Very Frustrated With AXE FX II XL+

M

MDS

New Member
I recently purchased an Axe Fx II XL+ to use live and in the studio. I have spent over $4,000.00 in the past two months on this unit, Matrix amps, and Xitone speakers in the hopes of at least sounding comparable to my Marshall amp and cabinet. I can't even come close in the hours upon hours of editing the JVM amp block and the 1960B cab block. I feel like an absolute idiot that has to have a Ph.d to figure this thing out. I am beyond frustrated and regretting my purchase. I have played guitar for close to 40 years, hold a Master's degree in guitar performance, teach guitar full-time, and perform several times weekly. I am not a stupid man but this thing makes me feel like it. Any specific help and direction would be greatly appreciated.
 
Don't give up, asking for help is the first step to success! If you ask about a more specific problem you will get better suggestions.

So what part of your sound needs help? I would start with just an amp and no other blocks. I'm assuming you are not using an FRFR cab correct? If so make sure cab modeling is off and power amp sims are on in global settings, and check your in/out levels are optimized to start with

Don't forget to set your master volume. This has a big affect on tone. Find the sweet spot then set your level with the output level in amp block. I'm guessing around 4 should be close. Lower will be tighter, higher will give more body.
 
I thought all xitone cabs were FRFR? If so keep cab sim ON, as you otherwise will get an incredibly harsch sound (unless that's you thing). Master colume only affects tone on certain amps. Not sure if this goes for JVM, as I haven't messedwith this since i discovered the beaury of a cranked master volume in the axef.

The important thing to keep in mind in you're using FRFR, and IRs in general, is that these are designed to emulate the captured sound of the cab, meaning what the mic has captured. What you are hearing can not be compared to a "real" cab in the room, but can only be compared to what the audience is hearing through the PA or in your recording daw etc.

You might not get an identical sound to your marshall amp, but I's be very surprised if you can find something that sound just as good (or even better)

My 2 cents :)
 
MDS said:
Everything I have read says to leave the global cabinet ON when using FRFR speakers. What is the point of an FRFR speaker if you can't use the CAB block?
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Exactly! For FRFR alway use cab blocks/IR on. TahoeBrians statement was under the presumption, that your cab was not FRFR. If you use a "real" guitar cab, you can get horrible results with the cab sim on (and probably also some good ones, dunno never tried)
 
MDS said:
Everything I have read says to leave the global cabinet ON when using FRFR speakers. What is the point of an FRFR speaker if you can't use the CAB block?
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Cab block should be on with FRFR.
 
The cab block has enormous impact on your tone. Don't limit yourself to just the 1960B because that is what pairs with your analog amp. Audition many cab IR's and you will eventually be rewarded with the tone of your dreams. Also, don't expect it to sound like your cab sitting in your playing space. IR's will sound like a mic'd cab because that's what they are.
 
Do yourself a favor, buy the new Djent pack from ML Soundlab, they come with nasty presets. Look over the presets, and copy a few settings from the amp block. Then tweak them the way you like. Its best to buy some professional presets and cabs, and use that as a starting point.
 
First and foremost, know what you are aiming for. The Axe II and FRFR cabs will not give you the exact same sound as your Marshall amp in the room. It can give you the sound of that amp close mic'd and played through a full range PA. If you want that exact same live, "in the room" tone of an amp sitting next to you, use a real guitar cab instead of FRFR. The dispersion patterns are just too different between the two to give the same feel in the room. FRFR = mic'd/recorded tone or what the audience hears from the PA. Real cabs = on stage or "in the room" tone. Once you get used to that distinction, the sky's the limit. Some players just don't gel with FRFR and stick with real cabs. It takes getting used to for sure.

As others have stated, keep it simple. Approach the blocks just like you would a real analog rig. The vast majority of real amp and FX techniques translate very well to the Axe II. Also, try as many different IRs as you can. They can make all the difference.
 
