What is your player level?

What level of player would you consider yourself?

  • Beginner

    Votes: 20 9.0%
  • Intermediate

    Votes: 156 70.3%
  • Advanced

    Votes: 72 32.4%

  • Total voters
    222
I think if I understand the discussion with your bandmate he is using the wrong criteria. What might be more important with regard to buying an Axe FX III is a) what quality of tone do you want and b) your ability to understand and use this type of gear. If your guitar tone is really important to you, then regardless of your proficiency, you should consider the Axe FX III. Especially if you want to just pay up front and not buy and sell endless pieces of gear in your pursuit of that goal, which will likely cost you as much or more in the long run.
 
I think if I understand the discussion with your bandmate he is using the wrong criteria. What might be more important with regard to buying an Axe FX III is a) what quality of tone do you want and b) your ability to understand and use this type of gear. If your guitar tone is really important to you, then regardless of your proficiency, you should consider the Axe FX III. Especially if you want to just pay up front and not buy and sell endless pieces of gear in your pursuit of that goal, which will likely cost you as much or more in the long run.

The discussion was only about whether it's only something professional/advanced players are in the market for. I was saying all types of people buy it, and he was saying it's a tiny market with only pro players. The results of the poll and discussion here seem to support my idea that all walks of players are clients and purchasers of the Axe FX.
 
The discussion was only about whether it's only something professional/advanced players are in the market for. I was saying all types of people buy it, and he was saying it's a tiny market with only pro players. The results of the poll and discussion here seem to support my idea that all walks of players are clients and purchasers of the Axe FX.
I agree with you. Players at all levels buy the Axe-Fx, although the price point does keep away a certain segment of the market, and I think the people buying one tend to have enough confidence in their playing to feel the investment is warranted. On the other hand, I know some great players who balk at the thought of paying the price of admission into the Fractal club (yet they'll pay the same price for a guitar, lol).

To me, it was the best gear investment I've ever made.
 
I agree with you. Players at all levels buy the Axe-Fx, although the price point does keep away a certain segment of the market, and I think the people buying one tend to have enough confidence in their playing to feel the investment is warranted. On the other hand, I know some great players who balk at the thought of paying the price of admission into the Fractal club (yet they'll pay the same price for a guitar, lol).

To me, it was the best gear investment I've ever made.

Absolutely agree about it being the best investment!
 
I think of an "advanced" player as someone who (1) is technically capable of learning and performing any guitar part they wish to (aside from insanely virtuosic playing, e.g., Buckethead) and (2) is able to play what they hear inside their head or heart, with expression and passion.
With respect to the first point, it takes a lot of mechanical practice to have good coordination, picking consistency, dynamics, and so on. It also requires effort to develop timing and feel. But those just make the player "technically proficient", and it indicates the player has the ability to play well. I've worked with a number of people who have spent a lot of time woodshedding and are ferociously proficient as technical players. Actually doing something musical with one's capabilities is more nuanced. There are a lot of players who have gaps in their technical execution, but are incredibly passionate and musical.
Then there are those who transcend mere "Advanced" status and belong in the "you gotta be kidding me" category. The reason we keep going back to listen to Prince's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" solo at the Rock Hall of Fame isn't because it has a scorching fusillade of notes; that is a solo with emotion, shape, timing, and showmanship. That man could play guitar. And bass. And drums. And keyboards. Apparently he was also a singer or something.
 
Help me settle a discussion I'm having with a bandmate about who the buyer profile for this type of equipment is, please. =]

Definitely intermediate, certainly not advanced, but I am certain I have gotten better thanks to how good the Axe FX III sounds and how much more it makes me want to play!
 
What makes players “advanced”?
  • They are able to alternate picking at 200bpm
  • They are able to sweep picking like crazy
  • They are able to play any style/kind of music
  • They are able to fit in a band without rehearsal
  • They can play with taste
  • They have groove
  • They play from their heart
  • They can cover anything
  • They have great tone
  • They are good singwriters/riff makers
  • What else?
Definitely too generic. I would consider both John Petrucci and David Gilmour advanced players, even though their style and technique is radically different.
 
