Triple Axe-Fx III rack (now with demo)

[hippietim]

I posted the picture below in a thread about the Guthrie Govan Charvel. A couple people made comments about the 3 Axe-Fx IIIs in the rack. @JiveTurkey was close when he asked if I had one for each string. This is going to be long-winded. Sorry.

I use three of them for multi-channel (hex) string processing. I've been into this sort of thing since Roland first came out with the GR synth guitars, then the spaceship MIDI guitar, VG, etc. I am currently using a couple Roland GK compatible guitars and a guitar I put Cycfi electronics in.

The standard Roland GK pickup sounds pretty wimpy compared to the Cycfi. Piezo equipped GK guitars are better than a Roland GK pickup. The GK stuff uses the somewhat finicky13-pin connector. I have a couple different breakout options for the GK guitars. Spicetone 6appeal which is a hex fuzz and also provides 6 string outputs. And I have a GKP-2 breakout box from Separate Strings in the UK.

The Cycfi pickups sound fantastic. It uses a very robust 19-pin connector into a breakout box which gives you individual string outputs (as well as other signals you want to pass from the guitar). It also has a Roland GK compatible output so you can use a VG-8, GR-55, SY-1000, etc.

I had run multi-channel guitar with the Axe-Fx III - the multi-channel feeds to stereo inputs 2, 3, and 4. It was fun but there's only really enough blocks of each type to have two full discrete paths. And the trick with multi-channel string processing is you need up to 6 of each effect you want to apply to each string. This can get expensive and/or complicated in a hurry. I looked into a whole bunch of products like the Eventide H8000/H9000, using multiple pedals, getting a bunch of older multi-effects units, etc.

I decided to give the Eventide H9000 a try. It's ridiculously expensive even when you buy the non-display unit. So it should be great. Right? Holy crap was that thing a nightmare to operate. Their software was an absolute nightmare. It took forever to get it working with Windows and it never worked with a Mac (their forum at the time confirmed all sorts of problems). Despite having USB ports, you literally could not connect the unit via USB. It only supported a network connection (they include a Wi-Fi dongle). It was hours of frustration to get this working. Once it was working, it wasn't stable. And rebooting and reconnection this thing took forever. Once it was working, it sounded glorious. Really. It sounds fantastic. But it turned out to be surprisingly inflexible in terms of signal routing and combining effects. If you're used to fairly flexible effect ordering and signal routing like you get with a Fractal, Helix, or Boss GT the H9000 was pretty limited.

I returned the H9000 and started thinking of my next move. Duh. Lightbulb moment. I already had an Axe-Fx III and getting two more was still substantially cheaper than the H9000. So I got two more Axe-Fx IIIs. And I do realize how insane this sounds as I am typing this. But it ends up being a super flexible setup with pretty much no limits that I can come up with.

The way these things are connected is pretty sweet. I use Inputs 3 and 4 on each unit for one string each. This gives me a full compliment of blocks for every single string.

The units are connected together via S/PDIF so everything stays in the digital domain:

Axe-FX A - strings 1 & 2 via inputs 3 & 4
Axe-FX B - strings 3 & 4 via inputs 3 & 4, strings 1 & 2 via S/PDIF in
Axe-FX C - strings 5 & 6 via inputs 3 & 4, strings 1, 2, 3, 4 via S/PDIF in

So Axe-FX C is the final output and a good place to apply global reverb and such.

It's hilarious amounts of fun. Here’s a quick demo clip.

 

[Whizzinby]

Dude. Mind blown.

So at a basic level you’re using certain pickups to isolate specific string pairs to then feed to a specific AXE for its own unique processing?

Is this primarily to apply different effects per string pair, or amps, or yes to both?

Would be fascinated to hear some clips and how you are setting up your patches.

 

[DrewJD82]

Holy f*cking c*ntballs.

I didn’t even read the whole post yet, I got into the first paragraph and figured I’d wait until my jaw went back in place before I read the rest.

 

[hippietim]

Dude. Mind blown.

So at a basic level you’re using certain pickups to isolate specific string pairs to then feed to a specific AXE for its own unique processing?

Is this primarily to apply different effects per string pair, or amps, or yes to both?

Would be fascinated to hear some clips and how you are setting up your patches.

The idea is to do any kind of processing I want on a per-string basis.

It can be as simple as applying just a single pitch block to all 6 strings to emulate a 12-string: octave up for 3, 4, 5, 6 and slight detune for 1 and 2. Then merge the signals and run it into a typical signal path.

Or it can be as nutty as separate drive, amp, cab, effects etc. per string with each string being panned independently or maybe panning around.

