Joined the Axe-FX 2 club today!

[chrisolson]

I'll be honest, I didn't even try the altos. I liked the looks, features and weight on the Yamaha going in and once I plugged in, I was committed to buy!

But I bet a pair of altos can fill up a pretty decent sized room

They can be as loud or quiet as need be. I'm having the most fun I've had with a rig since the first generation L6 Flextone HD rig I had - 300watt head running stereo into a pair of Marshall 1936 2x12's. No comparison now, but it was great in its day.

I'm just blown away by the sound quality though.

[Axewielder]

I've been selling some gear and just ordered mine today. WOOHOO!

[Hellbat]

Grats man, these things are a time sink though hehe. I've gigged with mine twice now (totally not metal/high gain stuff) and gotten compliments on my tones both times. You know, the usual "your guitar sounded really good.". It's kind of like telling a photographer their camera takes really good pictures.

This guy did a decent job of filtering some of the chaff from youtube and has linked a bunch of the good videos that show playing and how-to's. http://www.encoremusiclessons.com/co...-audio-systems

[Axewielder]

OK I'm digging this damn thing. I set it up with an old Peavey / Yamaha PA system. It's not the creme de la creme of FRFR rigs but I'm doing the best I can with what I've got. I also play it through a set of decent studio headphones. The Diezel amp presets are phenomenal for dry, heavy rhythm tones. I also like the Bogners and the Soldanos for some wet lead action. I could play the presets as-is for months and not be bored. That being said, I've been cautiously venturing out into those "Layout/Edit" page waters. I was an early adopter of the POD stuff. I think the clean / slightly dirty presets on this thing bury what the POD could do. The Dumble and AC30 are particularly killer sounding. Take that with a grain of salt as far as authenticity goes because I've never played the real versions of those amps.

The bad thing is I don't have the MFC-101 yet. I'm on the waiting list for the new version that is hopefully coming out soon.

NewGuitarRoom.jpg

[Hellbat]

Nice man, I've been playing with the 12.03 beta the last few days, the Mesa Subway Blues and Trainwreck Liverpool models are a great addition. I think there is a newer beta coming out before Christmas with a couple more new amps (Orange Tiny Terror and Orange AD30HTC) and a Roland Dimension D chorus. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Also for editing use a PC and Axe-edit, it's waaaay easier and more efficient. I'm still getting lost trying to adjust stuff on the front panel hehe.

[Axewielder]

Yeah as you can see from my rig photo, I don't have it set up near a PC and I don't own a laptop. So, I'm hell bent on learning to do everything from the front panel. It's actually not that bad. I'd like to be able to download presets from the forums, though. If I want it bad enough I can unscrew it from the rack and take it into my office where my PC is.

[kmanick]

take the time and learn the front panel , it's not too bad once you start to figure it out.
I have one of these being delivered tomorrow

http://www.seismicaudiospeakers.com/Powered-12-Coaxial-Monitor-p/sax-12m-pw.htm

$299.00 shipped with a 30 day trial window. I had never heard of these guys but someone over on the Fractal forum has one and gave it a very positive review (especially for the price point)
I've been thinking about getting another FRFR wedge for use in the house (had the RCFNX 12 and loved it) but most of the really good ones are around a grand.
I'll give a full review as soon as I can. I've got my fingers crossed that it's not a total piece of shit.

[Hellbat]

I'm still really happy with my DXR-10 for my stage monitor. At home I generally play through the KRK monitors, and my patches don't need massive tweaking when moving between the two of them. I may pick up a second DXR-10 just to be able to run stereo and for back yard PA, even though stereo isn't necessary for my live stuff. I just run mono into the board because we just have a 12 channel board and an 8 member band.

[veemagic]

OK I'm digging this damn thing. I set it up with an old Peavey / Yamaha PA system. It's not the creme de la creme of FRFR rigs but I'm doing the best I can with what I've got. I also play it through a set of decent studio headphones. The Diezel amp presets are phenomenal for dry, heavy rhythm tones. I also like the Bogners and the Soldanos for some wet lead action. I could play the presets as-is for months and not be bored. That being said, I've been cautiously venturing out into those "Layout/Edit" page waters. I was an early adopter of the POD stuff. I think the clean / slightly dirty presets on this thing bury what the POD could do. The Dumble and AC30 are particularly killer sounding. Take that with a grain of salt as far as authenticity goes because I've never played the real versions of those amps.

