[RedWirez and such] - Are they really needed to get the max out of the Axe?

Of course they aren't necessary and many of the stock cabs are great, especially if you experiment with the speaker sims as well.

However, many of the aftermarket or free ir's out there sound great too and it is amazing how a simple change to an ir can make a big difference in sound. There are hundreds of free ir's that you can download and use. Many on this site and others simply by doing a little searching. I haven't used Redwirez but I do have the Ownhammers and they sound great. But many of the free ones sound just as good, depending on the use.
 
Hi,

I base my sounds entirely on stock IR's and regard myself as a lucky guitarist since I #ve got my AXE 3 years ago......and in the meantime the AXE has improved a lot (from firmware 5.8. to 11.0).

So don't worry, be happy
Martin
 
In almost every circumstance, I've gotten very close to the sounds I want using only the stock IRs. I often have to blend them and apply eq, but I usually get great results. A few sounds still elude me. I'm a bit embarrassed to say I have not really explored third party IRs. I've loaded a few, but never really used them and forgot which was which. That will soon change though. Some of the third party IRs I've tried are radically different than any of the stock ones. I'm sure I'll find use for them.

My main problem is that auditioning the IRs available would take more time than I have.
 
For me the stock cabs are great. I own Redwirez and Ownhammer, but i continue to use stock. Maybe i just haven't experimented enough with the third party ones i dunno...
 
Currently, I only use stock IR's. I have a couple gigs worth of third party IR's that I could use, but I am without a Midi unit to load my files to the axe fx. I see nothing wrong with the ones in the unit as it comes to you, but I can understand the need to use ones that have alternate microphone positions, distances, and mic models. Hell, the Redwirez Big Box has at least 550 IR's per cab. Its an awesome deal if you are a recording engineer or just have money to burn. But I think that most normal gigging musicians have other things they would rather spend their money on. The regular joe in the audience doesn't care if you have a 1968 Marshall cab with Greenbacks mic'ed with a Neumann U87. And he shouldn't anyway.
 
The one benefit I find is that adding a bit of a Room mic (I start ~15% of Room) to a close mic'ed IR gives you a bit more of in the room kind of feel.

Personally I use both Stock and Redwirez, both are great....the RW's just give you more options for your personal use and sound.

Red Wirez offer a free IR to try and money back on the ones you buy....if you don't like them

For my AC30 sounds, I really like the RedWirez as I can get them to be more "Airy", for a more crunchy amps I find the Stock ones great for a more direct in your face tone.
 
No worries, happy to help...we are all newbies at some stage on different things.....

Strong believer in "What goes around, comes around".

It's great to have the Internet to help each other out and learn from each other.
 
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