Okay.. how about live usage?

S

Shenaniganizer

Member
How many of you gig LIVE with this thing?

Care to share a review on that, in this thread?

Comment on feel, tone when cranked (if that makes any difference - probably not) or tone in general, any crowd cheers/jeers, consistency (any weird noises/drops/frequency spikes/whathaveyou?) and.. just, whatever else.

I'm leaning heavy toward getting one.. I just wanna know how it stands with live use.

Also, semi off-topic - the Atomic FRFR cabs.. you can just plug your Axe right into the powered ones, and that's it, right? That's all you need for a live rig? I mean, aside from a foot controller. No power amp needed? Just making sure. I'm a noob to this.
 
the axe is currently touring the world with world class musicians of all styles of music who have played the best gear on the planet in their careers, seriously what more do you need to know :roll:
 
Shenaniganizer said:
Comment on feel, tone when cranked (if that makes any difference - probably not) or tone in general
Click to expand...

Volume definitely makes a difference in feel and tone - but that is no different than any other amp.
 
Trem said:
the axe is currently touring the world with world class musicians of all styles of music who have played the best gear on the planet in their careers, seriously what more do you need to know :roll:
Click to expand...

Yeah.. thanks for your insightful post.
There's a difference between artists touring with it for just effects and artists touring with it as an amp AND effects unit.
There's also a difference between artists and (usually) unpaid gigging musicians.
I was looking for some input from those gigging guys around here.

kruzty said:
Shenaniganizer said:
Comment on feel, tone when cranked (if that makes any difference - probably not) or tone in general
Click to expand...

Volume definitely makes a difference in feel and tone - but that is no different than any other amp.
Click to expand...

Right, but, I didn't know if it made any difference with a modeling unit. I don't know if the tone stays relatively the same at any volume.
 
i've been gigging with it for 3 years. covers all my needs, sits in a mix as it should and I consider it to be the best purchase of music gear i have ever made.
 
Ok, more info.
I have been using it live for about a year, I don't use it for effects only but both amp sims and effects.
Running it direct to PA with 2 XLRs, sounds great, cuts through the mix amazingly, feels right etc etc.
Need more? ;)
 
Shenaniganizer said:
Trem said:
the axe is currently touring the world with world class musicians of all styles of music who have played the best gear on the planet in their careers, seriously what more do you need to know :roll:
Click to expand...

Yeah.. thanks for your insightful post.
There's a difference between artists touring with it for just effects and artists touring with it as an amp AND effects unit.
There's also a difference between artists and (usually) unpaid gigging musicians.
I was looking for some input from those gigging guys around here.

kruzty said:
Shenaniganizer said:
Comment on feel, tone when cranked (if that makes any difference - probably not) or tone in general
Click to expand...

Volume definitely makes a difference in feel and tone - but that is no different than any other amp.
Click to expand...

Right, but, I didn't know if it made any difference with a modeling unit. I don't know if the tone stays relatively the same at any volume.
Click to expand...

Well, the tone will stay much more consistent because you only change the output level (the virtual tube drive/master won't change). As you know, changing anything on a tube amp will change how the whole thing interacts. Speaker interaction is part of it, too, so if you are planning to use it with a traditional guitar cab it will be more different at lower volumes than if you are using FRFR. However, FRFR will be a different experience if you are used to traditional cabs.
 
Shenaniganizer said:
Yeah.. thanks for your insightful post.
There's a difference between artists touring with it for just effects and artists touring with it as an amp AND effects unit.
There's also a difference between artists and (usually) unpaid gigging musicians.
I was looking for some input from those gigging guys around here.
Click to expand...

Well, not meaning to be rude really but the question is redundant if you look around it's been asked a hundred fold and discussed profusley across the web, and there really isn't a difference between a "pro" musician and a gigging musician other than one gets paid or paid more. What other difference is there?
If you look around there are plenty of pro paid artists and or gigging musicians using the axe for it's full intended purpose live and onstage and none of them get paid to use it (no endorsements) so it's by their choice. I'd say a very small percent of any axe owners use it just for effects.

So if you are saying you want a non professional opinion :cool: then yes the axe is killer live and loud, i have nothing negative to say about it.
And every other "modeler" out there before it i have plenty negative to say about, so there's the difference - axe killer in every way, everything else crap.
As far as the sound when playing loud your speakers and power ect will react as they with any other amp, so whatever you play it thru will change the sound/feel by it's own characteristics when you pump volume thru it.
 
