But how would I grab his signal if I'm using the output from my AxeFX? Wouldn't I have to hook it up to his soundboard instead?
How?
I would use OUTPUT 1 for the board
That's how. if the sound guy has it in the board, he can send it back to you through his AUX send, which is the same way he'd send you vocals and other instruments.
A few points though:
you say want to use out2 for a frfr monitor of your own, that you bring to the gig. what kind of gigs are these? you mention a sound guy, so is there a stage setup with speakers and monitors already? rarely does anyone send a monitor mix from the main mixer back to someone's personal monitor speakers. i guess it's easy enough to make it happen, but again that's usually not how it works.
let's simplify things and say there are mics and guitars only and everything is direct to the board, no pods or axefx etc. so the mics and cables go into the board in channel 1-4 and the guitars and cables go into channels 5-8. from there you turn up the volumes relative to each other (the mix) and then turn up the master fader for the FOH (audience) speakers. now the audience can hear you. but modern sound systems use monitors, the speakers facing the band.
generally, a small stage setup will have 2 monitors for the band's use. generally these 2 speakers have the same mix. to get this mix and signal to the monitors, you usually use the AUX channels to create that auxiliary mix, in this case for the onstage monitors. most boards have 2 or more AUX channels, meaning 2 or more different mixes are available, if someone wants to create those different mixes. also, you need the amplification gear to accomplish this. each different mix will needs its own amp channel. again, many smaller clubs only use 1 amp for monitor mixes and generally try to get away with just 1 monitor mix, possibly 2. whoever said soundguys don't only run 1 or 2 monitor mixes must work some big shows
ok so back to your scenario, you want to run out2 into your own monitor speaker, but additionally would like a band mix of some sort in there for you too. is there not going to be a venue-provided monitor for you to use? when i play, the speakers i bring are ONLY for my guitar, similar to what a real guitar amp would be, and i also use the monitors provided to me for the rest of the band.
if you want to run a mix to your personal monitors, you would need the sound guy to create an additional aux mix just for you without your guitar in it. if he puts guitar in it and you send guitar from your axe to the same speakers, you will probably have phasing issues and it won't sound good at all. you will need a line level signal sent to you, which usually they don't have available. the aux from the mixer is usually connected directly to the power amps right next to the mixer, so they probably won't have the cabling necessary to get the signal to you all the way on stage. if he does somehow get you the line level signal, you would need a mixer to balance the axe signal and the monitor return. some powered speakers, like the k series from qsc, have a 2 channel mixer built in with 2 separate volume controls, so that would work so you could balance the signals how you like. otherwise, you'd need a small external mixer to balance the 2 levels.
that got really complicated huh? so the easiest route would be use the monitors provided for the band monitor mix, and use your personal monitors for guitar only.
i approach every gig as if the band will share 1 monitor mix, so i don't rely on the house sound for my instrument levels. vocals usually dominate a mix anyway, so the instruments would be very quiet in the single mix.