Try a different amp type and even cab type. You are digital now, don’t limit yourself to certain things.

Can you post a recording of the sound your getting? With a phone or some other “general mic” would be great. Have you tried the Friedman BE or HBE amp type?

It really shouldn’t be difficult to get a decent or even good sound. If it takes hours then something isn’t right.
 
Most of us here can certainly understand and relate to your frustration. As great as FAS gear is, I would not describe it as a "plug in and play" device. That is not to say it is bad, on the contrary, it is capable of doing great things, but there is a learning curve. Reaching out with questions is what many of us have done. Like with so many things, patience and sustained effort win the day. I suggest you approach it like you did when you first started playing the guitar. Were you sounding great in your first month of playing?
 
As someone who uses both FRFR and a real guitar cabinet, my experience between the two is very different and I never expect them to be the same experience. Let's compare the two and assume we're playing both at the same (loud) volume.

Using the cab block + FRFR is like playing a stereo system. The sound you're hearing is a speaker cabinet that is miked up. Imagine taking the isolated guitar track from your favorite album and playing it through your FRFR speaker. The guitar tone is already "baked in" so to speak.

Playing with a power amp + guitar cabinet is very different. There is no microphone capturing the sound. You're listening to the raw sound of the speakers with your ears. A speaker cabinet has many tonal characteristics coming out of it, which is why there are so many impulses for one microphone in various positions around one cabinet. Hearing a guitar cabinet cranked is almost a "3D" experience because of how much positioning makes a difference to the sound.
 
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MDS said:
I have spent over $4,000.00 in the past two months on this unit, Matrix amps, and Xitone speakers in the hopes of at least sounding comparable to my Marshall amp and cabinet.
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If you don't add "when mic'd up" to the end of that bolded part, you are using the Axe FX outside of what it's really designed for. This is not to say that you can't get in that ballpark. It's tougher though and it's somewhat easy to get wrapped up in all the available options.

My advice (take it with a grain of salt because I admittedly don't know much at all) is to take a few steps back and run the Axe FX as a preamp only (power amp and cab sims off) into your Marshall's FX loop then into your real cab and see if you can get the two sounding similar. Once you're happy with that, take the Marshall amp out of the mix. Turn the power amp simulation on in the Axe and run that through the Matrix then into your real cab and see if you can get that sounding similar.

The Axe FX is a fantastic tool, but there IS a learning curve. Additionally, there's an understanding curve that deals with understanding what the unit is designed to do and how it's different from (or the same as) the tools you're already using.
 
From my experience...and I was exactly where you are 4 years ago but without master's degree...the key is the cab block if you are using FRFR. If you can dial in a real amp, you'll know what to do with a modeler.

Cab block is not on anyone's mind when dealing with the Axe FX for the first time. Most of the new users focus only on the amp. I've lost too much time there.

Applying low and high cuts in the cab block (ca. 85-8500 Hz) was the biggest improvement for me. The second one was getting the speaker away from the floor (thank you Black Bitch). And the last one was selecting the "null" microphone and turning the proximity knob somewhat higher to have some "amp in the room" feeling (depth in the amp block always = 0).

Maybe this helps, maybe not, everyone has his or her own taste, preferences and solutions. But you see how many replies you get in no time here in this forum...
 
Something doesn't sound right here. You're using a Matrix amp and a XiTone cabinet and you can't get a good tone? Really, you can't get much more mainstream (and ideal) than that, and many, many players have reported the same setup is really easy to get a great tone.

Even more, most people are reporting that, with the recent versions of the firmware, it's really become as simple as set up an amp and cab block, dial in BMT and you're done...great tone! I'd add that the JVM and 1960B are hardly little used models in the AxeFX, so this general experience probably includes them.

I'd recommend a "do over". Do a factory reset, load up the lastest firmware and start a preset with nothing more than an amp and cabinet. Dial in BMT and see how it sounds. Then get back to us here in the forum if it still sounds wrong.
 
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