Owns Axe FX XL and uses only one amp

dargor

Inspired
Yes, that's me, crazy right?........... WRONG!


I've had the XL for a while now, and I've created presets with various amps that I like and I'm satisfied with, but in the end I always come back to my Mesa Boogie presets. Is it because I owned a Mesa amp before? Maybe. Maybe I'm just blindly in love with that kind of tone. Yeah, me linking Dream Theater also had something to do with it. I SAID IT!! (lol)
So if I just use one amp, why not just get a Mesa Mark V? Is cheaper than an Axe Fx.

NO WAY!!

Mesa Mark V retails for $2399 for the combo. Throw in $300 for a tube screamer, chorus and delay (which are about the only FX I use). We're already above the XL retail price.
I'm mostly a bedroom hero so how about I want to play at 11pm?. Sound proofing a room is not cheap and angry neighbors because you are playing Constant Motion at 1am is just priceless :mrgreen

What if I feel like recording?. All the extra equipment it takes to record an amp. MORE MONEY.

What I'm talking about is that even though, people think having a box with 100+ amps and fx that costs over $1k is an overkill, is really not. The XL gets me the closest to my old Mesa as I've never been before and I'm really happy about that, I can play without worrying about volume and I can record without needing more equipment. Why didn't I just get the Axe II? go to my post on the Review section, you'll see :mrgreen

The Axe FX is not only the perfect tool for the Gigging musicians, it can also be perfect for us guitar enthusiasts :geek
 
I don't argue, I just state my case and let others decide for themselves. However, I totally agree! (And so does our sound engineer!)
 
I play churches and I need consistency, so using anything else wouldn't make sense for me. I use the Dumble with a couple drives in front and two regular delays and two multi delays, so having that in a two space rack is convenient and oh so necessary. Why so many delays you ask, well a short delay, long delay, dotted 8th delay and I stole the multi delay from ganymede for reverby trippy things. And if I really need a sound, its there if I need it. What a world we live in where we can have literally any sound we want. Sure beats my Peavy bandit that I had as a child.
 
Same here. I was in the market for something in the high-end range a couple years ago, among those was some flavor of Friedman. Decided I'd spend less and get more with the AFII instead of going the one amp/one sound route. I do use more than 1 amp though, but you can't beat the quality and the choices with this box.
 
I love bringing just my AxeFX and guitar to the studio. Cartage? Nope. I'll carry it all myself in one trip from the car. I love my Boogie Lonestar and use the model for some patches, but my go-to amp in the AxeFX is the Bogner Shiva. I strongly considered buying one before I decided to with the AxeFX. So many incredible tones in one box...
 
Forgot to say I use the Recto New Mix (UR) for a cab. I use to mix my Redwirez IRs when I had the Ultra but now on the XL I just stick with the New Mix Recto (UR) for almost anything (paired with the recto amp sounds awesomeness on my 7 string :mrgreen)

Add to the crazyness, 512 IR slots, only uses 2 :frog:
 
I agree. I only use one patch on my Axe FX 2 haha. I feel kind of bad for neglecting all the great things on it, but I'm probably not the best at creating different tones.
 
The only thing I now like about traditional valve amps and cabs is that I don't have to faff with CPU overload, patch levelling, trying all sorts of IRs so I can try and be happy with the backline sound, etc. However, those aside, I'll always work with an Axe-FX from now on. Already saved me a small fortune.
 
Yes for the longest time I could not get off that Badger 18 (poor thing) ;)
With each new amp, I try to audition them to see if it gels.
I have 15 presets I keep tweaked after each FW.
But find I only use 2-3.

I always thought, that a cheaper version Axe FX could do just that, the ability to upload max 10 amps, 10 ir's.
Not complaining at all though, it's awesome to be able to try an amp everyone says is amazing, try it a bit and go, "meh it's ok".
A few years ago, you'd pay $$$ and still say that!
Cheers
B
 
The Axe-Fx is your warehouse of amps, cabs and effects. Some people like sonic diversity, others want just one sound. Both sides are right.

As for a cheaper Axe-Fx, models and IRs don't add significant cost. It's just memory and memory is fairly inexpensive nowadays.
 
I think that any apprehensions about the cost are eliminated about a day or two after buying one. I know that I felt like I gave up a whole lot of gear when I sold off my amp and pedalboard to fund the Ultra way back when now, but I could make a patch that covered that simple rig in a matter of minutes. Now I've got 383 slots to make all the other rigs I couldn't afford. That's just the ones that I want to have loaded on the box at the moment. I've also got instant recall of all of those with the push of a toe or the spin of a dial. Amps that I know damn well that I'd never own are MINE now. Effects that I'd probably only use one time in six months that I wanted or fit a need, but couldn't justify paying for are there. Crap, I am out of patch cables for my pedalboard.....not anymore. That doesn't even touch on the fact that I can put any effect in any location in the signal chain in serial or parallel and mix the levels and amount which isn't possible with most gear.

I could go out, buy this ridiculous cabinet and a couple of ribbon mics and end up hating what it....I just pick that cabinet that has already been mic'd and load it from one of the ridiculous number of IR's that are out there and I can even mix in a nice condenser or cardioid mic to get the sound that I want. Costs me literally pennies on the dollar.

I mean back in the day you'd have to mic your cabinet, set up the room and hope that you don't piss off the neighbors while just dialing in your sound. A couple hours later you may be ready to do your first take. A couple of takes into it you don't like it so you move something. Then you want to go back to that original sound....good luck dialing that in again. I just make a copy of the patch or backup the original. Even better is that if I want to really dial it in or have the options to go back and use a completely different rig without redoing an entire track I can just record a dry track with the original and re-amp.

And speaking of dialing in for a track, I could go into the sound room that I would have to build and have someone moving crap around while I listen in the control room or I could just go ahead and run the dry track through the AxeFXII sitting beside me in the same room I'm doing everything in and make all the adjustments from the onscreen GUI. I mean I don't know about you guys, but there are two types of workflow here; one that you do because it has to be done even if it's inefficient and a massive pain in the ass and then there is what the AxeFXII enables you to do.

Hell, I was going to say that I'd spend days trying to dial in a sound, but the truth is that I spent years tone chasing and most of that time wasn't even focusing on the good part of the sound, but trying to eliminate the bad stuff. I rarely got to a point where I was really happy and if I was it wasn't for very long. Cables, noise, cabinets, mics, pedals, batteries, re-routing, etc., are all eliminated or done in seconds vs. having to get up and go dork with the physical gear. For the life of me I don't understand anyone who says that they spend more time tweaking with the AxeFXII than with physical gear because the exact opposite is true for me.
 
Yes for the longest time I could not get off that Badger 18 (poor thing) ;)

LOL, I'm with ya. For me it is the Badger 30. Holy crap what a versatile amp. I can get clean-ish, crunch and lead tones out of that thing, and they all sound killer. I'm in a cover band doing everything from Heart to Pink, and I'm using my Badger preset for about 90% of it.
 
LOL, I'm with ya. For me it is the Badger 30. Holy crap what a versatile amp. I can get clean-ish, crunch and lead tones out of that thing, and they all sound killer. I'm in a cover band doing everything from Heart to Pink, and I'm using my Badger preset for about 90% of it.

Yep, love the Badger 30, I use that one a lot for low-mid gain tones.
 
Back
Top Bottom