Should I sell everything to fund a Fractal?

C

Chrose1201

Inspired
I have been going back and forth on this forever.....I am watching all the videos, reading posts I have so much to learn as to why I want/need one of these...

I will have a ton of questions for the forum(s), and am doing my research however so I don't ask the already asked questions. But here's one I haven't seen yet;
Question: Should I sell all my pedals to fund the FM3? We're talking Power Grid, Buffer Bay, several OD's, assorted other pedals. All told they add up to just shy (minus the fees of course) of a new FM3.
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I understand all these effects are in the FM3, but should I get rid of all my pedals??
 
No.
I love Fractal...from the AX8 to the FM3 and the FX3...own them all and use them every day...in studio and live.
However, some people for whatever reason, are unable to wrap their head around modeling.
Are you one of those? You won't know until you try it and then you may wish you had your old rig back.
 
IMHO - sell all the pedals that aren't your favorite, and save for the difference.

Even if you love the Frac as I do, and I expect you will - there is a connection to those favorite pedals.
You will end up re-buying them sooner or later IME even if you don't need them.

We are analog and creatures of habit. We like knobs and colors and fiddling. Even though the fractal can probably do literally everything you will ever need, those favorites, they will always be special. They look different and feel different even if they sound the same.

I don't know you personally of course, but this is the pattern I see fwiw.
 
I mostly did and don't regret it.

I was coming from a very frustrated place with complex pedalboards that never seemed to work 100% properly or my inability to have consistent sound across the various pubs / outdoor shows I play. I can remember the gigs on one hand where I didn't have some kind of problem, so dumping all the interconnects for reliable internal connections wasn't so painful.

I've had the FM3 since firmware 4 and have tried all manner of configuration. In each case, it's been different forms of 'great', not just one 'great' and the rest bad. I initially tried using an outboard reverb to free up CPU, and that worked really well until I realized I didn't really need it. The balance for me is using external overdrives, specifically a KOT, which gets me a specific creaminess I love.

My live preset has a Shiva clean amp and a Plexi for leads (each with it's own IR). The gap switching scenes with various amps is no worse than my analog days, except it always works perfectly and sounds predictable. I'm a fanboy, so take this all with a grain of salt. If you are the kind of player that goes to a club gig with an amp and a pedalboard, yes, sell it all and get a Fractal FM3. You may still want to have some effects here and there, but that shouldn't take away from massive value proposition.

Again, you're asking the question in a room full of believers!

PS. I just passed up my spot on the FM9 waiting list. That's how much this little beast does it for me.
 
Chrose1201 said:
Should I sell all my pedals to fund the FM3? We're talking Power Grid, Buffer Bay, several OD's, assorted other pedals. All told they add up to just shy (minus the fees of course) of a new FM3.
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Look at them closely. Like really look at them at ask yourself - how often do I use them? Are they really that irreplaceable for me?
If you really feel there is no substitution for your case (and there are no same/similar models in FAS), that's one thing. I find it hard to believe all of those pedals are something that is always on and you can't live without them, but that's just me.

I've sold everything after buying FM3. Yes, I might think/feel some of the models doesn't sound like I used to, but I don't really care. It's totally fine, the grass is always of the same color for me, 20 years back and now.
The sounds I'm getting from FM3 are 100x times superior to what I was ever able to dial in with my real Egnater Rebel, Xotic pedals, etc. 100x times, no joking. Even Egnater Rebel model, "made" from Bluer Jr. model with a little trick with Negative Feedback, sounds better, than its real counterpart (already sold, of course).

Do it and never look back. You have what - 30 drive models in FM3? Including KOT and Klon? You will found a decent substitute for everything you own.
 
RLD said:
No.
I love Fractal...from the AX8 to the FM3 and the FX3...own them all and use them every day...in studio and live.
However, some people for whatever reason, are unable to wrap their head around modeling.
Are you one of those? You won't know until you try it and then you may wish you had your old rig back.
Click to expand...
I can wrap my head around modeling. Let's put it this way. When I got back into gigging about 15 years ago I sarted out with a Line 6. I loved the options I had but it wasn't a real amp to me being all SS. I then went to a Peavey Vyyper hybrid which was great except that the SS part through the pedal kept cutting out. The good part was there wasn't any tube warmup needed you could turn it right back on. But it wasn't the organic tube feel I was craving. I went through a Mesa Boogie and then settled on a Friedman Dirty Shirley. The amp is amazing, but I can never seem to find a nice smooth tone that I crave. Considering how far modeling has come, and that fact that I play in a cover band and will never be better than the average player I am. So then I see nothing wrong with modeling if it gets me where I want to be!
 
