What's all the hype about Axe Fx?

[Trypp Powell]

Thanks, I didn't know the editor was already a public beta.

The fractal forums are useful, but you can't dare ask a question regarding a release date without the faithful rising up in indignation.

I've been holding off to purchase until both are available. I know I can use a variety of midi controllers, etc., and edit from the box, but I'm lazy and spoiled and like to have everything in one neat package that works well. Plus, I have a GSP1101 that I'm 90% happy with, so the Axe-Fx is going to be luxury not a necessity.

[jgcable]

Come down to Raleigh for our next gig. You can stay at my place. I'll take you out for barbeque and beers.



There are some great demos that some folks have done on the Axe-FX forum. It's very impressive.

Personally I don't try to emulate anything - I just dial in sounds I like.

Sounds like a plan Tim. Thanks for the offer.

[Robert Burns]

I think one important point which I don't remember being mentioned is that modelers like the Axe FX can actually serve to help someone find their ideal "real" tube amp.

Let's face it, there are so many makes and models of amps out there it can be difficult to find the flavor that is the best match for you. And most of the boutique type amps are difficult to find in most cities to try them out. Demo clips on youtube can only tell you so much.

With something like the Axe FX, which seems to have a very healthy list of amp models, you can try out all sorts of different setups including boutique and higher end amps. Assuming the models are reasonably close to the real thing using the Axe FX or other modelers you can get a good education on the types of amps out there and which "real" amp might be the best fit for the 2-3 main sounds we each use.

**Very good idea! I know a certain "Hippie"...who has probably spent
$500K on "Finding" his ideal Amp over the years! Guess what he thinks
is the best ever now? AxeFx!

[Robert Burns]

Thanks, I didn't know the editor was already a public beta.

The fractal forums are useful, but you can't dare ask a question regarding a release date without the faithful rising up in indignation.

I've been holding off to purchase until both are available. I know I can use a variety of midi controllers, etc., and edit from the box, but I'm lazy and spoiled and like to have everything in one neat package that works well. Plus, I have a GSP1101 that I'm 90% happy with, so the Axe-Fx is going to be luxury not a necessity.

** Axe foot controller is what? $825.00? But a Roland Midi floor unit
can be had for $180.00? Thats allot o' $'s for "Neat"!

[Trypp Powell]

True, other controllers can be had for less, but I'm willing to pay the premium for ease of programming.

My logic is a street hooker can be had for $20, but she (or he, depending on an individual's preferences, I'm not on this earth to judge anyone) might not be the best lay.

Still, I get your point. I haven't seen anything firm on the price. It's rare that I buy anything anymore, so I might as well splurge.

[Matt_B]

Just to add to the "hype", I thought I would add a post that I just made over at the Fractal Audio boards:

The Axe-FX is starting to change the way I think about pickups for my guitars.

I've been playing my Les Paul for the past week and through the Axe-FX, I love how it sounds. I put a set of Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs (bridge and regular) in it about 6 months ago and I finally have the classic Les Paul sound I've been after for years. What makes these pickups work for me is they sound great clean and dirty.

My other guitars (excluding my Strat and Brian May) all have Dimarzio Tone Zones in the bridge which I've been using since '91. For a rock/metal sound, they are amazing with distortion - fat and rich - but not so good clean (assuming they're not split and combined with a single coil).

Anyway, because the Axe-FX gives me so much control over my sound (various combinations of different drives, amps, cabs, filters and EQs) I can use a guitar with PAFs and get a wide variety of sounds, much greater than those with the Tone Zones. The incredible dynamic range of the Axe-FX really lets the sensitivity of the PAFs come through especially when compared to the Tone Zones. Being able to add pre-distortion EQ and gain (filter, parametric EQ, graphic EQ and drive block) lets me boost the perceived output from PAFs to compete with the Tone Zones.

My rig before the Axe-FX was based upon ADA MP-1s and even though I could have done some of the same things with that rig (that I can do now with the Axe-FX), it would have been much more complicated and time consuming to do. Now I can just turn the wheel, hit a few buttons and be done with it.

Anyway, the Axe-FX has me thinking that lower output, smoother sounding and more dynamic pickups might be the way I want to go. At this point, I'm going to order another set of PAFs for one of my "rock/metal" guitars and see what happens.

Basically, I'm starting to feel like pickups I can use more neutral (in tone and output) pickups and use the Axe-FX to tweak the sound, especially pre-distortion, to get a wider variety of sounds. If nothing else, the Dimarzio PAFs are very responsive pickups especially compared to the Tone Zones.

[Rupe]

I think it has more to do with developing an ear than it does with the Axe-FX unit. Lower output "PAF" style pickups have the same dynamic that you mentioned with almost any high gain amp...I'm surprised that you didn't discover this previously with your ADA rig.

[hippietim]

** Axe foot controller is what? $825.00? But a Roland Midi floor unit
can be had for $180.00? Thats allot o' $'s for "Neat"!

I wouldn't buy a Roland MIDI foot controller. They are not very well suited for non-Roland products. But if you really want one, I have an FC-300 collecting dust

A Rocktron MIDI Mate is a good choice for a lot less money. They're easy to find, pretty flexible and simple to operate.

