What made you decide to go Axe FX?

There a ton of reasons I chose to get an Axe-FX versus something else.
- Allows me to play pretty much every amp I've ever coveted in my 17 years of playing guitar including Mesa, Orange, Diezel, Marshall, Fender, Dumble, ENGL, Cameron, and Friedman
- Allows me to use headphones for apartment friendly jamming (also I've discovered it kicks ass for listening to my music library or watching movies)
- Allows me to get good tone at volume levels that aren't going to ruin my hearing
- Allows me to record straight into a DAW with a USB cable
- Allows me to re-amp what I've recorded
- Works with bass guitars too
- Is lighter than most tube amps (a Mesa Boogie Mark V weighs about 44 lbs as just a head!)
- I have the option to go into a computer, a PA, a FRFR setup, or a guitar cabinet (or not since I don't want to haul around something so heavy!)
- Many of my favorite players use them in some capacity (Metallica was the big one for me -- especially when I heard how much better their tuning room tone became when they switched)
- The near constant and free firmware upgrades are super cool and show that the FAS team cares about what they do
- Cooper Carter's "all presets" videos -- also his CreativeLive courses are great and really helped me in getting a handle on the magic black box
- The forum is loaded with ideas and help
- The ability to easily share patches
- The plethora of cabinet IRs available (so far I've got cab packs 13 (Bulb) and 14 (4x12 collection) and am very pleased)
- The amount of money and space saved from owning a fraction of these real amps, cabs, and effects is just astronomical -- the Axe-FX is really a great deal when you think about it!
- Being able to get close to tons of famous tones easily
- Axe-Edit makes editing patches a cinch -- although I'm very comfortable with the front panel now too
- Super powerful editing parameters that allow me to go crazy and get creative
- Minimal maintenance and so far the box seems pretty sturdy

I could go on!

In short, it sounds and feels great, is easy-to-use, and it offers loads of options. I'm very happy with my purchase. I play more guitar than I have in a long time because I'm finally happy with my tone -- although now of course I'm always tweaking and trying new ideas! :encouragement:
 
I've always been a bedroom player using small solidstate amps or modelers. Back in college I had a PodXT and a Peavey Classic. The Classic never got any play since it had to be loud to sound how I liked. I was also never 100% happy with my PodXT tone. I would tweak for ages, then be really happy with the sound... for about a week... then I'd end up tweaking and tweaking more, trying to get it to sound right.

The plan was always to get a decent tube amp when I had the money and space. Then a friend on the other side of the country with way more money than me (that flipped amps all the time) told me about the Axe FX Standard. This was not long after it first came out IIRC. He said it was like the PodXT, except it sounded good, and all the amps sounded like the amps they model, unlike the XT, which is pretty far off in most regards. Since I had always been a bedroom player, it made sense to get this instead of a tube amp.

It took a few years, being broke in college, and then graduating and finding a job, but eventually (last year) I picked up an Axe FX II and kick myself for not getting it sooner. Should have prioritized it over pretty guitars, but hey, here we are.
 
I had a Blackstar HT-100. I loved it, but wanted to record at home. Tried sorts of things like using the Effects Send into an interface and use a VST Power Tube emulator. Worked OK, for a while, but then I got a Two Notes Torpedo and that was fun.

I had a small bed room at the time and the summer months were brutal with a 100w tube amp cranked up into the Torpedo. Also, the amp was just not getting those raunchy, guttural sounds of a nice hi-gain amp that I wanted. Decided to save up a little, sell the Blackstar and Torpedo and got an Axe FX II. Saved up for several months more and got a Matrix GT1000. I'm more than 100% happy now and I have no interest in getting any more gear other than guitars.
 
Wanted Marshal, Fender, Vox & Boogie tones onstage without having to carry amps....

...Been going direct to FOH with a Mesa / Palmer PDI-03 rack rig live for over a decade... Aware of AxeFX since about '09, live reviews seemed mixed so I waited (...and waited!) and finally last year I heard Metallica were using them live as an amp replacement. The Edge was also reported to be using live modelling to some degree too (dunno if that was true), and Brett Kingsman said FW16 was 'very close' to the real thing in a video, so all of that was more than good enough for me! I pulled the trigger last Feb but haven't managed to bond with the AxeFX live myself yet! Hopefully Quantum & de-phase is about to change that, it def feels much closer to my boogie in rehearsals now... I picked up an MFC-101 and RAC12 during the summer, so all is hitting the road next month. Fingers crossed!
 
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Aside from incredible tone and insane tweakablity?
No cabs to mic or carry.
Automation.
Recording interface.
Silent Practice.
 
Having been in a 'direct to desk' set up with no backline and using Boss GX700 then Line6 POD XT PRO, the Ultra was the natural progression - and then the AxeFX II after that.

I'm delighted with the choices made - especially the absence of live drums too - because after two decades, I don't have constant ringing in the ears :encouragement:

As a player, they each gave me what I needed to get the job done. Immediately following that life of gigging, the AxeFX didn't get turned on for something like three months, so it got sold on - just way too much money sat there doing nothing.

