Axe FX2/Matrix GT1000FX/Matrix NL212

F

faisalbaig

New member
Finally have drawn the courage to ask this question, given there are so many threads on so many forums on this.

I have a 5150 Halfstack, JMP-1 Preamp, GSP1101. I have a home studio, i rarely play out and when i do i just take the GSP1101 for convenience. However at my home and in the studio i do enjoy good tone. I used to play just Metal but now i am moving towards rock, blues, clean ambient stuff as well. Most of my life i have always owned and preferred Tube amps. This rig is not very convenient. I dont have a switching system so i keep rewiring my preamps and GSP1101 and use the 5150 as the poweramp when not using its pre.....

The Axe FX2 seems like a solid unit, and i know it is extremely deep and programmable and keeps getting better with firmware. But.....i will have to sell all of the above to get the Axe/Matrix rig which will no doubt be lighter and very versatile but i still have cold feet......

I could sell the above and buy a Marshall JVM 410H, but will miss the 5150 at times perhaps.
Or i could buy an effectrode tube stombox and inject some more soul into the JMP-1.

I am looking for thickness, depth, harmonically rich tones from Metal to Joe Bonamassa....... I am only worried that the Axe Fx may not be able to give me that feel and complexity of true tube tone.

Love Mark Days demos and he in a private message did suggest i go with the Axe FX. I wouldn't doubt he is biased even though he works for Fractal now, he just gets great tone!!! Unfortunately most other demos are using cab IR's straight to DAW and that is not how i plan to use it. I need real guitar room sound coming from a guitar cabinet......

Help me decide please ???
Thanks
 
btw, the amp tone i am most interested in the Axe FX2 would be Fender type clean, Hot Rodded Marshall crunch and lead, 5150 hi gain rhythm and lead. Am not into trying out 100's of amps though i may find some useful tones. If my 3 main tones can be emulated successfully with feel and response and i can get those and effects in a two rack space unit, i'd be quite happy to begin with.
 
I used an Axe II, GT800FX and NL12 for a year with my live band. Short answer is , no it will not feel like a valve amp. That is the reason why I'm back on the big bottles.
 
The only person who can answer that question is you.


No offense to the previous posters opinion, but the Axe has grown leaps and bounds since many people have played it.

My setup consists of the Axe II 2 QSC HPR122i's a Mesa Strategy 400 and a Splawn 4X12 loaded with GWS 75's and vin 30's X pattern and an old Marshall cab loaded with Vintage G12H30's. Although I rarely fire up the Strategy, it does add something, but not enough (to me) to use it all the time.

I go into music stores and can rarely find anything that even peaks my interest.

That said, everyone is different and some people just hear and feel things differently. I LOVE the flexibility and the tone I get from my rig, so I would say if you can swing it buy used and flip,it if you don't like it. Just like an amp, guitar or any other piece of gear for that matter, the only way to tell if it works for me is to actually spend some time with it.


Just my 2 cents.
 
ur 2 cents are highly appreciated as are the opinions of the poster above.
unfortunately i belong to the developing world where i dont have the option to flip it. It is just way above regular musician's reach here....

But, and this is almost a miracle, i was able to find an axe fx2 owner in another city who also owns a Marshall JVM410H and Cab.
Before i make up my mind, i shall make the journey to him to test both rigs side by side. But more opinions are welcome.
 
I would try it into a guitar cab instead of a FRFR cab if you want the real "in the room coming from a guitar amp" tone.
 
I'm going to jump in here because I have the AxeFX-II, Matrix GT1000FX, and had a Matrix NL12. I also should mention that I currently have a Xitone 1x12 FRFR speaker and have played into two Marshall 4x12s in the past.

I actually preferred the sound of the AxeFX-II/Matrix GT1000FX into a big guitar cabinet because you push air from a bunch of speakers and get great low end, thump, etc. I hear that the Matrix FR212 is pretty awesome for this but have never played thru one.

The downside to traditional speaker cabs is that you are limited on the tones you emulate. That is what I like about FRFR. You can use the emulated cabs to do U2, Metallica, etc. from one unit. I just haven't found that FRFR solution that does the huge sound but I will say that I play at lower volumes and also that I've only tried a few different FRFR solutions. I've heard of folks gigging with FRFR and totally pleased.

I wish I could capture the awesome tones I get thru my computer and hear that in a speaker setup. To me, always sounds more middy when going into a speaker cab than thru my computer. I think there are just so many things out there and gets overwhelming. There are so many different solutions and everyone likes different things.
 
I had an AXE FX II XL and returned it to Fractal. I ran it into my Rivera S120 effects loop return and into either the gflex or mesa cab. it was very loud and sounded pretty decent and has excellent effects. But it was way too complicated to config/program. For example, if you want to record at home you can run the cab simuls on but then when I went to the studio to jam I had to turn the power amp and cab simuls off. Or you can leave them on, it's up to you and your ear. There are so many preset patches and tube settings, it gets overwhelming at first.

Now I have a Rivera and Diezel and Marshall and not 100% satisfied with any of them. Most of the guys on the Fractal forum seemed happy with their setups and units. It may take some time to get used to the unit and how it works and is configured...
 
btw, at least with the AXEFX II XL, you can run two amp blocks in a preset simul which is really nice. This is what Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders is doing...
 
supersonic":14jzaugn said:
I used an Axe II, GT800FX and NL12 for a year with my live band. Short answer is , no it will not feel like a valve amp. That is the reason why I'm back on the big bottles.
Click to expand...
+1
 
As others have said, when playing through a conventional guitar cab power by a tube amp, the Axe works GREAT. When going through monitors, you don't get that amp in the room sound but, you do get
dramatic tone changes when you switch cab types.
 
I am currently run two different setups with my Axe Fx 2.. trying to figure out which one I will stick with... The first is the Axe Fx 2 going into the effects return of my Marshall JCM2000 DSL50 into a Marshall 4x12.. The second is my Axe Fx 2 through a GT1000fx into the Marshall 4x12..

My impressions so far:

1. Running through the effects return on my Marshall amp sounds killer... I can easily recreate the tone I get from my marshall preamp on the green channel and I can get a much better tone than the red channel.. The Axe Fx 2 amp models sound great... This setup obviously also allows you to use a number of other amp models... I run with amp sims on and cabinet sims off

2. In terms of the GT1000Fx setup... it is still a work in progress but I can say it is pretty darn close in terms of sound and feel... at gig volume I can still tell a slight difference going through the GT1000Fx vs my Marshall power amp but it is not far off.. It is more of a feel thing and less a sound thing.. I run with amp sims on and cabinet sims off.. I can't put my finger on it and hence, having a hard time dialing it in but it is so close, I am almost ready to just go with the GT1000Fx setup given the dramatically less weight to lug around..

All and all, I am extremely happy with the Axe Fx 2.. For the music I play, it handles everything I need..

hope this helps

Brian
 
The AXE FX2 is an awesome unit man. Yeah of course its not as plug and play as a real valve amp but it will get you ANY TONE you want at ANY VOLUME you want, which is the reason I got one.

Sure I wish I could get myself a Diezel VH4 with a 4x12 but that would be ridiculous as Im not in a band and never will be and when I do play out at local jam nights I just use the AXE with a PA. Trust me it works just fine
 
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