Talk me out of the AXE FX III

[Clig Herdunkachuk]

You're not entirely wrong and I also find the worship of Cliff to be really fucking odd and I said this somewhere else recently, if I were Cliff, reading one page of that would probably push me away from the internet forever. I just don't take compliments well, even when I deserve them.

I'm 99% sure I know which high-post count/condescending member you're talking about and I've also caught that same vibe from him. Another one has popped up recently and takes it a bit further by adding in "we think it's best if you...", coming off like he actually works for Fractal. FWIW, I've seen mods tell this particular guy in the past to watch his wording and then clarified who actually works for Fractal and who doesn't.

Actually, a couple beta's ago, there's a poster who speaks multiple languages and English isn't his first, he can come off as a bit brash as a result of the translation and he caught a lot of flak for reporting what seemed to be a bug and a bunch of posters railed against him until Cliff came out and said, "Actually, we can thank ________ for reporting this as a bug. It'll be fixed in the next beta." So yeah, that stuff definitely happens.

At the same time, in the context of people laughing at Cliff giving basic, obvious advice; Cliff's a New Englander and busting balls is part of the New England culture. I can certainly see how in this day and age of people being offended and expecting nothing but professionalism in customer service can be taken back by that, but as a New Englander, it reminds me of going to the mechanic, telling them you're there for an oil change and the guy behind the counter going, "Yeah? What do you want me to do about it? Cry?" (Which is what was said to me when I got my first oil change when I was 16). So I can see how shit like that can go both ways. The internet doesn't really allow for sarcasm and facetious comments to come off that way so easily, we need a Boston-based OS ?

But yeah, the worship thing is odd. About a month ago over on TGP, Doug from NDSP was talking about lifting weights and for about two days after, all the guys with QC's on pre-order were talking about how much he can lift, how much steak he must eat to maintain his muscle mass, it was really, really fucking weird. It's the same thing I see people do with Cliff and it makes me feel uneasy, it's like 40 year old dudes turning into 13 year old girls.

All that said, there's invaluable information on that forum and the majority of people just want to help. As long as you can ignore the hardcore fanboism (I'm an admitted fanboy, but I kiss the ass of no one) and the couple know-it-alls, there's a wealth of information and tips to be had.

I’m all for a good ribbing or holding someone to task. But in the example I gave, Cliff had two standards for different FMs who approached the same problem in the same way. Not cool in my opinion.

I will agree that @RevDrucifer does not kiss any ass! We have actually interacted on both the fractal forums and TGP in the past.

 

[RevDrucifer]

I’m all for a good ribbing or holding someone to task. But in the example I gave, Cliff had two standards for different FMs who approached the same problem in the same way. Not cool in my opinion.

I will agree that @RevDrucifer does not kiss any ass! We have actually interacted on both the fractal forums and TGP in the past.

A couple months ago, my former boss was having some issues with some of our tenants. She was discussing it with our CFO/HR, who told her, "You know what, you should go talk to Drew. Ask him for his opinion on why you think you're getting push back from the tenants. But you're not allowed to come back to me and complain if you don't like what he says."

Ever get to call your female boss a "cunt" to her face and not get in trouble for it? I have. ? You just gotta say "cunt-y", that extra Y takes all the edge off.

 

[Donnie B.]

Back OT

Buy the Axe III

Don't buy it !

 

[Spaceboy]

Cliff is a snarky cocksucker, and that ain’t about being from New England. I’ve worked construction for most of my life, busting balls and being an ass is second nature to people in my line. You won’t get by in a union if you can’t take it and dish it right back out. Cliff would catch some knuckles if he spoke down to some people in the real world the way he does online.

 

[Donnie B.]

Cliff is a snarky cocksucker

Another internet winner!

 

[Dopethrone]

Pocket Pussy will get ya there too

 

[Donnie B.]

