FM3, FM9, or FC-12?

[Alex Kenivel]

Bonkers. Pick a lane.

 

[laxu]

I spent a long time playing live with the Roland VG-8 on the floor, used both for its sounds and as a MIDI floor controller for the rack gear. I even built a hard-case for it (pic below). I would just use the Helix Floor as MIDI controller for the Axe-FX. Otherwise you will over-complicate it, and make it more difficult for transportation and setup.

View attachment 3891

Well it's pretty easy if you have a backstage tech operating it for you like in this picture.

 

[jellodog]

It looks like a wild animal got into your house and is walking all over your gear.

He likes "just a little hair" on his tone.

 

[fretworn]

 

[Jarick]

I have an Axe FX 3 Turbo. I love it.
I have a Helix Floor. I love it.

I kyyyyynnnddddaaaaa wanna have a dual Helix+Axe rig, but is that just bonkers?

Should I get an FM3 to add some Fractal joy to the Helix cream panty pile that I've developed for myself? Or should I have an FM9 along side it? Or should I get an FC12 to control my Axe FX 3, and perhaps a Helix Rack, and slap the Axe 3 into a rack case with it... and use the FC12 to do the switching on both units?

I'm thinking that I should sell all of my pedals except my Lehle volume and bb535 wah.... and go all in on Helix + Fractal.

This is for gigs, home recording, studio use, rehearsals, etc.

Am I douche? Feel free to answer this in the negative for extra cool-boi points. Otherwise go love yourself.

I think in your situation I’d get an FC12 for the Axe 3 and call it good. You have the super powerful rack unit, get the big dog controller. The only exception I’d make is if you are either doing a ton of gigs and prefer something all in one (FM9) or if you do a lot of fly dates and need to travel really light (FM3).

In the past I played around with dual setups…I had an FM3 as a “head” unit driven by a Helix Floor. A lot of programming and fussing around compared to using an FC controller or just the Helix. I had an FM3 + HX Stomp XL and played around with using both…again fussy to deal with everything. I had HX Stomp XL + lots of pedals, or Stomp XL + separate amp modeler, etc. Neat but not as powerful/flexible as just the Axe FX 3 by itself.

The one killer feature about Helix is Helix Native. For recording I just really like using plugins so I can nail the take first then worry about the sound later. Granted you can do that with dry tracking and reamping, but that’s a lot more limited and time consuming.

 

[Orvillain]

Helix does quite a lot of stuff that Axe doesn't do. Axe does quite a lot of stuff that Helix doesn't do.

Off the top of my head:

Helix:
- Glitch delay
- Euclidean delay
- Two loopers at once
- Revv Generator models (my fave amp sims)
- Industrial Fuzz (Fuzz Factory clone, complete with an oscillator which sounds fantastic!)
- Tesselator delay
- Ratchet delay (though you can probably emulate this with the Axe's 'freeze' button, but it sounds different)
- Helix Native does mean I can easily design tones in situ with a song in the DAW, and then move it to the live rig. In practice I rarely do this, but I like it anyway.

Axe III:
- Loads more amps than Helix, and many of them are more to my tastes. But no Revv Red or Purple!!!
- More detailed sounding reverbs with deep editing
- Deep editing on the delays
- Pitch processing on both of the above
- Plex delay and MegaTap delay cover a lot of ground the Helix doesn't
- Internal feedback loops are possible
- I think the synth tones on Axe sound better than the ones on Helix.
- I think the EQ+filter blocks on Axe are really cool and easier to use than the Helix ones.
- Axe III has the tonematch block which is really killer.
- The routing is obviously a lot more flexible on Axe, and I'm not as mad with it as some people, but I do like to run a parallel "Drew's magic oscillation chain" alongside my main effects.

I really like the way both companies design products and manage their business.

 

[Fireproof]

I don’t have any helpful advice probably but I do have two answers for you:

1. More gear is always fun. I vote FM9 because then you have a portable Feacral option in addition to your other intended use.

2. I don’t think you are a feminine hygiene product.

 

[Stratzrus]

I realize that. I just think putting 2 of them together is overkill, that's all.

Agreed.

I could see adding a Helix if you had the FM3 and were concerned about bumping up against the CPU limits but with the III and a FC-12 I'd think you should have the bases covered.

I think in your situation I’d get an FC12 for the Axe 3 and call it good. You have the super powerful rack unit, get the big dog controller. The only exception I’d make is if you are either doing a ton of gigs and prefer something all in one (FM9) or if you do a lot of fly dates and need to travel really light (FM3).

Yep. I have the III and FC-12 and it's the bomb. Nothing else is needed.

The only reason I have a FM9 is for portability. I let the FM3 go. I really don't mind hauling the FM9 around since its additional switching capability makes it worthwhile to me and I can get something smaller and cheaper to use for practice when visiting friends overnight. Having all three felt like an expensive redundancy.

Helix does quite a lot of stuff that Axe doesn't do. Axe does quite a lot of stuff that Helix doesn't do.

Off the top of my head:

Helix:
- Revv Generator models (my fave amp sims)

I really wish Fractal had a REVV Generator 120 Mk III model. As crazy as it would be I'm really tempted to buy the actual amp.

 

[Baba]

Lol, “Feacral”

 

[Stone]

Helix does quite a lot of stuff that Axe doesn't do. Axe does quite a lot of stuff that Helix doesn't do.

