Why did you sell your Axe-Fx?

[sinestro]

After trying one, I'm starting to believe the hype. They are definitely well beyond any software or othe processor I've tried. I know a lot of you guys have had one and then sold it down the road. Let me know if you had the standard or ultra, how long you had it, and why you decided to sell.

[added poll]

 

[steve_k]

too hard to change tubes and bias....

 

[Code001]

Had mine for about a month. I returned it because I wanted to buy something else (took a bit of a hit due to a restock fee since I kept it beyond the original try out date). I'll probably get another one down the road, but we'll see. When I first got it, I had all these plans on making lots of elaborate patches, doing all kinds of crazy effects with the synth, blah blah. In the end, I mainly found myself using delay and maybe some chorus. Since then, I bought another Intellifex, and I'm pretty satisfied with that at the moment. I just wish it had intelligent pitch shifting. Amp modeling wasn't bad, but I find myself liking physical knobs I can turn a bit more, if you know what I mean.

 

[hunter]

Had my Ultra for 2 years.

Trying to replicate the in-the-room experience of playing a quality amp - I failed after several attempts to amplify the thing, then gave up. Still a great unit if you go direct or do your stage sound just with monitors.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

This is my second time around, and it's here to stay. I'm now doing A LOT of recording, and also wanted to simplify playing out, so it is my 'all in one' box...I LOVE IT! You have to take it for what it is...forget that it doesn't have tubes, and enjoy the great tones!

I sold it the first time because I was stubborn and wouldn't have that a digital processor can hold up. Once you get over that hill, enjoy the simplicity!

 

[mentoneman]

year and a half user

loved the all in one simplicity and the quality of effects, but every time i thought i had a nice amp tone dialed in, i'd play my real amps and be reminded of the experience i was missing with the axefx.

i'd love to see where fractal evolves to from here. all in one floorboard, better usb interface, better IRs, i would dive back in in the futute based on my experience with it.

 

[The Hoff]

year and a half user

loved the all in one simplicity and the quality of effects, but every time i thought i had a nice amp tone dialed in, i'd play my real amps and be reminded of the experience i was missing with the axefx.

i'd love to see where fractal evolves to from here. all in one floorboard, better usb interface, better IRs, i would dive back in in the futute based on my experience with it.

That's basically my issue with them. I'll be like, damn, this sounds good. Then I'll go to play a "real amp" and it just FEELS so much better. And mostly with high-gain patches. Not saying it's bad though-they're amazing little boxes.

Really looking forward to new updates/products.

 

[sebby123]

Im on my second as well, first time i sold mine was due to me playing live a fair amount at the time so i just missed pushing air and burning glass, I bought a Quickrod and was extremely happy with a echoplex in the loop.
I moved to LA for recording school and wanted to have something that sounded better than a POD for tracking at home hens the second axe-fx but to be honest i dont see ever selling it i get better at programming it everyday and am extremely happy with it!
But for live with a loud drummer nothing beats a blaring tube amp IMO.

For bedroom giants and home tracking nothings better!

 

[Shark Diver]

loved the all in one simplicity and the quality of effects, but every time i thought i had a nice amp tone dialed in, i'd play my real amps and be reminded of the experience i was missing with the axefx.

i'd love to see where fractal evolves to from here. all in one floorboard, better usb interface, better IRs, i would dive back in in the futute based on my experience with it.

That's basically my issue with them. I'll be like, damn, this sounds good. Then I'll go to play a "real amp" and it just FEELS so much better. And mostly with high-gain patches. Not saying it's bad though-they're amazing little boxes.

Exactly the same. I ran it every which way you could imagine, with mucho $ gear. It's not bad, but all you have to do is plug into a Marsha or SLO and the Axe doesn't live up. IMO. For those that think it does - . I wish I did. Much less to spend on, or haul. I had mine from version 3.14 to 10+.

And for playing amps at bedroom levels, or direct, the Two Notes Torpedo is much better IMO.

The Axe is probably the best all-in-one unit out there. But there is a magic in analog equipment that digital has not replicated yet. But the gap is closing.

 

[Reiep]

Great gear, but I've just selled it today because of 3 reasons:
- I can't stop myself tweaking it instead of playing it, always thinking "what if I try that", finding new tricks, etc
- I'm not really an effect addict, I just used it for amp simulations
- I want €€€ for a Diezel Einstein

 

[Moshaholic]

I'm sold mine because... ummm... errrr.... geee... WAIT!!!

I NEVER BOUGHT ONE!!!

After hearing over 10 gazillion different audio and video clips and seeing bands play with them live my ears just couldn't buy into the hype and chug the kool-aid...

