The day it all changed for me.

[KingsXJJ]

I recall it very vividly. I had my new AxeFx III, some years ago, likely on FW 17 or so. I was scrolling through the presets and happened upon JCM 800 #34. I was stunned and thought Jesus Christ! That sound was something I had searched for over years. And here it was… being delivered over studio monitors no less.

My whole opinion on of modelers changed in that moment! Any similar moments for you guys? Fractal or not…

 

[TSJMajesty]

The day I had mine and 2 other Marshalls in my living room. JCM 900 DR 50, JCM 800 100, and a 100 Plexi Super Lead, 10 Celestion speakers in 3 cabs!

I split my signal via a Boss Chorus, and played in stereo through 2 at a time.

It
Was
Glorious!

(I too recall it very vividly.)

Stereo for me from that point on.

Moved onto a Mesa Stereo 50/50, 2- 4x12 Marshall cabs, and an ADA MP-1. Used that rig for many years!

 

[KingsXJJ]

The day I had mine and 2 other Marshalls in my living room. JCM 900 DR 50, JCM 800 100, and a 100 Plexi Super Lead, 10 Celestion speakers in 3 cabs!

I split my signal via a Boss Chorus, and played in stereo through 2 at a time.

It
Was
Glorious!

(I too recall it very vividly.)

Stereo for me from that point on.

Moved onto a Mesa Stereo 50/50, 2- 4x12 Marshall cabs, and an ADA MP-1. Used that rig for many years!

Man, ( have a Boss EVH SDE6000 queued up for a similar experiment!

Wet-Dry-Wet!

 

[TSJMajesty]

Man, ( have a Boss EVH SDE6000 queued up for a similar experiment!

Wet-Dry-Wet!

Yeah man!

Speaking of which, that reminds me..., I seem to recall @la szum getting one of those, but I haven't heard back from him on how it compares to stereo delays in the Fractal.

I would imagine, pretty much have no doubt, you can do, and sound, the same with all the various types of delays and routing options in one of the FAS units, but, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if setting it up is much easier/quicker in the Boss EVH unit.

But I'd still be curious to hear from someone who has both, and has a good enough understanding of how to get the same type of delays going in the Fractal, that I'd imagine are factory presets in the EVH, how they compare.

(Or maybe after hearing the EVH running in true W/D/W into 3 amps/cabs, you wouldn't even bother wasting your time...? )

 

[the-trooper]

It was '98 (99?), I fired up Cool edit and recorded myself for the first time. Hit play and thought to myself "my God, this sounds like complete shit".

 

[dronerstone]

Regarding amp models, the Helix Floor did this for me. Realizing the Moo))n T Jump can be set to sound 100% like my favorite preamp pedal (Kuro Custom Audio Exegol = V1 Model T) made life a lot easier.

Before that, it was the HX FX that let me enter a whole new world. So many choices, and most of them sounding awesome.

I thought GAS was finally over for good, but GAS is a tricky bastard and quickly morphed into "now I can look deeper into classics that I'll buy and store with the others".

 

[laxu]

I really liked the Yamaha DG80 (1998) I had in the late 1990s, and felt that until the first blue Vox Valvetronix (2001) there was nothing that actually sounded better for digital modeling. Axe-Fx Standard (2006) was the 3rd major milestone.

Line6 was for years on my "ugh, don't bother, they'll just make a POD XT 9000 Alpha Plus next year" list until the Helix (2015), and I got interested in that only in about the end of 2017. Helix changed my opinion of the company.

 

[Stone]

Nothing Changed for me, I started off my playing 4.5 years ago it was Modeling from the start
Boss Katana Combo--> Boss Gt-100 with Headrush wedge x1 ---> Helix Floor ---> FM9 +2 Powercabs

 

[ragingplatypi]

It was the first time I plugged into the first edition Vox Valvetronix amp in a guitar center in 2001. Boutique Clean.

Since then, if I’m being honest, it was the day I found the Adriatic Delay in the HX Stomp.

 

[BenIfin]

I had been running a Ceriatone Matchless DC 30 Clone as my main Amp for over 3 years.