The bad thing is I don't have the MFC-101 yet. I'm on the waiting list for the new version that is hopefully coming out soon.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6672[/ATTACH]

While I agree that getting to know the front panel will help loads, having the mfc makes things so much better. I couldn't see having one without the other now. It's built great too. I still have the Ultra, but am so tempted to get the II. They seem to have made enough changes to really warrant the upgrade. Once you get your MFC, and you start thinking about pedals, look at the mission engineering pedals. I have 2, and they work great with the board.

[veemagic]

The bad thing is I don't have the MFC-101 yet. I'm on the waiting list for the new version that is hopefully coming out soon.

While I agree that getting to know the front panel will help loads, having the MFC makes things so much better. I couldn't see having one without the other now. It's built great too. I still have the Ultra, but am so tempted to get the II. They seem to have made enough changes to really warrant the upgrade. Once you get your MFC, and you start thinking about pedals, look at the mission engineering pedals. I have 2, and they work great with the board.

[Hellbat]

I think the new MFC's are pretty close to shipping. It's awesome you are getting the new ones. I love the idea of power and midid running through an xlr cable. Forgot your cable for a gig or the dog/cat/rabbit chewed through it? Chances are somebody has a spare XLR kicking around.

Also, the 12.04 beta patch hit today. I haven't tried it yet but apparently it's another feel upgrade, particularly at high virtual amp master volumes. Also, switchable power tubes...

"Added selectable power tube types for Amp block. Available types are: EL34, EL84, 6L6, 6V6, KT66, KT88, 6550, 6973, 6AQ5 and 300B (triode). Also available are an ideal tetrode and ideal pentode. The power tube type defaults to the appropriate type when the amp type is selected but may be overridden by the user. The power tube type presets the Dynamic Impedance parameter as well as several internal parameters."

Ever wanted to know how the JCM 800 would sound with 6V6's or KT-88's? Now you can try!

[Axewielder]

I think the new MFC's are pretty close to shipping.

It's about damn time!

[Newc]

I think the new MFC's are pretty close to shipping. It's awesome you are getting the new ones. I love the idea of power and midid running through an xlr cable. Forgot your cable for a gig or the dog/cat/rabbit chewed through it? Chances are somebody has a spare XLR kicking around.

Also, the 12.04 beta patch hit today. I haven't tried it yet but apparently it's another feel upgrade, particularly at high virtual amp master volumes. Also, switchable power tubes...

"Added selectable power tube types for Amp block. Available types are: EL34, EL84, 6L6, 6V6, KT66, KT88, 6550, 6973, 6AQ5 and 300B (triode). Also available are an ideal tetrode and ideal pentode. The power tube type defaults to the appropriate type when the amp type is selected but may be overridden by the user. The power tube type presets the Dynamic Impedance parameter as well as several internal parameters."

Ever wanted to know how the JCM 800 would sound with 6V6's or KT-88's? Now you can try!

Now this I find interesting (along with pretty much everything else about the Axe-FX ) - I know you can bake a tube amp if you don't set the bias correctly when swapping tube types, but also you have the potential to get unique tones, at least until the entire head melts down and becomes a 100w doorstop. With digital modeling, you have the opportunity to set "off-bias" tones without the physical trauma to the amp. Theoretically, at least. So long as the software doesn't default to "perfect bias". If it does, I'm sure someone somewhere could make a patch to allow such tweaks?

[Hellbat]

You can adjust the bias virtually on any amp model, even ones that don't have it built in on the real amp. And they have thoughtfully allowed it to continue to make sounds at a point where real tubes would asplode.

[Newc]

As for a pedalboard, look for the ART X-15 UltraFoot. I picked one up a few years ago from Ebay where the seller stated the treadles didn't work. I looked at it when it got here and the strips that pass in front of the optical sensors had slipped out of their slots. Popped them back in and it works just fine. $80 for a "broken" controller that took literally 10 seconds to diagnose and fix. However, it does require a MIDI cable and power cable. Still, better than $1000+ for the Axe-FX pedal PLUS expression pedals.