What artists do you think that may still not be ready for plug-and-play the Axe-FX III?

Piing

Piing

Axe-Master
We have arrived at a point where people that thrashes modelers for not being “authentic” are making a fool of themselves. Of course, traditional tube amps have they place and purpose and they will be there forever, but there is no reason to disparage modelers.

The inclusion of the JM-PRE Graphic EQ block for Dave Murray or the improvements of the JMP-1 Amp block for Phil Collen are examples of how the Axe-FX can satisfy the most demanding guitarists.

Even the rigorous David Gilmour could get all his tones with only the Axe-FX III, as it has recently been demonstrated by Brit Floyd’s guitarist Edo Scordo


Another one that is in real need of replacing all these huge rack refrigerators and pedalboards with the Axe-FX is Steve Rothery :D

But who do you think that could not just plug-and-play the Axe-FX III and be instantly satisfied?

First name that comes to my mind is Ritchie Blackmore. Not only the Blackmore of the modified Marshall Major (e.g.: Made in Japan), but other different eras. I still have not seen a preset that can get the same nuances.

People says "just the AC30 and a Treble Booster". But what cab? what settings? I've tried hundreds of combinations, but I cannot get there. Great tones indeed (I had better luck with Marshalls than with AC30, BTW), but not exactly the same.

It would be really interesting that he got one Axe-FX. He is not apprehensive to digital technology, since he frequently uses a Roland GK-2. But I am afraid that he would not share a single preset, since he has always been so vague and secretive in the interviews about the exact details of the gear/settings that he has been using during his career :D
 
Last edited:
Well first off, you're naming several guitarists who either are done touring, or are very close to it. I'd imagine if you looked at current guitarists, you'd still find a number that will most likely always use amps. Even though they're also using an Axe III.

There is a difference in how the overall live, FOH sounds, comparing a silent stage to one that has a backline. I remember Todd's videos, and even those sounded a bit "empty." That's got nothing to do with being able, or not being able to replicate a great tone with just an AF3. But having amps on-stage to me, sounds more "filling."

The guy for me who comes to mind is John Petrucci. Unless it's some hastily-arranged, backyard party type gig, I'll wager he'll never retire his amps. And not just because an Axe alone couldn't satisfy him, playing with Dream Theater and using in-ears, but even then, his amps are off-stage, miked up in iso-cabs.

But for his solo act, those 2 amps in stereo, on-stage, pointing out towards the audience..., even setting aside the fact they're his signature Boogies, and no one else has one, he'll never drop them, and I can't see an Axe replacing them. That stage volume is part of his overall live sound.

I actually agree with you. Maybe I'm looking at a different aspect of the sound, by giving up stage amplification. The Axe can definitely do it. Of that I have no doubt. I guess it's the whole, "silent stage" thing that usually goes with using a Fractal straight to FOH, that I don't think a lot of bands are yet on-board with.

Oh and your Floyd comparison, I hear the same thing with Brit Floyd- it's too polished a sound, and not like what a Floyd concert sounds like. To my ears, something's missing in their live tone. Sure, it sounds amazing, but it doesn't have that "oomph" that say, the Pulse show has. And in a few of their songs that I've heard, their presets still don't "match." They're close, but a live Floyd show has much more "fullness." There's something that's just not quite there.

Maybe it's just the difference you hear, when you've got FOH mains & subs, side-fills, floor wedges, and a backline all swirling together and mixing up the entire sound, that I think sounds much better for a live concert, as compared to a stripped-down version, using a Fractal direct to FOH.
 
Blackmore played through an AIWA TP1101 tape recorder in the signal path, not a standard treble booster. (You can see the tape deck off to the side of his rig in live videos, including the California Jam where they almost blew it up with a surprise on-stage explosion. :) ) If you haven't done so already, give the Tape Distortion a try in the Drive block as a boost into an appropriate Marshall amp model.
 
jasonmauer said:
Blackmore played through an AIWA TP1101 tape recorder in the signal path, not a standard treble booster. (You can see the tape deck off to the side of his rig in live videos, including the California Jam where they almost blew it up with a surprise on-stage explosion. :) ) If you haven't done so already, give the Tape Distortion a try in the Drive block as a boost into an appropriate Marshall amp model.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've tried the Tape dist block. It doesn't create a dramatic change that Blackmorizes the tone

He still didn't had the AIWA tape during the Made in Japan tour, though
 
TSJMajesty said:
Well first off, you're naming several guitarists who either are done touring, or are very close to it. I'd imagine if you looked at current guitarists, you'd still find a number that will most likely always use amps. Even though they're also using an Axe III.

There is a difference in how the overall live, FOH sounds, comparing a silent stage to one that has a backline. I remember Todd's videos, and even those sounded a bit "empty." That's got nothing to do with being able, or not being able to replicate a great tone with just an AF3. But having amps on-stage to me, sounds more "filling."

The guy for me who comes to mind is John Petrucci. Unless it's some hastily-arranged, backyard party type gig, I'll wager he'll never retire his amps. And not just because an Axe alone couldn't satisfy him, playing with Dream Theater and using in-ears, but even then, his amps are off-stage, miked up in iso-cabs.