 

[ratter]

I think I had it for about a month. My main gripes with it were that it didn't quite nail the models I was most interested in (mostly lower gain and some specific effects). For example, I just want an Echoplex model. I don't want to build one "close enough" with a drive block and a delay block and a modulation block, etc.

I also didn't like the lack of USB and the need to use midi to connect to the computer - that means a separate box for midi and/or audio into the computer.

For the areas that it wasn't hitting it for me, it was a lot of money to have tied up.

 

[chobley]

I sold it the first time because I was used to a 100 watt head and 4x12 chunkin behind me on stage . It was way to different for me to get used to .
After more gigs and moving the 1/2 stack and it being to much for some rooms I decided to try it again .
Loaded up some Ownhammer IR's and bought a qsc kw122 . Put it on a stick next to me and finally am enjoying it . I had plenty of time to tweak it with our pa system . It sounds incredible live now and I am very pleased .

 

[ejecta]

This is my second time around, and it's here to stay. I'm now doing A LOT of recording, and also wanted to simplify playing out, so it is my 'all in one' box...I LOVE IT! You have to take it for what it is...forget that it doesn't have tubes, and enjoy the great tones!

I really agree with this and was the reason I sold the ones I had before. Now I have another and I let it be what is and not try and force it to sound just like a tube amp. I think if you compare it to a tube amp mic'd the lines blur much more than comparing it to a tube amp cranked right behind you. Also with all the amps I've had and trying to make them work well at low volumes... the AxeFx does a much better job for lower volume playing and direct recording which is really only what I need right now since my situation is one where cranking up tube amps to get the goods is not very practical at all. Tone and feel wise I still think nothing beats a good old tube amp running at a good volume but honestly that only works well in certain situations that allow that.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

This is my second time around, and it's here to stay. I'm now doing A LOT of recording, and also wanted to simplify playing out, so it is my 'all in one' box...I LOVE IT! You have to take it for what it is...forget that it doesn't have tubes, and enjoy the great tones!

I really agree with this and was the reason I sold the ones I had before. Now I have another and I let it be what is and not try and force it to sound just like a tube amp. I think if you compare it to a tube amp mic'd the lines blur much more than comparing it to a tube amp cranked right behind you. Also with all the amps I've had and trying to make them work well at low volumes... the AxeFx does a much better job for lower volume playing and direct recording which is really only what I need right now since my situation is one where cranking up tube amps to get the goods is not very practical at all. Tone and feel wise I still think nothing beats a good old tube amp running at a good volume but honestly that only works well in certain situations that allow that.

Very good point here aswell...I don't think that people realize that FRFR is supposed to simulate a miced sound, not the raw sound blaring behind you. Not everyone gigs, and not everyone is used to the miced sound. Doesn't make a difference to me as long as it sounds good

 

[IntenseJim]

I have not purchased one because I fear the devil of tweaking. I don't want many options. A simple feature sparse SLO is all I need to get good tone and have fun. I don't want the distraction.

 

[Chris O]

Had the Standard for about 6 months. Picked it up last summer, and used 10.xx, updated religiously.

Too much time creating/tweaking, not enough time playing. Hated how buggy Axe Edit was, and the fact that I had to use midi to communicate with it, rather than USB. The Axe and my computer didn't like talking to eachother.

I also figured out that I hated cab sims after moving to a monitor setup. Nothing sounds as good as an amp with a 4x12.

 

[th3m1ke]

I think it would be good for people to post the dates they had it also because it has recieved a major overhaul since its first conception back in 07. I love it - and I will never sell it. The key is getting creative and realizing what it can do, instead of what you think it should do. People that don't like the cab sims probably didn't try running their own cab IR's - which is like a major difference.

 

[Code001]

I think it would be good for people to post the dates they had it also because it has recieved a major overhaul since its first conception back in 07. I love it - and I will never sell it. The key is getting creative and realizing what it can do, instead of what you think it should do. People that don't like the cab sims probably didn't try running their own cab IR's - which is like a major difference.

Mine was like 10.01 or something.

 

[Ventura]

After trying one, I'm starting to believe the hype. They are definitely well beyond any software or othe processor I've tried. I know a lot of you guys have had one and then sold it down the road. Let me know if you had the standard or ultra, how long you had it, and why you decided to sell.

Probably because most cats here are gear heads. People buy shit, the novelty wears off once they realize it still doesn't make them a 'better player', they sell it. That's the general cycle here when looking at things from an averages/populous perspective.

I bought one, I'll keep it. Does more than what I originally wanted it for.

V.