AxeFx - I HOPE I'm missing something

[bbaug14]

I was out last night and saw a band called Fifty Amp Fuse. They are probably one of, if not the best cover bands in Detroit. The same claim could be made for the guitar player's abilities, who subsequently was toting an AxeFx. Now, the band was amazing, AMAZING....but the guitar player's tone left a lot to be desired. It was stale, muddy, processed, and above all just boring. Nothing about it was in any way enviable. Now, is it possible that this was due to his just not setting it up correctly, or should I say, in a way that would more emulate a tube amplifier that I could/would appreciate?...perhaps. However, given this person's ability/skill and experience, I would say this is not likely.

Don't get me wrong, he had several different tones that night and I wouldn't label them as being horrid, but what they lacked in the way of depth and warmth just left me put off. To me, the tones our guitar player gets with the Rebel 20 destroy the AxeFx.

For those of you who love it, my hats off to you, because the versatility is staggering.....but.....I'll take my old fashioned tube amp any day of the week and twice on Sunday over the AxeFx.

 

[Gainfreak]

Just because a guy is a killer guitar player does not mean that he can dial in a killer tone. Ive seen this 10,000,000 times over the years. You are definitely missing something because if his tone was shit it was pilot error and not the axe-fx.

all the best

~R~

 

[dpeterson]

lumping in the whole of a product by how one guy sets his settings is retarded. the axe fx is a tool, all left up to you to dial in the sound you hear in your head. Maybe that is the way he liked his sound? do you like everyones sound on the planet? i sure dont. Plenty of guys getting great sounds out of the axe fx. it has the rebel 20 model in it now that is dead nuts on as well. is it for everybody? no... if you want one sound, buy a one trick pony and be done with it.

dave

 

[mctallica1]

I think it all depends on how it is set up.

B-I-N-G-O


This is excatly the right answer folks (and it can be said for just about any piece of gear out there IMHO)

 

[Shark Diver]

Yeah, it can take some tweaking, I run mine through the power section of a SLO100 and into a Palmer to keep the FRFR thing. Using it more as a preamp/ fx thing and it kills. Have a X99 on the way, so we will see how that compares. I have 2 CAE pres, one an SE and the other a SE+, and I did not prefer them to the AXE.

How many times have you tried a head, thought it was crap, tried it through another cabinet and loved it? It's the setup. Or he likes his tone, and it just differs from what you like. He maybe getting the exact sound he wants.

 

[Variable]

Just because a guy is a killer guitar player does not mean that he can dial in a killer tone. Ive seen this 10,000,000 times over the years. You are definitely missing something because if his tone was shit it was pilot error and not the axe-fx.

all the best

~R~

+1

There are plenty of amazing players out there who don't know the slightest thing about how to dial in anything.

 

['63-Strat]

I've seen lots of guys make high dollar tube amps sound bad too, but that doesn't mean the amps suck either, necessarily.

 

[Audioholic]

lots of variables to consider to judge the AXE FX on his setup and sound alone really.

Bottom line would be for you to try it out first hand and form your own personal opinion as you dial in the sounds you want, either direct or running through a poweramp/cab setup.

I have gotten mine to work fabulous both ways.

 

[shred-o-holic]

I've seen lots of guys make high dollar tube amps sound bad too, but that doesn't mean the amps suck either, necessarily.

Yep......I've seen guys with Toneblasters sound great and on the same stage the next band with a guy using a Diezel halfstack sound horrid.....

 

[daver101]

I must be a terrible pilot. I sold mine because I had the same experience as the original poster. Haven't missed it once.

 

[rsm]

You are missing something. I'm having a helluva time dialing in tone, but there are others doing very well IMO. Just listen to Ed DeGenaro's clips using the Axe-Fx. There are others too, on the Axe-Fx forum as well. An Axe-Fx with a virtuoso who can harness its power is amazing IMO!

I consider myself a permaNOOB on the Axe-Fx as I can dial things in much easier on some gear that is not as tweakable. For me, and I've been using rack gear since the '90s, the Axe-Fx is very challenging to get what I want out of it. I've a Zoom G2 that I can make sound satisfactory, I've used ADA MP-1 and MP-2 preamps for my tone primarily and was very happy with them too. My Axe-Fx is proving more difficult, and that I'm using FRFRs I have even more variability. I've a Vox Tonelab LE on the way now. My plan is to get a good vintage Vox setting with it and use it to AB with the Ultra to tweak a more accurate Vox sound than I have now!

