Axefx Ultra after 2 hours of plugging in...

[Robert Burns]

Damn...you have an amazing internal Meter! Awesome tone!

[jgcable]

Sup?
sorry it's not any of the Godsmack riffs,,and probably not the best example,, but I had a little free time tonight and threw this Uber patch together I use the stock "Metal" cab(Engl w/V30's IIRC) with this one. Its a little raw and loose, the drums were done quickly in S2.0 M.F., and I didn't really do any post. Although it can change radically just by adjusting some of the advance parameters or swapping out different cabs and such,this sounded pretty good for what it is on my JBL LSR's and Just kinda threw it together so you could get a rough idea of the sim, but I don't have a real Uber here to go by(as that would make it a whole lot easier),, cause there are a thousand different things you can do to the patch to change its tone, tightnes, feel, etc,, so,, it is what it is.

anyway try that on..http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8699636

MOSHON
DAVE

Dave, question... based on that clip.. would I buy an Axe Fx system?
Answer. YES.
Fantastic tone. Super heavy yet articulate. I would need to spend 2 weeks in the studio with multiple tube amps to get a tone that heavy.

[nateb]

"I basically chickened out and bypassed that whole feature my setting the poweramp sims to off."

Yeah...thats what i was getting at...I run my XTLive into a tube power amp as well...This makes a huge differance, for the better. BUT...This AXE FX has a Power amp sim...so???

Anyhow...not a big deal...I can't help but trust many of the owners here. After listening to you guys for over 10 years...this unit seems to have been given the 'green light' by more tone gurus than I have ever seen before.

Well, in a sense... The XT has a poweramp simulator. It's in the setup when you tell it what you are hooking up too.

Last night I spent my evening with Axe-Edit, a set of M-Audio BX8A's and a bottle of gin. I might have to reconsider my setup and go with a set of FBT's. You can really dial shit in once you get use to it.

This unit is fucking crack. When you think you got it, you can open it up to a whole new level.

-Nate

BTW, Moshwits... I hate you and your pimpslapping picking hand.

[MOSHWITZ]

Sup?
Hey,, thanks guys

Dave, question... based on that clip.. would I buy an Axe Fx system?
Answer. YES.
Fantastic tone. Super heavy yet articulate. I would need to spend 2 weeks in the studio with multiple tube amps to get a tone that heavy.

Wow,, Didn't see that commin. Thanks John.
Man, I swear to you,,,,, this thing is no BULL SHIT. for ex.,,there is NO imitation, fakey, plastic, disconnectedness. Playing though that patch(or any patch) FEELS,,,, just like it sounds like you would think it feels...If that makes sense:think:

It is SOOOOOOOO versatile, and so far beyond the rest of the pack, you cant even approach it with the same mindset of how all the other gear reacts, functions and sounds,,, its out there all on its own, and I can honestly say that it "IS" the REAL DEAL. I've been through allot of rigs, and racks and heads( including that beauty of a MKIII purple stripe simul. I got from you) over the years, and I'll tell you,,I don't miss a single one,,,,at all.

Well, in a sense... The XT has a poweramp simulator. It's in the setup when you tell it what you are hooking up too.

Last night I spent my evening with Axe-Edit, a set of M-Audio BX8A's and a bottle of gin. I might have to reconsider my setup and go with a set of FBT's. You can really dial shit in once you get use to it.

This unit is fucking crack. When you think you got it, you can open it up to a whole new level.

-Nate

BTW, Moshwits... I hate you and your pimpslapping picking hand.

AMEN brother Nate Isn't that the truth,, You can just do so much shit with it its like being an addict. Especially,,when you learn a new trick and you just HAVE to see how it will work with EVERYTHING........:ROTF:


BWAHAHAHHAHAH,,,,

"pimpslapping picking hand." that's fuckin Choice...I have GOT to remember that


MOSHON
DAVE

[toejam]

That really does sound great, Dave!

