Wah + Axe FX II

[kasperjensen]

Thinking about taking the plunge and going down the Axe FX II route. Seems like a solid piece of gear.

Question... Can you use external pedals if yoy want? I am thinking mostly about a wah pedal in front of it. Or are there simulations that you control with an expression pedal?

 

[steve_k]

Why, the Axe is about 10 or so different Wahs in it. And, all are tweakable to your satisfaction. Just takes an expression pedal. You move it around in the FX chain like you want it.

To answer your question though, yes you can run pedals in front of the Axe. You may get some ground noise though.

 

[mindseye]

I've done it both ways with good results.

 

[kasperjensen]

Why, the Axe is about 10 or so different Wahs in it. And, all are tweakable to your satisfaction. Just takes an expression pedal. You move it around in the FX chain like you want it.

To answer your question though, yes you can run pedals in front of the Axe. You may get some ground noise though.

Cool. Thanks!

If I can just hook up an expression pedal, then that would be ideal.

Question...

Can you programme the wah to automatically come on when the expression pedal is used, or would you have to activate it from the footswitch and then move over to the ex pedal? I am quite bad at "tap-dancing" you see...

 

[Gadzz]

I like the internal wah's with a Boss expression pedal! The Axe-2 kills you will love it! But I like to bounce between the two gotta have tube amps also!!!

 

[kasperjensen]

I like the internal wah's with a Boss expression pedal! The Axe-2 kills you will love it! But I like to bounce between the two gotta have tube amps also!!!

Yeah I do love my amps, and as far as recording goes (not demos) I will still prefer tube amps. But there is just so much processing that goes into getting that sound, which is simply not possible for us to accomplish live at this level. And then there is the volume issue...

I would even want to get a Roland TD30KV instead of acoustic drums, and of course a great PA, so we can create a produced sound live, in smaller venues.

Call me crazy, but I think it's the way to go

 

[Gadzz]

Yes that's our rehearsal set up and it's great on the ears we got killer tone and my kids actually sleep two floors up while we jam!! We have a Roland V and Axe going through a Carvin PA and it kills best set up I've ever had!

 

[steve_k]

Why, the Axe is about 10 or so different Wahs in it. And, all are tweakable to your satisfaction. Just takes an expression pedal. You move it around in the FX chain like you want it.

To answer your question though, yes you can run pedals in front of the Axe. You may get some ground noise though.

Cool. Thanks!

If I can just hook up an expression pedal, then that would be ideal.

Question...

Can you programme the wah to automatically come on when the expression pedal is used, or would you have to activate it from the footswitch and then move over to the ex pedal? I am quite bad at "tap-dancing" you see...

Yes, I bought a spring loaded pedal from Mission for that purpose. Just mash on it....and engage the wah. You just have to set the effect to autoengage and tell it which of the 4 pedal inputs controls it and calibrate the sweep of the wah. 100X better than an analog wah pedal.

 

[Ventura]

To the OP, you can create any customized wah within the parameters of the Axe-II to have it sound, act, sweep, and freak any which way you deem as "perfect". If you've got a specific preference to an analog wah, whether it be 535, Area 51, Clyde - you can make this within the programming of the Axe-II. All you need is a foot controller (exp pedal) that you're comfortable with, and after that, it's all up to you.

That said, you can also go the Dweezil route and mash a veritable department store of stomps into the signal chain of the Axe to get you where you want to go. But this is Dweezil, and much like his Dad, he probably does things quite differently than your average "user".