Around 2015 / 2016 I heard about a "Kemper" ... never heard of it ..... read the reviews / watched the video's .....bought one on a whim ... messed around with the loaded and RE Profiles ... it was very meh !!

Then bought a first Gen CLR .... as TOP unanimous wisdom was that it would "fix everything" for me ...... still very meh .... and f%ck it was heavy !

Was very frustrated and feeling duped .. was major bitching about it at TOP ..... then someone at TOP mentioned someone called "Michael Britt" [who the f%ck was he I thought ?] and strongly suggested his " Profile Pack 1" ... I was already over ~$3K in so what was another $50 going to matter (?)

It was utterly ground-breaking for me ...... every single f%cking profile in that pack actually sounded like a real amp ...... but the moment I loaded his "Trainwreck 2" Profile from that 1st Pack and started playing, I instantly *knew* I was never going back to real Amps.

Never did - never will.

Bonus ..... my neck and back have thanked me ever since.

Ben

 

[DrewJD82]

I dunno what year it was, but it was an early version of the Fractal site that had some clips on it of the AxeFX. I heard some edge of breakup clips and thought “Holy shit, it’s been done….” I didn’t get to buy my own AxeFX until nearly a decade later.

 

[FuzzyAce]

It was '98 (99?), I fired up Cool edit and recorded myself for the first time. Hit play and thought to myself "my God, this sounds like complete shit".

haha, I have a bit more positive spin with my experience. About '93 I think, and I'd been playing guitar for little over a year and a half. I'd just saved up enough to buy a Crate Vintage Club combo and a Ibanez Talman electric. Tone was great, and I was jamming with some other noobies so we recorded our session with some shitty cassette recorder with the built-in mic. Upon play back I was like "wow, I don't sound completely like shit!" It inspired me to keep playing for sure.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Tech 21 British. Then Mustang Floor. Then AA3. All great in their own way \m/

 

[metropolis_4]

I had tried and even used just about every major digital modeling device since the OG red bean.

The first thing that really got my attention and moved me away from amps was the Helix floor.

The tones were so much better than what I’d heard before, but more importantly it gave so much better control of everything in a live show than any digital device I’d seen before

 

[Jynx]

I remember it well. I was sitting cross-legged in my chamber. After trying some plugins and not being impressed I was told to try Plini, by Neural DSP. I donned my headphones and plugged into my laptop and struck an F power chord. Instantly my ears were DP-ed and my third-eye opened and the souls of the rock ancestors flowed through me.

 

[Mongillo19]

I was sitting cross-legged in my chamber.

Is that code for your bathroom

 

[JiveTurkey]

Is that code for your bathroom

Profound dumping FTW

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I recall it very vividly. I had my new AxeFx III, some years ago, likely on FW 17 or so. I was scrolling through the presets and happened upon JCM 800 #34. I was stunned and thought Jesus Christ! That sound was something I had searched for over years. And here it was… being delivered over studio monitors no less.

My whole opinion on of modelers changed in that moment! Any similar moments for you guys? Fractal or not…

I mean, if I'm honest...the first time I visited the not-GC-store (what was that other big box music store than and a boom-bust of a couple years in the early 00s?) and plugged into a Flextone and Yamaha DG whatever? They both sounded great, even at low volumes.

 

[ballhawk]

The AX2 212 was good but it died one night (literally days after the warranty expired) and soured me on Line6 for a long time.

Vox tonelab SE was it for me. Had sgx-2000, tried pods, and plenty of others but nothing felt right until the Vox. After the SE and LE Vox somehow
downgraded the subsequent editions. It's a shame because they nailed the power amp plus speaker interaction wonderfully.

After that the AA3 did essentially the same thing for raw amp tones. I SO wanted Atomic to expand/build on that platform but eventually the abandonment left a bad taste in my mouth.

I don't think the Helix caught up to Vox or Atomic until that over-sampling upgrade happened.

With the new Catalyst firmware I feel like I have the AX2 in a better and more reliable format. I recently got the stomp xl and still own helix LT.

 

[mavrick102000]

Like @laxu it was around 2006 for me with the AxeFx Standard. Then Ultra as soon as ordering was available.

Then again with the AA3, and Helix.