📊Opinions on the AXE-fx III in 2024?

[VESmedic]

You’re only making a giant tool of yourself and doing a damn good job of it snubbing your nose at a fucking coliseum compared to a modeler. You know damn well no modeler is replacing the good shit. Even seasoned pros admit if the stage is big enough the big boy shit is set up. It’s why in 2024 people view modelers as just another convenient tool and that’s all they will ever be - a convenience.

Yea…if the stage is big enough….yet you don’t care about a stage, or playing music in the first place because you are worried about what an amp sounds like in a room only..


Tell me you’ve never played a gig worth a shit, without telling me you’ve never played a gig worth a shit…..

 

[glpg80]

Yea…if the stage is big enough….yet you don’t care about a stage, or playing music in the first place because you are worried about what an amp sounds like in a room only..


Tell me you’ve never played a gig worth a shit, without telling me you’ve never played a gig worth a shit…..

You’re just pissed off I don’t bow to the lord modeler. I don’t know what I hate more, the fact I’m not allowed to hate them or the followers who won’t get off my nuts for it.

You also can’t read for shit because I literally said in the room, band practices, and gigs are all areas tube amps will shine. Go fuck with your computer knobs and quit polishing mine.

 

[OldGtrGuy]

Definitely cool and worth trying, they sound great (especially with tube power which defeats the purpose for many).but.....toobz

 

[tallcoolone]

100+ amps vs. 1 amp, tons of effects, etc. Why is it not worth it when running a tube power amp instead.

I can only speak for myself but while I loved the AXE I found that using multiple base amps back and forth in the same gig just doesn’t work.

I guess if I’m going to lug a tube power amp plus a 3 space rack plus a MIDI floorboard plus a cab it’s actually lighter and simpler to go amp-cab-pedalboard.

 

[Corey James]

I have the Axe III and I use it as my main interface. People often miss how powerful this is. (i couldn't imagine running your fractal into another interface, for example)

I'm windows based, recovering from protools and moved to studio one.

As I shared last night, I'm just now reamping into amps from the Axe. I record directly with it. I've done acoustics thru it. I love it with bass.

I also capture my tube amps and ox into it, and obviously have the option to add effects to a PLEX or an SL67 post OX if I choose. Then there's the effects loop on the axe itself, if you want to run an eventide for example into the fractal.

If you don't want to buy an interface and you want more options, you cannot go wrong using it as your main interface to the DAW.

When I occasionally play with a drummer, I'm 50/50 on my FM9 or a master volume amp. I'm blessed with options that I wish I had in the past, but that's the way life goes when you're a working stiff! River of Thorns was recorded only with an 11 Rack. That would be much better with either a fractal or with a tube amp but the 11 did do well for the price point.

For what it's worth, I have songs and demos with tubes and fractal. For me, I prefer recording rhythms (especially crunch tones) with tube amps. I can absolutely hear the difference.

For solos, it's a wash. The fractal and the tubes are both awesome, though I cannot hear the difference (unless we're getting into fuzz territory) on single note runs.

 

[Corey James]

I should have added... if you run a IRX into the front of a fractal you can do most of what I described on a relatively small budget and get a stellar result. That's ridiculously versatile without having to go full head / ox / etc. I wish we had that tech earlier for sure! Absolutely killer cost wise compared to just about any other setup imo...

Hell, you could cut an entire album with an IRX and an FM3 if you really needed to, I have a friend doing something similar with a LION / FM3 as his interface. He's talented and sounds larger than life with just a couple tools.

 

[ChuggNorris]

These are some great responses. Its interesting seeing how individuals use this unit in their own situations.

And the quad cortex was another good suggestion for these type of endeavors.

I think in some way, it can also be seen as an option when you feel weird about moving a head you paid an exorbitant amount of money for in and out of local/semi local locations. And so you need to case it up. And at that point you start thinking hmm... how close can I get to this tone with a modeler that fits in a rack so I can just suit case it up and feel less picky about it.

I have noticed if a knob gets bumped on the Herbert, depending which one it is, barely bumping it changes the tone.

Recording.. it seems like a very useful tool.

 

[Bram576]

The axe and all the top tier modelers, profilers are damn near indistinguishable at this point. They work great for recording, gigs, jamming all that.

But for the love of Christ remember to turn the ir off if you run it through a real cab. Everyone who says they’re not convincing forgets to do this. Yes, they both have a place.

 

[4406cuda]

I gig with my AXE FX III almost every weekend. I still have my BE100 and use it occasionally when I jam with friends.

 

[stephen sawall]

Currently have no use for a digital rig, c'est la vie

 

[VESmedic]

You’re just pissed off I don’t bow to the lord modeler. I don’t know what I hate more, the fact I’m not allowed to hate them or the followers who won’t get off my nuts for it.

