V
VESmedic
Well-known member
Lately, I have been obsessed with the idea of the Axe FX. I have GAS'd on an off for over a year for an axe fx, much harder than for anything else I've ever owned for some reason. I will try and explain my situation as best I can, it probably isn't much different than alot of people actually.
I have a band, we play shows probably 3 or 4 times a month, sometimes more, practice twice a week. We play at my singers studio, which doesn't have enough room for my monstrosity of a rig, thats for sure. I have a 2 head rack case, with a 6 space rack on top, and 2 4x12 cabinets. My rig ONLY seems to be played at shows. It sits at my house, as it is not feasible to move it all over the place. I can not take it to practice, then take it home, then take to record, then take it to a show etc: It just isn't going to happen, no matter how great it sounds. We play some decent venues, and some much larger national shows every year as well. We have a trailer, but as of right now, there is not enough room for my rig in there with everything else, so it is up to me to move it in my truck, which means when we play out of town, I do not take it, as I am not comfortable doing that. This means that I have to rip one of my heads out of the rack (pain in the ass), and bring a boost pedal, a 4x12 etc: So basically, I have this awesome rig, but no way to really use it.
I find that since I have this rig, I do not play guitar at home very much at all. I feel that if I went axe fx, hooked up to my computer or whatever, I would have much "artistic creativity juice flowing" for lack of a better term. Sure, I could get a simple practice amp at home, but again, I have a girlfriend I live with in law school who studies all the time, a roommate etc...There is just always something in the way...you know, LIFE!
Also, my other guitar player is not the most rig savy person, so of course, having an axe fx would allow me and him to both play through it...Of course, this is NOT my responsibility at all to let him do this ( he has a carvin V3 head, sounds like garbage), but if it makes the band sound better i am all for it. At band practice/studio time, we like to record our stuff, send each other riff ideas to work on etc: The axe fx would make this so much easier as well.
When playing live, out of town, I could show up with a 20 lb rig, plug it in, via FOH or with a 5 lb matrix poweramp, with a 4x12, and be ready to go, this in itself is a selling point to me.
I could go on and on, we all know why the axe fx is great for what it does: All the firmware updates, the new technology (tone matching), the forum, downloading patches etc: It is beginning to be too much for me NOT to say "okay, this is stupid, WHY do I not have one of these??" To be fair, I do not think I would part with my VHT UL head, as it is the THE sound in my head and sounds great. An idea that crossed my mind was going axe fx II with the UL in 4CM, however, I have no way of knowing if this will work out or not, as I do not know anyone with an axe II, and of course, all of the horror stories about using the axe with 4CM with some amps. I also feel that the VHT UL is one amp the axe fx could not replicate very well, while my 5150 is something it can very easily, or so it seems. Anyways, sorry for the lengthy post, I just wanted some opinions, and some people to share their stories about why they did, or DIDN'T go axe fx in the long run.
PS: FS Thread coming shortly
I have a band, we play shows probably 3 or 4 times a month, sometimes more, practice twice a week. We play at my singers studio, which doesn't have enough room for my monstrosity of a rig, thats for sure. I have a 2 head rack case, with a 6 space rack on top, and 2 4x12 cabinets. My rig ONLY seems to be played at shows. It sits at my house, as it is not feasible to move it all over the place. I can not take it to practice, then take it home, then take to record, then take it to a show etc: It just isn't going to happen, no matter how great it sounds. We play some decent venues, and some much larger national shows every year as well. We have a trailer, but as of right now, there is not enough room for my rig in there with everything else, so it is up to me to move it in my truck, which means when we play out of town, I do not take it, as I am not comfortable doing that. This means that I have to rip one of my heads out of the rack (pain in the ass), and bring a boost pedal, a 4x12 etc: So basically, I have this awesome rig, but no way to really use it.
I find that since I have this rig, I do not play guitar at home very much at all. I feel that if I went axe fx, hooked up to my computer or whatever, I would have much "artistic creativity juice flowing" for lack of a better term. Sure, I could get a simple practice amp at home, but again, I have a girlfriend I live with in law school who studies all the time, a roommate etc...There is just always something in the way...you know, LIFE!
Also, my other guitar player is not the most rig savy person, so of course, having an axe fx would allow me and him to both play through it...Of course, this is NOT my responsibility at all to let him do this ( he has a carvin V3 head, sounds like garbage), but if it makes the band sound better i am all for it. At band practice/studio time, we like to record our stuff, send each other riff ideas to work on etc: The axe fx would make this so much easier as well.
When playing live, out of town, I could show up with a 20 lb rig, plug it in, via FOH or with a 5 lb matrix poweramp, with a 4x12, and be ready to go, this in itself is a selling point to me.
I could go on and on, we all know why the axe fx is great for what it does: All the firmware updates, the new technology (tone matching), the forum, downloading patches etc: It is beginning to be too much for me NOT to say "okay, this is stupid, WHY do I not have one of these??" To be fair, I do not think I would part with my VHT UL head, as it is the THE sound in my head and sounds great. An idea that crossed my mind was going axe fx II with the UL in 4CM, however, I have no way of knowing if this will work out or not, as I do not know anyone with an axe II, and of course, all of the horror stories about using the axe with 4CM with some amps. I also feel that the VHT UL is one amp the axe fx could not replicate very well, while my 5150 is something it can very easily, or so it seems. Anyways, sorry for the lengthy post, I just wanted some opinions, and some people to share their stories about why they did, or DIDN'T go axe fx in the long run.
PS: FS Thread coming shortly
