What amp did the Axe-Fx III make you discover and fall in love with?

For heavy the Herbert..
For clean/EOB/dynamic, pushing the front end of the Bludo Clean channel with FET pre. And the Wrecks, FAS included.
 
Too many to list just one. When I used actual amps, I owned Marshall 800s, Mesa Mark IIB IIC, Triaxis, Bogner XTC and Vox AC30. The amps that I discovered in the Axe FX III that I love are:
Bludotone Ojai
CAE 3+
Cameron Atomica
Dr. Z MAZ 38
Friedman BE/HBE
Matchless D30 EF86
Trainwreck Express
 
Most of my discoveries are amps I never would have looked at in real life... I am interested in modded Marshalls and Modern high gains, so I will seek out those because they are the bread and butter stuff, but:

Swart
The Komets
CA Tucana
Supro
Budda

Never would have sought those out IRL. All real nice.
 
Man love to hear about all the discoveries.
I think this is the beauty of the Axe... the change to get down and dirty with toys you would never normally be attracted to!
 
Man theres many lately

Clean :matchless /13
Mid gain Plexi ,XTC blue
Modern the Bogner XTC Red

Probably will change by Jan 1st :)
 
It wasn't any particular amp that sold me, but rather the ability to create any sound I was looking for, without having to buy other gear.
The versatility, reproduction quality, and the enormous tech support is what convinced me to go Fractal.
 
Matchless Chieftain
Fender Deluxe

After update 11.0 there are like 50 amps I like. The entire line up sounds like the real thing with the best NOS tubes. I can still get better grit out of my lil dawg deluxe but that’s the interaction between the two channels.
 
Dumble ODS-100, especially the way it is set up in the 'Katies's Song' preset with the two speaker cabinets and I have Chorus bypassed. I have the Output Compression set to Gain Enhancer with output at 1.6, threshold at -20, and speaker compression set to 0, as suggested in another post. Really comes alive, reminds me of Larry Carlton's Steely Dan days. I also have a version with FET Drive and one with Zen Drive added to the above.

Does anybody know why the preset is called Katie's Song? Its not named after the 'Katy Lied' album is it?

Also love the amps in the presets EJ Clean and Cliffs of Dover, Morgan AC-20, Texas Star and Deluxe Reverb amps - - all with the above adjustments to Gain Enhancer. On the AC-20, I brought the Input Trim down just enough to take out the overdrive that the preset has, and added my own FET and Zen Drive versions. On many of these I tweak Master Volume upwards to taste.
 
Last edited:
I grew up with a silverface Deluxe Reverb, and started out using various Deluxe models in the Axe-Fx because it's familiar. I also gravitated to several of the Fender Twin models and the Band Commander because they had similar characteristics. Prior to owning my first AFX, I'd never used a Vox (or any of the clones) and had only rarely played through a Marshall of any kind. These days the AC-20/Matchbox D-30 and the various Friedman models are some of my most frequently used models. I'm also using various tweeds for some of my presets. I recently discovered the FAS Supertweed, and it's become my favorite of that bunch. Then there are models like the ODS-100 and Capt Hook that get used for a few songs each.

The AFX has opened my eye and ears to a whole lot of amps that I'd never even heard of, let alone played through.
 
Last edited:
All of the models I‘ve bonded with have already been mentioned except (I think) for two.
  • Dweezil’s Bassman
  • The Hooks
 
I feel like my favorite amps change with the firmware seasons. As things improve and evolve, my staple amps of yesteryear have fallen out of rotation and I’m discovering “new” amps that I never bonded with before but have become really inspiring. Here are some recent favorites.

High gain:
IIC++ (and Lead Mid Gain Bright)
PVH Block
HBE 2018 C45
Euro Uber (with depth at 0)
FAS Skull Crusher

Mid gain:
Brit 800
SLO 100 Lead
Plexi 2204/1987x

Clean:
Deluxe Verb Nrm
DC-30 (both channels)
AC-20
AC-30 TB
JTM-45

Other cool amps:
Supremo Trem
Carr Roamer
Nuclear Tone
 
  • friedman hbe 2018 c45 - literally can't stop playing it
  • usa lead mid gain bright (dat Mark IV tone)
  • Brit Pre - I have no idea why, but I love the way this amp responds at low/mid gain settings
 
I have found the Friedman, JP-2C, Diezel VH-4 and the Bogner XTC models to be absolutely outstanding from Fractal!
 
I love most all of them. I found out that I love mid gain and lower gain sounds after owning the Axe.

Badger 18 and 30
CAE Clean
XTC Blue (vintage channel with a pedal in front for more Gain), lots of nuance depending on playing touch.
 
Back
Top Bottom