A lot of guys like the Behringer FCB100. But you need to get one with a 3rd party EPROM (UNO I think) for them to be any good.

The Voodoo Lab Ground Control pedal is good as well for about $400.

Other than that, they get expensive quick!

[Matt_B]

I think it has more to do with developing an ear than it does with the Axe-FX unit. Lower output "PAF" style pickups have the same dynamic that you mentioned with almost any high gain amp...I'm surprised that you didn't discover this previously with your ADA rig.

The difference is I needed a higher gain pickup with a certain tone to get the sound and distortion I wanted. When the Axe-FX I have all sorts of tools to boost the gain and change the tone pre-distortion that I didn't have with the ADA.

ETA - The 36th Anniversary PAFS are also different from the Tone Zone in that they use Dimarzio Airbucker technology which makes more dynamic anyway.

Also, the Axe-FX has a range of dynamics, be it from picking strength and/or volume control manipulation, that I never achieved in any of my MP-1s, even ones with all the possible mods.

[Rupe]

Time to bump this thread. I've had my Ultra for about a month now and I've never been happier with a gear purchase ever. My rig consists of the Ultra in a 4-space rack (with a power conditioner and a rack drawer) into a Verve 12ma controlled by a GCP (thanks for the all the help Tim!)...that's it. The entire thing easily fits in my trunk or back seat and can be easily be carried with one piece in each hand...no more back breaking 4x12s and unwieldy racks.

I've barely scratched the surface of this things capabilities...I've come up with about 8 tones that I'm currently using (4 much more so than the other 4 which are more for a different "color") and have just continued to dial those in. It's not hard at all to get a great tone pretty quickly with limited tweaking. That said, I have never seen anything, ever, with the level of sophistication and "tweakability" that this thing has. In a nutshell, you don't have to travel too far down the learning curve to start making cool sounds, but the farther you go and the more you come to understand, the more you can do to "chase" the tones that you're after. I think it would be a mistake to try and take it all in at once...and I think its very cool that you don't have to either...you can grow into it while still sounding great all the while. It doesn't hurt that there are some great user presets out there for download (although I haven't felt the need to do that yet...I'm digging what I'm dialing in).

I will also support what others have already stated...it responds dynamically just like the amps that it models. I could do an entire classic rock gig with the stock Plexi model by simply using my volume control. Unheard of to date in digital modelers.

I think the major difference is in the modelling itself. Line 6, Boss, etc all model a "tone". They sound decent at whatever the baseline setting is but start to lose the character of the originals when you start tweaking. Makes sense since tone control voicings, gain structure, etc are essentially the same across the board for all of the models. The Axe-FX on the other hand models the actual circuits of its amps...in effect your signal is running through a virtual path that mimics the original. Tone controls, gain controls, volume controls, etc act like they would on the real amp because all of the virtual values are the same.

This past week I finally got around to A/B'ing it with my live rig (MP-1 > Intellifex > Replifex > BBE > Hush IICX > Mesa 2:90 > 4x12 w/ 75w Celestions) and was blown away. I could easily recreate my main tones, and then "supercharge" them to places where I simply couldn't go before. Believe it or not, I could also get the Verve 12ma to hang with 2:90/4x12 rig in volume...cool to know that I could play a room with this rig on its own if there was ever an issue with running to FOH.

Anybody whose close enough to me to make the drive is more than welcome to come check it out. I don't have any good BBQ like Tim but we can go out for Iron City and a Primanti's Cheesesteak

[Sinistas]

Fantastic review. If only I had the cash.

[KINGSFAN]

The Axe is great and I really like mine, but it does have a few drawbacks. First off, it gets a major hiss issue when running my Mark through it's FX loop, so much that I can't even use it that way. I have it currently running through the Mark's FX loop with no issues. It really sounds awesome this way for FX and top notch FX at that. I was really disappointed to know that I can't use the Axe's pre amps at the same time as using the Mark's pre amp. Was hoping to have a huge lot of pre amps to utilize. As far as a head to head between the real mark IV and the Axe mark IV, Mesa wins big time, atleast though my current set up. I did have a chance to play an Axe through the new Atomic cabs at Tone Merchants over the weekend and it did sound very good..

[Rupe]

If your Mark IV sounds that much better to you, I question how you are dialing the Axe in...it can easily do anything that the Mark IV does, and better IMO. Have you tried it with some of the custom IRs and run it through an FRFR speaker? If not, you aren't using it to its fullest potential.

I'm not picking on you, I just see a lot of people siting "weaknesses" that don't truly exist if you learn how to dial it in properly.

[Shawn Lutz]

Guess what, me too!

I can do the same thing with the Axe-FX. It responds like a real amp. This isn't like the Line 6 and Boss stuff where everything gets buzzy and thin when you lower your guitar volume.

guitar volume dynamics. feel and touch would make a lot of modellers winners. AxeFX looks to be the first one (only) to do that... sounds like a real deal to me.

I've head some excellent clips that I couldnt tell it wasnt a real amp. Hell I'd like to get one just for direct recording and effects.

They should mount them in a purple plexi head case just to visually please us old schoolers...lol

[hippietim]

A Purple Plexi head case for the AxeFX would rule.