AxeFX II Arrives!
- Thread starter Cagey
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Cagey
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Alfang said:
Everything. Any more questions? <grin>
Basically, it's the ultimate emulator. It doesn't just sound like some amp, you can create an amp. You can set how the power supply behaves, how much it sags, whether or not it uses negative feedback and how much, what kind of choke it has and what size, where the the master volume is (pre- or post-phase inverter), what tones stack it uses, what kind of tubes it uses, on and on ad infinitum. It doesn't just emulate tube tone, it emulates tube behavior. Just a megaton of options that you've never had access to before. It approaches special effects much the same way. Same with speakers. In fact, it now has an impulse response analysis feature so if you have a speaker bottom you happen to love and a decent mic, you can teach it how that sounds and use it anywhere you want. So, yeah. You want Dave Gilmour's ABITW tone? It's in there.
They're not easy to get, though. You have to get on a waiting list, and it can take anywhere from two to six months to get one. Plus, they're not exactly inexpensive. But, given what it does they're pretty reasonable and it's worth it. Studios and users are selling off tons of gear when they finally have a unit of their own, because you don't need to own a warehouse full of amps and bottoms any more. The emulation isn't just close, it's spot-on. It's not like anything you've heard before, unless you have an actual copy of the amp you're looking to reproduce. Thing's gonna make tubes and SFX boxes obsolete.
Another thing I should probably mention is you need a fairly clean power amp and some full-range/flat-response speakers. You can't really just plug it into your favorite Marshall head driving a 4x12 and expect it to sound good, unless all you use are the SFX. So, for some folks there's some added expense there.
TBurst Std
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Cagey is SPOT ON on all of this. Been loving my Ultra since 2009. FRFR is the only way to go with this. Running it through an amp/cab is detracting from it.
I'm not gonna waste my time and money on some tinki-Chinki trannysister "multi-effect" box untl they put the "Sugar Magnolia" knob on it.
(I heurd it was a push-pull switch on the "Smoke on the Water" knob soo I jes kep pullin and it plade like the "Hole lotta Luv" noise wherePage hits the bow so i pourd a little beer in it to find the "Smoke" knob an then the asshat went all "hater"like on me oso I just took my peevey an ran. Ycan stop ans mell the cofee but you jets can't see the lite Must get mity dark in there tht's al i
(I heurd it was a push-pull switch on the "Smoke on the Water" knob soo I jes kep pullin and it plade like the "Hole lotta Luv" noise wherePage hits the bow so i pourd a little beer in it to find the "Smoke" knob an then the asshat went all "hater"like on me oso I just took my peevey an ran. Ycan stop ans mell the cofee but you jets can't see the lite Must get mity dark in there tht's al i
Strat Avenger
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I'm jealous.
Cagey
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Street Avenger said:
No, you're envious. If you were jealous, it would mean you were insecure about the fact that the unit was getting more attention from me than you are. Since that's highly unlikely... <grin>
Thing is, envy is one of the seven deadly sins, so let's just say you're curious about whether or not you could put such a unit to good use yourself. Let me just say this about that: yes.
Strat Avenger
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Cagey said:
Yeah, whenever I say that, it's never meant in the literal sense. It means I wish I had one, but I can certainly be happy for someone else who has one...
bagman67
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MrValentine
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Would you recommend this over building my own amps? I generally only use 3-4 different tones
mayfly
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MrValentine said:
That completely depends on you, what your music is, and what kind of shows you do. The only thing that I will say is that you will get the tones you want out of it.
BTW, I used to own and operate a boutique amp company, which I eventually gave up because I liked playing music more. I don't use my own amps anymore - I use this thing instead.
Building stuff is a choice with many different reasons to start, and continue - or not. I like to play music above all, and I certainly would have to re-think a choice to build if it turned into a factory production-type job - as they can. And sometimes you have to do it for a while to see how it fits, and then other things in your life can change too. How can you decide without trying...
For example, I find doing excellent, consistent, 10X-jeweler's loupe-worthy fretwork is above all - extremely tedious. There may be some zen aspect to it I just have never figured out, but - I also detest paying people to do things I know how to do myself, just a bit more than I dislike fretwork. I won't do it for bandmates or students, mostly because I can spread mine out over a week because I have too many guitars anyway and the last thing I need is some idiot jabbering "isitdoneyetisitdoneyetisitdoneyetisitdoneyet" when I'm busy practicing, sleeping, staring off into space etc. So every few years I have I have to do it, but I don't want to be a factory fret guy for dam tootin.' But the acquisition of knowledge is also a worthy pursuit, I'm allergic to television and I have to do something in between staring off into space, practicing etc.
The idea that you can figure things out, without having to figure things out, well - that's just something you have to figure out.
(and you can print this out and frame it! I'll give you my Paypal address!)
For example, I find doing excellent, consistent, 10X-jeweler's loupe-worthy fretwork is above all - extremely tedious. There may be some zen aspect to it I just have never figured out, but - I also detest paying people to do things I know how to do myself, just a bit more than I dislike fretwork. I won't do it for bandmates or students, mostly because I can spread mine out over a week because I have too many guitars anyway and the last thing I need is some idiot jabbering "isitdoneyetisitdoneyetisitdoneyetisitdoneyet" when I'm busy practicing, sleeping, staring off into space etc. So every few years I have I have to do it, but I don't want to be a factory fret guy for dam tootin.' But the acquisition of knowledge is also a worthy pursuit, I'm allergic to television and I have to do something in between staring off into space, practicing etc.
The idea that you can figure things out, without having to figure things out, well - that's just something you have to figure out.
(and you can print this out and frame it! I'll give you my Paypal address!)
