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Well had my first full rehearsal using the Axe FX and CLR today

7K views 67 replies 24 participants last post by  kmanick 
#1 ·
and it totally sucked.
The other guitarist uses a Bogner Shiva with a Bogner 2X12 and he completely squashed me, even worse was that I felt completely disconnected from my rig, it felt like I was listening to someone else playing the whole time.
the rest of the band hated it ,they said it sounded completely fake next to the Bogner and worst off my playing sucked because I couldn't "feel" my rig like I do with a real amp (and we don't practice loud either , it's not a volume issue)
Yuck ..............FRFR is not for me :noway:
Back to the JVM :yesway:
 
#3 ·
not at the moment, I sold my Fryette 2/50/2 to a buddy of mine last year (I didn't need it and he was gigging with it all the time)
problem is , he's still gigging with it and won't sell it back to me.(mother fucker).
I nice 1U tube power amp would be great.
I'd go FOH from output 1 and into the power amp/2X12 cab from output 2 and be all set.
but I've tried several SS power amps and I hated them all, so that won't do it for me.
I wish Fryette would just put out that FXII amp already, it's been 2 years since I last heard anything about it.
 
#5 ·
Wirelessly posted :)dio:)

Exactly my problem with modelers, Nick. I just never feel comfortable playing through one. At the end of the day, good gear is the stuff that makes you forget about it, so you can just play.
 
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#6 ·
thanks Chris (I wouldn't go quite that far in describing my wankage ability, but thanks)
Our bass player is in another band and it's their room we use. the guitarist in the other band has a DSL50 sitting on top of a 4X12 cab in the room and 1/2 way through rehearsal I just said fuck it and plugged the Axe into the return of the Marshall loop and went through the 4X12. My JVM OD1 patch sounded great, but more importantly it felt much more "real"
I have no problem with the Axe FX itself, I think it's a glorious piece of equipment.
I have a problem with SS poweramps and FRFR "wedges" . I am very much a "touch" player, if I get any type of "dead response" or sterile feel out of a rig , it won't work for my style of playing. I had a real hard time when I owned Recto's they felt very stiff to me, I think that's why I've always gravitated towards amps like the Mark IV and the JSX, they are very "liquidy" and easy to shred with. The JVM (with a hot bias) is pretty good too. I'l just stick with that for now until someone actually does release a 1U tube power amp that works well with modelers. I mean even the guys in the band told me my playing was kind of lame today.
I really couldn't see someone like SRV or hendrix ever playing through a wedge if that technology was available to them back them, just too "sterile"
 
#21 ·
I have a problem with SS poweramps and FRFR "wedges" . I am very much a "touch" player, if I get any type of "dead response" or sterile feel out of a rig , it won't work for my style of playing.
I would agree with you on the FRFR piece, but there are some good solid state power amps out there. Heck I had to play on a velocity 100 one time and it was fine for a night. For a couple of years I played on an ADA power amp that had one 12AX7 in it, but for all intents and purposes it was basically a solid state amp.

None of them will hold up to a Mesa or VHT power amp, but they'll more than be enough for a simple AFX rig and would get you playing it through a guitar cab again.
 
#7 ·
Not sure if it will cover your volume needs but...Mesa 20/20?

It's the only "good" 1U tube power amp I know of.

Edit: ENGL has the E810/20 as well. No experience with them but I would expect an ENGL to be pretty decent.
 
#8 ·
Nick has the Engl power amps at the Axe Palace , but they are EL-84 (which I don't know how that will work with the Axe FX) and they are like $1,300.00 bucks
Mesa 20/20 is also EL-84, so again I'd have to hear it.
Volume should not be an issue we are not a metal band, just a bunch of old guys playing Blues based Rock. Most of the bars we're targeting around the Boston area are not very big, we probably won't even mic our amps at about 1/2 of them LOL!
I mean I have the gain on my JVM orange mode at 9:00 oclock and don't use any drive pedals or clean boosts (real different experience for me)
 
#11 ·
I would consider myself a "touch" player as well and have had pretty good experience with the Mesa 20/20 and a COSM modeller. I couldn't stand the Line 6 stuff for the longest time because of the lack of feel (I've recently picked up a used HD500 but the jury is still out...definitely better than they used to be but I don't play as much as I used to). I'm a firm believer that a tube power amp makes all the difference when using a modeller though. As for specific tubes I can't say one way or the other. I've had good experiences with both 6L6's and EL84's.

If you can find a used 20/20 it would be a cheap experiment though.
 
#14 ·
As much as i love my axe fx, nothing makes me want to use it as a live rig i'd much rather just use an amp head and cab.

Obviously you have more options with the axe but the 'plug in and go' factor of an amp beats flexibility for me.

And to quote Glen Fricker (not exactly)

'If you cant get through a gig without 7 different amp models and 25 effects' that doesn't make you a 'musician'....it makes you an asshole.'
 
#15 ·
I've heard the Axe-FX sounding pretty amazing live, through Fryette 2/90/2 (KT88) power amp or Mesa 90/90 (6L6). The KT88 had a better overall clarity and headroom to my ears (that's what I use with my rack too).

I also have a friend that uses the Mesa 20/20, sounded as good as any head. Nut I completely agree, an SS power amp definitely doesn't deliver the same way a Tube power section does and that's your main problem here.

Also, a 2u rack unit might be bigger (and usually louder) than what you need but you definitely can't go wrong.

I've also found out that every model of power amp sounds different, even with the same tubes. It's a matter of taste there.
 
#17 ·
I've got a JVM that is working just fine I don't need another real amp, I just wanted to give this whole modeling thing a shot, since set up and break down is so easy with it
and the lemmings over on the Fractal forum are so adamant that if you're still using a real tube rig........"you're doing it wrong" whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean.
the Axe is not the problem it's playing back through a fucking solid state PA monitor posing as a guitar cab :rofl:
that is the problem. :smoking:
that KSE splawn does look interesting though :)
 
#24 ·
Hahaha!
Well maybe he set some sort of restriction for that type of equipment related to the use he will make of it. Having the money, I'd just get the best 2U tube rack power amp I can find, the Axe-FX is seriously killer through a good tube power amp, so why not? Unless it's space restriction and he needs to fit it in a specific case and doesnt want to upgrade the rack case.
 
#25 ·
money is not a big deal but I can't be stupid about it either. I have a 4 space rack so a 1U would be ideal, 2U would work though. I'll keep my eyes open for a 20/20 and give it shot. right now I'm trying to figure out how to set this thing up in $cm mode with my JVM LOL!
 
#26 ·
Another possiblity is the Marshall 20/20 power amp, which is also 1U, 20w/side, and EL84s. Great-sounding amp.
 
#29 ·
I both agree that you're a MONSTER player, and that I also never really got on with FRFR gear. Playing your AxeFX through your JSX power section and that Avatar, however, was a blast.
 
#30 ·
Marshall 20/20 may be the wa to go since I'm using all Marshall based models for this gig,I'll have to check one out, EL-34 would be the way to go if possible for this stuff, but maybe el-84 is all that's out there right now in a 1U. Even the engl 1U power amps are el-84
BUT!................... I have this thing set up in 4CM mode with my JVM right now and it sounds really bad ass, the GEQ and PEQ options have let me really 'shape the sound of each mode on the OD1 channel, the dual delay sounds awesome, I have my JCM cab and my Mesa cab hooked up so I was doing a little "Ping-pong" delay for a while. My wife came down and started laughing, she was like "what the f are you doing? LOL!"
it was pretty funny, it's not even noisy those pad boost level controls really killed the hiss.
After playing through this amp for an hour or so , I can't really say that I ever want to play FRFR again.:rant: this is so much better.:yesway:
Drew I got your CD today (that was quick) so thank you I'll be listening to it on my way in to work tomorrow morning:yesway:
 
#32 ·
I'm doing the FRFR thing right now. It is what it is. Before I went that route I tried a bunch of tube power amps. The one warning I would give you is that with a power tube amp in the chain, all your patches take on the character of that power amp. That can work fine if you're running marshall-ish amps through an EL 34 power amp.

I ran mine through a 2:90 and it worked fine because most of my patches were Mesa flavored. I did try a Peavey classic that had 84's in it and while it was plenty loud, you could definitely hear the coloring of the 84's.

I ran through a solid state ART and it was shit. It got plenty loud but it flatened everything the hell out. It didn't do the Axe Fx any favors in the feel department.

I've been running mine through a Mackie powered wedge (HD something or other) and it's convenient and very portable but makes me miss tubes bad.
 
#34 ·
tried it no thanks
tried the matrix
no thanks
tried the Art SLA-1....garbage
tried the mesa 50/50 ---good but only for mesa patches.
the fryette 2/50/2 worked great I may just end up going back to one of those.
 
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