Should I dive in without hearing or playing the AX8?

Bman

Power User
I'm pretty sure the majority will say yes and that it might be the last piece of gear I buy/need.

I currently own a 1973 50watt Marshall, a 5watt Blackstar and a recently purchased Marshall DSL 40C - modified with Creamback and swapped the c-19. The idea was to buy the DSL for flexibility; it's a two channel amp. Then sell the '73 because it collects dust. It's the best sounding overdriven amp I've ever played through or heard. It doesn't clean up all that well and it's too loud. It needs a new home.

I'm hoping that by buying an AX8 I can run it through the FX return of the DSL40 and set up some presets for bedroom level and gig level. Then I can sell the Blackstar too. Am I on the right track or will it not sound up to its potential through the 1x12 DSL ? I really don't want to buy a power amp and lug my 4x12 around, or buy a powered wedge to use live. The band I play with is just for fun and the PA's usually only mic up the vocals. I want huge sound out of a small rig....don't we all?

Talk me into or out of it....... and sorry for the millionth first time post asking the same question.

-Bman
 
I've had my AX8 since May.

Running it into the back of your Marshall should yield good results. Just be sure to leave the cab block out of your patches.

There is a noticeable learning curve with the AX8. Accept this and power through it.

Without any form of FRFR or PA speaker, you are not using the IRs on the unit and will run into some other features that can't be used to their full potential. Curiosity will probably lead to a desire toward wanting to facilitate the use of these features. Future purchases might be on the slate.$$

Sight unseen... It sounds good, so that isnt the issue. Be willing to adjust to potential feel and tonal differences that come with any amp change. Paralisis by analysis can be a factor based on how many options there are to adjust everything under the sun. This level of adjustability is either good bad or nothing depending on the user.

I am a tube guy and a knob turner. With that, I've adapted well to my AX8 over the months.

You might like it too.
 
Thanks for the response.

I've read a bit to try to educate myself and understand that the IR shouldn't typically be used since there's already a driven speaker in my scenario. I'm hoping that I can tweak it enough so that the single 1x12 sounds as big as my '73 with a 4x12. I know that's pretty ambitious though. I'm not that concerned with the EL34 post amp coloration, since that's been my core tone forever. I am hoping to coax some fenderish cleans out of it. The DSL 40 has a nice clean sound on it's own anyway.
 
I've used they AX8 into effects loops, into the front of amps, with power amp and direct. It is able to sound great no matter how you choose to use it. The best sounding for me, other than direct, is into the front of a Brunetti Pleximan on the drive channel with the gain set just on the verge of breakup. Clean amp models in the AX8 sounded great as did the higher gain models. It sounds good in the loop and on the clean channel, I just found the added eq of the drive channel helped with tone shaping.

I would seriously consider trying the AX8 with the Blackstar. The amp models will give you the tonal coloration you need. In my experience, the more neutral the amp, the better the results. I've experimented using the AX8 with a Splawn Competition, Orange OR15, 65Amps London Pro and the Brunetti. The compression of the Splawn and Orange made clean tones difficult to dial in. The 65Amps was good but the Brunetti sounded the best of what I have. I have also found that when using an amp, the cabinet plays a huge role in the resulting tone. A speaker that is more balanced seems to give better results to me. I use a WGS Retro 30/ET65 2x12 with the Brunetti.
 
Yep, you really should just do it. Just carve out a few days to coincide with the delivery of your shiny new AX8 and plan on getting immersed. It can be hard to stop playing the first couple of days, so you might as well plan it in advance :). And if it doesn't work out for you for some reason, knowing it quickly can make all the difference. But waiting until you see one in person can be tricky for most people, and there's really no reason to wait on it. Just do it.
 
If you are looking to get a wide range of tones; Fender Twin cleans, Mesa Boogie crunch, AC30 chime, etc I would say you are on the wrong track, as the Marshall cab is going to color all the tones. If you are just looking for Marshall tones with some added FX, you should also consider the FX8.
 
The AX8 into CLR is the best sounding rig I've used.
I'm always amazed that there are people out there who can't adjust to this glorious combo, but there are.
You'll be going in an fx loop which should work fine, but impossible to know if you'll be satisfied until you try it out.
 
Dove in in 2010 with an Ultra, without hearing it. Then I dove in with an AXE FX without hearing it. Then I dove in with an AX8 without hearing it. No regrets. Best tone I ever had. As they say, I am a crappy hamper, or something like that.
 
Yes , I dove in even while owning a Mesa Mark V and FX8 - I do not regret it
Using it direct or through power amp and cabs is very satisfying
 
I'm in the camp that doesn't care for the AX8 into an amp fx return. You lose a little bit of something. Not terrible but why settle? This was my experience with a Friedman be100 as well as an evh 5153. I've heard the axe fx XL does better in front of an amp because it has a similar input section to the fx8 but not tried it myself. Imo either go ax8 to an FRFR cab, or neutral amp and real cab if you must, or get the fx8 or the XL for 4cm.
 
I started running mine into the loop of my Mesa. Fast forward 10 or 12 months, the Mesa is sold and I run to a powered monitor.
 
I'm using my AFXII II for recording but my Mesa Mk III is now collecting dust.
Best decision I ever made was to buy the AFX unheard. I'm pretty sure it's going to deliver live too. :)
 
I was super happy with my Hughes and Kettner GM36 and 2x12 - it really did everything I needed it to do....but....I couldn't stop watching vids and reading this forum about the Fractal products. I went with the AX8 and have 0 regrets. I mean, there is a learning curve - but it's not unmanageable - plus - professionals use these products. I mean, if it's good enough for Steve Vai, Satriani, the Edge, Larry Mitchell, Metallica and countless others - I was pretty sure it would be ok for me to play in cover bands on the weekends! :) Do it!
 
Thanks for the response.

I've read a bit to try to educate myself and understand that the IR shouldn't typically be used since there's already a driven speaker in my scenario. I'm hoping that I can tweak it enough so that the single 1x12 sounds as big as my '73 with a 4x12. I know that's pretty ambitious though. I'm not that concerned with the EL34 post amp coloration, since that's been my core tone forever. I am hoping to coax some fenderish cleans out of it. The DSL 40 has a nice clean sound on it's own anyway.

I really don't think it's an issue 90% only mic 1x12 anyway. Should be "can pretty easily done!"
 
I took the plunge. I'm reading the manual while waiting for it to be shipped (used).

I also have a 30watt SS combo amp that I use for wet dry setup. Could I still send a 100% wet or delayed signal to the 2nd output? And if so, could I also flip it and send a different amp tone to the 2nd output and let the Marshall (1st ouput) serve as the wet?
 
In short, yes. I’d look up videos after videos online regarding everything Fractal related, to comparison videos/ reviews. You won’t truely understand how great it is until you first plug into it in person.

Even if you’re going into the Fx Return, you’re not losing a lot as far as tone accessibility.Plus with all the advance features you can tweak each amp model, etc. You’ll find what you’re looking for and more!
 
I say yes but......

Running it into the back of a real amp, and I do that with a marshall and the sound is glorious......but you still need.........volume.

For a those bedroom times, I recommend frfr because the volume requirements are not there in that situation, don't get me wrong, louder is still better, but low volume results are much, much more enjoyable. For this I'm talking about using studio monitors, I use the adam a7x for this and again, tones ate glorious.

Just my $0.02

Enjoy!
 
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