re: Got my Axe-Fx II!!

mnwst

mnwst

Inspired
So like many posts here, I'm new and ordered my Axe-FX II late Tuesday and just received it last Friday. I had just enough time to unpack it, put it in old rack along with a Tube Works power amp and scroll through the presets before putting it in the car to go to a gig. I used my Marshall cab with Greenbacks. Like many other posts, I was amazed at how great this sounded stock. More importantly, for me, was how great it felt. That was my big question and maybe hesitation. Not having played one, I took a little leap of faith and went for it. I figured worse case, it will be a great effects processor along with my Laney VH100R. But the feel was excellent to me, my guitar's volume cleaned up nicely with higher gain presets. That was key, a deal breaker. But it performed beautifully.

I was also surprised at how intuitive a lot of it was. Its laid out so that its easy to navigate. I didn't have time to read anything in the manual and literally after 30 minutes of checking it out at home, I was on stage with it a few hours later. I was able to scroll to a few basic sounds- clean, dirty, solo, etc. The next day I spent a little more time with it before having to do another show. This time I found three in row that satisfied my needs for a cover gig. It was the Friedman HBE, Shiva Clean and Shiva Dirty. Then I easily and quickly was able to turn on or off different effects or adjust gain, volume, etc within those. Worked beautifully, other musicians on stage loved it and were checking it out themselves!!

So as soon as I get the MFC, I can really put this thing to work. I may use my Rocktron All Access until then. Below is the first gig using it. Sorry for the blur, but I was in a hurry!! I'll post new ones when I get it done.

So very happy, looking forward to many great sounds.

Cheers!!

Axe rig.jpg
 
Phostenix said:
I can't imagine buying something like the Axe-FX & gigging with it the same day. Glad it worked out so well for you. :)
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Ditto. My first gig was just days after I got my Axe and it was not great. After only a couple weeks of getting used to my new rig, though, the Axe is consistently awesome!
 
Thanks!!

If what you guys mean is that I didn't spend more tweaking before taking it out, etc- I know. I've also shown up at gigs coming straight from a guitar store with a new guitar. The way I look at it, me using it the same night was not as big of a risk as getting it in the first place without having played through it. Once I heard it, I was good to go. I've had way worse experiences live or in the studio having to play through unfamiliar gear. I know there's an endless amount of tweaking that can be done, but I was more interested in the basics- good clean, dirty and a nice lead tone. My guitar and hands will do the rest until I have time to really pick it apart. But that stuff is never ending. I spent more time with it tonight and with minimal adjustments, it sounds amazing to my ears. Maybe I'm easy to please.

Anyway, I was glad to find out it wasn't just hype!!
 
Actually the AxeFX 2 is not that hard to get a great tone right out of the box. It can be as easy as picking a patch from the first 80 or so presets, one that has just amp+cab+reverb, and going to town!

I'm glad you're happy with the AxeFX 2.
 
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Ben Randolph said:
Actually the AxeFX 2 is not that hard to get a great tone right out of the box. It can be as easy as picking a patch from the first 80 or so presets, one that has just amp+cab+reverb, and going to town!

I'm glad you're happy with the AxeFX 2.
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Thanks! I'm going slow, very minimalist for now. I'm first going through different amps that I've always wanted to own, but didn't and trying to do what guitar players way back when tried to do to get good sounds. For example I took the Plexi Normal, cranked the Master, tried different drive boxes, etc. or taking the Brown preset, tape delay, reverb, turned up everything a little more, done. :) I know it's been said a million times, but I can't believe I'm getting these tones that have been locked in my head for 30 years.

For anyone who may have had this hesitation, I didn't want to get something that sounded like everyone else, or my individual style or touch didn't come through. What I'm finding is that this box is allowing that, more than any tube amp I've owned. Not to dismiss your favorite tube amp!! But I play covers for a living, and this is exactly what Ive been needing. And it's quiet to boot!!
 
I had the Ultra for a couple years and when I bought the II, it was still a couple weeks before I gigged it. You have some serious cajones for jumping into it like that!
 
Sidivan said:
I had the Ultra for a couple years and when I bought the II, it was still a couple weeks before I gigged it. You have some serious cajones for jumping into it like that!
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Thanks- that or I'm crazy!! But for anyone deciding if this is for them, my words of wisdom are these. For two years, I was undecided, watched all the videos, read the forum, asked questions, etc. I made the leap and learned that this is a tool, and probably one of the best designed I've seen. You have access to so much, and it is designed to access it easily. But in the end, everything is in your head, hands, and heart. This 14lb box removes a lot of the hindrances that have plagued me for 33 years. We can get bogged down with technology. Bottom line is play your guitar, enjoy the access to amps and sounds that our heroes didn't even have, and remember what brought us here in the first place!! Peace. :encouragement:
 
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Ben Randolph said:
Actually the AxeFX 2 is not that hard to get a great tone right out of the box. It can be as easy as picking a patch from the first 80 or so presets, one that has just amp+cab+reverb, and going to town!

I'm glad you're happy with the AxeFX 2.
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Agree. There are tons of usable presets right out of the box.
 
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