I play live with mine all the time. I have patches set up for electric, acoustic and bass guitar depending on what instrument I'm playing. The tone and feel are there. I have patches set up for metal, rock, contemporary Christian, country, blues--- you name it. I can roll off the volume pot and clean up my gain as well as I could with a traditional tube amp. Different amp sims have different responses (just like the "real" ones). Different guitars react differently as well.

For reference sake, the two other guitar players I play with most often have fairly high-end gear (one plays a highly modified Orange and the other has a Bad Cat). One has written and played on two Gold records and the other is signed and recording his first album. Both are envious of my setup. When I play live, I have ONLY ever gotten positive comments on my tone both from guitarists and non-musicians (ie drummers :lol: ).

The one caution I have for you is that I have spent a lot of time tweaking the Axe-FX and getting my patches set up the way I want them. I was able to get a GOOD live sound right out of the box. It wasn't until after I put the time in that I could get a GREAT sound. I have different setups for live and recording. I also have different patches for when I'm playing with a large group of musicians versus a small group. For me, this has been time well-spent.
 
I just did a few Unpaid Bar gigs, :) and I went straight to FOH, had the sound guy send me back a stereo mix through two monitors and it ROCKED! in fact just about every other guitarist that was on the bill for those gigs came up after to check out what I was using. Only one guy there had heard of the Axe Fx and I think he might be putting in an order soon if hasn't already.

I don't just use my Ultra for Effects only. I use it for everything! Amp and cab sims as well as effects.

From Festivals and Theaters to Small cafe's and Bar/clubs, It just works, (for Me). :)


Oh yeah. Yes I am on the Artist page, But I PAID FOR MY ULTRA. :) so nothing to gain for me by selling you on an Axe Fx. :)

It's a great time to be a guitarist!

Larry
 
Hi Larry,

I adopted your approach (viewtopic.php?f=11&t=20105&start=10) of using the Global EQ. Works great.

Did you select the specific settings per band based upon your guitar (pickups), allround experience, mood of the day, or whatever? I'm just curious.

Thanks
 
Hey Yek,

Those choices come from trial and error. :) and Missing some of that annoying Mid range that comes from Guitar cabinets. Then realizing that I missed all that mid range.

This EQ seems to work best for Me with lots of different situations. different powered monitors, Acoustic guitar amps and PA systems. I have to compensate a little bit with my acoustic guitar patches. but for the most part, I plug in at live shows and don't have to touch anything in any of my patches these days.

One thing for tweaking on the go.
Try to resist tweaking too much live. I had to learn to listen at sound checks and if I thought things where not right, I would copy a patch to a new location, Tweak the new patch and try to record part of the sound check with the old patch and the new patch. Once I had a set of Patches that all worked well, I would only adjust the global EQ. Then At home i had to resist tweaking the patches again. I had to remind myself that what i had was working great live in different situations! So I know have a bank of patches for hotel room use (although most of my patches work a low volume too) that are different than my normal live patches. :) I tweak those all the time.

The only thing that I am constantly messing with now are effects settings.

Global amps help a lot. When I was tweaking the amps live, I would just have to tweak the clean, crunch and lead. It could be for volume or EQ and it would effect all of the patches I used for that show. With one artist is was close to 40 patches! Others a lot less. With my set up now with the MFC i can use a lot less patches with that artist. :)
I'm working on that 8 preset 8 IA for my Liquid foot Jr as well so I have that as well when I need it.

Also if I mess around with a new Amp sim that's not in the global amps. then I get it sound good in relation to one of my patches that I use live. That's what i have to go by for tweaking.

I hope that gives you an idea of where I am coming from with the Global EQ

Larry
 
Many thanks for taking the time to answer, Larry! I appreciate it a lot.

I asked because I was testing tones through a PA in a studio yesterday.
Things sounded great through my FBT, but less so through the PA. I blame the PA. ;-)
I was already using the method of lowering the lowest and highest bands, but then looked up your other settings, and they added a lot to the tones. I was surprised that they work out fine with different guitars, different amp sims.
I know what I like but I'm no good with equalizers, I get lost..... :)

I already learned to restrain myself from adjusting things at home. I set things at giging level, and use those for reference.
And I've also been using the Global amps for a long time, couldn't do without them.

Alexander
 
I have done at least 150-200 live shows (lost count actually) in the past 3 years running the Axe-FX direct to FOH as my entire and exclusive live rig. Electric and Acoustic guitar. Rock/Classic Rock/Pop/Soul/Funk/R&B. That's in clubs, bars, festival shows, P&W services and concerts, etc.. That does not account for the jingle work I do commercially, nor the rehearsals and so on.

Suffice to say, I'm satisfied with the black box as a electric/acoustic guitar noisemaker and it's never once let me down.
 
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