What Prompted You To Buy A Fractal?

I started playing at Church and they did not allow amps on stage. I first started with a Line 6 Modeler and it was horrible, then I added a tube pre amp and a two notes cab simulator to my pedal board. It was ok but it was large and heavy. A friend of mine is a Knaggs dealer and Larry Mitchell visited his place and brought his AX8 to play through. I started researching and after watching the Larry Mitchell A/B video comparison I was sold.
 
In 2015 I started dabbling with recording my ideas into a DAW. I had been gigging with tube amps for years by this point. I almost bought something cheap like a used Line 6 pod hd pro, but I figured for another $400 or so I could get a used early gen Fractal instead. I didn’t need insane quality for fleshing out songs, but I figured the extra money was worth it for its upside alone - the upside being that it could potentially replace my entire rig some day, and at worst it would be an excellent and convenient recording tool. I hit the ground running with recording, but after a few years I can confidently say it is also the best live rig I could ever hope for. I got in at a good time. If I was starting from scratch today, I might’ve just used plug-ins.
 
Stopped playing out/in bands and sold all my amps and cabs. Took a break and eventually decided to get back into playing and wanted something reasonable and practical at low volumes for home use. Went through nearly every low priced practice amp on the market. Boss, Line 6, Blackstar etc... after a while I got tired of uninspired shit tones and decided to pull the trigger on the AxeFx III. Might be the best gear related purchase I have ever made.
 
It was seeing videos of @Mark Day on a forum (Rig-Talk) I use to be part of (only Fractal now). Think it was maybe around 2013 that I purchased the AXE-FX II. I never really took the time to fully understand its capabilities so it just gathered dust while I continued to play my tube amps at gigs.

Fast forward to 2016 or 2017 when I bought the AX8. Haven't look at another tube amp since and all amps are gone.

Current Fractal products I own:

FM9
FM3
AX8

I did own but sold the AXE-FX III.
 
I was tired of lugging a half stack and a rack to every show, but I'm also very picky about my sound, like most of us. I got the III because I figured going all in with a flagship was the best way to be confident that I'd be able to find what I was looking for, and plenty of runway not to have to upgrade in the near future.
 
I was a hardcore tube amp guy who had tried many previous digital “solutions.” None delivered on the promises.

Then I saw Dann Huff playing on an Eleven Rack, and sounding pretty amazing. Of course, Dann would have sounded good playing into a cell phone, but I was impressed and bought one. It was the first time I actually ended up gigging solely on a modeler. I had heard of the Axe Fx, and had some studio info that it was the pinnacle of modeler tech. This was 2011, the Axe Fx Ultra was the flagship, and I decided to go all in. I did not regret the investment.

Fast forward 11+ years and hundreds of gigs of all sorts and sizes and I’ve not been without a Fractal modeler since. So, I guess you could say Dann Huff and the Eleven Rack actually ushered me into the world of modeling as a “first call” option. That lead me to the Axe Fx as a best-of-the-best option in the modeling world.

I still love tube amps. I still own a bunch and play on them regularly. They are the benchmark I am seeking in my modeler, and I see no conflict in using and enjoying both. But I haven’t gigged a tube amp in a long time. With the best amps out there in my music room, that’s high, high praise for the quality and reliability of Fractal Audio gear.
 
TSJMajesty said:
Idea came from @Chewie5150 over in the Gift of Tone thread where he said Mark Day's videos inspired him to enter into the Fractal world.

What was yours? Was it one of the main artists using the gear, or a video, or..., something else?

For me it was seeing @Cooper Carter demo'ing all 263 amps (at the time) with a song clip using each one. And then when I saw that John Petrucci used one as a replacement for his big 3 rack unit effects (Eventide, TC Electronic, & Lexicon), that sealed the deal and I just had to have one!
Click to expand...
Glad you dug that video. I had a lot of fun making it!
 
I kept seeing Mooer and other cheapo modeler ads and thought "ok, for $300 I'd mess with that". But this turned into, "well, if I'm going to go digital, why not get the best". Enter Fractal.

Also,

Leon Todd's videos and

How supportive and informative and active this forum was.
 
Just got tired of trying the various amp sim plugins (I always thought modeling is the future so had no interest in owning real amps) and then saw Leon's video. The sounds were just amazing and I had to try. Bought fm3 a few months later.. never been happier!
 
I originally purchased to make reamping easier and better, after I was satisfied with the quality of the models (which was a while ago). Since then, I have incorporated the FX3 into my production workflow, due to the 4 stereo pairs and excellent selection of amps and effects. It's an awesome production tool, and could be unbeatable if it had lightpipe i/o.
 
I was a long term tube amp snob… for sure. In 2015, my guitar teacher (Derryl Gabel, a fractal featured artist) told me to switch to Fractal… and then he hooked me up with another of his students who had an AxeFx II for sale - I bought it (because I trust Derryl explicitly). Never looked back. Then I bought a new AX8… and now I am patiently waiting for my turn on an FM9…. Why?

1. I am old now, and sick to death of lugging 40lb heads and 80lb 4-12 cabs.

2. Not in my wildest dreams could I afford an actual Dumble, or other high-end boutique amp. Yet for a modest price I have it all. What would it cost to buy all the amps modeled in the AxeFx?

