Newbie owner - first impressions

adew

adew

Inspired
This "review" thread is aimed at people who are about to take the leap and buy an Axe FXII, and for those in the very early stages of ownership. Seasoned Axe pros will probably just smile fondly, and get a little misty-eyed remembering their own Axe baby-steps... :)

Background
I've been playing guitar for 30+ years, the majority of this time spent in originals bands ranging from 80's indie, pop-rock, hard rock to modern alt. rock. I've generally always used tube amps, and for the last few years have exclusively used Dual Rectifiers and LP's/ESP Eclipses loaded with EMGs. Yes, I like it heavy and dirty, but I'm not a metal player.

However, I'm not entirely new to modelling and non-trad gear, having owned and used a GP-8 for a while when it first came out, to a Pod HD Pro in my home studio a few years ago, a Vox Tonelab LE, and more recently a short period of Eleven Rack ownership. So, I have no bias regarding the technology. I'm just interested in sounding the best I can.

Like many others, I got fed up with lugging a head and 4x12 around. Plus, in many of the places I play, bands are expected to share backline or even use supplied backline - which is never satisfying as a player. The short period of owning an Eleven Rack proved to me that the modeller/FRFR route is perfectly do-able, though I felt, ultimately, that the 11R wasn't for me, hence the big decision to buy the Axe FXII.

In diary format, here's my story so far...

Day One
  • Packages arrive from G66, complete with box of choccies and personalised letter (nice touch guys).
  • Plug it in, hook up headphones and then spend about 3 hours scrolling through the presets.
  • Far too much time spent playing with ambient presets that I would never use live in a million years - but which are so much fun to play - especially those with pitch-shifting, etc. Great fun!
  • I am strangely drawn to the Jazz Smooth preset. This and some of the other clean / clean-ish tones feel so right, especially with the guitar’s vol pot rolled off a bit and using picking dynamics. Amazingly real.
  • Underwhelmed by the Recto presets. Frankly, I'm disappointed with these and feel a bit down about it.
  • Stumble across Euro Red, HBE and FAS Lead 2 and my mood picks up. These keep me happy for another hour or so of playing.
  • I don't even try to edit something. I want to tweak, but the front panel is a little daunting...
  • Overall, I'm happy, though I don't like a lot of the factory presets.


Day Two
  • I realise that I need to do some homework, so some serious time is spent reading the manual and trying to familiarise myself with the front panel. Ok, stuff is starting to make sense.
  • However, I don't want to open the MFC-101 box yet, there's just SO much (too much?) to learn.
  • Plug in my guitar and back to the Axe factory presets. Shall I dare to create my own?
  • First up, let's see if I can get the Recto Modern preset to sound more like my Dual Rec. Using the Quick Access knobs, it's a doddle to scoop the mids a little, up the gain a gnat's boll*ck and back off the presence a bit. Much closer to what I think my live rig sounds like. I'm a bit happier now, but it still doesn't sound 100% like me. A technique I use a lot live is to keep the Dual Rec on Ch3 Modern and then use my neck pickup with volume very low (2 or 3) for a "clean-ish" sound. This works really well with my amp - the sound is loud and clean enough for moody intro arpeggios and stuff like that. Big disappointment - this approach doesn't work at all with the Recto preset. Hmmm...
  • I go back to the Euro Red and, particularly, FAS Lead 2 presets. I can't stop playing them, they sound so good. I think I may have found my new lead sound. Smiles return.
  • Another frustration - I keep hitting the Nav key when wanting to change Page. Aghhhh! This is annoying - the Page tabs are at the top of the display screen, but the Page buttons are at the bottom of the front panel - totally counter-intuitive. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get used to it...
  • I'm thinking, why aren't there any empty user preset slots? I'm oddly reluctant to overwrite a factory preset.
  • To hell with it - I can always use Fractal-Bot to recover something if necessary - so I save my first preset! Big grin.