You also can’t read for shit because I literally said in the room, band practices, and gigs are all areas tube amps will shine. Go fuck with your computer knobs and quit polishing mine.

It’s not about bowing to anything. Your logic is just always dumb as all fuck, that’s all. You can like what you like, but when you give lame ass excuses of why you can’t get a great tone out of whatever you plug into, I’ll be right here to call you out….again, as usual.

 

[WarHed]

I borrowed a friends one for a while and compared it to some of my ~30 odd tube amps (didnt care about any of the effects).
I couldnt tell the difference between the axefx and the 5153, but I say the same thing about the Mooer 005 micro preamp.
The rest of the axefx amps sounded subpar compared to the real amps, no contest in my setup. I can appreciate it's still an awesome piece of gear and no doubt perfect for live use.

 

[glpg80]

It’s not about bowing to anything. Your logic is just always dumb as all fuck, that’s all. You can like what you like, but when you give lame ass excuses of why you can’t get a great tone out of whatever you plug into, I’ll be right here to call you out….again, as usual.

Keep thrust pumping your studio in every thread like anyone here cares. The only logic in this thread is that you’re a tool that can’t comprehend people are allowed to hate whatever gear they like.

And speaking of call outs. I’ve heard your shit playing and you definitely dont deserve half the crap in your collection or your e dick studio. Money doesn’t buy talent which you haven’t learned yet and likely never will ️

 

[pipboy90]

I didn’t say direct to a PA. I didn’t say mic’d. Fuck both of those. Put them in a room next to each other solid state or tube poweramp and in the room itself you will always be able to tell which is which.

This is the honest truth and it’s very revealing. I had an Axe III and fryette LXII at one point, and I did a lot of testing with it. Can it sound great? Yeah, it totally can. Does it sound as good as the amp it models? No, not currently. Maybe one day.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

You can have sex with a rubber doll and still get off, but wouldn't it feel much better with the real thing?

 

[mcstinger]

I sold the Axe FXIII. Regarding the price point, these were for me the fundamental shortcomings of an otherwise excellent device and the main reasons for the sale:
1. guitar input clipping when using high output pickups - does this bother anyone but me? On a +2k device?
2. headphone output hardwired to output 1, so the main output was unusable for me, this I consider being a big design flaw
3. low output levels on outputs 3 and 4
4. weird mapping of USB ports

 

[7704A]

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned yet is that tube amps are better from a repairability standpoint than modelers, generally. Sure you've got some companies that (un)intentionally make things hard to repair (e.g. ENGL, MESA, gooper trooper techs a la Cameron), or who make solid stuff but are tight fisted around service documentation (e.g. Fryette), but at the same time you have oodles of other amp options where the schematics are freely available online or they have a common circuit and easy to trace internal build style. Meaning, you have a lot more options when something busts and if/when the original company goes out of business or decides not to support repair anymore. Not every tube amp has these advantages, but you have the option to get one that does. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't have that option with modelers.

 

[rottingcorpse]

I kinda want one,but haven't bought one for a couple of specific reasons. One is that I don't play with effects anymore, not since the 90s. I ditched the rack gear at the turn of the century. I got a Kemper for a specific reason that didn't pan out,and that turned me off to other gear like that. And I don't have time to tweak a rig anymore. Guitar/gate/amp/cab...and go to town.

 

[mcstinger]

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned yet is that tube amps are better from a repairability standpoint than modelers, generally. Sure you've got some companies that (un)intentionally make things hard to repair (e.g. ENGL, MESA, gooper trooper techs a la Cameron), or who make solid stuff but are tight fisted around service documentation (e.g. Fryette), but at the same time you have oodles of other amp options where the schematics are freely available online or they have a common circuit and easy to trace internal build style. Meaning, you have a lot more options when something busts and if/when the original company goes out of business or decides not to support repair anymore. Not every tube amp has these advantages, but you have the option to get one that does. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't have that option with modelers.

Also there is no hassle with firmware and software updates in case of "standard gear", whether it is a tube amp or whatever . Personally, I'm quite tired of endless firmware and PC software updates. And then, when one really needs it, there is no update

 

[Crunchity]

Love my Axe III. I admit I mostly just record now in my humble home studio, sometimes I use my high gain amps, sometimes I use the Fractal, sometimes I use a drive pedal into a clean amp...but regardless, when I listen back to my music I always sound like me (for better or worse)....and I'm okay with that. I've actually reached a sort of zen place where I have little urge to even talk gear these days, kinda weird lol, I mean I just make my music and share it, hopefully folks like it and if they ask "what'd you use on this one?" I'll happily talk about it, otherwise I don't even bother.

All that said - if I were playing in a band/live setting, I'd probably just bring a head/cab and a couple pedals for the simplicity and traditional look.