My AxeFx is having me consider selling my amps

[Rogue]

\I mean, if it sounded bad, or if every available tone in it sounded the same and didn`t respond naturally to changes in EQ/gain/etc I could get on board with faulting it (the same way I think of say line 6 gear),

I know. The Axe-FX is faultless. It sounds better, feels better, and has better knob response than real amps. Just ask Jay Mitchell. A plus is each revision just gets better, realer, and better realer. Soon, you will have one patch that covers every amp out there. It's gonna be so cool!!!

 

[Hartmut]

ones and zeros can suck my balls!


if that's your bag, then good on you.


iron and glass for me!

That´s what I think, too! The perfect sound is (to me) a real tube amp! It feels better and the sound is at least 5 % more juicy

 

[Gsxrbusa]

As much as glpg80 sounds like a cock on this one, I have to agree to a point. Until someone brings one over and I can A/B it on the same cab via my tonebone ampswitcher, at band volume, I won't believe it is that good. Even the OP said he has not played it through a cab. I would think the power amp and the cab would color the sound a bit. I am sure it kicks ass at low volume but i could give two fucks about low volume. I have a Berhinger V amp that sounds good at low volumes( or fuckin good enough cause I don't give a fuck) This whole thing reminds me of everytime I play a solid state amp, It sounds pretty good till a thumpin tube amp comes into the picture. Then it is game over. The only solid state amp that is even close to a tube amp is the ISP Theta. Probably the best SS amp I have heard but It still is missing that special something that only tubes can bring. There was a post a while ago comparing clips using Axe vs triple recto, and even though it was close the Recto had that little extra bit of something, more organic, if you will. .........................................So, Who is gonna bring one over so I can lay this to rest? (in my mind anyway, probly no convincing glpg80.

 

[ttosh]

I had a Standard and an Ultra and they did not work for me as for some reason I just like a tube amp better. However that does not discredit the Axe FX as I see it as a great FX unit, has great amp models and does a great job as all the Axe posters have stated in this thread, it just was not for me.

The Axe posters in this thread at least do not sound like 5 year old crybabies. If you do not like it fine, it was not for you, but to make statements as it is not this or that and state is as fact for everyone is just plain childish.

To the OP, it is doing what you want and that is what matters. The Axe hate is getting worse all the time for some reason and it feels like the assimilation is about to begin.

 

[Gsxrbusa]

I had a Standard and an Ultra and they did not work for me as for some reason I just like a tube amp better. However that does not discredit the Axe FX as I see it as a great FX unit, has great amp models and does a great job as all the Axe posters have stated in this thread, it just was not for me.

The Axe posters in this thread at least do not sound like 5 year old crybabies. If you do not like it fine, it was not for you, but to make statements as it is not this or that and state is as fact for everyone is just plain childish.

To the OP, it is doing what you want and that is what matters. The Axe hate is getting worse all the time for some reason and it feels like the assimilation is about to begin.

Dude, it will never end. It really matters not what the subject is. Records vs Cd's, MP3 vs Cd, Class A vs AB, V8 vs V6, Panhead vs Shovelhead, Real wood vs laminate. Just gives us something to talk and bitch about.

 

[gybe!]

\I mean, if it sounded bad, or if every available tone in it sounded the same and didn`t respond naturally to changes in EQ/gain/etc I could get on board with faulting it (the same way I think of say line 6 gear),

I know. The Axe-FX is faultless. It sounds better, feels better, and has better knob response than real amps. Just ask Jay Mitchell. A plus is each revision just gets better, realer, and better realer. Soon, you will have one patch that covers every amp out there. It's gonna be so cool!!!

Did I mention it gives the best blow jobs ever? I mean really. Like the sloppiest, down and dirty, bestest blow jobs ever. Makes Jenna Jameson look like a noob.

As much as glpg80 sounds like a cock on this one, I have to agree to a point. Until someone brings one over and I can A/B it on the same cab via my tonebone ampswitcher, at band volume, I won't believe it is that good. Even the OP said he has not played it through a cab. I would think the power amp and the cab would color the sound a bit. I am sure it kicks ass at low volume but i could give two fucks about low volume. I have a Berhinger V amp that sounds good at low volumes( or fuckin good enough cause I don't give a fuck) This whole thing reminds me of everytime I play a solid state amp, It sounds pretty good till a thumpin tube amp comes into the picture. Then it is game over. The only solid state amp that is even close to a tube amp is the ISP Theta. Probably the best SS amp I have heard but It still is missing that special something that only tubes can bring. There was a post a while ago comparing clips using Axe vs triple recto, and even though it was close the Recto had that little extra bit of something, more organic, if you will. .........................................So, Who is gonna bring one over so I can lay this to rest? (in my mind anyway, probly no convincing glpg80.