Day Three
  • Time to get serious and work on creating usable live presets.
  • Crikey! This scene/preset thing is a bit confusing. The manual is very detailed, but I don't feel it's helping me use the Axe live. What are the best setup options, etc? I'm feeling a little frustrated again...
  • Post a thread on the forums. Great replies from knowledgeable folk, and no sign of typical TGP cr*p when a newbie asks a question. Great! :encouragement: Thanks, guys.
  • Ok, I'm starting to get somewhere when editing presets.
  • I use delay nearly all the time when playing, either as a soft thickening (very low mix value), or something more obvious (mix value 40%+), but dialling it in is proving to be a bit frustrating. Oh... this stereo/mono thing is a bit confusing, too. I will use the Axe in mono, so I need to know how to set up the I/O. The dire warnings about Sum L+R are making me nervous. What to do, what to do...
  • Back to the manual to work out the I/O option. Decide on Copy L > Copy R, go back to my Dual Delay preset and I've lost one of the delay lines! Aghhh!!
  • Dive into the DLY Edit page and tweak parameters. Phew! Got the second delay line back - though I'm not sure what I tweaked. I think it was the Pan parameters.
  • Spend another couple of hours playing with some of the different amp models. I've seen lots of stuff on the forums about the Triptik. I'm a little underwhelmed by it, but no doubt my tweaking was inept. I'll come back to this another day.
  • I pack up for the day and mull over my Axe experience so far. Overall, my opinion is positive - the sounds are fantastic, the effects sound great, etc, and the capabilities of this machine are clearly enormous - well beyond what I need. But I'm a little frustrated. The factory presets need tweaking for my tastes, and there's so much that can be tweaked, I'm a little overwhelmed and wondering if I've made a good purchase decision...


Day Four
  • I discover that Global Blocks are clever and useful, and will save a lot of editing in future. I wish I could name the Global blocks I'm creating. Time to scribble down some notes otherwise I'll lose track. Too late - I've lost track. :-/
  • More fun with Euro Red and FAS Lead 2. Play around with different cabs. Realise that it's true - the cab probably has the biggest single impact on the overall tone. Strangely, despite my experience and use of many different types of amp and speaker over the years, the reality of this is fully brought home to me by using the Axe.
  • Editing presets is coming together. I seem to be hitting the Nav buttons by mistake a little less frequently. :)
  • Disaster! I discover that when I bypass the DLY block the preset volume changes! Arghhhh! WTF???
  • Spend 30 minutes searching the forums and find a recent thread discussing this issue. Learn loads of stuff about series and parallel routing, the importance of the DLY block Bypass mode setting, etc. Phew! All fixed - I just needed to change the Bypass Mode setting.
  • Disaster number 2! Two presets with identical settings, except their DLY mix values are significantly different, don't have same volume. :sob: OMG, this is doing my head in...
  • Back to the forum thread - the light begins to dawn, clouds start to disappear, and I better understand how this beast of a machine works. Note to self: there are some very, very knowledgeable people here and they appear to share that knowledge freely. Cool, very cool.
  • Overall, I'm still upbeat and yesterday's negative thoughts have somewhat subsided. If only I had my CLR...


Day Five
  • Definitely a sunny day in the practice room!
  • Fingers are staring to whizz around that Front Panel. Change tempo? Easy! Deep edit something? Double easy peasy! Add a parallel path on the Grid? No sweat! Insert a block or two? Pah, child's play! As someone who has done a lot of web development in my time, I know a good user interface when I see one. Apart from the Nav/page buttons, a lot of thought went into the front panel layout and button/knob functionality. These Fractal folk are clearly clever chappies...
  • My tweaked Euro Red and FAS Lead 2 patches are sounding really good to me now. Ooooh! The HBE is tasty, isn't it?
  • However, I realise I'm at the limit of what I can do with headphones and I know that my presets have too much gain and bass. But, sadly, my CLR won't arrive for at least another few weeks. So, I relax a little - no point getting too worked up about fine-tuning until I can hear these presets at volume - preferably with the band. Time to play and work on new songs/riffs. Big grins return.

Day Six
  • Finally get around to installing Fractal Bot and Axe Edit.
  • Finish wiring up my 6u rack case and install the Axe in the rack. Looking good!
  • Start to play around with other amp types. There's a bewildering away, especially when factoring in the cab choice. Luckily, I find a great page on the Wiki which lists details of the amps and their recommended cabs.
  • I get overcome by the desire to play classic rock and start delving through the various Brit models. Spend too long blasting my ears with the JVM OD variants. Not particularly "classic", but I can't help playing a few Zakk Wylde licks. Great fun indeed!
  • Back to work - time to unbox the MFC and start programming scenes, IA's, expression pedal, etc. Another learning curve, but at least I'm not a total stranger to MIDI - which helps.
  • I feel, at last, that I'm over the initial "where TF do I begin???" sensation, and I'm starting to understand a lot about the way amp circuits work, which really helps when tweaking. I hadn't realised that the whole thing would so educative :)
  • Shall I be adventurous and load up the 11 beta firmware? Heck, yeah! Now I know what I'll be doing tomorrow... :)