Pocket Pussy will get ya there too

 

[kmanick]

I had an Axe FX II for almost ten years and thought I loved it until I got back to using real tube amps. I ended up using 4 models
A Jcm800, A Mesa Mark IV, the JVM Orange and a Dual recto (I think it was called Vintage). Now with tools like the Captor X why bother, if you already have real amps just grab one of these load boxes with IR capabilities and go to town.
It's so easy now and a hell of a lot less $$$ than an Axe III

 

[Donnie B.]

a snarky cocksucker.

There's a volcano in New Hampshire that's gonna blow any day now.

Been seeing this more with each passing day.

 

[nickforcillo]

Pre-Cygnus update I'd warn that if you weren't fond of tweaking, not to bother. But since this update, well, today I loaded up all the Friedman's (there's 12 BE/HBE models now) and with all the settings at noon it was a gig ready tone. Overall, I'm tweaking far less since this update....and I really enjoy tweaking. If I'm just doing a basic preset without effects, it's Input-Amp-Cab-Output, maybe I'll put a noise gate in there if I need to for some heavily gated thing, but there's a gate in the Input block too, so it's not needed unless you're going for the modern, djenty, start-stop thing.

I've owned tube amps for the majority of my life, starting with a Carvin Legacy I earned in high school, to a Dual Rec, Mark IV, XXX, a Fender Champ, they're all killer amps and I love amps, but for someone like me who just sits in my studio in all my free time, who loves hearing different amps and tweaking the shit out of them until I get closer to my ideal tone, I fucking love mine. Best gear purchase I've ever made. It's been a year and a half and I'm more stoked with it as time goes on.

Hell, the live rig I put together will end up being this with a couple Mesa 2x12's. All the better is that my pedalboard is the smallest it's ever been and I don't have to run any audio to it. I've got a Digitech Freqout and an MXR Talk Box that I still use, but the Digitech sits in the rack and gets triggered with a momentary switch and the Talk Box I can just drag out for a song if need be. I just got it for saying stupid shit with.

It's also great being able to switch from guitar to bass by literally switching from a guitar to a bass. I think it's a bit much for your average bass player, especially with only a few bass amps in it compared to the 200+ guitar amps, but the bass tones from this thing are fucking insane. I've never been able to capture a bass tone like that in the studio before, never. Doing it direct without getting off my lazy ass is too good to pass up.

Plugging this thing into the Return of any amp and playing it into a guitar cabinet (not the FRFR shit) delivers the same feel as any amp I've ever played through. I never understood why FRFR guys are searching for this amp in the room when they can just get a power amp and actually play a fucking amp in the room, but whatever floats their boat.

I just got an FM3 and I use the Gemini II cab…sounds pretty good being anFRFR…I tried a couple others…sent em back…this one though sounds fat!

 

[mentoneman]

I'm nearing 40 myself and was an early adopter of the AxeFx Ultra.
Great unit don't get me wrong.

But everyone back then was saying it sounded "just like a tube amp" back then in 2008 or whenever it was.
Selling Bogners and Diezels because the AxeFx Ultra did those tones plus more.

I don't know what to make of AxeFx and where we are today.

I think it's awesome that a company keeps improving its products.
But from a tone perspective - seriously how much more improvements can be made?

Tube amps are rather simple at the end of the day.

This might sound weird but I feel like a 'musician' plugging my guitar into a warmed up tube amp.
Part of this feeling goes when plugging into an axefx for me.
Some of the inspiration goes with it.

I'm just babbling here and I know MANY love the Axefx and make it scream.
And when looking at price - the way I've done it certainly cost a lot more than an AxeFx too.

With all the constant upgrades - it feels like many are chasing the tone dragon which can never be caught.
What you buy now will always be out of date and old tech in 2 years time.

Thankfully this logic doesn't apply with a classic tube amp of course.
Once great, always great.

agree and many men on this forum convinced me to get the ultra as the game changer. was impressed as an all in one solution and used for a year live. for amp tone simplicity and feel i went back to tube amps. but i’ll always back the fractal stuff as great sounding guitar gear and surgically precise for direct output use.
i rocked this solo over a Jimmy James Lugo backing jam track running the ultra direct into my mac digitally over a cheap radio shack lightpipe adapter.

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/kZVbYWB83LTmowgj8