3. I spent thousands on foot pedals. At one point, my pedal board was almost as big as me if I laid down next to it (and I’m a pretty big person). Now my rig has every effect imaginable, and multiple iterations - what would it cost to duplicate that diversity of pedals?

4. I can walk into a gig with a guitar on my back - road case pedal board in my right hand, and an FRFR wedge in my left… ready to play in under 3 minutes.

5. I got a smaller vehicle, with better gas mileage, and am helping to save the planet.

6. Chicks dig me now…. Even my wife. 😬

7. I donated all of my analog and tube gear to the local university’s developing Jazz program. Students use it to learn how things worked in the dark ages.

8. I have a whole new bunch of friends on the Fractal Forum. You are all awesome and I love the way you help each other! Even the weird stuff is GREAT!

So many things to feel good about!

Cannot wait to get my hands on a Cygnus 2 - loaded FM9. Considering where we collectively started (e.g. a strat, a cable, and a 60s era Bandmaster), it is just unbelievable. Unbelievable function. Unbelievable value.

Yay Fractal. Thank you Fractal.
SJB
 
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Playing every week on an ampless stage led me to buy the Axe-FXII - after awhile I found to my surprise when I did play my real amps I preferred the Axe. Onstage there is no comparison as it is way better through the FOH than any amp I can mic up.
 
Here’s why I got my Axe-Fx III. No particular order. Just listed them as I was thinking of the multiple reasons why Fractal is so awesome.

  • Originally started looking at Fractal because lot of my favorite bands/guitarists use them and love their sounds: Satch, Vai, Metallica, Rush
  • YouTube videos with A/B comparisons to real amps that were difficult if not impossible to distinguish between
  • The legendary Leon Todd
  • Cooper Carter’s 263 Amps video
  • Tired of buying/selling gear
  • Some days I like the EVH sound, other days I like Mesa, then Marshall, then Soldano, how cool is it to have all the sounds in one rack unit?
  • Home player so I don’t have to worry about attenuating a 50w or 100w amp when my kids are asleep and can get the sounds at whisper volumes without the wife yelling at me
  • Amps, FX, audio interface, IR’s, looper plus a million more things all in one unit. Heck yeah!
  • No more cables everywhere! FC-12 with Mission Pedal on pedalboard and I’m set
  • Tried Helix, Boss GT-1000, Headrush, plus others and just couldn’t find the right sound. Fractal’s amp modeling, FX, Axe-Edit, and FC foot controllers are vastly superior in every way
  • The forum was one of the biggest reasons why that also includes Yek’s Wiki page and manuals
  • The firmware updates that Cliff and team continue to surprise us with. This last 21.00 update is just insane!
  • Synth sounds to play over with nearly any chord progression I want. Think Pink Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond intro minus the fact I can’t play like David Gilmour.
  • Big shout out to @Cooper Carter for his master class that helped me understand how to use the damn thing once I got it! Haha
 
I was building my own amps and not using a lot of effects. Then decided to pickup some more pedals and switch my main amp over to something more pedal friendly. So I went with a jumped 1987 based build and pedals. During my building phase, I was hanging on the old AX84 site ran by @Chris Hurley who is on this forum as well. He told the forum there that he was going with an Axe. That made an impression on me. I was aware of Dweezil using the Axe, and I dig Dweezil. So the Fractal modelers were stewing around in my head a little. And I became more interested and bought an FM3. I’ll give Leon Todd some credit here. His videos probably sell a lot of FAS products. No going back now. It’s f*ckin great. Best tones I’ve ever had and the best guitar gadget ever built aside from its big brothers.
 
They're the best out there, and they have a 5E3 Deluxe model (now with all 3 knobs!).

@2112's videos featuring it cemented the deal. The sounds were great, and have only gotten better since firmware 5.whateveritwas.

It only took a little while to build a preset that did everything my old '90s rack rig did - better, cleaner, lighter to carry, and with a lot less flaky cables to worry about....
 
My buddy Troy showed me this "Preamp that sounds great but is all digital and has effects like an Eventide" circa 2007. I remember emailing FAS directly in 2009 to buy one but never following through. Troy ended up getting an Axe-Fx Ultra which they later sold to on to a mutual friend.

Flash forward to 2016 and I needed something that could recreate all the sounds I needed from the Ragdoll album and be compact enough to fly with ahead of tours in the USA, Europe and Australia. Turns out that same Axe-Fx Ultra was up for sale, so I sold a bunch of pedals and went all in. Worked flawlessly and sounded IMMENSE.

I saw Brett's AX8 "Build a Marshall rig" video not long after and ended up getting an AX8 at the end of 2016. Reading up on the forum and wiki I thought it might be nice to put together a few "how to" tutorials - and here we are! It really is a gift that keeps on giving.

Fractal - come for the tones, stay for the great people.
 
As simple as "never was happy with my sound before". Even with tube amps, leave alone modellers and plugins.
Now I feel like I finally have a sound which is light years ahead of my guitars skills and an overkill for my requirements!
 
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