FPFL said:
IMHO - sell all the pedals that aren't your favorite, and save for the difference.

Even if you love the Frac as I do, and I expect you will - there is a connection to those favorite pedals.
You will end up re-buying them sooner or later IME even if you don't need them.
Click to expand...
Haha! Been there, done that, have the pedals to prove it :) Some I wish I still had (1970's Echoplex...) but these days I really don't have a connection to thigs electronic. My thought was, and this DID go through my mind this morning was that if I did sell something and decided someday that I wanted it again, I could always buy it, again.... The 2 pedals I was thinking of keeping was my EHX Holy Grail (always on) as the Dirty Shirley doesn't have one, and that would be one less pedal I would need in whatever chains or presets are used. And my Peterson StroboStomp tuner. I like the display and don't need then to dance on the FM3 to tune on the fly.
 
When I bought my first Axe Fx II back in 2013, I made a deal with my wife: I could buy the Axe Fx and spend 6 months deciding if it worked for me or not.

If it didn't, I would sell it. If it did, I would sell everything from the rig it was replacing (a Budda SuperDrive II, a TC G-Major, 6-8 pedals, midi loop switcher, etc).

I had 2 basically equivalent rigs, one I used at the rehearsal studio and at gigs and one at home. My ultimate goal was to have a more portable gigging rig as I could not load my large rack into my car without help!

After a few months, the home rig was gone and I was only using the Axe Fx both at rehearsals and gigs. I never looked back after that and soon my main rig was torn down and stored...

I've owned the Axe Fx II and Axe Fx II XL+ and currently own Axe Fx III, FM9 and FM3. These days, the FM9 is where I mostly live.

Along the way, I've converted the other guitarist in my band (he bought my old II and recently got the FM9), the bass/Stick player and several others. None of them have any interest in going back.

You may not be able to afford the same option as I had when I started, but hopefully this gives you some help making your choice.

One question: are you planning to use it in conjunction with your Amp or are you wanting to use it as a dedicated solution for amp and effects?
 
unix-guy said:
One question: are you planning to use it in conjunction with your Amp or are you wanting to use it as a dedicated solution for amp and effects?
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My thought was to use it in conjunction with my amp. There seem to be a lot of videos on how to do this, and the varouis options. So that is going to have to be part of the learning and decision curve!
 
I would keep my favorite ones if I truly loved them or if they are vintage or potentially worth more money. I see these more as "eternal" and many easily fixable.

A complicated device can go at any time and within even 5 to 12 years may not be fixable anymore... This gets more important if money doesn't come easy to you, as you may end up with an old POD or plugins, so to speak :)

In reality, many cheaper devices are becoming great too, so you'll always have that.

Me, I don't actively miss playing real amps/cabs, but I would always want some analog ready to go. I vividly remember being in a music store and getting plugged in into some glorious 2x12 tube amp and thinking why the hell I went digital?? In truth, I greatly enjoy both.
 
I sold my tube head, pedals (distortion, overdrive , reverb, delay, eq pedal) and never looked back since
though I did keep my 4x12 cab and bought a solid state amp for that genuine cab in the room sound

not that I can currently take advantage of it since I live in an apartment, but headphone and studio monitor tones.... fractal is the gift that keeps on giving , firmware after firmware after firmware :)

also the people here are genuinely knowledgeable and friendly so you'll have no problem getting a problem solved

there's still the well written manual, wiki fractal page and official support email aswell if that's not enough

TL DR a big fat YES
 
My amp and pedals rarely get used since buying a FM3. When I do run the old setup it sounds good but the modeling setup is a lot more fun to play. I’ve been spoiled by the consistency and variety. I’m keeping what I have left. I might use it again someday lol. I’d say sell it and buy the FM3 and a good speaker solution.
 
Since I own a Fractal I don’t use my tube amps anymore. I still own most of my pedals and my 2 tube amps. Probably I will not sell them anytime soon because I don’t need the cash right now.

One tube amp is a Marshall JTM60, which acts as a pedal platform for when a fiend is coming over for jamming. The other one a Mesa MkV90:combo with matching wide body cabinet. I bought those in near mint condition and will hold on to them because I expect they will keep their value anyway

I probably should sell my pedals or at least most of them.
 
I bought 2 heads after using fm3 for two years just because i loved that in the fractal and i wanted to have the analog counterpart.. I used barely them with my Torpedo captor x because fm3 is still the main unit...it may seems strange but phisically touching, watching, is still important to me...obviously it also depends on the economic side.
 
I sold an amp and most of my pedals before buying my AxeIII.
I sold my remaining amp and the rest of my remaining pedals soon after.
No regrets.
 
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