Thats the thing, it doesn`t fall apart at volume. I have not used it with my cabs yet, but I have had my monitors at typical band practice levels and beyond and loved every second of it. I will get to running it through my cabs at some point, but I already have a great setup for it as is so I haven`t needed to. If you get a chance to play one go in with an open mind. I basically bought it out of curiosity and have been floored by it ever since. I don`t care if it sounds exactly like a recto or an xtc or a uber, if it sounds good it sounds good and it does. The way it responds to playing dynamics is what amazes me the most. As I said before, feels every bit as natural as any other hi end amp I have owned.

I totally get the different strokes for different folks thing, as I don`t really care for the diezel herbert and heavily prefer any of the XTCs I have owned. What I don`t understand is the people who seem to have an all out vendetta for the thing just because it isn`t a toob amp. And for all I know, maybe the early versions sucked balls (and not cock, reference above about the bjs), but what I have seen from this so far has simply amazed me. I went in thinking it would be a nice upgrade from the line 6 M13 I was rocking and might give me some nice options from a recording standpoint, now I am thinking it can easily hang with any of the big boy amps I have owned.

 

[cliffc8488]

The upcoming firmware has Marsha BE and HBE models as well as Shiva clean and lead models. Still waiting to get my actual Marsha for the A/B tests. UPS is saying Tuesday.

 

[stratotone]

to HAVE to constantly update is the problem. you are not understanding what i am talking about. since when has any tube amplifier needed a patch update that you have no idea what changes in order to sound better.

When was the last time they updated your tube amp for free? I bet people who bought the DSL100s that couldn't hold a steady bias would have liked that. BTW, you don't HAVE to upgrade your axe/fx. And you can always go back to an older firmware too.

I can see glpg's granddad screaming at charlie christian to take that fucking amp off the stage and play an acoustic like a real man.

Pete

 

[thiswaythatway]

I always hear people say that the Axe-FX lacks balls and doesn't hang with a real amp at louder volumes. But wouldn't that have more to do with what poweramp you're using?

I still have yet to be convinced that it can touch the real amps it's trying to sound like, but still, considering it's got all those effects, you can record direct, you can use it with your amp, etc. It still sounds like a good buy.

 

[glassjaw7]

I'm very intrigued by the Axe, and as the list of respectable players grows, so does my interest. But I just haven't heard the sound clips to back up the hype yet. I've heard some decent sounds come out of it, but nothing that makes me think "holy hell, I need one!" My favorite clips of the axe so far are from Bulb's soundclick page, but he makes everything sound good. He just knows how to record good tracks. All of his software based modelers sound great recorded.
I want to love the axe-fx, because for a frustrated guitarist on a budget who dreams of owning a studio full of high-end tube heads, this thing would be a godsend if it really delivers. Fractal needs to get some midwest dealers so I can try one out. Until I am in a room with one cranked through a good power section, I just can't believe the hype.

 

[Anonymous]

The upcoming firmware has Marsha BE and HBE models as well as Shiva clean and lead models. Still waiting to get my actual Marsha for the A/B tests. UPS is saying Tuesday.

Oh yes!

Steve

 

[guitarmike]

As a tube snob I don't get the hate of the axe. I do not own one, probably will not own one, but could care less if others do. I am sure it sounds good and I am quite sure 99% of any crowd you'd play in front of could not tell the difference between it and your best amp. Playing through a 50 or 100 watt half stack feels good. Even with my IEM, the thump I feel playing my Freidman modded Marshall is what I like. I play in church, in a country band, and a cover band playing Jefferson airplane to Paramore to Journey. I can cover all of that territory by pick attack and the guitar volume.

If the price ever drops below $750 I would buy one, seems to me it would be a great backup if nothing else.

 

[Ventura]

If I had the space and time, I'd be tempted to grab a Marshall EL34 50/50 and an AxeFX Ultra and just see WTF I could come up with... But, seeing as I don't have a lot of either of the above mentioned assets, I gotsta say, I like my rigs. But I am a techno cat too - the 11 rack and the AFU have piqued my curiosity, but to me, I'm a simpleton when it comes to my set up. I want my high-end stomps, I want my 1/2 stack rigs, I want that slight buzz when the switch goes from Standby to Run, and I want to know I've got my signature tone from tweaking different glass and using my 3rd arms aka my "guitars".

