The Axe is tempting me...

[mightywarlock]

I got one last week and at first I thought big mistake.
I think, if you take it for what it is, and NOT as an amp replacement, then should be fine.

there is something to the way it quickens up to crunch and a certain frequency to the digital tone that is just part of it.
I have tried to dial in some of the amps I own, and while you can get the basic tone of the amp, is is still very different from the real thing.
It can get close, but don't go into thinking if i dial this amp in i can sell the amp.
you CAN dial it in. however, it may not sound exactly the same. but pretty close...

 

[jlbaxe]

Luv my Ultra. Best thing I bought and I have gone through a lot of gear the last 3-5 years. Im trying to do a pair of Atomic powered FRFR My amp and effect gas has faded away

 

[ejecta]

I think they are a good tool for the right situation. IMHO not the end all be all.

Due to not playing with a band anymore and my wife's job where she is now full time working from home I can't play loud very much at all. And no matter the master on any of the tube amps I've had and say what you will but IMHO tube amps don't give up the goods until they are louder than I could ever play with her working. So I picked up another standard after having some experience with them a couple of times before where I was thinking of using it instead of a tube amp. That never worked out for me. I've said all along I think they are a nice unit and good tool for the right situation. I've been getting some very very decent tones with it but still much prefer a tube amp but for my situation of having to do mostly silent playing and direct recording it works better than a tube amp. I think the Axe does sound a bit better then other modelers I've owned like the 11R (this one being the closest to the Axe and it's feel was IHMO a bit better), DAW plugin's, and PODs. Still haven't tried the new POD. Is it worth the extra cost over those? I'm not sure but I will say the Axe does hold it's value much better and that's a big reason why I got it over the others. I got one used and I could get every penny back out if I wanted to. Not sure I could say that about the other modelers.

 

[Motorpud]

I think they are a good tool for the right situation. IMHO not the end all be all.

Is it worth the extra cost over those? I'm not sure but I will say the Axe does hold it's value much better and that's a big reason why I got it over the others. I got one used and I could get every penny back out if I wanted to. Not sure I could say that about the other modelers.

Good point. Another thing is I think the people that are let down by it have these high hopes that they can just buy it and replace thousands, and in some cases 10s of thousands of dollars worth of other amps that they have. I'm looking at it for what it is, a digital modeler that I can get a vast array of tones out of at home through monitors or headphones. It won't be a Recto, Mark, SLO, Plexi, etc. but if I can get 85 or 90% of the way there and not have a 100 watt head blasting away (even though I'd love nothing more) I'm good

 

[ejecta]

I think they are a good tool for the right situation. IMHO not the end all be all.

Is it worth the extra cost over those? I'm not sure but I will say the Axe does hold it's value much better and that's a big reason why I got it over the others. I got one used and I could get every penny back out if I wanted to. Not sure I could say that about the other modelers.

Good point. Another thing is I think the people that are let down by it have these high hopes that they can just buy it and replace thousands, and in some cases 10s of thousands of dollars worth of other amps that they have. I'm looking at it for what it is, a digital modeler that I can get a vast array of tones out of at home through monitors or headphones. It won't be a Recto, Mark, SLO, Plexi, etc. but if I can get 85 or 90% of the way there and not have a 100 watt head blasting away (even though I'd love nothing more) I'm good

I think if you go into it with that attitude you'll be happy with it. Let it do what it does best, let it not do what it doesn't, and don't try to make it into something it's not.

 

[ttosh]

I think they are a good tool for the right situation. IMHO not the end all be all.

Due to not playing with a band anymore and my wife's job where she is now full time working from home I can't play loud very much at all. And no matter the master on any of the tube amps I've had and say what you will but IMHO tube amps don't give up the goods until they are louder than I could ever play with her working. So I picked up another standard after having some experience with them a couple of times before where I was thinking of using it instead of a tube amp. That never worked out for me. I've said all along I think they are a nice unit and good tool for the right situation. I've been getting some very very decent tones with it but still much prefer a tube amp but for my situation of having to do mostly silent playing and direct recording it works better than a tube amp. I think the Axe does sound a bit better then other modelers I've owned like the 11R (this one being the closest to the Axe and it's feel was IHMO a bit better), DAW plugin's, and PODs. Still haven't tried the new POD. Is it worth the extra cost over those? I'm not sure but I will say the Axe does hold it's value much better and that's a big reason why I got it over the others. I got one used and I could get every penny back out if I wanted to. Not sure I could say that about the other modelers.

I got to jam on the HD500 last week at my friends house and my first impressions was it did not come close to feel and tone of the Axe FX. I have seen videos on YouTube where it sounds very good, but we did not have much luck getting it to do so. We tried it setup quite a few different ways and it never felt good at all. The Axe FX while not replacing any amp for me does sound and feel good and can come quite close to some amps, and is a great all in one package! I feel the price difference for the Axe FX versus the HD500 is easily justified, however with more tweaking and time this might not be the case YMMV

 

[Motorpud]

I think they are a good tool for the right situation. IMHO not the end all be all.

