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**PowerTube** · 05-19-2014, 07:48 PM

Yes, I'm faced with a very similar dilemma. I bought my Vetta II HD head and Floorboard new back in 2007 for $1700.00+, and my two Vetta 4x12 cabs used for about $300.00-ish apiece. Over time, I found that I was plugging into the Vetta less and less. Yes, it's a neat toy and yes, it has some good sounds onboard. But no matter what I try, it just won't give me that organic, crunchy "chewy" rhythm sound or that singing, stinging, edge-of-feedback lead tone. My JCM 800 gave me that lead tone, but with tons of hiss from the Boss GE-7 EQ.

It took me a long time to finally admit that getting the Vetta was a mistake. I'll be lucky to now get $600.00 for the entire rig because Line 6 gear has NO resale. It also doesn't help that Line 6 keeps getting worse and worse (in my opinion) and they discontinue models way too quickly. Live and learn. Of course, I still love the Flextone II so the up side is that I can buy those cheap.

But it's okay. I have a Splawn Quick Rod and Splawn 4x12 on the way. I'll finally admit that modeling just isn't there yet. Personally, I believe that some company will eventually nail it. But as of now, and no offense to the Axe-FX or Kemper owners, it's just not the real thing yet.

**Axewielder** · 05-19-2014, 07:49 PM

That's one spendy tuner you've got there.

**Matt_B** · 05-19-2014, 07:56 PM

Sell it. Some people just aren't cut out for the Axe FX. It's not for everyone. If it gets in the way of your playing that it's not for you. If you can't make it sound as good as a tube amp then it's not for you. If you don't need what it offers then why do you still have it?

Sell it.

BTW, I'm a diehard Axe FX user. Take that for what it's worth.

**Brandenburg** · 05-19-2014, 08:02 PM

ok maby im missing something here.. but why not a get a tube power amp.. perhaps he prefers to cut his losses and not add any more to a perceived money pit I guess.. lol

as for the tuner comment.. yes.. a very expensive tuner indeed..

**Matt_B** · 05-19-2014, 08:06 PM

When the OP stated that the complexity of the Axe FX gets in the way of his playing that was a big indicator to me that it is time to eject.

**roodyrocker** · 05-19-2014, 08:13 PM

I'm a fan of both the Axe Fx and real tube amps. The thing is the beauty of the Axe Fx is its ability to be infinetly tweaked but that is time consuming. So that's going to be a plus for some people and a minus for others. I don't know about the rest of the setup you described but when I played my Axe Fx Ultra through a Mesa 2:90 tube power amp and a 4x12 Recto cab it still didn't sound as good to me as simply going Axe Fx into a QSC HPR powered monitor. That's what I would run that Axe Fx II through if it was me. The other things about the Axe Fx are you can get pristine cleans and raging distortion out of one unit and they sound equally great. With regular amps its rare to have the combination of the two. You can also get that great tone at just about any volume too. If you sell the Axe Fx, you'll not only need a tube amp but also a ton of pedals or outboard rack gear to get all your effects. Nothing against the 5153 but I wouldn't dump an Axe Fx II for one. I don't really have the time to tweak my Ultra but no way am I getting rid of it either.

**PowerTube** · 05-19-2014, 08:35 PM

I think that some of these modeling amps gave a person "option anxiety." Granted, more traditional amps can do the same, especially when you add pedals into the mix, but when we're talking umpteen-bazillion cab models, mikes, effect mixes, two amps at once (Vetta), effect routing, etc...., at your fingertips, yeah, it gets tiresome.

That's why I sent the Mustang V half stack back. It's bad enough to be looking at hours of tweaking, but when it actually requires a separate computer and software for doing so, then no thanks.

**kmanick** · 05-19-2014, 08:37 PM

Hmmm. since FW 12.0 came out I really don't find myself tweaking at all anymore, it's actually really easy to get a great patch set up now without using anything but the controls on the
main page and the Graphic EQ page
the latest OH and free IRs that people have been posting have made a huge difference.
I will say that ARt SL1 you have should go right in the trash. I had one of those ....f'n horrible.
i think the majority of your problem is what you've got it connected to.
You should really try a CLR before you give up on it.
It's Night and day plus they have a trial period so if you still find yourself tweaking away then maybe it's just not the piece of gear for you.
I also just picked up a Mesa Mark IV head , I like to play through real amps too (and I missed my old one so I tracked down another)
I go out to the CLR (and a Seismic SAX15 which sounds surprisingly good) from output 1 and into the loop return of my mark IV from output 2
through a recto 2X12 cab.
sounds freaking killer this way.
you could also just hook it up to the loop of your 5153 and use it for the effects, it's pretty impressive used this way as well (I do this too with my Mark IV)

If you were local to me I'd have you swing by so you could check out the CLR.

**Hellbat** · 05-20-2014, 12:49 AM

Once the ultra rez ir's came out I stopped looking at the advanced tabs for the most part. I pick an amp, match it to an appropriate IR, dial up a tone just like I would on a real amp and start playing. I'm playing mine through FOH and monitoring with a Yamaha DXR-10 powered FRFR monitor. Since I play in a cover band that needs to cover all the bases from The Drifters to Pink to Bonnie Raitt, I need a massive variety of tones. I could do it for 5x the cost and 8x the weight using tube amps and cabs, but I'm quite happy with the ease of setting up one box, a monitor and running a midi cable and two XLR's and being done and ready to drink beers in about 3 minutes.