To summarise:
  1. I'm very happy with my purchase and love the tones I'm getting
  2. The learning curve should not be under-estimated. It's not that it is steep; rather it's a bit of a rollercoaster with some things being easy to deal with and figure out, other things being much more difficult to grasp.
  3. Don’t be surprised if many of the factory presets leave you cold. They are designed to showcase a wide range of tonal styles; therefore it is unreasonable to expect that all will suit/please you. However, once you find a few presets you like, use them as a jumping off point for making your own presets.

So, finally, my advice to others who are just about to dip their toes in the Axe FXII world?

Do it. Persevere. RTFM. Surf the forums like there's no tomorrow. The results will come and you will love the tones you can create! :eagerness:

Cheers!
 
Great write up! You accomplished more in six days than most do in six weeks or even months. Your methodical approach is definitely the way to tackle the beast. So many have tossed together the whole system (Axe, MFC, monitors) and then begin tweaking a little of this on the Axe, a little of that on the MFC etc. and then get overwhelmed. It's also quite refreshing to see that you consulted the manual and WIKI during your journey prior to asking your questions here.

Well done!
 
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That was a good read. If you learned all that in 6 days, just imagine where you'll be a few months down the road! I'd stay clear of Axe Edit for the time being... if possible.
 
adew, good to get an honest review! The Axe-Fx has changed my way of thinking about guitar tone and your struggle reminds me of my first months. When you get used to the versatility you'll feel helpless without it. :)

I've also struggled with the Mesa amp sims. Mostly the Mark series and dropping the volume and getting the feel right etc. Still I'd rather have another preset for that cleaner tone than carry a Mesa head like I used to. (Roadster, Mark III and IV etc.)

Try the Fryette. My bandmate said it was closer to his Roadster. :)

But yeah... IRs are everything so spend time finding the right one.
 
Very well written and great story about the first week. You are doing it right! One day at a time, one thing at a time. Have fun!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forum Runner
 
Very nicely put together adew :encouragement:

I suspect that you're a little like me in as much as it often helps to write things out to really clarify your own thoughts :)

I've got a long tweaking session ahead of me this afternoon / evening. With 11b, Pete & Steph's presets and no axe-edit, I feel it's going to sharpen my front panel game somewhat! Pen, paper and iPhone camera at the ready! :D
 
Cool write up. I found it interesting to see the context of what was behind the questions posted :encouragement:

Nice one...
 
Good review. I think we've all been there at first and the Axe II has only gotten deeper since my start four years ago in the Ultra days.

One suggestion that has worked for me. Make a template of an entire patch (all the boxes you will use) and just copy it. Then you just change amps and cabs as you want the sound to change. I always know where my effects on-off are, what scene, etc.

Of course, if your into really dramatic effect lines that might not work. But I've got my MFC setup where every patches switches work the same. Much less stress at gig time!
 
Thanks for all of the replies and encouragement. I'm really enjoying this rollercoaster and can't wait to try it out in a band context.

cobbler said:
Great write up! You accomplished more in six days than most do in six weeks or even months. Your methodical approach is definitely the way to tackle the beast. So many have tossed together the whole system (Axe, MFC, monitors) and then begin tweaking a little of this on the Axe, a little of that on the MFC etc. and then get overwhelmed. It's also quite refreshing to see that you consulted the manual and WIKI during your journey prior to asking your questions here.

Well done!
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Thanks! Exactly - there seemed so much to understand to get to grips with the Axe, let alone the MFC, I realised I had to deal with one at a time.

biskitboy said:
I'd stay clear of Axe Edit for the time being... if possible.
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Thanks for the tip. :)

Clark Kent said:
adew, good to get an honest review! The Axe-Fx has changed my way of thinking about guitar tone and your struggle reminds me of my first months. When you get used to the versatility you'll feel helpless without it. :)

I've also struggled with the Mesa amp sims. Mostly the Mark series and dropping the volume and getting the feel right etc. Still I'd rather have another preset for that cleaner tone than carry a Mesa head like I used to. (Roadster, Mark III and IV etc.)

