What amps have pleasantly surprised you and what amps have been a let down?

Georgy said:
the biggest disappointment from my point of view (guys, please don't crucify me for this), is the Bogner XTC.
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Cliff really does give some great advice about these amps on the wiki page. You can't be hesitant to turn some of those knobs up higher than you normally might. Treble and Presence really make a significant impact on those amps. Love the Bogner XTC in the AxeFx.
 
All "Euro" amps sims are IMO very good representations of the real life counterparts... so don't be surprised if they sound a bit mediocre for being the most expensive amps on the market. Just like with the real amps it would be really hard for me to come up with an adjective to describe how it differs from other amps. It's actually a little bit surprising how respected the Bogner 4x12 cabs are being that they are made in Asia and usually loaded with Chinese V30s. It's definitely not an equally sturdy construction as a Mesa 4x12 cab with proper Celestions, yet they have the same price tag.

I'm not sure if you guys knew it but I created presets for Cab Pack 9 as well that IMO are some of the best Axe-Fx Euro sounds:


And here's a mix using the Euro Cab Pack:


I want to emphasize that the clips I create are always very true representations of the IR's meaning that I post-process them as little as possible. 99% of the time it's just a little bit of low cut. It may not sound like a big deal but trust me it is. This way what ever you hear in the clips is achievable without any studio skills. So this is as close to an honest and authentic Bogner sound I can come up with.

It's kind of a fuzzy sibling to a modern Marshall high gain amp. Not as fast dynamically as a Marshall but muffy, fuzzy and slower.
 
I think a lot of the thing with the Bogner is the "Feel" .They have a very spongy easy to play feel a ton of compression .I think the Bog strength is it Lead tone more than a tight crushing metal tone ,although the Uber can do that .Just like I think the Recto strength isn't leads ,Its big rhythm

For the record i like cab pack9 and those clips they do sound like the Bogner
 
Randalljax said:
I think a lot of the thing with the Bogner is the "Feel" .They have a very spongy easy to play feel a ton of compression .I think the Bog strength is it Lead tone more than a tight crushing metal tone ,although the Uber can do that .Just like I think the Recto strength isn't leads ,Its big rhythm

For the record i like cab pack9 and those clips they do sound like the Bogner
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That's awesome to hear. :)
 
Having played live and in the studio with a Bogner Shiva for almost 3 years, I can attest to Bogner amps being a little unconventional. I ended up selling it because I always felt like I was fighting it. Good amp, but not great IMHO.
 
It probably depends a lot on the guitar and pickups. For example, everyone is praising the Frieman HBE and it seems that I just can not find a useful tone with it despite how much I would like to. Cameron CCV 2D works for my setup much better.
 
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Love the Caroll Ann and Friedmans as well, Tucana Clean cleans and Tucana Lead for Lead gets a lot of playtime, and the Dirty Shirley and BE lower and higher gain rhythm respectively. At rehearsal last night I had a lot of fun with the Maz 38 and the Ac20 is always great.

Struggled with the Bogners as well and found them disappointing, probably because they are "supposed" to be great. Never owned a Bogner amp so can't really compare but I did used to own both the red and blue pedal that I really liked. On Cliffs recommendation I have turned up presence and engaged bright on the XTC and can definitely get a useful sound but was expected to be blown away and just wasn't. The Shiva clean is really good, but not better than the Tucana Clean, CAE clean or Dumble clean, and followed Cooper Carters guide a while back to dial in a lead tone with the Shiva Lead and liked it but again nothing better than the Tucana Lead or the Friedman BE for lead, or the AC20 with the Zendrive for that matter.

If I would ever buy an amp again to play in a band, I'd most likely buy the Tucana or possibly one of the Friedmans.
 
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The Swart, 5153 Green (NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would I have thought i'd use a 5150 amp..
The vast selection of tweeds (i really never played through one, so I thought they were just pristine clean fenders.. boy was I wrong)
 
don_joe said:
It probably depends a lot on the guitar and pickups. For example, everyone is praising the Frieman HBE and it seems that I just can not find a useful tone with it despite how much I would like to. Cameron CCV 2D works for my setup much better.
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Personally, I like the Friedman BE better than the HBE. I can get a tighter sound.
 