I play at an advanced technical level but have a horrid ear for tone and how to get a good sound. This forum has made me realize how deficient I truly am from the tonal perspective and am making strides to change that. I've literally never been a member of a better forum. I annoy people with my newb questions at times but for the most part, people are really cool here. There's tons to learn on every front and that will never change. I would say I'm advancing as opposed to advanced, I guess.
 
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@Denny99:
What makes players “advanced”?
  • They are able to [play] alternate picking at 200bpm
  • They are able to sweep picking[sic] like crazy
  • They are able to play any style/kind of music
I think your first few items could use adjusting.

Re: 200pbm: Are you talking about quarter notes, or sixteenth note septuplets, at that tempo?

(I kid; I assume you mean merely sixteenth notes; but even so, Eric Johnson's an "advanced" player and probably doesn't play 800 notes per minute, at least I don't recall that. As a rough recollection, I'm betting "Zap" tops out at around 700.)

Re: Sweep Picking Like Crazy: I think this is too specific. If it's a given that the "vanilla" (commonplace) form of playing is alternate picking, then, to qualify as "advanced," a player should demonstrate performance-competence in at least one other "rum raisin" (unusual) kind of playing. It could be tapping, it could be sweeping, it could be chicken-pickin, it could be uncanny use of legato. Stanley Jordan doesn't sweep pick; but surely he qualifies as "advanced?"

Re: "any" style/kind of music: Additionally, I think there are "advanced" players who can "sit in" adequately well with various styles of music, but not necessarily any style/kind of music. Not convincingly. I probably wouldn't be convinced by Eric Johnson doing death metal. And feel free to include other folks: Alex Lifeson? Clapton? Hendrix? John McLaughlin? Don't those guys belong in the top tier of a three-tiered hierarchy?)

I'm not trying to be mean! Please take this as friendly suggestions of improvements. :) It's a good list overall, but I think those items need tweaking.
 
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If you can play complete songs in front of audiences, you are advance adjacent. If you can sweep pick cleaning during, you’re advanced.
 
I think advanced has more to do with people who play something that makes the hair on the back of the neck stand up. Could be a bluesman milking a ton of emotion out of one note, it could be someone like Steve Vai, who has all the technical chops and theory behind him, but plays from a place of pure inspiration and knows how to not just break the rules, but way beyond, to the point of denying that the rules even exist.

Me, I'm just trying to forget the rules, because I play much better when I ignore them completely and rely on pure intuition to inspire me.

The main reason I like my Axe-FX III is that every time my buddy starts telling me about his latest additon to his tube amp collection, I can almost always tell him, "I have one of those, as well as about 200 other amps. And I can mod mine myself without even opening the chasis."

So, I guess what I would say is there are basically only two typesnof players you won't find using an Axe-FX. Dinosaurs, and cork-sniffing tube snobs. I don't think I could go back to the limited world of toobz now.
 
If you can play complete songs in front of audiences, you are advance adjacent. If you can sweep pick cleaning during, you’re advanced.
I have seen more people who can sweep pick cleanly at high speeds with metronome precision and can put you to sleep faster than they can pick. I have never really put much stock in players who are only out to impress other players with their technical precision. Some of my favorites are very technical amd fast players, but I gravitate towards those that can do so with feel and who know how to throw in something unexpected now and then.
 
I put intermediate. I think a lot of intermediate players get obsessed with gear and tone which is what probably keeps us here in "pretty good" land. I am an amateur and wanted something to record silently as well as play through a cab. There were cheaper options but there was always this mystique about axe fx so I had to have it. It's how I felt about my first Mesa boogie amp. Here we are.
 
I learned directly from Greg Howe and my ex-student is in Black Label Society. Based on that I should be very good, but I am not :D
 
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