Due to not playing with a band anymore and my wife's job where she is now full time working from home I can't play loud very much at all. And no matter the master on any of the tube amps I've had and say what you will but IMHO tube amps don't give up the goods until they are louder than I could ever play with her working. So I picked up another standard after having some experience with them a couple of times before where I was thinking of using it instead of a tube amp. That never worked out for me. I've said all along I think they are a nice unit and good tool for the right situation. I've been getting some very very decent tones with it but still much prefer a tube amp but for my situation of having to do mostly silent playing and direct recording it works better than a tube amp. I think the Axe does sound a bit better then other modelers I've owned like the 11R (this one being the closest to the Axe and it's feel was IHMO a bit better), DAW plugin's, and PODs. Still haven't tried the new POD. Is it worth the extra cost over those? I'm not sure but I will say the Axe does hold it's value much better and that's a big reason why I got it over the others. I got one used and I could get every penny back out if I wanted to. Not sure I could say that about the other modelers.

I got to jam on the HD500 last week at my friends house and my first impressions was it did not come close to feel and tone of the Axe FX. I have seen videos on YouTube where it sounds very good, but we did not have much luck getting it to do so. We tried it setup quite a few different ways and it never felt good at all. The Axe FX while not replacing any amp for me does sound and feel good and can come quite close to some amps, and is a great all in one package! I feel the price difference for the Axe FX versus the HD500 is easily justified, however with more tweaking and time this might not be the case YMMV

I've heard this a bunch of times from almost everyone I know who's tried both, that's why I haven't even given the HD500 a second thought. It's probably fine for what it is but the value drops on used Line6 stuff at an alarming rate, plus I just generally don't like Line6 stuff, and I especially hate my POD

 

[glpg80]

The Axe FX while not replacing any amp for me does sound and feel good and can come quite close to some amps

I feel the price difference for the Axe FX versus the HD500 is easily justified, however with more tweaking and time this might not be the case YMMV

so tweaking puts you between $500 and $1,800? but neither replace tubes?

the HD500 is aimed at a whole different purpose and group than the axe. and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

 

[ttosh]

The Axe FX while not replacing any amp for me does sound and feel good and can come quite close to some amps

I feel the price difference for the Axe FX versus the HD500 is easily justified, however with more tweaking and time this might not be the case YMMV

so tweaking puts you between $500 and $1,800? but neither replace tubes?

the HD500 is aimed at a whole different purpose and group than the axe. and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Nice try but the FX in the Axe FX alone are worth the difference as they are on par with other units for the same price. The Amp sims are a nice plus. The amount of hate for the Axe FX amazes me. I do not own one and I do not understand the hatred for the unit........

 

[rsm]

Good point. Another thing is I think the people that are let down by it have these high hopes that they can just buy it and replace thousands, and in some cases 10s of thousands of dollars worth of other amps that they have. I'm looking at it for what it is, a digital modeler that I can get a vast array of tones out of at home through monitors or headphones. It won't be a Recto, Mark, SLO, Plexi, etc. but if I can get 85 or 90% of the way there and not have a 100 watt head blasting away (even though I'd love nothing more) I'm good

YMMV...however, IMO:
FWIW, I think it can replace most amps, but depending on one's ability, skill and patience to tweak it - it could take a long time for some to get there before they lose patience and give up on trying to get the goods out of it.

When I had my Ultra, I mostly used the Vox and Marshall amp sims; at first I started with an AC30 preset, removed everything but the amp and cab, then tried each parameter in the amp block to see what it did...after awhile I realized there is so much tweakability that I would never be done...always thinking I could improve the tones...never ending. I've found less complex modelers work better for me at this stage as they have more limits to their tweakability but more than enough to balance my use vs. continuous improvement tweaking attempts.

Once I spend a few years with my current modelers and get to a point where I feel I've exhausted all that I can get from them, I will be looking for my ultimate modeler...hopefully a floorboard or at leastpedalboard friendly foremat of the Axe-Fx with amp/cab/mic, 3rd party IRs only - MIDI in/out/thru to use with my G-System...but maybe it would replace my G too?

 

[ejecta]

and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Yeah I don't understand the attitude of some of the users and as a maker of a product I'd never talk to my customers like I've seen some talked to with the Axe.

