Radley's Axe-Fest Report

Radley

Radley

Experienced
Wow! What a great day I shared with Cliff, Matt, Scott, Mark, Dweezil & many others! I learned many new/important things about the AFX II, and I got to hear the amazing musical prowess of some of the great players who have chosen this unit as their *sole sound source*! I consider the LA Axe-Fest a complete success - I only regret that I can't be there again tomorrow (work calls me).

In Summary: I finally got to meet both Cliff and Scott face-to-face....both very friendly & gracious people. I also got to meet Dweezil and Mark Day (both sounded great today). The AFX II sounded absolutely authentic through the full range house system (no guitar cabs at all) - I really believe it is complete by itself, and that is HUGE!

I had to drive 1 hr 45 min in each direction, but it was worth it - Perhaps I will add more later, but for now, I am Stoked! :)
 
Very cool! Thanks for the report. This was an event I really wish I could have attended.
 
Numerous new features were discussed & are being implemented in the upcoming firmware. Cliff made it a point to say that he hopes that all AFX II users will start submitting their own 'homemade' cab IRs so we can build a monster collection that would be available to everyone. I asked him if he really believed we could do great IRs with our typical home equipment, and he said 'definitely' - it's mainly just a matter of experimentation with mic placement and finding the best level for driving the particular speaker(s). I hope to submit a few of my own within the next few weeks ('64 Super-Reverb 4x10" cab and a 1x12 Gibson Lancer tweed amp cab with the *original* Jensen speaker) - howzabout the rest of you??? :)
 
Awesome, brother!

I wish I can contribute but I have no cabs... as I'm ALL Axe. lol

Radley said:
Numerous new features were discussed & are being implemented in the upcoming firmware. Cliff made it a point to say that he hopes that all AFX II users will start submitting their own 'homemade' cab IRs so we can build a monster collection that would be available to everyone. I asked him if he really believed we could do great IRs with our typical home equipment, and he said 'definitely' - it's mainly just a matter of experimentation with mic placement and finding the best level for driving the particular speaker(s). I hope to submit a few of my own within the next few weeks ('64 Super-Reverb 4x10" cab and a 1x12 Gibson Lancer tweed amp cab with the *original* Jensen speaker) - howzabout the rest of you??? :)
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I also have a Carvin 1/2 slant cab (narrow & tall - 2x12" closed back with low-power Celestions) - I love this cab because it sounds fat & punchy, and is wired in stereo (switchable to mono). I may need to do an IR of this baby as well! :)
 
dkijc said:
Awesome, brother!

I wish I can contribute but I have no cabs... as I'm ALL Axe. lol
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That's OK - It's the thought that counts.... Hopefully many users will respond and we can build a huge databank of user cabs! Cliff also emphasized that Cab IRs are probably the most important element in achieving any particular tone....
 
I should mention that Wes Hauch is an excellent player with great precision and tone - Tosin Abasi was totally new to me, and I was 'severely impressed' with both his playing (8-string guitar) and his sounds - Metalicious!!! :)
 
Radley said:
I asked him if he really believed we could do great IRs with our typical home equipment, and he said 'definitely' - it's mainly just a matter of experimentation with mic placement and finding the best level for driving the particular speaker(s).
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Can you elaborate on how to determine the best level for driving a given speaker? I've wondered about what an optimum level would be...
 
Radley said:
Cliff also emphasized that Cab IRs are probably the most important element in achieving any particular tone....
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Yes indeed...that's why I'm pretty excited about all the new developments and forthcoming IR releases...I'm glad this area of tone production is getting a lot of attention these days.
 
Radley said:
Cliff made it a point to say that he hopes that all AFX II users will start submitting their own 'homemade' cab IRs so we can build a monster collection that would be available to everyone.
Click to expand...

When I started shooting IRs my first question was "what mic do I use"' tonight I finally got around to shooting IRs of 2 cabs (Vox Blue and Avatar w/ ASW KTS-70) using 8 mics and 2 pres (16 IRs per cab). I'll be posting these later this week along TMAs of the ef86 channels from a Vox AC15 and Black Cat Bad Cat using the same mic/pre shoot out format.

There's so much friggin tweaking power in the Axe that you can take a good IR or Tone Match that you made and make it incredible in the Axe.
 
MaxTwang said:
When I started shooting IRs my first question was "what mic do I use"' tonight I finally got around to shooting IRs of 2 cabs (Vox Blue and Avatar w/ ASW KTS-70) using 8 mics and 2 pres (16 IRs per cab). I'll be posting these later this week along TMAs of the ef86 channels from a Vox AC15 and Black Cat Bad Cat using the same mic/pre shoot out format.

