Purging all my gear and getting an Axe FX 3

ejecta said:
Jealousy is a b*tch.
Click to expand...
Flexing Lets Go GIF by ESPN


Throw down boy.

My daily-driver is nicer than your best hooptie biatch …
 
Jarick said:
Probably not the true definition of minimalism, but a hell of a lot simpler than my current situation...
Click to expand...
You wanna talk? Talking to me?



I think I always struggle with this. It’s an ongoing battle that i can’t win. I learnt that back when I was a teen. Already then I was struggling with having many things. Chaos is in all things for a mind like mine. Sort of a balancing act between compromises and quality, juggled between needs and self justification.
I even put my self down by judging if I am worth “it”.
Somehow i tend to restrict myself and feel good when doing so.
I think i could maybe be helped with having two guitars, to keep one in standard E and one in another tuning. Thinking about it for years, but do I get one.. nope. It summons chaos in my mind.

Things like Stomp has been the symbolistic perfection.

Started with LT, so much things.. switches, so many possibilities, it’s big. It stared at me and making me feel not worthy. I had serious problems justifying that unit for myself. The moment Line 6 announced the Stomp, guess what my mind said?

“Wow, less dsp, less switches, less everything!!! It’s perfect!!!” This is the typical me.


I don’t wish of anyone to be like me… because it’s like a disorder. Psychologically it’s torture, but when I find the balance, it’s bliss.

If it helps, this is my gear.
Partscaster
HX stomp
Apple MBP m1 (just Logic, no plugins allowed)
Motu M4
Presonus Eris 5
Senn HD600
 
Jarick said:
This morning I decided that I'm going to purge all my gear and simplify down to just using an Axe FX 3.

Setup for now will look something like this:
Axe FX III + FC-12
-> MOTU M4 -> Genelec 8020 monitors for stereo "FRFR"
-> Line 6 Catalyst 60 (w/ Celestion V-Type) for powered cab
-> Sennheiser HD6xx for headphone monitoring
Click to expand...

Congrats!

That's about the most common hardware setup modern guitarists have.
Modeler, monitors, headphones, one real amp+cab and I would also add a DAW and Plugins to that list.
 
Some of my pre-AxeFX gear 😅

DSC02970.JPG

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DSC02889.JPG

GX700_3_resize.JPG

A Muse Receptor. Before having the first Axe-FX I thought that using guitar plugins live would be a good idea 😅
Latency was unbearable, so I used it only for VSTinstruments with the MIDI guitar
DSC03324.JPG
 
Last edited:
Jarick said:
Setup for now will look something like this:

Axe FX III + FC-12
-> MOTU M4 -> Genelec 8020 monitors for stereo "FRFR"
-> Line 6 Catalyst 60 (w/ Celestion V-Type) for powered cab
-> Sennheiser HD6xx for headphone monitoring
Click to expand...
Why the M4? Can't you use the Axe FX as your interface and simplify this further?
 
James Freeman said:
Congrats!

That's about the most common hardware setup modern guitarists have.
Modeler, monitors, headphones, one real amp+cab and I would also add a DAW and Plugins to that list.
Click to expand...
I'd disagree with that pretty strongly. Definitely the most common setup those that haunt d&m forums have. It's a GREAT setup and I'd argue an ideal setup. But thinking what we see in these forums is remotely "common" is part of how some folks fall into having four different modelers...
 
the swede said:
You wanna talk? Talking to me?



I think I always struggle with this. It’s an ongoing battle that i can’t win. I learnt that back when I was a teen. Already then I was struggling with having many things. Chaos is in all things for a mind like mine. Sort of a balancing act between compromises and quality, juggled between needs and self justification.
I even put my self down by judging if I am worth “it”.
Somehow i tend to restrict myself and feel good when doing so.
I think i could maybe be helped with having two guitars, to keep one in standard E and one in another tuning. Thinking about it for years, but do I get one.. nope. It summons chaos in my mind.

Things like Stomp has been the symbolistic perfection.

Started with LT, so much things.. switches, so many possibilities, it’s big. It stared at me and making me feel not worthy. I had serious problems justifying that unit for myself. The moment Line 6 announced the Stomp, guess what my mind said?

“Wow, less dsp, less switches, less everything!!! It’s perfect!!!” This is the typical me.


I don’t wish of anyone to be like me… because it’s like a disorder. Psychologically it’s torture, but when I find the balance, it’s bliss.

If it helps, this is my gear.
Partscaster
HX stomp
Apple MBP m1 (just Logic, no plugins allowed)
Motu M4
Presonus Eris 5
Senn HD600
Click to expand...


Hey we have a lot of things in common in that setup!

I aspire to be a minimalist and then fail completely. I get so curious about things that I end up buying them, and it starts to pile up. That saying about “things owning you” definitely rings true.

I got my first “modern” modeler in late 2016, a Helix Floor. A week later I ordered a Fractal AX8 as I was not happy with the Helix and wanted to make sure I made the right choice. I ended up returning the Helix and keeping the AX8, but the next year I got a Helix LT as I was curious about it again. And that kind of pattern of indecision keeps going in a cycle for some reason.