 

[glpg80]

The Axe FX while not replacing any amp for me does sound and feel good and can come quite close to some amps

I feel the price difference for the Axe FX versus the HD500 is easily justified, however with more tweaking and time this might not be the case YMMV

so tweaking puts you between $500 and $1,800? but neither replace tubes?

the HD500 is aimed at a whole different purpose and group than the axe. and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Nice try but the FX in the Axe FX alone are worth the difference as they are on par with other units for the same price. The Amp sims are a nice plus. The amount of hate for the Axe FX amazes me. I do not own one and I do not understand the hatred for the unit........

not trying to start anything man, i was just curious and was hoping you would further explain. the amp sims in the axe-fx do tend to be the selling point for it. for at home use or direct recording i can see the benefits easily. the downside is in the category of the tweaking....i personally hate tweaking - i prefer playing. as many options as the axe-fx has it seems to be cutting its own throat because you end up spending more time tweaking than playing. thats why i dislike it - complicated to get great sounds out of. the same goes for the line 6, but at $1,000+ cheaper it really does not matter and is almost expected.

 

[glassjaw7]

For me, the Axe wouldn't replace my tube amps, but rather it would be a great tool for grab and go situations and some gigs. (Just joined a band, actually 2 )

I love the sound of the effects too. The synth stuff would be perfect for a recording project I'm starting soon.

Unfortunately due to the price, I may have to wait for a rackmount PODHD.

 

[ttosh]

The Axe FX while not replacing any amp for me does sound and feel good and can come quite close to some amps

I feel the price difference for the Axe FX versus the HD500 is easily justified, however with more tweaking and time this might not be the case YMMV

so tweaking puts you between $500 and $1,800? but neither replace tubes?

the HD500 is aimed at a whole different purpose and group than the axe. and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Nice try but the FX in the Axe FX alone are worth the difference as they are on par with other units for the same price. The Amp sims are a nice plus. The amount of hate for the Axe FX amazes me. I do not own one and I do not understand the hatred for the unit........

not trying to start anything man, i was just curious and was hoping you would further explain. the amp sims in the axe-fx do tend to be the selling point for it. for at home use or direct recording i can see the benefits easily. the downside is in the category of the tweaking....i personally hate tweaking - i prefer playing. as many options as the axe-fx has it seems to be cutting its own throat because you end up spending more time tweaking than playing. thats why i dislike it - complicated to get great sounds out of. the same goes for the line 6, but at $1,000+ cheaper it really does not matter and is almost expected.

I do not disagree and apologize if I came across negatively. I think it has it's place and the downside for some is an upside for others I guess. I think the price is justified between the two based on the quality FX alone. I do not own one as for me at this time it is not what suits my personal preference or situation. However with that said each of us have our own needs and I never meant to step on anybody else's toes or want to preach want somebody does or does not need. Just putting out my opinion of what I feel about both having played both and the feel alone is worth the price to me from the HD500 to the Axe FX.

 

[Motorpud]

and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Yeah I don't understand the attitude of some of the users and as a maker of a product I'd never talk to my customers like I've seen some talked to with the Axe.

Yeah, this is one of the things I'm contemplating right now. If I knew for a fact there was a good guy behind it that wouldn't be a dick if I needed help then I would've already bought one. I've seen a couple comments that seem to prove otherwise (The smart ass comments to users seeking help etc.) so that really has me on the fence more than anything. If I need some sort of customer service and have to deal with the guy I don't want to be berated or talked down to like I've seen happen to others.

 

[glpg80]

and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Yeah I don't understand the attitude of some of the users and as a maker of a product I'd never talk to my customers like I've seen some talked to with the Axe.

Yeah, this is one of the things I'm contemplating right now. If I knew for a fact there was a good guy behind it that wouldn't be a dick if I needed help then I would've already bought one. I've seen a couple comments that seem to prove otherwise (The smart ass comments to users seeking help etc.) so that really has me on the fence more than anything. If I need some sort of customer service and have to deal with the guy I don't want to be berated or talked down to like I've seen happen to others.

i just dont understand how someone could troll their own products and no one buy them with this in thought. that spells douchebag forwards and backwards in my eyes. im glad you're taking that into affect though Nate. but if you need at home jamming, why not get your favorite preamp, an effects processor, a cab simulator like the palmer, and be done?

you get your tube preamp tones, your digital effects, and the cab simulator can be turned on/off. another option is running a cab impulse like Ola does with post recording EQ in a DAW.

i wouldnt put all of my eggs in a single basket so to speak like the axe either. there are other options to get the same results and still get something that slays

 

[ttosh]

and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Yeah I don't understand the attitude of some of the users and as a maker of a product I'd never talk to my customers like I've seen some talked to with the Axe.

