Pickups

Teej

Member
So I've had my Axe II for a few months now, and I still love it. It really is a feat of engineering. The other day I realized something after I picked up a new guitar from the local shop. The Axe-FX seems to be far more sensitive to the EQ response of pickups than any regular amp I've ever owned. Obviously I always noticed some kind of difference with my amps when switching guitars, but the Axe just seems to magnify the character of the pickups that are putting signal into it. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing for me, as now I feel inclined to increase the size of my guitar collection, haha. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it completely in my head?
 
It's a good thing
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Some modellers may as well have a broom plugged into them given the lack of instrument character they deliver...
 
Yes I've noticed that aswell and you can adjust it when the pickup input is to high or to low with the "Input Trim" in the Amp Block (less or more depending on the pickups)...
 
Massive differences here, but my pickups are mostly high-gain models.

I actually love it, because if you just use a default preset to test your pups, you can get the most consistent means of trying and turfing pickups (particularly if like us metal kids, you go through a tonne of them before you find what you jive with).

I second Electronpirate's point though: Never before could we just change tube types or whathaveyou in the blink of an eye, much less entire amps in a click.

What a great time to be alive.
 
With my old Digitech, I could pretty much go back and forth between acives and passives without worrying about changing settings too much. It would sound a bit different but it was still manageable. With the axe, I have to dial back the input gain or it will flub out. So much more detail though.
 
Yeah, you can definitely hear the differences! I use EMG 81s, Gibson 490r/498t, Fender Fat 50s and also an Ovation with piezo! I still need some P-90s, though!
 
The same with my guitars.

To deal with it I've picked one guitar, the best one in terms of balanced EQ and output level, and make all my presets using it. Making bunch of presets based on one for every guitar I have - not the best option. That way when I pick up a guitar from my collection I can hear all the differences and nuances very clearly comparing it to "standard" tone.

In addition, I make all my presets using headphones. That way I hear all the tonal aspects and can adjust the final preset in a way, that the tone is highly predictable using FRFR monitor or different guitar. In other words, using headphones emphasizes all the tonal differences of your guitars (in my experience).

One more word. Taking Axe-Fx with your presets and headphones you know well with you, when you go shopping to guitar store, will greatly help you in choosing your new and great woody axe =)

So yes, it is a good thing after all!
 
So I've had my Axe II for a few months now, and I still love it. It really is a feat of engineering. The other day I realized something after I picked up a new guitar from the local shop. The Axe-FX seems to be far more sensitive to the EQ response of pickups than any regular amp I've ever owned. Obviously I always noticed some kind of difference with my amps when switching guitars, but the Axe just seems to magnify the character of the pickups that are putting signal into it. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing for me, as now I feel inclined to increase the size of my guitar collection, haha. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it completely in my head?

I am new to the AXE too and I feel the same way. And looking at some of the recent topics here on the forum it may well be so.
Talk of treble bleed mods, 50's wiring, fizzyness extreme highs & lows in a lot of the patches. Not saying anything bad, but I notice I am trying to tame some highs like never before.

I use to run my tone on TEN 99.9% of the time but now I keep it at 5 with the AXE. It has been a lot of fun so far and I'm just getting started.
On we go!
 
It's not in your head.

But also take into account that you're probably going from a Plexi to an AC30 to Fox ODS, etc. If you stuck with one amp it would be less noticeable. (It's good to be us, isn't it?)

It sure is. Glad to hear I'm not crazy!

The same with my guitars.

To deal with it I've picked one guitar, the best one in terms of balanced EQ and output level, and make all my presets using it. Making bunch of presets based on one for every guitar I have - not the best option. That way when I pick up a guitar from my collection I can hear all the differences and nuances very clearly comparing it to "standard" tone.

In addition, I make all my presets using headphones. That way I hear all the tonal aspects and can adjust the final preset in a way, that the tone is highly predictable using FRFR monitor or different guitar. In other words, using headphones emphasizes all the tonal differences of your guitars (in my experience).

One more word. Taking Axe-Fx with your presets and headphones you know well with you, when you go shopping to guitar store, will greatly help you in choosing your new and great woody axe =)

So yes, it is a good thing after all!

Yeah, I try to take my Axe-FX along with me in it's 2U rack when I try stuff out. Great way to avoid the one-trick-pony guitars for sure.
 
I was thinking the complete opposite after FW18. Because the Fractal has so many amps, we could probably use just the one guitar, as the Axe can do Fender cleans to metal amps. I think i could coax any tone from my Strat with this unit. :)
 
I don't know if it's more sensitive than a real amp, but I do know it responds very well to changes in pickup height. Too much upper mid bite and honk? Drop them down a hair. To dished and weak? Raise them up a bit. I find that even from firmware version to firmware version I might prefer one height over another. With the current firmware I like them dropped down a bit (on my Strat anyway).
 
Signal is nice and clean in the axefx, might explain the difference in sensitivity.
There a several threads about this you an do a little search.
(Some even tonematch guitars or pickups)
In my experience the louder you turn an amp the more you hear the guitar's character, and in the axefx you might turn the amp MV louder than in real life.
Also when it's direct and you don't hear the room you're in, the difference between picks and guitars in more noticeable.
 
It's pretty close to tube amps in that regard, which is exactly what you want. Certain tones require specific guitars and who needs the amp/pre-amp holding you back. I notice it more on the amps but it's likely because I use them at louder volume.
 
So I've had my Axe II for a few months now, and I still love it. It really is a feat of engineering. The other day I realized something after I picked up a new guitar from the local shop. The Axe-FX seems to be far more sensitive to the EQ response of pickups than any regular amp I've ever owned. Obviously I always noticed some kind of difference with my amps when switching guitars, but the Axe just seems to magnify the character of the pickups that are putting signal into it. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing for me, as now I feel inclined to increase the size of my guitar collection, haha. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it completely in my head?

Same experience here.

The Fractal magnifies the character of the guitar and pickups. I notice way more tone change when changing guitar controls than with my analog rigs.

Personally, I really love this. It has me using guitars I've haven't played in years. It also has me back to using the gtr volume and tone controls during shows more than I used to.
 
It definitely notices the differences. For this reason I have all my presets repeated in triplicate. 0-100 for Parker, 100-200 for les paul, and 200-300 for strat.
 
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