Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

[joelap]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

A few guitars, mostly a USA Custom Jazzmaster guitar I put together and specced to my liking (25" conversion scale, neck like a PRS wide/fat, SD Custom Shop Jazzmaster pickups, wired like a les paul Vol/Vol/Tone/Tone 3-way selector). Also play a 2005 Les Paul Studio with an ebony fretboard into it ... I made CC/A2Pro hybrid pickups for that one. And a stock PRS Custom 22

You will -NOT- be disappointed with the hayseed. A guy at my company is an old radio guy and I picked up a few NOS Motorola 12AX7s off him. I can't wait to get them into the Hayseed. I also have a set of Reissue Mullard EL84s I am looking to compare with the JJs I currently have in there in terms of what I like better.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

I tried axeFX and Eleven Rack…

Purchased 11R and a Ground Control Pro for the cost of the axeFX.

Hey, it’s only GAS money!

Got my 11R yesterday.

Spent an hour or two with it last night. Good thing I'd read in a lot of places not to judge the unit by the presets. Because I think that my old Behringer V-Amp2 had better presets! LOL.

Anyways... after a bit I was able to take a few presets and tweak them to something I was relatively happy with. I think W4 was one and I made a pretty good Edge patch for doing "Where the Streets Have No Name". Then I took another preset and tweaked it for Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue on Black". Stopped there cause I had other stuff to do. But that was enough to give me a taste and make me think that once I've put in some time, I will definitely be able to tweak the 11R into being usable for recording and live work. I was a bit worried for a bit that it wasn't going to cut it, but finding just a great tone or two quickly gives you confidence that the tones you are looking for are in there -- you just have to find them.

Out of the box, I can't imagine anyone being able to do that though. The presets remind me more of an 80's Crate SS amp with effects throw-on. The OD/distortion was pretty horrible as generically set on the unit. But again... for any reading this who are looking at this type of unit -- you've GOT to sit down and play with it and go into it with an attitude of exploration and patience. That's hard for me, because I like to plug into an amp, set the dials quickly to "my sound" and just play. That doesn't work so well with this unit (and probably most modelers). In that respect, I think that my Tonelab LE was superior, because the presets weren't bad and you could quickly dial it in to suit taste. But I can see that with the different routing possibilities and such, the 11R will be far superior to the TLE in terms of tweaking and have no doubt that once I've spent some real time with this thing, it will deliver the goods that I'm looking for. The TLE ends up being very limited and you quickly realize that once you get to a point, you cann't make any more changes to get closer to the sound you're seeking -- you're just out of options. Whereas the 11R seems like it'll go a LOT further in exploring the options and dialing things in to a science.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

Got my 11R yesterday.

Good thing I'd read in a lot of places not to judge the unit by the presets.

glad I wasn't the only one not impressed with the presets (at least at sam ash with their demo model/headphones). cool that with tweaking it can be good. never quite understood why machines like that don't come with some awesome stock tones for typical stuff though you immediately want to hear (nice stock marshall-type, boogie-type, fender clean-type, etc.).

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

glad I wasn't the only one not impressed with the presets (at least at sam ash with their demo model/headphones). cool that with tweaking it can be good. never quite understood why machines like that don't come with some awesome stock tones for typical stuff though you immediately want to hear (nice stock marshall-type, boogie-type, fender clean-type, etc.).

Yeah... first thing I did was plug headphones in (because I wanted to play it and the stupid ProTools software was taking FOREVER to load). So I just threw some headphones on and started running through presets... uhhh.. nasty. All brittle and trebly. But my headphones aren't the best, so then I run 1/4" stereo outs into my Firefly 302 interface into my studio monitor system. Still not impressed with the few presets I dialed-through. So then I hooked the 11R into my SS Rocktron Velocity 300 power amp running stereo into a G12-T75 loaded 4X12. Once I'd set the proper outputs for that setup things started to sound a little better (although not great). So I dialed-through a bunch of crappy and so-so presets until I landed on one that reminded me of the Edge on "Where the Streets Have No Name". It was then that I took my stand. So I started tweaking the effects and amp tones (and traded my LP for a Strat) and brought-up the real U2 MP3 on my computer and just worked at matching tones. After a very short tweaking session I was happy with the results and showed them to my wife (who's a U2 fan). Very good! And then I dialed past a few more presets and found one that reminded me of Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue on Black" and tweaked that closer to the MP3.

