Gamedojo
Power User
Alright, so some on this forum know i've been lurking around making patches, having fun and learning how this "Toy" works. I've had the unit for 4 months now and have already known its a keeper for home use and for recording, but have NOT used it live for numerous reasons. Over the past 3 weeks I finally tracked down an MFC101, power amp, and JBL monitor and spent some time making a couple of reliable patches to try live. So I lugged the gear up north for our fri/saturday gig and crossed my fingers!
The Axe Fx Exceeded my expectations.
A HUGE element is the Mid-boost I put on all my patches and never turned off. I had posted a thread about it before, but I can't stress how much the boost fits the guitar in the mix and allowed me to hear it on stage. ever so often I would turn it off and, sure enough, my sound would completely disappear. It was so dramatic that I now know why so many players loved the axe, but eventually 'moved on' because they couldn't bond with it live. I think they simply setup their patches in such a way that at home they sounded awesome, but couldn't be heard in a loud band. They probably, incorrectly, blamed the SS factor on what was wrong and didn't realize that the reason tubes cut in the mix so well is that when you push a tube amp into high volume, the sound compresses, and the midrange gets pronounced. My midboost replicated this so well that I felt RIGHT AT HOME on stage. In fact, It felt even a slightly bit BETTER because i had a monitor pointing at my face and not off-axis behind me (like a 4x12 would do)
Friday night, I ran mono since I thought our band's PA was setup in mono only, but once I found it was stereo, I ran a second line and panned the left and right for Saturday night. I had my Drummer sit out front before the gig to check the stereo spread and he was extremely impressed. The guitar sound itself is all mono, but the EFFECTs (reverb/delay) are all stereo. The 2290 and Medium Room Reverb was on and he really commented on how much the effects added a swirl depth to the sound! That made me smile. Clarity and depth, who could ask for more.
The two main patches where a plexi patch (which I shared here) and a Friedman BE patch. The plexi patch was perfect and was all I really needed, but I tried out the Friedman a few times. Wasn't too happy with the way it blended. I then though it might simply be the speakers. I used the basketweave G12M25 from redwirez (sm57 and R121) for the plexi and it sounded great, but I had put on Vintage 30s for the Friedman. It didn't sound BAD, but it was thin in the mix and didn't have any of the woody knock I rely on. AT THE GIG, I quickly swapped out the Vintage 30s for the Basketweave I used for the plexi patch and BAM! Better mix, cut and tone. I then had TWO incredible patches to choose from. Plexi for classic tones and the Friedman for anything heavier.
In the end, the point that sealed the deal is my bassist's compiments on the sound at the end of the night. HE noticed the improvement and he is NOT one that compliments or makes tone judgements. He even started suggesting tunes we could have never done before because of the AXE (purple rain?! ...hmmm).
This is a HUGE weight of my shoulders. I was really nervous to spend on this money on the axe, and then all the FRFR systems to just be let down. But now I've got a rig that I can really sink my teeth into. I've already got a baseline that i can gig with, but now I can continue to tweak, refine and experiment!
...oh, and the moment that made me smile the most was when I plugged my strat in and turned my SRV voodoo patch on for the first time. MASSIVE wall of strat sound that filled the room, I got both the bartenders to start dancing at THAT point! WIN.
FWIW, the gig was a packed house both nights with the majority of the crowd staying all 4 sets. I can't credit just the AxeFx for that outcome, but its gotta have some small part to it. Bigger, fuller non-shrill sounds can only be helping our band!
The Axe Fx Exceeded my expectations.
A HUGE element is the Mid-boost I put on all my patches and never turned off. I had posted a thread about it before, but I can't stress how much the boost fits the guitar in the mix and allowed me to hear it on stage. ever so often I would turn it off and, sure enough, my sound would completely disappear. It was so dramatic that I now know why so many players loved the axe, but eventually 'moved on' because they couldn't bond with it live. I think they simply setup their patches in such a way that at home they sounded awesome, but couldn't be heard in a loud band. They probably, incorrectly, blamed the SS factor on what was wrong and didn't realize that the reason tubes cut in the mix so well is that when you push a tube amp into high volume, the sound compresses, and the midrange gets pronounced. My midboost replicated this so well that I felt RIGHT AT HOME on stage. In fact, It felt even a slightly bit BETTER because i had a monitor pointing at my face and not off-axis behind me (like a 4x12 would do)
Friday night, I ran mono since I thought our band's PA was setup in mono only, but once I found it was stereo, I ran a second line and panned the left and right for Saturday night. I had my Drummer sit out front before the gig to check the stereo spread and he was extremely impressed. The guitar sound itself is all mono, but the EFFECTs (reverb/delay) are all stereo. The 2290 and Medium Room Reverb was on and he really commented on how much the effects added a swirl depth to the sound! That made me smile. Clarity and depth, who could ask for more.
The two main patches where a plexi patch (which I shared here) and a Friedman BE patch. The plexi patch was perfect and was all I really needed, but I tried out the Friedman a few times. Wasn't too happy with the way it blended. I then though it might simply be the speakers. I used the basketweave G12M25 from redwirez (sm57 and R121) for the plexi and it sounded great, but I had put on Vintage 30s for the Friedman. It didn't sound BAD, but it was thin in the mix and didn't have any of the woody knock I rely on. AT THE GIG, I quickly swapped out the Vintage 30s for the Basketweave I used for the plexi patch and BAM! Better mix, cut and tone. I then had TWO incredible patches to choose from. Plexi for classic tones and the Friedman for anything heavier.
In the end, the point that sealed the deal is my bassist's compiments on the sound at the end of the night. HE noticed the improvement and he is NOT one that compliments or makes tone judgements. He even started suggesting tunes we could have never done before because of the AXE (purple rain?! ...hmmm).
This is a HUGE weight of my shoulders. I was really nervous to spend on this money on the axe, and then all the FRFR systems to just be let down. But now I've got a rig that I can really sink my teeth into. I've already got a baseline that i can gig with, but now I can continue to tweak, refine and experiment!
...oh, and the moment that made me smile the most was when I plugged my strat in and turned my SRV voodoo patch on for the first time. MASSIVE wall of strat sound that filled the room, I got both the bartenders to start dancing at THAT point! WIN.
FWIW, the gig was a packed house both nights with the majority of the crowd staying all 4 sets. I can't credit just the AxeFx for that outcome, but its gotta have some small part to it. Bigger, fuller non-shrill sounds can only be helping our band!
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