Yeah, this is one of the things I'm contemplating right now. If I knew for a fact there was a good guy behind it that wouldn't be a dick if I needed help then I would've already bought one. I've seen a couple comments that seem to prove otherwise (The smart ass comments to users seeking help etc.) so that really has me on the fence more than anything. If I need some sort of customer service and have to deal with the guy I don't want to be berated or talked down to like I've seen happen to others.

i just dont understand how someone could troll their own products and no one buy them with this in thought. that spells douchebag forwards and backwards in my eyes. im glad you're taking that into affect though Nate. but if you need at home jamming, why not get your favorite preamp, an effects processor, a cab simulator like the palmer, and be done?

you get your tube preamp tones, your digital effects, and the cab simulator can be turned on/off. another option is running a cab impulse like Ola does with post recording EQ in a DAW.

i wouldnt put all of my eggs in a single basket so to speak like the axe either. there are other options to get the same results and still get something that slays

Interesting I have never seen any such incidents? This would be a factor for me as well if I wanted to buy one again. I never received anything but good customer service when I had my Ultra. However these things may have changed based on your posting? Are these posts on Rig Talk or elsewhere?

 

[ejecta]

and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Yeah I don't understand the attitude of some of the users and as a maker of a product I'd never talk to my customers like I've seen some talked to with the Axe.

Yeah, this is one of the things I'm contemplating right now. If I knew for a fact there was a good guy behind it that wouldn't be a dick if I needed help then I would've already bought one. I've seen a couple comments that seem to prove otherwise (The smart ass comments to users seeking help etc.) so that really has me on the fence more than anything. If I need some sort of customer service and have to deal with the guy I don't want to be berated or talked down to like I've seen happen to others.

Ehh... I'm not sure I'd worry about that. People can still offer a decent product and service but not have great social skills let alone internet social skills ( I think I struggle with this sometimes as I think I can come off like I don't mean to). Still no excuse for telling your customer "just sell then". That said it doesn't look good that's for sure.

 

[Motorpud]

and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Yeah I don't understand the attitude of some of the users and as a maker of a product I'd never talk to my customers like I've seen some talked to with the Axe.

Yeah, this is one of the things I'm contemplating right now. If I knew for a fact there was a good guy behind it that wouldn't be a dick if I needed help then I would've already bought one. I've seen a couple comments that seem to prove otherwise (The smart ass comments to users seeking help etc.) so that really has me on the fence more than anything. If I need some sort of customer service and have to deal with the guy I don't want to be berated or talked down to like I've seen happen to others.

i just dont understand how someone could troll their own products and no one buy them with this in thought. that spells douchebag forwards and backwards in my eyes. im glad you're taking that into affect though Nate. but if you need at home jamming, why not get your favorite preamp, an effects processor, a cab simulator like the palmer, and be done?

you get your tube preamp tones, your digital effects, and the cab simulator can be turned on/off. another option is running a cab impulse like Ola does with post recording EQ in a DAW.

i wouldnt put all of my eggs in a single basket so to speak like the axe either. there are other options to get the same results and still get something that slays

Yeah, customer service is a big deal to me and if I think I'm gonna to be told to get screwed I'll buy something else. As for the why? 2 reasons, versatility and size If I do decide on picking one up I'm going to stick it on the keyboard shelf of my desk, run it up to my monitors and be done with it.

 

[glpg80]

and not once has the designer of the HD500 ever told someone to sell one of their own products.

Yeah I don't understand the attitude of some of the users and as a maker of a product I'd never talk to my customers like I've seen some talked to with the Axe.

Yeah, this is one of the things I'm contemplating right now. If I knew for a fact there was a good guy behind it that wouldn't be a dick if I needed help then I would've already bought one. I've seen a couple comments that seem to prove otherwise (The smart ass comments to users seeking help etc.) so that really has me on the fence more than anything. If I need some sort of customer service and have to deal with the guy I don't want to be berated or talked down to like I've seen happen to others.

i just dont understand how someone could troll their own products and no one buy them with this in thought. that spells douchebag forwards and backwards in my eyes. im glad you're taking that into affect though Nate. but if you need at home jamming, why not get your favorite preamp, an effects processor, a cab simulator like the palmer, and be done?

you get your tube preamp tones, your digital effects, and the cab simulator can be turned on/off. another option is running a cab impulse like Ola does with post recording EQ in a DAW.

i wouldnt put all of my eggs in a single basket so to speak like the axe either. there are other options to get the same results and still get something that slays

Interesting I have never seen any such incidents? This would be a factor for me as well if I wanted to buy one again. I never received anything but good customer service when I had my Ultra. However these things may have changed based on your posting? Are these posts on Rig Talk or elsewhere?

it happened on rig-talk to a forum member.

also cliff came on the forum and shoved my nose in shit on an electronics topic. i tried to get him to explain the errors i might have worded incorrectly and he refused - telling me i needed to go back to learning basics.

overall just an arrogance about him. anyone read the topic about that new revolutionary preamp modeling unit coming out soon at namm? someone posted an article from cliff and he basically bewildered it with no defense from the original designer.

its like a 1 up attitude. i would never purchase or own anything from someone like that