Anyways... I don't wanna give negative impressions of the unit to those who may be thinking of getting one, because I saw enough by the end of my exploration session to feel like this unit will be the cat's meow once I've got it all dailed-in. Just wanted to add to the warning that those who try/buy it likely will not be too impressed with the sounds the moment they turn it on. So yeah... they could do a MUCH better job at putting in some great presets (even taking differing amplification equipment on the user's end into account).

 

[Tor]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

A few guitars, mostly a USA Custom Jazzmaster guitar I put together and specced to my liking (25" conversion scale, neck like a PRS wide/fat, SD Custom Shop Jazzmaster pickups, wired like a les paul Vol/Vol/Tone/Tone 3-way selector). Also play a 2005 Les Paul Studio with an ebony fretboard into it ... I made CC/A2Pro hybrid pickups for that one. And a stock PRS Custom 22

You will -NOT- be disappointed with the hayseed. A guy at my company is an old radio guy and I picked up a few NOS Motorola 12AX7s off him. I can't wait to get them into the Hayseed. I also have a set of Reissue Mullard EL84s I am looking to compare with the JJs I currently have in there in terms of what I like better.

Wow, sounds like a pretty sweet rig!

Let me know how those tubes work out for you! I have no idea what's good for that kinda amps..

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

I also have a set of Reissue Mullard EL84s I am looking to compare with the JJs I currently have in there in terms of what I like better.

Please post a new thread when you do that. I think the JJs are fine, but they weren't a huge improvement over the stock Chinese I had, and I think the reissue Mullards may be the way to go. Thanks in advance.

(Sorry for the hijack, Tor. I'll stay on topic now, I promise.)

 

[Tor]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

Haha, no stress, good request.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Going from the AxeFX to the simple pedals-amp rig..

Yeah... first thing I did was plug headphones in (because I wanted to play it and the stupid ProTools software was taking FOREVER to load). So I just threw some headphones on and started running through presets... uhhh.. nasty. All brittle and trebly. But my headphones aren't the best, so then I run 1/4" stereo outs into my Firefly 302 interface into my studio monitor system. Still not impressed with the few presets I dialed-through. So then I hooked the 11R into my SS Rocktron Velocity 300 power amp running stereo into a G12-T75 loaded 4X12. Once I'd set the proper outputs for that setup things started to sound a little better (although not great). So I dialed-through a bunch of crappy and so-so presets until I landed on one that reminded me of the Edge on "Where the Streets Have No Name". It was then that I took my stand. So I started tweaking the effects and amp tones (and traded my LP for a Strat) and brought-up the real U2 MP3 on my computer and just worked at matching tones. After a very short tweaking session I was happy with the results and showed them to my wife (who's a U2 fan). Very good! And then I dialed past a few more presets and found one that reminded me of Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue on Black" and tweaked that closer to the MP3.

Anyways... I don't wanna give negative impressions of the unit to those who may be thinking of getting one, because I saw enough by the end of my exploration session to feel like this unit will be the cat's meow once I've got it all dailed-in. Just wanted to add to the warning that those who try/buy it likely will not be too impressed with the sounds the moment they turn it on. So yeah... they could do a MUCH better job at putting in some great presets (even taking differing amplification equipment on the user's end into account).

Similar story to mine about tweaking in the tone that you want. (Otherwise you are stuck with pre-programmed stuff)

It can be easily done, it just takes time.
Most people forget that the tones you hear in songs have been worked by the artist to be unique after the artist’s tweaked their gear.
It takes time to do it right.

I have settings from A1 through D3 filled with tweaked tones that I want and use and at each gig, people keep asking me how do you get so many different sounds (Tonal variations) out of your gear?

It is all a direct result of tweaking each setting to what you want to hear and making sure that you cross-check it against another source if you are copying that original tone.

PS: I use it together with a Ground Control Pro outputted into QSC K12 and QSC Ksub - which are full range- flat response PA gear.

http://www.voodoolab.com/gcontrolpro.htm
http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/K_series_K12.php
http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/K_series_Ksub.php

I use this case to to transport my 11R and GCP.….
Gator GSRW-2U Rolling Laptop and 2-Space Rack Bag