In 2019, I sold both my Helix and AX8 and got a full Kemper rig to try that out, but a few months later I wasn’t happy with the profile rabbit hole or dated UI (and at the time lack of editor and effects). I watched @2112 playing his full Axe FX 3 rig and loved the tones and the power, so I bought…an Axe FX 3 with an FC-12.

Somewhere in there, I got on the FM3 wait list, and when my number was called I decided to downsize as I didn’t like the rack format (didn’t fit my space at the time) and it was a little overkill. I had already sold the FC-12 to downsize to an FC-6, so I had that combo.

But the FM3 as a first run product had some hardware issues that required repair, and there was another round of FM3 development delays. I had some not awesome interaction with people at the company and decided to sell the gear off and get back into a Helix Floor. Used that for six months then caved and got another FM3. Sold the Helix Floor to try a Kemper again, didn’t like it, and eventually got the HX Stomp XL as I wanted to try some of the big Line 6 updates. Also tried and returned a Boss GT-1000 and Core.

Then this summer, I was getting really annoyed with menus and models and IR’s and all that, and that’s when I started trying simpler modeling pedals. Really liked it at first, but found it difficult to get the high gain tone I like. So I started buying drive pedals, and that led to needing a better power supply, and a pedal board, and trying other effects.

I think @Digital Igloo said it best recently when he said monitoring was the biggest issue for modeling users, not the quality of the algorithms. And for me that’s 100% true. Running an amp model into an impulse response into a variety of full range monitoring options, there’s a lot that can go wrong. If it’s too bright, where do you adjust? Pick a different amp model, a different IR, adjust the tone stack, add a high cut, add output EQ, change your headphones?

So I improved my monitoring situation (better quality modelers, got rid of a bunch of headphones, and higher quality interface). But now I’m using an actual guitar speaker with the Cat 60 and Celestion V Type and THAT is the simplicity I was after. No IR’s, just tweak the tone stack and go.

James Freeman said:
Congrats!

That's about the most common hardware setup modern guitarists have.
Modeler, monitors, headphones, one real amp+cab and I would also add a DAW and Plugins to that list.
Click to expand...

Totally! I am on the trial of Logic Pro and will likely pick that up as I had an older version on a prior computer. Otherwise I’ve been using GarageBand and Mainstage. I‘ve got Helix Native and a few Neural DSP plugins and will probably get a couple more for the Black Friday sale (like the Tone King).

Amp + Cab is a hard one for me because I only play low volumes at home. I would end up spending $1500 on a good amp (like a Friedman JJ Jr or similar), then have to spend $500+ on an attenuator, then $500 on a cab. At the end of the day I am guessing the Axe FX 3 is going to be so similar to a tube amp, so long as I run it through a power amp and speaker cab.

bigcupholder said:
Why the M4? Can't you use the Axe FX as your interface and simplify this further?
Click to expand...

It gives me more flexibility without overwhelming me with options. I can better mix guitar vs computer signal and if I want to record other sources as well. Plus I can easily control monitor vs headphone mix and easily see input vs output levels.

Oh one other thing, the Axe 3 does not work as an interface for dry guitar to play through plugins. The M4 lets me keep stereo line in from the modeler in the back then run dry guitar separate out front to use with Helix native or Neural or whatever.
 
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Piing said:
Some of my pre-AxeFX gear 😅

View attachment 2398
View attachment 2399
View attachment 2401
View attachment 2403
A Muse Receptor. Before having the first Axe-FX I thought that using guitar plugins live would be a good idea 😅
Latency was unbearable, so I used it only for VSTinstruments with the MIDI guitar
View attachment 2402
Click to expand...

Man that is awesome and terrifying! It’s crazy how one little rack unit can get so much stuff inside of it, even if it’s not perfect or doesn’t have the mojo.

Watching the Petrucci rig videos was interesting, he basically downsized from a fridge or effects down to his Mesa JP2C and Axe 3.
 
Jarick said:
Man that is awesome and terrifying! It’s crazy how one little rack unit can get so much stuff inside of it, even if it’s not perfect or doesn’t have the mojo.

Watching the Petrucci rig videos was interesting, he basically downsized from a fridge or effects down to his Mesa JP2C and Axe 3.
Click to expand...

Most players have downsized their fridges, with the notable exceptions of Gilmour, The Edge and Steve Rothery

Rothery is still using two huge racks, including the Soundsculpture Switchblade
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And The Edge is insane
1668298155856.png
 
IMO the new Axe Firmware 21 that they are about to release is really really good York audio just posted a clip comparing his micD Soldano and it was really really close like
Tweak pres and bump master slightly and it would probably nail it
 
GTR37 said:
IMO the new Axe Firmware 21 that they are about to release is really really good York audio just posted a clip comparing his micD Soldano and it was really really close like
Tweak pres and bump master slightly and it would probably nail it
Click to expand...
Do you have a link?
 
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