[roodyrocker]

Played my Axe Fx Ultra this past Saturday night. It performed great and I found one more advantage that night! Our PA board and outboard gear kept tripping a fuse or something in the place and then would turn back on on its own. Funny thing is the really power hungry stuff like QSC and Crown power amps for the PA never tripped the fuse :think: Anyway, because of fluctuating power supplies in many clubs I usually use my Furman Power Factor Pro to help regulate power to a proper level for my tube heads. Well, at this particular gig I used the Furman Power Factor Pro for the PA and solved the popping fuses issue. I used my Axe Fx for guitar which does not have a big power demand. No issues with the Axe Fx all night, went from super clean to heavy sounds by switching patches via a Behringer FCB foot controller. Ran a mic cable from the Axe Fx direct to the board with eq's set neutral and another mic cable to my QSC HPR powered monitor on stage. The QSC was mounted on a pole for stage volume and my bass player asked if he could turn it a bit away as it was ripping his head off I said, turn it any direction you want. The Axe Fx is VERY useable live guys, trust me

[Chad]

I think it's cool that Robert was so impressed two hours in. I may be odd, but I seldom have a "honeymoon" phase with any gear. I compare new gear to everything I've had in the past, pick it apart, try to find flaws, try to find reasons not to like it, etc. It has to prove to me that it is worth hanging on to. Same with the AxeFx...it's a great unit, but I had a little trouble getting things rolling. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I went FRFR right off the bat and I think I had a global setting wrong or something. Then I had to further tweak for awhile before I got things sounding the way I wanted them to. I continued to tweak and so forth and have grown to love this unit. I will say that I think it gets easier to tweak with every firmware revision. It had just rolled over to 7.0 when I got my Ultra. 9.0 is the easiest to work with yet!

[jgcable]

Played my Axe Fx Ultra this past Saturday night. It performed great and I found one more advantage that night! Our PA board and outboard gear kept tripping a fuse or something in the place and then would turn back on on its own. Funny thing is the really power hungry stuff like QSC and Crown power amps for the PA never tripped the fuse :think: Anyway, because of fluctuating power supplies in many clubs I usually use my Furman Power Factor Pro to help regulate power to a proper level for my tube heads. Well, at this particular gig I used the Furman Power Factor Pro for the PA and solved the popping fuses issue. I used my Axe Fx for guitar which does not have a big power demand. No issues with the Axe Fx all night, went from super clean to heavy sounds by switching patches via a Behringer FCB foot controller. Ran a mic cable from the Axe Fx direct to the board with eq's set neutral and another mic cable to my QSC HPR powered monitor on stage. The QSC was mounted on a pole for stage volume and my bass player asked if he could turn it a bit away as it was ripping his head off I said, turn it any direction you want. The Axe Fx is VERY useable live guys, trust me

When you provide your own PA the Axe Fx sounds like a great idea.
I am still not sold on using one with an unknown house PA run by an unknown soundguy.
Having a rig like that would never fly in a large club like Toads Place in New Haven, CT because most of the gigs are multi-band shows. The bands stack up their amps and the soundguy just throws the mic in front of your speaker cab and you are good to go. You need to get on and off within 15 minutes. If you are the first band you get a sound check. All the other bands need to use whatever the other bands have. There is NO chance of the sound guy coming over and setting up a direct feed, re-EQ'ing for a flat sound and setting up a new mic for the FRFR powered speaker for a guitar player who wants to go through the PA direct.
Been there. It just won't happen.
I can tell you horror story after horror story in regards to crummy house PA's and incompetent soundguys. I thanked my powerful tube stack many times when the soundguy or house PA crapped out. I just walk over to the amp and crank it up and angle it cross stage a little so the band can hear it. You are NEVER going to get that kind of power, response and presence with a pole mounted FRFR speaker.

[jgcable]

There is another factor all together too.
If you are in a 1 guitar band that doesn't peel the paint off the walls or if you are in a band that isn't going for that rip your heart out volume and presence level you can get away with just about any decent amp live.
There are plenty of bands that don't have to play loud to get their point across.
For those of us who compete with drummers who POUND their skins and play for crowds who want to feel the guitar tone ripping through their bodies nothing will ever take the place of a raging high gain tube stack.
I have sat in with many many bands through the years who play at moderate to low volume and thats cool. I am not in one of those bands.

[roodyrocker]