There's so much friggin tweaking power in the Axe that you can take a good IR or Tone Match that you made and make it incredible in the Axe.
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Max (and anyone else too) please post any new IR files that you create during the month of October in the thread entitled The Importance of IRs (stickied) in the cab and IR section of the forum for a chance to win a $25 Starbucks gift card. We have had no takers thus far so the chances of wining thus far are quite good.
 
Kinda bums me a little that I had to liquidate my gear to fund the Axe-II ....

I had a 1960AX that I replaced the fiberboard back w/a birch-ply and I had a bunch of different speakers for it .... "original" G12M's, Golds, V30's, G65's, T75's .... But at the same time, I had a relatively mediocre mic-pre ...,

Isn't the final quality of the IR dependent on the Mic-Pre ( and the balance of the chain too ) ?
 
Should have introduced myself to you. I was the guy in the "Deny Everything" black cap that asked Tosin what planet he was from.

The thing I most took away from the conference was any lingering doubt that there might be something better out there for me. There really isn't. What I heard convinced me it's all in there for the right ears and hands.
 
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zentman said:
Should have introduced myself to you. I was the guy in the "Deny Everything" black cap that asked Tobin what planet he was from.

The thing I most took away from the conference was any lingering doubt that there might be something better out there for me. There really isn't. What I heard convinced me it's all in there for the right ears and hands.
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Yes - And all of the performers were going straight into the small PA system.... no guitar cabs were ever used. This is the ultimate test of a modeler IMHO!

Regarding the optimum level for doing a Cab IR - I usually just go by ear to achieve a level that causes the cab to 'come alive & sing' without going into meltdown territory....this is obviously different for each cab. I would love to hear Cliff's thoughts on this. I would also love to see a discussion on how to best incorporate distance miking to achieve significant room ambiance when desired...
 
R.D. said:
But at the same time, I had a relatively mediocre mic-pre ...,

Isn't the final quality of the IR dependent on the Mic-Pre ( and the balance of the chain too ) ?
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You can get good IRs without spending a lot of money, I'll be posting my mic shootout IR's that includes 8 mics from an Earthworks TC30 to a Behringer ECM8000. I'm also going to shoot some IR's using mic pre's from a $30 Art Tube MP to a an Earthworks pre for comparison. With the Axe's power you can do incredible things with IR's 'colored' by mic's or pre's.

Secret80'sMan said:
Max (and anyone else too) please post any new IR files that you create during the month of October in the thread entitled The Importance of IRs (stickied) in the cab and IR section of the forum for a chance to win a $25 Starbucks gift card. We have had no takers thus far so the chances of wining thus far are quite good.
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Is that one chance per IR? :twisted

Radley said:
Regarding the optimum level for doing a Cab IR - I usually just go by ear to achieve a level that causes the cab to 'come alive & sing' without going into meltdown territory....this is obviously different for each cab. I would love to hear Cliff's thoughts on this. I would also love to see a discussion on how to best incorporate distance miking to achieve significant room ambiance when desired...
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Adam's IR capture video shows his dog sleeping through the process, while pushing the speaker produces it's own sound lower volumes can capture the vibe of the speaker with a wider frequency response which is easier to work with in the Axe where you can simulate cranking the speaker.

I've been playing with multi-mic to TMA a Tweed Champ and get the boxy sound that you don't get from a single mic in front of the speaker. Jay Mitchell described FF as capturing the cabinet and not room and I now understand what he's saying. I made a TMA of the Champ with a mic on the speaker and mixed in a 2nd mic 5' in front and 2' to the side of the cabinet that captured the sound of the speaker but also had the boxiness of the cabinet. I'll shoot an IR of this setup this week - it's a big sound with the boxy feel. I'm twitching for a Super Reverb just to TMA and IR it, the Super is such a unique beast it would be a blast to bring it into the Axe.
 
The Port City is a 'Pearl', which they advertise as a basically neutral system, so in essence he was using that as his stage monitor/backline (notice that in the pictures posted on the 'live' thead, there is no mic on the cab.)

Port City Pearl | Port City Amplification

We also had one of those (with a single 12") set up on the FRFR room so you could have tried it yourself.

TT
 
Sammetal91 said:
actually Tosin used his Port City cab and power amp when he played. Not sure why though.
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I'm not sure if you were there when he said this but Tosin said that there is something about it that is different. Possible the air pushing from behind. Anyways, he said he plays better with a cab for some reason.
 
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