Rocketsurgeongeneral
Inspired
I'm using the Axe Fx II XL+ preset #283 Uber Chugga and I have my Axe Fx running into a seymour duncan powerstage 700 and into an EVH 5150 2x10 cab. Should I keep the cab blocks activated or bypassed? Why or why not?
The common approach is to disable Cab sims when you're running into a regular guitar speaker cab.
If that doesn't sound good at normal volume levels, something in the rig is set up wrong. Perhaps Power Amp Modeling is turned OFF by accident. You should not have to fix the issue by adding a cab sim.
However, some guitar speakers and some amps don't sound that great at very low volume levels. Instead of adjusting the gain and tone controls, it you can try adding a cab sim, because this adds low and top end. Turn off the cab sim as soon as you turn up the level, because the sound will get all mushy.
Running cab sims into a cab equivalent would be:
Place a cab in another room, mic it, send the mic signal to a power amp, and through a guitar cab.
That is ridiculous.
Normally, people just connect the amp to the cab, and rock out.
If it sounds good then it is good
People probably said pushing an amp to the point of distortion was ridiculous once too, and now whole musician styles are based around that tone....
All a cab sim is is an EQ, and if the coloration of the IR plus that natural coloration of the speaker work well together, then it’s good
I personally think it sounds better, but I probably have a fairly neutral speaker/cab, so for me, using a 4x12 IR sounds better than without, especially if that it the tone I’m after. A clean 1x10 open back speaker might not sound subjectively good with a certain high gain amp model, not enough coloration. Add an IR and maybe it will sound better.
I’d say the only ridiculous choice would be to not take 10 seconds and try soemthing for one’s self, bypass it, take a listen, engage the block, take a listen. Pick the “better” tone
Only rule with the Axe is there are no rules