This ^^ why i say good to have both

 

[Orvillain]

I'm having a drunken thread bump time. Promise I won't be too abusive.

But I got the FC-12 in the end. Back in July actually. It was a very good decision. I've set my Axe3 up with my valve amps in 4cable method, and I have the FC-12 controlling the amps via midi, using scenes as well as control switches to do a variety of things. Really digging it.

If I'm honest, there are only really one or two things in the Helix I would like to add to the rig, as well as the Strymon BigSky and Timeline I also acquired over the summer. But it is all "overkill" really, when the Axe3 does so much internally.

Still got my Helix, but I think for now it has to take a back seat to some other stuff for a bit. There's a metallic edge to the reverbs and the delays decay away in a strange way that just isn't doing it for me anymore. I can really get nitty-gritty with the Axe3 and dial in everything to my tastes exactly.

Maybe I'll return in a few months, or next year, but I'm very very VERY happy with my Axe3 + JVM or Dual Recto. I have other amp options, but these are the main two I use. If I wanted to use my Orange Rockerverb, I'd need some outboard TRS>MIDI solution, in order to switch channels and the attenuator, which I'm well up for at some point; but only as something to futz around with for a bit, with no real goal in mind. So it isn't a priority.

So the next TNBD album I'm writing very much with the Axe 3 at the centre of my rig. I'm even pondering JVM+Recto with two 2x12's, and using the Axe3 in 7-cable-method. Haven't tried that yet, but I don't think it would be too difficult.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I spent a long time playing live with the Roland VG-8 on the floor, used both for its sounds and as a MIDI floor controller for the rack gear. I even built a hard-case for it (pic below). I would just use the Helix Floor as MIDI controller for the Axe-FX. Otherwise you will over-complicate it, and make it more difficult for transportation and setup.

View attachment 3891

It's FIZGIG!

 

[sleewell]

There are lots of places in Detroit and Flint I would not bring 5k in modelers to a gig but that's just me as a paranoid broke dude that still plays questionable venues lol.

That being said if you already have the axe lll the fc12 makes the most sense

 

[Stratzrus]

There are lots of places in Detroit and Flint I would not bring 5k in modelers to a gig but that's just me...

When I play in places like that I usually just take my Cube 60 and a dirt pedal in the pocket of my gig bag. If I had to run I'd drop the amp and take off with my guitar strapped to my back.

I definitely don't take my Axe FX III and FC12 to dodgy neighborhoods but don't hesitate to use it or the FM9 in 9 out of 10 places I go.

Once at the end of a gig in North Philly a fight broke out in the bar and I had to grab my amp and guitar and duck behind the bar hoping to avoid getting shot. Philly is as bad as Detroit.

BTW, the name of the bar was "Up Jumped The Devil".

Published in a local newspaper: "While you may have patronized establishments such as...Up Jumped the Devil located at 22nd and Somerset streets, you made it a point to be home shortly after 2 a.m. Staying out late — and I mean real late — was a “no-no.”"

 

[Baba]

When I play in places like that I usually just take my Cube 60 and a dirt pedal in the pocket of my gig bag. If I had to run I'd drop the amp and take off with my guitar strapped to my back.

I definitely don't take my Axe FX III and FC12 to dodgy neighborhoods but don't hesitate to use it or the FM9 in 9 out of 10 places I go.

Once at the end of a gig in North Philly a fight broke out in the bar and I had to grab my amp and guitar and duck behind the bar hoping to avoid getting shot. Philly is as bad as Detroit.

BTW, the name of the bar was "Up Jumped The Devil".

Published in a local newspaper: "While you may have patronized establishments such as...Up Jumped the Devil located at 22nd and Somerset streets, you made it a point to be home shortly after 2 a.m. Staying out late — and I mean real late — was a “no-no.”"

Maybe that bar, in that particular part of Philly, but as someone who has gigged in and around Philly for the last 40 years, I cannot agree about it being generally bad. Of course, maybe it’s because I don’t play seedy joints, but still.

 

[Stratzrus]

Maybe that bar, in that particular part of Philly, but as someone who has gigged in and around Philly for the last 40 years, I cannot agree about it being generally bad. Of course, maybe it’s because I don’t play seedy joints, but still.

I don't think Philly is generally bad or else I wouldn't live here. But there are a lot of places, even in Center City, where I wouldn't want to come out of a bar with $5K worth of gear after 2:00 AM.

 

[mavrick102000]

When I play in places like that I usually just take my Cube 60 and a dirt pedal in the pocket of my gig bag. If I had to run I'd drop the amp and take off with my guitar strapped to my back.

I definitely don't take my Axe FX III and FC12 to dodgy neighborhoods but don't hesitate to use it or the FM9 in 9 out of 10 places I go.

Once at the end of a gig in North Philly a fight broke out in the bar and I had to grab my amp and guitar and duck behind the bar hoping to avoid getting shot. Philly is as bad as Detroit.

BTW, the name of the bar was "Up Jumped The Devil".

Published in a local newspaper: "While you may have patronized establishments such as...Up Jumped the Devil located at 22nd and Somerset streets, you made it a point to be home shortly after 2 a.m. Staying out late — and I mean real late — was a “no-no.”"

North Philly....nuff said. Even back in the late 80's early 90's walking out from campus at Temple University could get you shot.

 

[fretworn]

Like everybody else… I’m running from warrants in Philly.