Physically Dropping the Axe-FX II and its Consequences

B

Bigsby

Member
Hey all,

So I was carrying my axe-fx ii, which is screwed into a 4-space EWI anti-shock case alongside a solid-state power amp, and I dropped it about 4 feet. It seemed like a violent crash but, when I got home, the case seemed to have one scratch on it that wasn't very deep and everything sounded fine.

This made me realize a couple things but one thing I was wondering about is: how does the axe-fx…work? for example, in my very OCD mind, i started hearing things like "oh, this preset sounds more trebly now…it's not as distorted…oh i feel like the red clip light is coming on more often…is this preset noisier??" and all this other psychosomatic stuff. i knew it was most likely untrue but I'm so overprotective that my mind can get quite carried away.

So I'm wondering, if a connection got loose or something got unsoldered or something, would the problem be MUCH more apparent? or can stuff happen like a circuit gets loose and so the EQ in the axe-fx changes and there's noise added or less gain or treble throughout etc. etc.?

Just wondering, I know this sounds crazy but it was a big crash! thank god for the 'shock' protection i suppose though I wonder how shock-resistant the EWI cases really are?

Thank you!
 
it's probably completely unaffected by the 4 foot drop in a shock-resistant case.
 
If it all seems to work, you are probably fine. One thing you might want to check on is that the fan is still working, ie not louder or quieter that it was before. I think if anything else was wrong, it would be pretty obvious.

So go on and feel smug about investing in a shockmount case :)
 
Rook said:
If it all seems to work, you are probably fine. One thing you might want to check on it is that the fan is still working, ie not louder or quieter that it was before. I think if anything else was wrong, it would be pretty obvious.

So go on and feel smug about investing in a shockmount case :)
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with regards to the fan, I never really noticed the sound too much. if I turn it on now, I'll "extra notice" it because of this little mishap so it won't be an unbiased opinion. though I'm sure I'll notice when the axe fx overheats? besides waiting for that, not sure how I can compare pre and post incident.

and yeah, I'm sure everything is fine. case actually took more of a beating on the sides than I originally thought but maybe I just never looked at it before as closely as I did before.

I was just wondering if there could theoretically be slight tonal degradations or added slight noise or something if a component got loose...just something I'm curious about now more than any real worry. I'm sure if there was an issue, it'd jump at me, like bit crushing or something
 
I wouldnt think the sound would be altered, the fan could have come loose or some internal connectors ajar, but that would make things not work.

back in my huge rack days i have a boogie sus-4 16 space rack that had my quad preamp and 50/50, H3000 in it and it took a drop from the back of a pickup truck, right down flat on it's face, and i fired up fine.
 
In the end it's a digital device. Shock damage will typically take it in to works/doesn't work territory. It's not like a coil is going to slide out of alignment or the speaker mount gets loose and vibrates. :)

If the fan spins up and the unit goes through power on self test and you get audio out, stop worrying and start playing.
 
Mine came off a flight from the Middle East in 2012 with one rack rail torn loose from the case and the RH rack ear on the Axe bent outwards (probably dropped from height onto rear of case)
Never had any trouble with it despite that.
 
There are a lot of things that can go wrong with PCB board made electronics.

For example, i accidentally dropped my Furman power conditioner from 1.5 feet height, unit when dead. I was convinced this units where road worthy or something like that rated.... i don't believe so now.

For example...Mesa Boogie claims that their head can withstand drops from a full stack height if you accidentally lay back on your solo part!, yet, i haven't seen anyone do a test or even mesa do a real life drop test to prove their claims.

Take care as much as you can with your stuff, you can't never be too sure about whats going to happen.
 
nicolasrivera said:
There are a lot of things that can go wrong with PCB board made electronics.
Click to expand...

But I think things won't go "incrementally" wrong with the axe. Like, there won't be less gain for amps or like the chorus block won't work anymore etc.

It'd probably just all stop working. Possible that connections wiggled loose like input jack to circuit board, etc, but you'd probably realize that right away, not something that gets worse over time.

Shock rack. 4 foot drop. Again, I think everything is fine, especially if it's working right now.

The only way to be completely sure is to get a 2nd identical axe, transfer your presets and go one by one through each block and control. But that's unnecessary I feel.
 
nicolasrivera said:
For example...Mesa Boogie claims that their head can withstand drops from a full stack height if you accidentally lay back on your solo part!, yet, i haven't seen anyone do a test or even mesa do a real life drop test to prove their claims.
Click to expand...

Ooh, I have. I was doing FOH for a friend's band and he tangled himself up in the cable and pulled the head off the stack. I ran up on stage, put the head back on the stack and put the mic back and the show went on. My friend never stopped playing and his Recto didn't seem to care in the slightest. The crowd thought it was pretty Rock n' Roll though.

I dropped my old rack face down on the concrete before a gig one night; I was wheeling it in on top of an oversized Recto 4x12 and it... fell off :( It was a Triaxis, a 2:90 and a Digitech 2120 in a (non shockmount) SKB case. I had visions of hundreds of dollars of broken tubes, but the SKB just bounced a bit and the knob fell off the front of the digiteck. I pushed the knob back on and all was good.
 
I dropped my Axe (whilst re-racking) about three feet directly onto my MFC. It put a good rash on the MFC and a ding on the corner of the front of my Axe. I was worried that I may have damaged the Axe, but it fired right up and sang like a bazillion rabid songbirds!
 
Only reason that I mention the fan is on the off chance it got misaligned and stopped working properly. This might not result in an obvious fault or any change in sound, but the Axe might overheat sometime down the track during a marathon session. But as long as O.P. can hear that it *is* going and isnt grinding or rubbing on something I'm sure it is all good.
 
Two things are for sure:
- You will have lost most of the fragile harmonics ...
- The Dumble's crystal lattice has been destroyed ...
 
I can vouch for the MKIII being drop proof from a half stack height. Wasn't me either


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
haha yeah I was worried that things would clip faster or there would be less treble or something small that isn't completely noticeable unless you A/B it...and my mind can get really carried away....

if only I knew more about technology...
 
nicolasrivera said:
There are a lot of things that can go wrong with PCB board made electronics.

For example, i accidentally dropped my Furman power conditioner from 1.5 feet height, unit when dead. I was convinced this units where road worthy or something like that rated.... i don't believe so now.
Click to expand...

If your whole unit went dead, I doubt the PCB was to blame. Power conditioners are pretty simple. It was probably the switch, breaker, or an internal connection. The PCB is just a hot and cold with a few filter caps. They're very well made.
 
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