But for his solo act, those 2 amps in stereo, on-stage, pointing out towards the audience..., even setting aside the fact they're his signature Boogies, and no one else has one, he'll never drop them, and I can't see an Axe replacing them. That stage volume is part of his overall live sound.

I actually agree with you. Maybe I'm looking at a different aspect of the sound, by giving up stage amplification. The Axe can definitely do it. Of that I have no doubt. I guess it's the whole, "silent stage" thing that usually goes with using a Fractal straight to FOH, that I don't think a lot of bands are yet on-board with.

Oh and your Floyd comparison, I hear the same thing with Brit Floyd- it's too polished a sound, and not like what a Floyd concert sounds like. To my ears, something's missing in their live tone. Sure, it sounds amazing, but it doesn't have that "oomph" that say, the Pulse show has. And in a few of their songs that I've heard, their presets still don't "match." They're close, but a live Floyd show has much more "fullness." There's something that's just not quite there.

Maybe it's just the difference you hear, when you've got FOH mains & subs, side-fills, floor wedges, and a backline all swirling together and mixing up the entire sound, that I think sounds much better for a live concert, as compared to a stripped-down version, using a Fractal direct to FOH.
Click to expand...
Yes, there are many nuances involving how you move the air through the stage, and you would perceive it if you are an audience in front of the stage. But as you say on the last paragraph, I believe that this is something that comes from the speakers that you position on the stage (type, size, number, location...), not from the modeler Vs tube amp dilemma.

We could limit the comparison to the recording sound that we hear at home, because that is how we normally listen that cranked Marshall Major
 
Last edited:
TSJMajesty said:
The guy for me who comes to mind is John Petrucci. Unless it's some hastily-arranged, backyard party type gig, I'll wager he'll never retire his amps. And not just because an Axe alone couldn't satisfy him, playing with Dream Theater and using in-ears, but even then, his amps are off-stage, miked up in iso-cabs.

But for his solo act, those 2 amps in stereo, on-stage, pointing out towards the audience..., even setting aside the fact they're his signature Boogies, and no one else has one, he'll never drop them, and I can't see an Axe replacing them. That stage volume is part of his overall live sound.
Click to expand...
I'd say Petrucci's deals for signature gear with Mesa are a bigger reason to not just use the Axe-Fx 3. If you look at his live rig, it's basically everything the Axe-Fx 3 excels in doing: replicating a miced up guitar setup and complex fx.

Petrucci's own JP2C is already modeled in the Axe-Fx. For his miced cabs custom IRs could be made. He's already listening through monitor wedges on stage and using the Axe-Fx 3 for effects.

But being able to go and turn physical knobs on the real amp, using physical pedals he likes etc seems to still hold a lot of appeal for him. Whether that results in 1-5% better sound to him I don't really know but IMO it's not a question of the Axe-Fx 3 not being up to the task.

A lot of guitarists are used to their rigs built over many years and moving on from that may be a bigger challenge. I'd say any player who is using a big rack rig or has a pedal setup complicated enough to require loop switchers is a prime candidate to move to digital modeling.

The guitarists whose rig is a couple of pedals they don't mind tap dancing on and using a single amp on a single setting, are the ones who might feel Fractal's offerings are just way too much to make sense. They'd lose a lot of the operation simplicity of "turn a knob on a pedal or amp" while getting a ton of fx, amps and cabs they didn't need in the first place.

Another group who is not ready to move is people with very particular tastes in effects. While the Axe-Fx 3 might be able to do them, it might not be as simple. Let's say you love the Strymon Deco, there's just no way to replicate that in a simple way on the Axe-Fx 3. You need to use modulation blocks, a Delay block, Cab blocks preamp feature or Tape Distortion in Drive block just to do everything the Deco does with just 6 knobs, 2 switches and 2 footswitches. For something simpler, it may come down to just a very particular flavor of some effect that might be troublesome to replicate with Fractal's blocks.
 
laxu said:
The guitarists whose rig is a couple of pedals they don't mind tap dancing on and using a single amp on a single setting, are the ones who might feel Fractal's offerings are just way too much to make sense. They'd lose a lot of the operation simplicity of "turn a knob on a pedal or amp" while getting a ton of fx, amps and cabs they didn't need in the first place.
Click to expand...
Paul Gilbert comes to mind.
 
Some artists are also very identified with vintage or "organic" gear, in the minds of their fans, and maybe more importantly, in their own heads.
Joe Bonamassa comes to mind, and maybe Eric Johnson, though he's no stranger to fancier than vanilla rigs.
 
Piing said:
Yes, I've tried the Tape dist block. It doesn't create a dramatic change that Blackmorizes the tone

He still didn't had the AIWA tape during the Made in Japan tour, though
Click to expand...

Such a great album. When I was a kid my parents had a bunch of records in the basement, and I'd go through them to admire the album art. One day I noticed there were two copies of Made In Japan in there. Turns out that was the one album that my mom and dad both owned. I like to think I might have been conceived thanks to that album.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom