the cult of fractal/ axe efx

[controlled_voltage]

Hey dudes.....I have a little bit of money saved and finally looking around at what is out there for amps/modelers etc.

For starters there has never been a time when more amazingly CHEAP but well made amps,pedals and guitars are available at such low prices.
I am blown away and confused at all of the options.

[evh amps,boutique amps,rack 11,kempler,endless amounts of cool pedals crawling from the woodwork and lots of great guitars especially on the used market]

Anyway as I consider the options it's hard to not look at the axe efx and kempler etc.

The axe efx is like a cult/virus and it seems to be spreading!

The fractal forum is just bananas and the level of devotion/fanboy-ism is unparalleled.

It seems as if un-biased negative reviews are few and far between and those that go against the cult are swiftly admonished.

It reminds me of scientology.

Further confusing the issue are all the pros that have jumped on board and are using the axe efx -greg howe,Vai,holdsworth,metallica,dweezil,petrucci.megadeth etc etc.

I have no clue as to what to buy at this point.
Further clouding the debate I see so much hubris on rig talk-guys that swear by tube amps that sold their axe efx and vice versa!

i must just
BUY ALL THE THINGS!!!

 

[cardinal]

The good side of the AxeFX cult is that they are easy to sell if you turn out not to like it.

 

[Elric]

In before the hate storm.

I have one as my main rig. It has killed all my GAS and has pretty much lived up to the hype for me.

Not all the owners are dicks, although I myself am. LOL

 

[Steinmetzify]

Mostly record at home anymore. Borrowed one from a friend for a week. Started shopping used 2nd day I had it and bought one from a forum member last week. They're good. Like stated above, if you hate it it's an easy sell. Buy new and there's a 2 week return policy.

There are always gonna be guys that love it and guys that tried it and like tube amps better. You want easy recordability and endless FX and routing with a ton of different amps and IRs? Try one. You like pedals in front of tube amps? Probably not your thing, but you never know. Good luck, man.

 

[BYTOR]

Anyway as I consider the options it's hard to not look at the axe efx and kempler etc.

Gots to try me one of them there "Kempler" things

 

[saxxamafone]

I've had an Ultra since 08 - for ambient fx and fx in general it is simply amazing.

For me it isn't able to do high gain. Doesn't have the tube amp 'thump'. Some guys want it, some don't, some don't care.
I also spent more time trying to tweak this than I did playing and writing. I hated this.

If you're after flexibility and the ease of 1 box, you'll love the axe.

If you really love the sound of tube amps and are looking to replicate this perfectly, you may be dissapointed.

Luckily the torpedo live has solved this issue for me and I'm building a rig containing the axefx, my amp and the torpedo live.

 

[lessthan12]

Ive had everything from VHT to the Freidman Be100(you can check my threads) and Ive sold them all and gone back to Axe FX II. Ill never go back to a tube amp. Depends on what you need it for. I live in an apartment and like to play silently, for me nothing compares to the Axe FX and Im not part of the cult.

 

[LWD]

There is a video of Greg Howe where he "politely" says the axe fx is pretty good but doesn't sound or feel the same as a tube amp. I'm pretty sure Petrucci only uses it for FX.

 

[Racerxrated]

Headphones and direct with a PA these units sound great. If you need the sound next to you playing live to feel/sound real, they don't quite make it. Yet.

 

[Shask]

There plenty of negative reviews out there. Most people who write negatively usually feel like it takes too much tweaking, or it is overkill, or, etc.... It is usually not about the sound.


They are a great tool. It may fit your needs, or it may not. There is a reason why everyone seems to be switching. They sound great, and are so versatile they work in almost every situation. Home recording, dudes playing in bedroom, local bands who want to simplify what they carry, pro bands into massive PAs, etc....


There are a lot of old-school guys on this forum. That is why you see so much tube love. Many other forums are the complete opposite....

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Nothing beats the rawness of a real tube amp though this technology and the Kemper are bringing it big time! Just like IR's.. all great stuff but I just like my amp and my cab better I suppose. I don't think you can go wrong either way and the resale value is going to be high.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Stick the Axe-fx on a Mesa 2:90 power amp through your favorite 4x12, then it gets close enough for any of us bedroom wankers or local shithole bar hero's.