Well, I'm in a 2 guitar band. My other guitar player was playing his Hughes and Kettner head into a 2x12 Avatar cab. The Axe Fx had no trouble being heard. As far as cranking it up if you have a crappy sound guy, I don't know if you guys realize this but that QSC powered monitor is about 450W if I remember the specs correctly. On days that we are not playing out in my band I help a friend of mine out by renting out our combined PA and light systems and we run them for other bands. I actually have two of these QSC powered monitors for my Axe Fx for running it in stereo, but use only one live. Anyway, these QSC's are used as part of the PA when we need them. What I'm getting at is that this combo of Axe Fx/QSC Powered wedge is able to compete like a big tube amp! No worries there. So far the only disadvantage to the Axe FX live is that simply doesn't look as badass on stage as a fancy tube head/4x12 cab
And as far as switching amps in multi band setups, I guarantee you can not set up a amp and rack or pedalboard as quick as an Axe Fx. If the stage is already setup with everyone's amp and these are mic'd, thats fine. You don't need a new mic cable for the Axe Fx. Simple unplug the mic and plug the cable into the Axe Fx and you're ready to go. And I'm sorry, but if your sound guy is so bad that he can't give you a neutral eq on that thing then he has no business trying to mic your 4x12 cab with an SM 57 and try to eq that on his own. It just doesn't get any easier than an Axe Fx. You have try to believe it

[VitaminG]

Having a rig like that would never fly in a large club like Toads Place in New Haven, CT because most of the gigs are multi-band shows. The bands stack up their amps and the soundguy just throws the mic in front of your speaker cab and you are good to go. You need to get on and off within 15 minutes. If you are the first band you get a sound check. All the other bands need to use whatever the other bands have. There is NO chance of the sound guy coming over and setting up a direct feed, re-EQ'ing for a flat sound and setting up a new mic for the FRFR powered speaker for a guitar player who wants to go through the PA direct.

in that instances, what's stopping the sound guy throwing a mic infront of the FRFR? It could provide on stage sound for monitoring and a mic feed for the PA. And then you're at the mercy of the shitty soundguy, just as you would be with a balltearing tube stack

[jgcable]

Well, I'm in a 2 guitar band. My other guitar player was playing his Hughes and Kettner head into a 2x12 Avatar cab. The Axe Fx had no trouble being heard. As far as cranking it up if you have a crappy sound guy, I don't know if you guys realize this but that QSC powered monitor is about 450W if I remember the specs correctly. On days that we are not playing out in my band I help a friend of mine out by renting out our combined PA and light systems and we run them for other bands. I actually have two of these QSC powered monitors for my Axe Fx for running it in stereo, but use only one live. Anyway, these QSC's are used as part of the PA when we need them. What I'm getting at is that this combo of Axe Fx/QSC Powered wedge is able to compete like a big tube amp! No worries there. So far the only disadvantage to the Axe FX live is that simply doesn't look as badass on stage as a fancy tube head/4x12 cab
And as far as switching amps in multi band setups, I guarantee you can not set up a amp and rack or pedalboard as quick as an Axe Fx. If the stage is already setup with everyone's amp and these are mic'd, thats fine. You don't need a new mic cable for the Axe Fx. Simple unplug the mic and plug the cable into the Axe Fx and you're ready to go. And I'm sorry, but if your sound guy is so bad that he can't give you a neutral eq on that thing then he has no business trying to mic your 4x12 cab with an SM 57 and try to eq that on his own. It just doesn't get any easier than an Axe Fx. You have try to believe it

Sounds easy but try to get a soundman to do it during a multi-band gig.
Curious... how many speakers are in that powered QSC monitor?
I never had any luck only using one 2 x 12 speaker cab live. It just doesn't throw the sound around enough. 4 x 12's is the min I can run under any circumstances. Many times I use a 4 x 12 on my side and a 2 x 12 cross stage along with being mic'd.

[Matt_B]

That clip (the tone and playing) sounds awesome Mosh. You do the Axe-FX proud sir.

I've just about finished going through all the presets and playing every single one. All I have left are what I call "Effects" presets (I've created categories for different types of presets) and after that, I just need to create all my bank. I've been blown away by the sound of amps I've never even seen in person let alone played through.

[Rupe]

For those of us who compete with drummers who POUND their skins and play for crowds who want to feel the guitar tone ripping through their bodies nothing will ever take the place of a raging high gain tube stack.

I thought the same thing...trust me when I say that reality is a far different animal. The FBT Verve 12ma that I use is a coaxial 12...essentially a two speaker setup. At 400 watts, I can promise you that you have the ability to move air and feel the guitar ripping through your body. You have to completely forget what you know about guitar speakers and cabs...there is no correlation. My Axe rig can easily hang with my 2:90/4x12 rig in volume...and they are both capable of getting you banned from clubs

Like I've said before, this type of power and clarity allows you to remove the soundman from the equation if it ever came down to that.

I still dig my tube amps, but if I could only have one rig, it would be the Axe-FX. I would choose it over the rest of my amps as seen here:

[RacerX]

That's high praise indeed! Are we witnessing a revolution here?