit a cab you get a lot of coloring in 1 direction. Can be a great sound, but limited.
 
Thank you

markmusicman said:
In my opinion you best bet for speakers is FRFR this way you can take full advantage of the speaker emulations and use various cabs that have been developed for use with the Axe Fx.

As far as developing a great tone I recommend setting up an amp block of your liking and find a good sounding cab to go with it. If you are going to use a real cabinet then you will need to turn the speaker emulation off. However using it in this method will limit the capabilities of this unit.

I also recommend reading through the manual and watching some videos on YouTube that will help with your initial setup. I also believe its a good practice to learn how to use the front panel controls on the Axe versus only using Axe Edit software through the PC.

I also don't recommend not using other peoples presets as I believe we all have a certain tone we are after and the sooner you know how to dial that tone in yourself the better off you will be. There are allot of great amps to choose from so don't get option fatigue from trying to many right away. If your looking for a classic rock tone or something close to that give the USA lead amp a try I have gotten some great results with that amp.

Once you have your tone dialed in you can start adding a few effects such as reverb and delay or what ever you love. The beautiful thing about the Axe is with time you will be able to pretty much get what ever sound your after. There are some great features like the x/y feature and the scene modes which I find awesome.

Finally don't be in a hurry to learn the unit, learn one thing at a time and move on from there before you know it you'll be helping others with issues they are having. I am very happy you were able to get an Axe Fx and wish you the best while creating new guitar tones while using the best preamp/ processor in the world. I hope this helped a little.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your Response, I have a pair of KRK studio monitors that I can try as FRFR speakers and compare to a couple of amp and speaker cabs that I have ... I appreciate your advice...
 
To all on this thread that posted ... thank you for your insight and I will proceed a step at a time ... enjoying the adventure...
 
Something to consider...

While an Axe Fx II with FRFR speaker(s) and a flat, powerful amp will allow you to model all the currently supplied and vintage amps/effects so accurately it's spooky, that doesn't mean you can't get good tones otherwise. You have to decide whether you want/need an perfect representation of the numerous amps/speaker(s) combinations that exist in the real world. It's entirely possible to modify the settings to get an absolutely great tone out of anything. Or, at least something that will make you happy, Happy, HAPPY! The models at this point in the thing's evolution are superb, so you can think of it as a given. For instance, if you had a Marshall JCM 800 head, you could plug it into a pretty wide variety of bottoms and each would sound different. Same with the Axe. Turn off the cabinet modelling, and go for it. You'll smile at the sky, guaranteed. But, who's to say which is best? There's no accounting for taste. The joy of a FRFR solution is that you can change amps and cabs at the push of a button. But, what if you don't need to? For numerous examples, look at the pros. Robin Trower uses a pretty limited amp/speaker combination. What use has he for an Axe Fx? So he can model some short stack JCM800s? Why? He probably has a warehouse full of them.

When I first got my AxeFx, I ran it through a pair of 112 bottoms I built. Nice units, if I must say so myself. But, everybody said "yer nutz!" Too limiting. Well, ok. Sounds pretty damn good to me, better than anything I'd had before. But, peer pressure and all that... so I cheaped out and bought some full-range PA speakers from Carvin. World of difference. Now I could hear differences I never heard before, and much more accurate representations of what I was supposed to be modelling. Like going from black & white photos to color. Still, not quite the resolution you'd want if you were looking at something in real life. So, you take the next step.

Now I can get a pretty accurate representation of many amp/cab combinations, but I've gotten to the "Who cares?" point. I never wanted a Mesa Boogie. Never wanted a Vox. Or, at least I'd never have paid for one. But, they're certainly handy sometimes, if you're trying to cover somebody else's tone. But for me? I have my own taste.

So, while there's a lot to be said for FRFR speakers and flat amps, mainly what they do is show off the AxeFx's incredible accuracy. Keep in mind that it's infinitely variable, and you may be able to get to some point that makes you happy. I mean, who hasn't bought an amp and replaced the speakers or (something)? Or, piled 297 sfx in front of it?

Don't sweat it, is what I'm saying. Wait and see if you have a problem before you let other people say you have a problem.
 
Hijack: Newb central here... Why waste a thread on a dumb keyboard actuator (me) issue?

How do I change the two cabs in the cab block from the front panel? I am in the edit screen for the cab (CABINET 1:X) and it shows the two cabs at the bottom of the screen but none of the front panel buttons get to them nor are the cabs on any of the other pages of that block. Forum search, the manual and wiki doesn't cover this. Sorry!
 
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