Try the Fryette. My bandmate said it was closer to his Roadster. :)

But yeah... IRs are everything so spend time finding the right one.
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Thanks for the tips, Clark! I wanted to share the downs as well as the ups, as I'm sure many other users have been through similar experiences.

As soon as I finish this post I'm off to check out the Fryette. :encouragement:

Scott Peterson said:
Very well written and great story about the first week. You are doing it right! One day at a time, one thing at a time. Have fun!
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Thanks, Scott. Actually, I sort of blame you for me being an Axe owner. It was all your great write-ups on TGP over the years that finally encouraged me to take the modeller/FRFR plunge. Which means it will be your fault if it turns into a disaster. :mrgreen [/joke]

Cover'd said:
Very nicely put together adew :encouragement:

I suspect that you're a little like me in as much as it often helps to write things out to really clarify your own thoughts :)
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Thanks! Indeed, I saw clarky had done something similar in the past and it certainly helps to clear the fog and deal with the information overload.


scorch said:
One suggestion that has worked for me. Make a template of an entire patch (all the boxes you will use) and just copy it. Then you just change amps and cabs as you want the sound to change. I always know where my effects on-off are, what scene, etc.

Of course, if your into really dramatic effect lines that might not work. But I've got my MFC setup where every patches switches work the same. Much less stress at gig time!
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I think that's a great suggestion and one I intend to follow. My needs are not very complex in terms of effects, so I think a "master template" will be just the ticket. Thanks!
 
Good, very thorough review. I'm glad you're finding happiness with the AxeFX 2. The presets on any piece of digital gear are going to be very hit or miss. They're made by someone who isn't you, 1000 miles away, with different tastes, different ears and on a different guitar.

The presets on the AxeFX 2 are much better overall than on the Gen 1 AxeFX, but they won't please everyone. Most presets leave me cold, or are 75% of what a I want...but occassionally one is superb out of the box. I guess everyone's experience is different.

You're right about the sheer depth of the AxeFX 2 and how daunting it can be. It's like literally sitting in the world's most well-equipped studio with a master amp tech there to fulfill your every whim. For some people that's too much. I know I don't necessarily need the 100+ amp models in the AxeFX 2, but it's good to have variety. I've gravitated to 3 or 4 that I cycle between depending on the style I'm playing and my mood.

I think us Gen 1 owners probably have a bit of an easier time diving in that brand new owners, but I think persistence pays off in the end. The AxeFX 2 is definitely easier to dial a great tone in than the Gen 1 units, trust me.

Definitely check out KKMusic's YouTube videos on setting up the MFC 101 with the AxeFX 2 and setting up expression pedals with the MFC/AxeFX combo. It will save lots of digging. The guy's a forum member here and explains things very well.
 
scorch said:
One suggestion that has worked for me. Make a template of an entire patch (all the boxes you will use) and just copy it. Then you just change amps and cabs as you want the sound to change. I always know where my effects on-off are, what scene, etc.
Click to expand...

Yep, my 'OCD' dictates that I have to have all my patches set out the same whether various blocks are actually used or not!

This does have one cool benefit in as much as if you are levelling out volumes across your presets in a rehearsal or even gig environment, selecting the level parameter in an amp block to tweak it means that no matter what other patch gets dialled up, hitting the Edit button takes you straight to that same parameter again on another patch - gotta love that kind of consistency! :)
 
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Very nice written. I had exactly the same moments like you described in my first weeks from 'this is to good to be true' ...till a moment where I was unsure if I made the right choice to buy this and leave my tubestack.
Digging more, reading more, try more and specially receiving my Matrix amp + FRFR and use it with the band and live brought me to this point that I love the possibilities of this box and don't wanna go back to heavy tube stacks for a second.
Actually I sold it already :)

So yes it's a bumpy ride in the beginning, but when the train finally rolls.....Let's Rock & Roll!
 
Thanks for the review. It was great! I'll be hitting that add to cart button in two weeks... maybe less.. :eagerness:
 
AZG said:
That was my thought exactly. Through good headphones = nice. Through good speakers = WHOA HOT MOMMA! I'm in love...
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Absolutely! I'm very impatient to try it out through the CLR and hope that I don't have to wait too long!
 
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