gag halfrunt
Well-known member
I never thought the day would come when an amp would dethrone my Axe-FX. But it has.
For those of you who don't have much experience with an Axe-FX, it is, in short, the real deal tube amp replacement. Once you learn to dial it in, you can get virtually any amp tone out there. And perhaps even better, you can get "your tone", a completely original tone (if there really is such a thing anymore). Once you learn how powerful the amp sim controls are (and how they interact - Power amp sag with the master volume, etc), you realize you are jamming the most powerful tone generator ever created. 5 years after its creation, and it's still the most impressive advancement in guitar tone in the past 20 years. It's not for everyone, but for a pure on-stage or studio tone machine, there's no equal anywhere.
So why have I switched? I just really miss gigging an amp. And now that I've found the first amp I feel that has GREAT cleans, GREAT crunch, and GREAT high gain, the pull to go back is just too strong.
I admit that it makes no sense. The Axe does so much more than any 10 tube amps can do. Logically, I really should not have switched. But I guess I played tube amps for so many years, starting in the 70's, that it's just indelibly printed on my musical DNA. Once an amp came along (the M5) that could do clean, crunch, and gain with no compromises, the Axe's days in my gig rig were numbered.
Just a little history:
I bought my Axe in early 2008, and began gigging it soon thereafter. It really is a cover band guitar player's dream. There's a learning curve to it, that's for sure. And the deepness of the menus and the sheer vast capabilities are sometimes daunting. But it delivers the tones in spades. Engl, VHT, Marshall, Recto, Bogner, old Fenders, Diezel, Cornford, etc, - it does a TON of great amp tones. Then there are are the studio quality effects. Really good.
If you need a lot of different amp tones (especially for live playing), the Axe-FX is dream come true. It's not just "the new POD." It's on par with tube amps, if dialed in correctly. And the MIDI switching capabilities make it very gig-friendly.
I play in a hard rock cover band, and I work hard to match my tones to the original bands. So, as flexible as the Mark V is, it can't cover all the dirt ground that I need to cover. So I have configured a pedalboard with 9, yes NINE dirt boxes on it, plus chorus, tuner, and wah (did I mention that I never lost my love for great pedals, either :mrgreen: ). With these and the Mark V, I've got all the tonal bases covered for my band.
My Axe is getting a well deserved rest right now, back in the studio. The Mark V is in the rehearsal space, in the gig rotation.
For those of you who don't have much experience with an Axe-FX, it is, in short, the real deal tube amp replacement. Once you learn to dial it in, you can get virtually any amp tone out there. And perhaps even better, you can get "your tone", a completely original tone (if there really is such a thing anymore). Once you learn how powerful the amp sim controls are (and how they interact - Power amp sag with the master volume, etc), you realize you are jamming the most powerful tone generator ever created. 5 years after its creation, and it's still the most impressive advancement in guitar tone in the past 20 years. It's not for everyone, but for a pure on-stage or studio tone machine, there's no equal anywhere.
So why have I switched? I just really miss gigging an amp. And now that I've found the first amp I feel that has GREAT cleans, GREAT crunch, and GREAT high gain, the pull to go back is just too strong.
I admit that it makes no sense. The Axe does so much more than any 10 tube amps can do. Logically, I really should not have switched. But I guess I played tube amps for so many years, starting in the 70's, that it's just indelibly printed on my musical DNA. Once an amp came along (the M5) that could do clean, crunch, and gain with no compromises, the Axe's days in my gig rig were numbered.
Just a little history:
I bought my Axe in early 2008, and began gigging it soon thereafter. It really is a cover band guitar player's dream. There's a learning curve to it, that's for sure. And the deepness of the menus and the sheer vast capabilities are sometimes daunting. But it delivers the tones in spades. Engl, VHT, Marshall, Recto, Bogner, old Fenders, Diezel, Cornford, etc, - it does a TON of great amp tones. Then there are are the studio quality effects. Really good.
If you need a lot of different amp tones (especially for live playing), the Axe-FX is dream come true. It's not just "the new POD." It's on par with tube amps, if dialed in correctly. And the MIDI switching capabilities make it very gig-friendly.
I play in a hard rock cover band, and I work hard to match my tones to the original bands. So, as flexible as the Mark V is, it can't cover all the dirt ground that I need to cover. So I have configured a pedalboard with 9, yes NINE dirt boxes on it, plus chorus, tuner, and wah (did I mention that I never lost my love for great pedals, either :mrgreen: ). With these and the Mark V, I've got all the tonal bases covered for my band.
My Axe is getting a well deserved rest right now, back in the studio. The Mark V is in the rehearsal space, in the gig rotation.