There's something that gives me wood when I see a sick, sick rig. I don't get the same when I look at small little digital thing. Kinda like a beautiful woman, you know? I love having the real thing slinking around my being - not some snapshot or streaming video of her...

Peace,
V.

 

[glpg80]

to HAVE to constantly update is the problem. you are not understanding what i am talking about. since when has any tube amplifier needed a patch update that you have no idea what changes in order to sound better.

When was the last time they updated your tube amp for free? I bet people who bought the DSL100s that couldn't hold a steady bias would have liked that. BTW, you don't HAVE to upgrade your axe/fx. And you can always go back to an older firmware too.

I can see glpg's granddad screaming at charlie christian to take that fucking amp off the stage and play an acoustic like a real man.

Pete

my parents hate music, guitar, thought it was just a phase, and never supported my practicing or band playing. ive been kicked out of my fathers house for it because it interfered with his TV time.

my mother just sold my piano and piano stand from behind my back, along with most of my clothes and furniture.

nothing has changed. and i dont appreciate the faint reminder of it. smart ass fucking dick.

 

[mentoneman]

just got home from playing two days live with my axe rig.
saturday night the soundman was harshing my mellow.

normally, i use a tech 21 power engine for one side of the stereo axe out, miced,
and send the other side of axe out DI to the console, and have the soundman return that side only to my stage monitor for stereo goodness on stage and DI signal strength to others requesting me in their monitors.

great unless the soundman doesn't dial it it right. my levels in the monitor return were all over the map. he set input gain too high at the console channel on the DI side so small variances in level i sent him became cosmic earthmoving chasms of inconsistency.

this morning i pulled my di feed to the board, and used that feed to plug into my mackie studio monitor, and miced that monitor
then i sent the XLR thru from my tech 21 to the board. my stage sound was consistent and way better, and the soundman still had a miced speaker (although mackie monitor speaker) and a DI to use and blend.

this evening the soundman was different, and a pretty sharp kid. i walked him through the axe's sound effects and he was trippin. i'm still amazed by the memory man, pcm 70, 2290, and echoplex/MM patches i have. i have a blackfaced clean i love although not because it's identical to a twin or deluxe.
i'm still on the fence about low/mid gain tones. i can get them to sound nice but they don't behave like the amps in question.

at home i use my carol ann OD2r for practicing and tone tweaking with my delays and pedals, and the thing i notice is the real OD2r has a deeper percussive analog layer the axe doesn't have, and i can roll down the volume on my guitar to take off the edge and it gets clean but more important it tracks the volume knob more linearly and smoothly. not so with the axe. the axe cleans up too but the tone gets muddier and feels plastic/gated by comparison, like some part of the signal path is getting robbed of headroom too quickly. it's just weird and i rely on that aspect of my guitar tone so much.

the moral is fragile harmonics cannot survive in a crystal lattice.

 

[stratotone]

to HAVE to constantly update is the problem. you are not understanding what i am talking about. since when has any tube amplifier needed a patch update that you have no idea what changes in order to sound better.

When was the last time they updated your tube amp for free? I bet people who bought the DSL100s that couldn't hold a steady bias would have liked that. BTW, you don't HAVE to upgrade your axe/fx. And you can always go back to an older firmware too.

I can see glpg's granddad screaming at charlie christian to take that fucking amp off the stage and play an acoustic like a real man.

Pete

my parents hate music, guitar, thought it was just a phase, and never supported my practicing or band playing. ive been kicked out of my fathers house for it because it interfered with his TV time.

my mother just sold my piano and piano stand from behind my back, along with most of my clothes and furniture.

nothing has changed. and i dont appreciate the faint reminder of it. smart ass fucking dick.

I find it hard to believe how such a smart well mannered young man could find himself with such fiends for parents. Fiends I tell you!

Well.... I also find it hard to believe your folks did that without any other reason... hmmm *thinking* could it be because you're a smartmouth punk who probably treats his parents like shit? Looking forward to your Horatio Alger story without the success at the end. Double space it please, I'm going to print it out and distribute it at work to all my friends with dipshit teenaged kids.