Carol-AnnAmps said:
Aww, thank you. That's very kind of you. Having the models in there definitely does expose them to a much wider audience. Playing the amp models in the Axe is a way better way to sample things than listening to a professional player play clips. I enjoy listening to the recordings people make with the Axe CA models, especially the Tucana 3 model. I've even put a few AxeFX Tuc clips on the CA FB page. I want to see if Cliff would like include the Joe Bonamassa JB-100 model sometime in the future.
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JB-100.
Yes please
 
Love the Plexi's. I also built a preset using both a Two Stone and Marshall Sliver Jubilee that I use a lot. The Plexi's are pretty much my go-to amps. I mostly use a Suhr Modern and Suhr Classic, so I dialed in Plexi amps that compliment the Humbuckers in the Modern and the ML single coils in the Classic.

I also really like the Fender Concert. Probably not the fave of many people here, but really brings back memories for me. I mostly used Fender Concerts and Super Reverbs when I was a kid. Played a Guild Thunderbird through them for years.

I can't think of anything I would call a disappointment. Some of the amp models are not for me, but that is the beauty of the Fractal. So many amps to choose from.
 
Can't get fixed on a bunch of amps... too much good to great choices !
I agree on the BE, HBE, and all CAs.
The Small Box is really great; use it a lot, covering a nice ground of tone.

And refering to IR's evolution, I found an amp that I would not prefer at a time, could become a great choice later, with a more suited IR...
So a never ending story, but that's why we have an AFX, right ?
 
Relatively new Axe Fx owner here (woohoo!), I'd have to say I've been most pleasantly surprised by the Quickrod and in particular the Corncob M50. Wouldn't have really expected the tones that I've been able to get out of those guys, but they've delivered some absolutely bone-crushing stuff, which I don't feel was probably their original intention.

Funny enough I've actually found myself somewhat let down by the JCM 800 models, mind you, not because I think there's anything wrong with the models, I think I've just had a false sense of how that amp actually sounds my entire life haha. I'm coming to realize that the tones I've been chasing were more likely Plexis or similar amps, and not JCMs as I had imaged.
But hey, we live and we learn right? And it's not as if we are wanting for choice when it comes to the Axe! (I am still nerding out over this thing 3 months later as if it were the first day lol)
 
When I got my Axe-FX, the amps I most wanted to try where the Mesa Mark series, the Fender Deluxe Reverb, the 5150 III models, and the Marshall Plexi types (particularly Brit Brown). None of those have disappointed! I still haven't tried everything, but here are some of my surprises and let downs.

Surprises:
- Mesa Dual Rectifier (I've heard a bunch of these live and most bands turn them into mud. I Frankenstein'd mine with a Mesa 5 band EQ and some other tweaks and now it's my #1 heavy rhythm amp)
- Carol-Ann models
- Bludotone models
- Orange Rockerverb
- Carvin Legacy (there's a preset I found called DoubleTrouble that has been a ton of fun)
- Dumble ODS clean channel (I know the overdrive channel is (in)famous, but never heard any talk about the clean channel)
- CAE 3+ SE clean channel
- Fredrik Thordendal models
- the new Marshall JMP-1 models

Let downs:
- Roland Jazz Chorus (I probably just don't know how to dial one in... besides it might not be for my style anyway)
- Diezel models (although I haven't really messed with them since Quantum)
- Bogner Ecstasy and Uberschall models (only tried the factory presets and immediately moved on... I'll try them again later)
 
biggest let down ? .... Bogner Fish. I've played the real thing, I've heard it plenty of times. something just seems to be off with both models (Strato and Brown channel). maybe it's the choice of power amp that was used to model them. don't know, but something just doesn't seem right with them.
 
The Bogner appears as lot as does the Diezels ,which is intresting perhaps they are more cab specific and tricker to find the Right IR.
 
I've never used an ENGL model and liked it, especially the Energyball and I loved the Fireball in real life although a slightly different tone
 
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