I use BIAS Desktop now and plug into my Mac - just like those before, after some tweaks, it gives me everything I need.

Paint me easily pleased, but whilst I loved the Fractal life, respected the achievement and enjoyed the endless tweaking to a point, I was never a FanBoi and don't miss it now. Still drop by the forum now and then to see what people are getting fired up or all twisted about though :D
 
The reasons why I've completely skip real tube amps after playing through cheep transistors and went for the axe 2, in short:

Silent recording/playing at home.
That's where I play the most. If I had bought a tube amp, I would have only played through it like once a week at a rehearsal and carried on playing and recording though VST amp sims at home... So, I wanted to use the same thing I use at home as I do in rehearsals...

MIDI control through DAW.
I really liked the idea of playing to a metronome, with backing tracks, and getting my effects changed automatically. It's easy to use the Axe for that.

Reliability. Tube amps require way more maintenance. Changing tubes and such seemed like such a drag...

The whole guitar chain in one unit? Cool. Less wires and power supplies I'd have to worry about...

The main problems I had with the axe, in my experience:
When I bought the Axe, I couldn't afford a matrix and a cab or high quality FRFR speakers for rehearsals. So I run it through a crappy PA and that doesn't give such good results...
If I had bought a tube amp and a cab, I would have had a great tone right out of the box for rehearsals for far less money... I don't really feel a need for 200 amps, I just need a one good one.
Well... it's a hardware unit... I would prefer it as a VST. Maybe If I found some VST that is as good as the Axe, I'll move on.
 
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2006 and change:

I went through a pile of high end tube amps and Modelers in a vain effort to have versatility. Inevitably, 6 months with it and I would get a sense of 'sameness' to each of them...even the modelers. After a brief stint with a Valvetronix (which I thought was very good BTW,) there were some folks who were whispering about a new product that knocked their socks off. Axe FX Standard. After digging for a few weeks, I could find very few reviews, and one guy who posted clips (damn wish I could remember his name....) I was sold. Ironically, many others were finding out the same thing as I was, and by the time I was on the waiting list, it was 'estimated' to be 1 month long. 3 months later it arrived at my door (Feb 2007 I think.) By that time, wait lists in the US were at 6-8 months, and over a year in Europe.

It took one power chord, and knew that this was not like anything else out there. Mind you, this was FW 2.x on the Standard (the Ultra I think had not come out yet,) and there was no contest. In 6 months I went from Standard - Mesa 20/20 - Vertical Cab to FRFR, and my itch for 'any tone, any time' is scratched nightly (but I'm told there's a creme for that...)

I have not looked at another amp since.
 
Needed different sounds for a cover band. Easier to transport and set up the Axe-Fx instead of a bunch of amps and effects. Being able to switch from a Mark IV to a Plexi to a Rectifier was great.

Almost eliminated G.A.S... Until the AX8 showed up.
 
Mark Day

And the dedication that Cliff and Co put into this product.

Also kills any gas for Amps so i just buy Guitars now.
 
I have been playing guitar since high school in the mid 80's. I was always chasing tones and found myself buying and selling amps all the time. As I would get in a "feel", I would end up buying a particular amp. Eventually I would end up selling it. The cool thing about the Axe-FX, is that as my moods adjust I can just turn the dial. I can have a Jimi Hendrix feel one day, and Metallica the other. Just a great sounding unit.

If the Axe-FX was not absolutely outstanding tone-wise, I would have dumped it years ago. I just have never had the urge. :)
 
Continued support and development.

Simeon's great effects demo's along with others (owned an Ultra first)​.

Also seeing some of the greats using.

That was the beginning. Now "I" know how awesome it is.
 
Matt Picone sealed the deal for me at Dweezilla 2013.

But, it was the artist videos recommending the AXE FX II that led me to Matt (think Tom Quayle's video reviews).

I was tiring of getting only a handful of useful effects and amp sims from Line 6 which only sounded good via headphones or direct to a recording app line Garage Band, Logic and Pro Tools.

FAS fixed all that and more! :D
 
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Three tube amp failures within six months on two of my tube amps (Marshall JCM800/Orange Rocker 30) made me look at alternatives again.:

-one failure happened a week after re-tubing; the new tube literally had an internal part come loose and shorted out. Awesome red glow though...
-one was at a gig coming out of "Standby" before a set, and the fuse that blew was internal and required taking the chassis out of the cabinet to service
-one tube 'just shorted out' during a rehearsal and fortunately I had installed current sense resistors in the cathode circuit which blew and acted as fuses, otherwise the output transformer could have been taken out

'Modern' tubes are all over the place as far as quality control, workmanship, reliability, etc.
 
I tune pianos and was tired of the hearing damage and ringing ears of tube amps. I bought an ultra and loved it then a 2. I find tube Amp obnoxious now and prefer the sound of axefx.


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