Pete

 

[glpg80]

what gives you the right to say that about another person?

how the fuck do you go to bed at night judging another person?

im not going to plaster my past all over the fucking internet for some old fart who thinks his shit smells like honey to degrade and drag through the dirt and show all of his other like minded dumbfucks.

i have paid for my own education, worked my way through college, paid for all my gear, and did it all without bitching. i have pratically raised myself and if you dislike the pretty picture my past holds and think it is all a degenerative lie, then you have another thing coming. because you dont see and will not see a cell phone plastered in my hands and a girlfriend fucking me over like every other teenager that wouldnt understand a work ethic if it fucked them in the ass, like you so lovely seem to categorize.

and while i am selling every god damn thing i own to support my surgery to qualify for military and fight for my country, as i actually finish my physical workout for the night on top of that, you sit here and drag my name through the dirt for no fucking reason.

whatever father deserves TV time over his son is beyond me, but then again this is coming from someone with a fucking house devoted to guitars and amplifiers and more money than common sense.

fuck off pete. you've hit a new low.

 

[stratotone]

what gives you the right to say that about another person?

how the fuck do you go to bed at night judging another person?

im not going to plaster my past all over the fucking internet for some old fart who thinks his shit smells like honey to degrade and drag through the dirt and show all of his other like minded dumbfucks.

i have paid for my own education, worked my way through college, paid for all my gear, and did it all without bitching. i have pratically raised myself and if you dislike the pretty picture my past holds and think it is all a degenerative lie, then you have another thing coming. because you dont see and will not see a cell phone plastered in my hands and a girlfriend fucking me over like every other teenager that wouldnt understand a work ethic if it fucked them in the ass, like you so lovely seem to categorize.

and while i am selling every god damn thing i own to support my surgery to qualify for military and fight for my country, as i actually finish my physical workout for the night on top of that, you sit here and drag my name through the dirt for no fucking reason.

whatever father deserves TV time over his son is beyond me, but then again this is coming from someone with a fucking house devoted to guitars and amplifiers and more money than common sense.

fuck off pete. you've hit a new low.

Nah, I can go lower. Honestly, with your attitude, military service might be the one thing that straightens your ass out. Congrats on that.

However, you are the one who decided to play the 'my history of despair' card. Man up, do something with your life and quit playing pity parties for yourself. Do you really think you're the only person in the history of the world that had to overcome obstacles? You're a smartmouth little shit who can dish it out but can't take it. I still say we haven't heard your parent's side of this either. It's amazing how some of the horrible crimes our parents did when we were younger ended up being the right thing. Give yourself some time to grow up and you may realize this.

...and I sleep great, thanks for asking.

Pete

 

[Strat+Marshall]

I find it hard to believe how such a smart well mannered young man could find himself with such fiends for parents. Fiends I tell you!

Well.... I also find it hard to believe your folks did that without any other reason... hmmm *thinking* could it be because you're a smartmouth punk who probably treats his parents like shit? Looking forward to your Horatio Alger story without the success at the end. Double space it please, I'm going to print it out and distribute it at work to all my friends with dipshit teenaged kids.

Pete

An expert at parenting now, amongst other things.

 

[glpg80]

i dont owe you an explanation. but if you got it, you still would not shut up.

i have plenty of people here to back up what i say. and ill be damned if you even deserve a consideration for any explanation from me. i told you only a fraction of my past, and you dont even believe that. so how would anything else even start. you opened this can of worms making your dick shit comment about my grandparents and that was fucking low.

and quit talking like you know me dick. i have no reason to respect you or your views.

im a smartmouth little shit? likewise pete. you paint a perfect picture yourself. this is not the first time you have shown your ass and more than one person has your game down buddy, and you are digging your own grave as it is and you dont even know it.

you can go lower? and you are telling ME to grow up? you are how old? and you are trying to do what over a forum just to keep your balls of manlyhood around your forum friends?

how about this. castrate your balls and hand them in. animals like you should not be allowed to reproduce. you also dont deserve to have a pair because you act like a lowballing pussy - who wants nothing other than to start shit and pick at topics like they have the upper hand and talk down to anyone else in their way.

i have been around dicks like you my whole life. ive got your number down. and ill be damned if your stereotypical bullshit even begins to hurt my god damn views.

and oh yes, at least i have ambitions larger than wasting tens of thousands of dollars on gear and having to purchase a house just to fit it all in. talk about setting an example in parenting