If you keep it, try The Amp Factory cab pack. Their +room mix ir's added some 'amp in the room' feel to some of the patches I tried them on.

If you really want to capture that tube feel and sound with the axe you need a good quality, really flat system with lots of extra headroom. Some of the amp models have the ability to output prodigious amounts of bass which really gives them a lot of 'thump'.

And like kmanick said, even if you don't use the amp and cab modeling, the effects in the Axe 2 are killer. Mine has replaced almost every single one of my pedals, including digitech whammy (to be fair, some people hate the glitching behavior of the axe compared to the digitech, I myself prefer the axe) and my eventide pitchfactor. The only effect not in the box that I use is my EHX HOG2, and I just use it for a cello spot in one song. I'm sure if I took te time to wrap my head over the synth generators in the Axe, I could probably replace the HOG as well.

**Larz** · 05-20-2014, 07:51 AM

Sounds like a sell to me, at the end of the day playing should be fun and not the tedious experience you have described it to be for yourself by playing through that particular gear and the software aspect of it. And you can roll the funds into something you will use more or save for a rainy day.

Some people love all those options, and it is obviously world class gear, but it depends how much time you can invest into tweaking and updating it each time you sit down to play.

Plus you mention the tone is not preferable to you over your other tube amp. You gave it a shot, tried it out, but doesn't seem to be a fit for you. Certainly won't be the first or the last person to feel that way.

I dumped a Boss GT 10 after 2-3 months because I found myself jumping around every other minute to see what other sounds I could come up with instead of playing with any continuity. It was fun for awhile but I turned it into something else I use much more. And that system sounded too artificial to me as well. Obviously that had no where near the options available and the audio quality of your Axe.

**Dog Boy** · 05-20-2014, 09:01 AM

Unless you need the cash I say keep the Axefx. I have a computer based rig and I still have my tube amps. Sometimes I just wanna play. Sometimes I feel like tweeking.

Sometimes I just wanna ride my bike...got one of those too.

**veemagic** · 05-20-2014, 09:16 AM

I hate to "pile" on as it were, but I think maybe your expectations are a bit of the problem. You said something about the Axe was supposed to sound better than a tube amp. I don't know where you would have heard that, or who would have said something like that. At its best it will sound as close to a tube amp as a tube amp. Better is subjective of course, but in no way will it sound better. Will it be more convenient than a tube amp? Absolutely! If you are using it proper, meaning powering it through an FRFR, it will shine. Now the complexity is another issue all together. Like the others have said. You can dig as deep as you want or need. At least thats how I attack it. I tried when I first got it by designing patches from scratch, but it was overwhelming. So, I started with a patch that was close and only changed what was necessary. Not unlike what you do with any amp, and its settings. If you approach it like that, it really doesn't seem that complex. However, if you've decided on using it only as a tuner, get rid of it so it isn't just staring at you making you miserable. Then get something you will use. Good luck with your decision, but I do hope you give it a shot before you let it go to make sure.

**jgcable** · 05-20-2014, 09:48 AM

Sell it. Trade it. Here is my take. You can spend your life tweaking that thing to make it sound like my Mesa Rectifier half stack and after countless hours of updates and tweaking and retweaking both live and at home volume levels and then researching a FRFR system to power it. Once you have it set up so that it sounds GOD LIKE... come over to my house and set it up to my bone stock Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier half stack that I spent 5 minutes tweaking and see what sounds better.
You can hear the AX FX. It sounds like the real thing until you actual HEAR and FEEL the real thing. Nothing replaces traditional tube amps. If software was the answer.. all the pro's would be using software driven modeling amps live. Bottom line is probably 99% of professional super rich guitar players don't use software driven modeling amps when they could afford to use ANYTHING that they want. There has to be a reason for that.. and trust me.. its not endorsement deals.

**Radiohead** · 05-20-2014, 08:59 PM

Thanks for all the comments and feedback.

Brandenburg - Some say AxeFx with IR's turned off into Tube amp with Real Cabs is the Sh1t. Some say FRFR? Who is too know.

Kamanik - Yes the Art SL1 is crap. A good friend has an AxeFx as well. It is connected to a very expensive pair of powered Yamaha FRFR PA Speakers. To me it sounded the same - uninspiring. I am not confident that it will sound significantly better with a marginal increase in funds spent on the PA. I am interested in the Atomic monitors though and would love to check it out.

Hellbat - Thanks, perhaps I need to upgrade my IR's. I believe the cab set you recommended is only $20 - $30. I will check it out.

Veemajic - To confirm - my comments about the AxeFx sounding "better than a real tube amp" are only to show respect for a serious piece of gear and all the people that love the Axe. As you know, in the Axe, you are able to do things with effects and routing that you cannot actually do in real life.

Again, thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate your comments. The last thing I am considering is the drop in value the Axe will experience if and when Fractal comes out with a new Model. Probably still some time away but it will happen eventually.

I also use the line out from my tube amps into the AxeFx to create a Wet/Dry/Wet rig. The effects are stellar! This I would miss.

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Thinking of Selling my Axe-Fx

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