What hardware do you use for emergencies, live?

Danny Danzi

Danny Danzi

Power User
So let me set up a scenario. As of now, I have no emergency stuff to reload my Axe if I had a problem at a live venue. What do you guys use?

I guess I need something that will allow me to use Fractal Bot as well as Axe Edit in case I need to really do something drastic. I'd hate like heck to have a laptop with me. Are there cell phones (I have an Android...HTC A-9) or any small devices that would let me hook up Fractal bot and Axe Edit? The smallest, yet effective remedy you can think of would be great.

Would love to do this with a cell phone....but midi probably won't work even though I have USB in the phone. What is your smallest weapon of choice that would allow me to have both Fractal Bot, Axe Edit and my patches/firmware to load if I absolutely had to? Thanks in advance!

-Danny
 
MesaGuitarGuy said:
I have a 10" Winbook that was about $160 or so.
touch screen is nice, but I also have a portable wireless mouse/kybd combo for it.
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Excellent! Thanks for the quick response. So I can have back up firmware, sounds, blocks...everything I currently have on my pc that I use for my Axe, on this Winbook? If so, that sounds like a winner! Thanks again!

I'm all ears for any other options, guys. This forum is so killer....I don't think I've ever waited more than 10 minutes for some sort of response...deeply in debt to you all.
 
Thanks guys, my birthday is Saturday so my girl got me a Nextbook 64 gig, 11 inch screen, detachable keyboard, win 10, usb...pretty cool. This should be perfect for fractal bot, axe edit and my blocks/sounds/firmware etc. Thank you all so much!
 
Hey Danny, gotta tell ya, When I was brand new to this thing I saved your compression video as a favorite and used it much. Props brother.

I have my Macbook Pro on top of my rack. I never hook it up, as I don't want any USB wierdness happening.. but it's there if I need it. My VFAm interface has USB on the front, and the cable is right there for an instant connect should I need it. But normally a reboot fixes any glitches I have (and I have been having a few lately, I started a thread on it.)

I like the idea of a small and light emergency unit. My Mac is running Ableton and some other stuff, and I don't like to fire up AE on it with all that going on.
I'm really thinking at some point I'm going to want a second unit. These things are so involved that jumping to B rig .... man... there's just no way you can come close. It would be a real show-buster for me.
 
I have had a Surface Pro 3 for awhile, and I have all of my FAS stuff on it (last two firmwares, an export of all of my presets, Axe-Edit + its installer, AX8-Edit + installer, Fractal Bot + its installer, Driver installer), plus Reaper, a few music notation apps (Sibelius, Guitar Pro), OneNote (generally have my set list on this, and it down near my monitor where I can glance and read it), some music, some video games... it's pretty wonderful really. It's overkill for this particular application, but I also use it for writing code and documentation on the go as well as other professional stuff.

The Surface Pro 3 goes to every rehearsal and gig, and is with me as I practice at home too, often recording so I can play back and critique myself.
 
Danny Danzi said:
Thanks guys, my birthday is Saturday so my girl got me a Nextbook 64 gig, 11 inch screen, detachable keyboard, win 10, usb...pretty cool. This should be perfect for fractal bot, axe edit and my blocks/sounds/firmware etc. Thank you all so much!
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That's what I have and it works fine. All cabs and presst at hand if I need so.
 
Thanks so much again, everyone! So far I'm loving this thing and it's the perfect tool for me. I gotta ask though, do any of you that run two Axe FX units have any issues using the same axe edit? I used to get block errors or something telling me to look at a log file whenever I would use my AxMKII after I had saved blocks using my XL+. This in turn forced me to use Axe Edit on two different machines....one for my MKII the other for my XL+ so that I didn't get any issues. Has this been fixed or is it a common thing due to the units being different?

Pinkycramps: Thanks for that! Glad the comp vid helped you out. I'm trying to get some time to post a few more vids to show how I've evolved and tweaked tones further. It's probably nothing that hasn't already been covered by the guys that make videos about the Axe, but some of the stupid little things I do may make things better for a few. I just need to find the time! :)
 
Moke said:
I'm thinking about picking up a Tablet-PC too...........Maybe even install 'Guitar-rig' or 'Bias' or something? as a last resort emergency backup rig..........
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this would be a very smart approach! I would not think you would ever have a software problem unless you changed something with out rehersal, but if any thing went down guitar rig could get you through a set. then you could work out details later.
 
Well if you have an mfc 101 you should put Axe Edit when you play in the bypass mode, cause as soon as soon as you press any biuttons on the mfc to change scenes or pedals, you might get problems, as Axe edit does not "like" that. It's just one click to put it in bypass and just one click when you want to edit something.
 
If my Axe Fx ever had a problem at a gig (100s of gigs since 2011, no issues yet!), I would go to the AX8. That was my primary reason for getting it. What a wonderful world...
 
Black Bitch said:
Well if you have an mfc 101 you should put Axe Edit when you play in the bypass mode, cause as soon as soon as you press any biuttons on the mfc to change scenes or pedals, you might get problems, as Axe edit does not "like" that. It's just one click to put it in bypass and just one click when you want to edit something.
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No one should perform with edit open and connected via USB and using their MfC at the same time.
 
Hey @Danny Danzi gotta ask but do you listen to your version of happy birthday on your birthday? Lol. Till this day the absolute greatest version of that song ever! I'm in ny. If your doing any tri-state shows let me know. Would love to meet one of melodic rocks best =)
 
Surface 3 (not Pro) here. I keep all the backups and the main Ableton project in a OneDrive folder. Actually, it's a folder that's shared between all our band members, so we keep set lists, recordings and some other stuff there. So someone can edit a file and everyone else gets an updated version. And it works like a local folder in that you don't have to upload or download anything, it all works in background. Pretty cool.

So, you see, my Surface isn't just for emergencies, it's used for setting up things, plays backing tracks, controls MIDI gear, records, you name it.
 
I would think if something happened to make the Axe not work at a gig that having a laptop or similar device wouldn't really help matters. If it doesn't boot or boots with all the indicator lights remaining lit up etc, I don't think you'd be able to hook it up to Fractal Bot etc and reload the software, you'd likely need a boot ROM and/or other service, replacement power suppply etc.

I'd carry something like a Tech 21 pedal or Fly Rig to have something inexpensive to play through should the Axe crap out, but at the same time, its pretty darn dependable so I wouldn't invest too heavily in something I wouldn't really expect to use.
 
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