Practicality Vs. Potential: Is Someone Ready for Axe-FX II?

hunterz263

hunterz263

Member
Hello to everyone on the Fractal Audio forum. I am Zach, better known as hunterz263 across the Internet. For the past year I have been hungering for an Axe-FX II unit after hearing many Youtube videos and reading countless comments about its amazing features and tones. Just last night I made the leap and purchased the unit from the store -- Axe-FX II XL. However, there is something that has been bothering me, even before I bought the unit.

Is it practical for me?

You see, I have only been playing guitar for two years -- electric guitar for a year and a half -- and have had recording experience for the past nine months or so. I have used a few programs to set up my tones before (including POD Farm 2.0 and Guitar Rig 5) but I was never satisfied with the sounds I have constructed. Only recently have I been able to make half decent tones that do not sound like a fuzz pedal turned up to extreme values running into a crummy modeling amp. Despite that, I still felt I was ready for an Axe-FX for a while until I started reading some various forums on this site.

Recently, there is doubt in my mind whether I can master Axe-FX II. I know it is not an easy process to begin with and expect myself to have many frustrating weeks, but can I unlock its full potential? I have never played on a huge 100-watt EVH 5150, or a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, or any other amp head. All I have ever played on was a Fender Mustang III and a Egnater Tweaker, both combo amps. According to the forums I read it is recommended I have experience in mastering and dialing huge amplifiers first before tackling the Axe-FX, but unfortunately I do not have the blessing, room, or live in an area to do such a thing. My home is packed already, so trying to haul in a 4X12 would be a huge pain, let alone impractical for a room like mine. I fear that, since I skipped out on the huge amps, I may be limiting my abilities on the Axe-FX II...

However, I still feel there is potential I could master it without having ever dialed an amp head.

What do you all think? Is it possible for someone like me -- a two year guitar player that barely has any recording experience and no experience with huge amplifiers -- can master the Axe-FX II in a few weeks/months? Or am I simply chasing a lost cause because I skipped many steps?
 
Probably not, I've been playing guitar for 20 years and returned the same unit for a refund.

If you're an engineer or have an engineering (i.e. problem-solving) mind-set then you may fare better. I am a computer programmer for a living. The problems come in mainly if you want to use the AFX for both recording and live. Good luck.

Try the HD POD 500x first, if you can manage using that, then maybe you can upgrade to the AFX.
 
hunterz263 said:
.....I know it is not an easy process to begin with and expect myself to have many frustrating weeks, but can I unlock its full potential? I have never played on a huge 100-watt EVH 5150, or a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, or any other amp head. All I have ever played on was a Fender Mustang III and a Egnater Tweaker, both combo amps. According to the forums I read it is recommended I have experience in mastering and dialing huge amplifiers first before tackling the Axe-FX, but unfortunately I do not have the blessing, room, or live in an area to do such a thing. My home is packed already, so trying to haul in a 4X12 would be a huge pain, let alone impractical for a room like mine. I fear that, since I skipped out on the huge amps, I may be limiting my abilities on the Axe-FX II...

....
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Not true at all. I've dialed in hundreds of amps, and plenty of modeling and rack mount equipment, and it did not prepare me for the Axe FX. It's a new animal, but well worth the effort.

The good news:
Most of everything you do will sound great out of the box. (Make careful consideration about your monitoring situation...it can make a HUGE difference.) Just running through the presets will give you a pretty good idea on just how good it is. For many people, minor tweaks to these make for usable recording/gigging patches.

The bad news:
There IS a learning curve. Unless you're a studio engineer, guitar tech, or otherwise highly experienced user of high end devices like this, you're going to be a touch lost right off the bat. Especially on the deeper elements.

Suggestions:
-Read read read. Check out Chris@KatsuKuriMedia's video's on various aspects (and there are plenty of good ones on YouTube.) Cooper Carter has an excellent streaming class for a price.
-Download and install FractalBot, Axe Edit. Buy a USB cable so firmware upgrades and Axe Edit can operate.
-Start with the presets. Bypass (double click in Axe Edit, Bypass on front panel) ALL FX other than amp and cab. Tweak them in minor ways to see the effect. Change cabs to see what effect that has.
-Clear out a preset and build your own. Start amp cab, dial it in until you're happy, THEN start playing with 'verb, Delay, whatever.
-Don't rely completely on Axe Edit. Get familiar with the front panel (if you're gigging, and need to make a change or check something, know what you're doing.)
-Give yourself time. For many people, they were happy with sounds right off the bat (yo), others were frustrated initially, but with help they found the thing that made their heads explode.

IMO Fractal has made this unit to be pretty easy to negotiate for baseline users. Caveat: FOR THE MOST BASIC OPERATION. When you start to get into deeper issues, the manual is good, the WIKI is better, and this board is the best. Most of your questions will have already been answered, so search first, then post if you don't find it. We exist to help each other.

Yes, you might be frustrated, but I can guarantee that once you have YOUR sound, you'll double or triple the time you spend playing guitar.

Good luck, and welcome.

Ron
 
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Buy the Creative Live class Cooper recently did.

The current generation of guitarists will never have the experiences described, as the amount of venues has dropped 80% and the opportunity to open up a 100 watt amp barely existed thirty years ago, hence the advent of master volumes and distortion pedals.

Unless you are going for a U2 sound with many effects, you will not have troubles. I could spend a week explaining the rack systems I built in the 80s and 90s. My personal system consisted of four multi-channel heads reduced to line level, two 24 space racks, three 4x12s and three power amps, star grounded, etc. I had efx loops before and after the amp heads, stuff running in series and others in parallel, but odds are you have no idea what I'm talking about, and it no longer matters.

Start simple, amp, cab, reverb. Add as your ability allows. Download presets and dissect them. Steal cool delays and other efx from the presets and incorporate them into your own. It's a journey not a destination.
 
rabies said:
Probably not, I've been playing guitar for 20 years and returned the same unit for a refund.

If you're an engineer or have an engineering (i.e. problem-solving) mind-set then you may fare better. I am a computer programmer for a living. The problems come in mainly if you want to use the AFX for both recording and live. Good luck.

Try the HD POD 500x first, if you can manage using that, then maybe you can upgrade to the AFX.
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This is where it comes to long term investment though. I am running out of space in my room and I could only choose one or the other. I have had experience with Line 6 products and they are just not for me. The Axe-FX is a professional unit that, if I have enough patience, I could probably master. I do have a problem-solving mindset.

Thank you for reading and giving me your input. It is highly appreciated.
 
hunterz263 said:
This is where it comes to long term investment though. I am running out of space in my room and I could only choose one or the other. I have had experience with Line 6 products and they are just not for me. The Axe-FX is a professional unit that, if I have enough patience, I could probably master. I do have a problem-solving mindset.

Thank you for reading and giving me your input. It is highly appreciated.
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Buy it. Evaluate during the return period. You'll either drown in the complexity or learn to tread water real quick. If you are treading water by end of the review period keep it and learn to swim. Otherwise, return. The vibe I am getting from your OP is that you already know you want to go for the grail tone, you just want reassurance now that you are standing at the edge of the diving board.
 
luke said:
Buy the Creative Live class Cooper recently did.
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electronpirate said:
...Check out Chris@KatsuKuriMedia's video's on various aspects (and there are plenty of good ones on YouTube.) Cooper Carter has an excellent streaming class for a price.
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Funny thing is that I already did buy that class last night too. I have a basic idea on how to tone-match, set up a few presets and such. It was very thorough and helped my confidence immensely. Also, thank you both for taking the time to read and comment on my post. It is highly appreciated.

electronpirate said:
-Download and install FractalBot, Axe Edit. Buy a USB cable so firmware upgrades and Axe Edit can operate.
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The Axe-FX does not come with its own USB cable? That is startling news, but I believe I have the proper cable already.

I know that I must start simple since, well, that makes the most since. Besides, I am going for distorted tones anyway and Cooper did an excellent job showing me how to make an awesome distortion tone (just wish he got rid of reverb and chorus). I am not trying to aim for a U2 sound as of yet.

I believe I will come back to this forum and post some sound samples, letting you all dissect them if you wish. Until then, thank you for the advice.

When can I expect to get the Axe-FX in the mail? About a week or so?
 
zenaxe said:
Buy it. Evaluate during the return period. You'll either drown in the complexity or learn to tread water real quick. If you are treading water by end of the review period keep it and learn to swim. Otherwise, return. The vibe I am getting from your OP is that you already know you want to go for the grail tone, you just want reassurance now that you are standing at the edge of the diving board.
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The... grail tone and...OP? Reassurance?

I just thought this would be an interesting discussion topic and it has been. I am not seeking any "grail tone" or any strokes to my musician's ego.

But that is off the point. Buy what exactly? The Line 6 HD500X?
 
I don't think you'll have any problem with the Axe II. It is so versatile...it can be used in dozens of different ways. From headphones to studio monitors to in-ear monitors in live situations to 4-wire into amp to SS power amp into FRFR speakers. I've done all this and the Axe II has risen to the occasion in all of them.

If there is a problem...it's getting sucked into the black box searching for tones and amps and forgetting to practice playing your guitar which was the reason you turned the damn thing on to begin with.
 
You sound very interested and having played around with digital things like pod farm and Guitar rig should make a fairly easy transition. Those with years and years of strictly tube background seems to be the ones that struggle most so not having that experience will actually be a blessing to you. I too am part the digital age with limited tube amp experience, there is a learning curve, but you'll get by it.
 
Will you MASTER its FULL POTENTIAL in a couple weeks or months? No
Will you be able to create good tones and learn the basics in that time frame? Depending how much time you put in over said time frame it should't be an issue.

Lot's of good info already posted above to get you started in the right direction. We'll except that 2nd one. :)

Jump in. The waters fine! The journey is as much fun as getting to the destination.
 
All it comes down to is commitment to spending the time and learning the unit. If I would have had an Axe-Fx back at 2 years in and the Internet to learn from, I'd be 10000 times the musician/audio engineer I am today.
 
Suhrfer said:
You will learn a lot, have fun, and sound great along the way. Get yourself an Axe!
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and aside from learning a lot, you're not coming with all the hang ups some folks have from being with real amps for 40 years, you might actually use your axe fx to play your guitar through rather than spending all your time trying to make it sound identical to the marshall stack you've had since 1965
 
jjozwia said:
You sound very interested and having played around with digital things like pod farm and Guitar rig should make a fairly easy transition. Those with years and years of strictly tube background seems to be the ones that struggle most so not having that experience will actually be a blessing to you. I too am part the digital age with limited tube amp experience, there is a learning curve, but you'll get by it.
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I was going to make a comment about that, but I forgot about it when I was writing the original essay. Since I have come from a lot of digital emulators, I feel as though I have a very slight advantage over the tube users, but I guess it is all fairly debatable. The tube users have the ears to detect minute details while I have experience in... UIs I guess? I do not know, but thank you for the kind words.
 
cobbler said:
Lot's of good info already posted above to get you started in the right direction. We'll except that 2nd one. :)
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Now now, he/she has their opinion on what I should do and I am thankful for it. Honestly, until I did my research on the HD500X, I was conflicted between the two, especially when I heard Ola Englund's comparison of the two units. It was a tough decision, but once I saw the user interface for the HD500 and how limited it was, I immediately knew the better choice.
 
Go big or go home....

Nothing beats having the best tools especially if you are starting out. You'll avoid learning the stuff that you'll have to unlearn later when you get primo gear, because you're compensating for some shortcomings in the gear unknowingly. While having your mind expanded can be painful sometimes, the rewards are worth the effort. But, you will get short term payoffs with the axe as well.
 
I would like to thank everyone who has commented while I was away from the computer. Your posts and comments are very helpful and highly appreciated. It is pleasant to see so many people having a positive and optimistic outlook on this subject.

If only my fandom were like that again...
 
I've owned and or had regular access to dozens of boutique and otherwise rare amps along with the usual suspects over the past decade+, and all it really did to prepare me for the axe was to give me a better understanding of what "good" sounds like to my ears.

It is a whole new animal in many respects, due simply to the depth of advanced parameter tweaking available, but it is equally usable to the plug and play guitarist who wishes to only adjust the basic values (BMT/Gain/Vol). For that reason, I take a drastically different view than rabies. Think of it as a lion that can be treated like a kitty. When you're ready to tackle the lion, it's there, but until then you have something sweet (sounding) to play with.

Will you be able to unlock all of its potential? No, probably not, at least right away. That said, over time you'll figure out how YOU want to use it and, like EP said, get YOUR sound.
 
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