Or have a synth on a couple strings, an acoustic IR on a couple strings, and a fuzz on a couple strings.

IOW, you can still produce fairly traditional guitar sounds - particularly if you blend in standard pickups with the multi-channel pickups. Or you can produce sounds that barely even sound like a guitar but can still be as expressive as a guitar.

Multi-channel distortion does not anything like what you're used to. By distorting each string individually you get far more clarity of each note - it sounds much more like a synthesizer than a guitar. In fact, the first GR units were pretty much just applying distortion and filters to each string individually. The advantage of my setup is that I can do that and have per-string control of everything.

Also note that you can do some of these things (and more) with an SY-1000.

 

[Elric]

Only the first axe is booted in pic. Must have only been playing on first two strings.

 

[paisleywookiee]

*not shown in pic: money-printing machine.

 

[Whizzinby]

The idea is to do any kind of processing I want on a per-string basis.

It can be as simple as applying just a single pitch block to all 6 strings to emulate a 12-string: octave up for 3, 4, 5, 6 and slight detune for 1 and 2. Then merge the signals and run it into a typical signal path.

Or it can be as nutty as separate drive, amp, cab, effects etc. per string with each string being panned independently or maybe panning around.

Or have a synth on a couple strings, an acoustic IR on a couple strings, and a fuzz on a couple strings.

IOW, you can still produce fairly traditional guitar sounds - particularly if you blend in standard pickups with the multi-channel pickups. Or you can produce sounds that barely even sound like a guitar but can still be as expressive as a guitar.

Multi-channel distortion does not anything like what you're used to. By distorting each string individually you get far more clarity of each note - it sounds much more like a synthesizer than a guitar. In fact, the first GR units were pretty much just applying distortion and filters to each string individually. The advantage of my setup is that I can do that and have per-string control of everything.

Also note that you can do some of these things (and more) with an SY-1000.

That’s probably the most amazing approach to a setup I’ve ever seen. If you have any clips that would be cool to hear in action.

Does your wife ever try to piss you off and yell out “Can you just play some Skynyrd tonight”?

Seriously that’s an amazing setup. Wow.

 

[hippietim]

*not shown in pic: money-printing machine.

You misspelled "fruits of working for over 40 years".

 

[paisleywookiee]

You misspelled "fruits of working for over 40 years".

You can’t buy Fractals with fruit!

 

[hippietim]

That’s probably the most amazing approach to a setup I’ve ever seen. If you have any clips that would be cool to hear in action.

Does your wife ever try to piss you off and yell out “Can you just play some Skynyrd tonight”?

Seriously that’s an amazing setup. Wow.

Wife?

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

*not shown in pic: money-printing machine.

*Says the guy with a boat load o boogies

 

[TubeStack]

First post here. Great to see everyone and looks like a lot of fun!

This awesome triple-AXEIII reminds me of a setup a guy had that I was in a band with, long ago. He had six preamps into a power amp and a special pickup that sent each string to one of the six preamps. Allowed him to set gain and EQ for each string and sounded insanely good. Also made major thirds ring much more cleanly with distortion.

Maybe that's a common setup ^^^ that I was just unaware of, as I'm a bit of a gear simpleton, but anway, it was cool and this seems like a 21st Century, hot-rodded (and dare I say, TURBO) version of that.

Super cool, @hippietim , just amazing!

 

[HotRats]

Man, this is a bit over the top but nonetheless an awesome rig and idea.

Now we want clips!

 

[mbenigni]

You can’t buy Fractals with fruit!

And you can't run Eventides on Apples.

 

[mbenigni]

I already had an Axe-Fx III and getting two more was still substantially cheaper than the H9000.

The entire OP made my jaw hit the floor 3 or 4 times, but this observation probably made it hit the hardest.

Raise your hand if you're probably never going to own an Eventide 9000.

 

[JiveTurkey]

The entire OP made my jaw hit the floor 3 or 4 times, but this observation probably made it hit the hardest.

Raise your hand if you're probably never going to own an Eventide 9000.

Us Poor Folk™

 

[TSJMajesty]

The entire OP made my jaw hit the floor 3 or 4 times, but this observation probably made it hit the hardest.

Raise your hand if you're probably never going to own an Eventide 9000.

Probably??

 

[Fireproof]

Just came across this post. DAYUM! Crazy setup. I wouldn’t know what to do with all that, LOL.

 

[JerEvil]

Only the first axe is booted in pic. Must have only been playing on first two strings.

Unless that’s for both E strings… duh!!!

 

[KingsXJJ]

I do like that Charvel!