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

Stick the Axe-fx on a Mesa 2:90 power amp through your favorite 4x12, then it gets close enough for any of us bedroom wankers or local shithole bar hero's.

What about us basement wankers?

 

[Racerxrated]

Stick the Axe-fx on a Mesa 2:90 power amp through your favorite 4x12, then it gets close enough for any of us bedroom wankers or local shithole bar hero's.

Funny, I was at a local shithole bar when I had my only Axe experience. And yes, he was playing it with a Mesa 290 and a mesa standard cab. Sounded killer out front. Sat in with them and thought it sounded fake. Good but fake. Axe gas went away. Now, who knows if he had the cab sims on? Or something else was fucked up? Maybe I should get in touch with him and spend some time with it...lots swear by the Axe so I'm sure other rigs sound better than his. But I wasn't impressed with his sound.

 

[gkinsingapore]

Used an Axe for a couple of years then went back to my PT100 when the Axe needed fixing (fried ethernet port) I'm going to stay with head/cab and sell the Axe rig.

The Axe is great and some of the tones are to die for, but for me I have enjoyed the simplicity of a single amp that I can adjust quickly on the fly and I was only using a small selection of amps on the axe anyway so it was major overkill. I like the interaction between amp, cab and fingers with beautiful blooming harmonic feedback. The axe just wasn't the same in that regard.

I also like using a pedal board where I can swap individual pedals and enjoy a trip to a music store on a pedal buying trip after researching and listening to clips online i.e. I actually enjoy having my GAS back after 2 years of editing on a computer. Call me old fashioned......I'm majorly gassing for an EVH Stealth amp and really loving the feeling of aching to buy gear again!

 

[mdc1mdc11]

Is there a good summary, comparison and contrast of the fractal product and Kemper? Read quite a few threads but many seem to be user experience specific with the usual biases. Have most of the signature amps already, but in the future may start dialing some of them back if these newer products are becoming very good.

Also, for the Greg Howe comment. He might likely not want to endorse these given he has a DV-Mark artist amp.

 

[mniel8195]

I think the axe fx is amazing for recording if you need a ton of tones and effects. It is also the very finest touring rig you can have if you don't want to lug a bunch of stuff around and have to deal with using a mic. The fact it can midi switch all your songs through a laptop with ought using a floor switcher is pretty sweet as well. Most of all of this is overkill and most of us just want to hear the cab in the room and i get that. I will be buying the floor unit to go with my 5150 III though!

 

[skoora]

Something to consider too is that a lot of the artists who are using them are probably for touring purposes and fly in recording dates. I can't imagine when they have time to do their own album etc that they're not using their favorite amps from their collections or tube rigs. Also how many are just using them for FX or cab sims but not amp sims? Even though I solely play at home now, getting a tube amp at volume is when you can can get that giddy, smile like a schoolgirl on prom night kind of feeling. If the Axe can't get that, even though with tube amps I might be at TV volumes 90% of the time, it's not for me.

I also cringe when I see footage of big artists recording guitars in the control room trying to get feedback using the studio monitor's.

 

[PBGas]

As pointed out, these computers are great for recording. They have some great features on them and the efx are stellar.

At the end of the day through a few Kempers myself (had issues on a couple of them), I found myself using 3 main tones. I didn't like my on stage sound. So...Torpedo live and a great tube amp for me. Easy to use and sounds fabulous.

 

[Racerxrated]

Something to consider too is that a lot of the artists who are using them are probably for touring purposes and fly in recording dates. I can't imagine when they have time to do their own album etc that they're not using their favorite amps from their collections or tube rigs. Also how many are just using them for FX or cab sims but not amp sims? Even though I solely play at home now, getting a tube amp at volume is when you can can get that giddy, smile like a schoolgirl on prom night kind of feeling. If the Axe can't get that, even though with tube amps I might be at TV volumes 90% of the time, it's not for me.

I also cringe when I see footage of big artists recording guitars in the control room trying to get feedback using the studio monitor's.

Agreed. Even if its once in a while, just opening up your favorite tube amp and shaking the walls....its a drug for sure. If I could afford to have my Marshall and an Axe/Kemper I would. But ATM I can only have what I already have...