If you are a good tweaker (can translate what you want or are hearing easily to the Axe-Fx) your tone will be great, otherwise...well, there's a steep learning curve for us permaNOOBs to make the Axe-Fx do what we want. Some give up, others sound like crap until they figure it out; others just don't have a tone that sounds good to others, as good tone is somewhat subjective.

Way back when, I had a guitarist in a band (I played bass) that had s**t tone. We thought the practice room acoustics were s**t because it always sounded muddy, and never clear; it was tough to hear what was really happening. Frankly, it was bad, a very bad sound...I nearly quit after only a few practices. One practice (I was the newest member of the band too), this guitarist wasn't able to make it so the other four (guitar, bass, drums, vocals) practiced anyway. Well it sounded much better! Actually, we couldn't believe the difference and how much better we sounded. Next practice when the other guitarist was back, we sounded like s**t again, the four of us realized it was his tone. We tried to discuss it, AB'd the two guitarists' sounds, argued, whatever, this dude wasn't about to change his tone as he thought it sounded good. Well after a couple of these practice sessions, he was kicked out and never replaced. You know, after he was gone we had even fewer visits by police to turn down, and we'd often get people pulling over and standing out in the field in front of our practice barn (it wasn't far from the road) to listen and cheer! This never happened when this s**t tone guitarist was there! Some people have s**t tone, and they think it sounds great no matter what the gear?

Someone described the Axe-Fx as an unlimited pallet of colors, but they forgot to add that you may often be staring at a blank canvas unless you find a preset to use as a starting point (or you have the skills to dial it in quickly from scratch!)

I think there are many guitarists out there with S**T tone regardless of the equipment. A good guitarist that knows tone can make even crap equipment sound excellent IMO.

 

[fek]

I have a Tonelab LE and a Powerblock currently due to some downsizing I had to do. I hate tweaking so I get a decent sound and leave it but bitch about all along the way. I just need to pay someone that knows what in the hell they are doing and tweak the tones I want out of it for me while I play. Even better, does anyone in the Cleveland area want to take on a tweaking project and figure out what I am doing wrong while I play?

 

[thiswaythatway]

That's why i did away with rack gear long ago. I know it's possible to dial in good tones, but knowing me I'll end up messing around too much and screwing everything up. I'd rather plug into a real amp and just have the sound there instead of scrolling though menus.

And having a bunch of different tones never worked for me, even with amps. I would always use a main tone then use pedals for effects, and maybe more or less gain with an amps channels. Even if i had 50 available tones for a gig i would never use them.

 

[Digital Jams]

I dont think I would get the most out of one, I am just not a tweaker as some others are as I just plug in and play. I have started to tweak some with the rack being about 80% complete so maybe I would dive in deep......dont know.


Too many people I know dig the hell out of that box for me to doubt it and yeah I want one.

 

[Little B]

I would say so many factors are at play when youre hearing a guitarist's rig live.As others have said, there are some amazing players out there who dont have a clue how to dial in their own microwave let alone an amp.
The PA. has a lot to do w/ it too.What I would do is:find a guitarist thats using one and sounds fabulous to you,then sit down with him/her or at least talk to them.
You should check that band out again and see if that night was just a fluke for him.I'll sample an axe/fx sometime myself,but Im having too much fun w/ my badcat preamp right now!

 

[Shark Diver]

Badcat has a preamp? Cool!

 

[steve_k]

That's why i did away with rack gear long ago. I know it's possible to dial in good tones, but knowing me I'll end up messing around too much and screwing everything up. I'd rather plug into a real amp and just have the sound there instead of scrolling though menus.

And having a bunch of different tones never worked for me, even with amps. I would always use a main tone then use pedals for effects, and maybe more or less gain with an amps channels. Even if i had 50 available tones for a gig i would never use them.

Bump +1

 

[Gainfreak]

I must be a terrible pilot. I sold mine because I had the same experience as the original poster. Haven't missed it once.

No, it probably wasn't for you and you got rid of it which is ok. With that said, the original topic was that he said it sounded like ass and blamed it soley on the unit which is pure bullshit. At one time I had the same opinion of the Axe-fx and I was quickly humbled once I got one...bigtime. It has quickly gone above and beyond my expectations of what it can do and all the members in my Band are blown away by it as was the sound guy who help film our little demo video.
As with any piece of gear, not everyone is going to dig it but to say it was soley the axe-fx's fault is 100% false.

 

[JTyson]

Just listen to Ed's tones, And John ( Hectic Watermelon ) these two have erased any doubts I had about it. I dont have one, and probably wont do anything like that for awhile. I'm still having fun in Marshall Gloryland

 

[AmpliFIRE]

all the members in my Band are blown away by it as was the sound guy

I may have to get one again if it does that now.