Took a peek down the Fractal rabbit hole... considering a major change now.

[nightlight]

I've got a DSL100 as well as a modded Ceriatone 2203.

Your signal chain with the RL is exactly what I do right now.

I am hesitant to turn my back on tube amps, since I spent decades of my life as a player dreaming of the day I could have them. But I have a sneaking suspicion the Fractal stuff will turn me eventually...

If you can avoid selling your tube amps, don't sell them. Tube amps have their own attraction to me, even though I own an Axe FXIII and a Quad Cortex.

First of all, the sound that modellers all strive to achieve is that of a tube amp. Yes, you can go places where a tube amp can't with a modeller, but a tube amp sound still has a unique character that modellers cannot achieve imho.

Second, playing a tube amp is far better than playing a modeller. Data provided by modeller companies show us that there is always latency when we play through one. I believe it is about 2ms for both the QC and Axe FXIII and about 3ms for the Kemper.

A tube amp, on the other hand, has zero latency. Touch the strings and the amp responds. I like to describe the feeling of playing a tube amp as being a tactile experience in which you get an immediate response when you play, as opposed to modellers due to the need to go through the digital pathway.

This is most easily experienced if you palm mute very fast in a staccato fashion. With a tube amp, you'll feel the immediacy, with a modeller, you'll feel the latency. It is very low, but try A/B comparing and you should be able to discern it.

Third, tube amps tend to sound very raw and organic and rude. whereas modellers tend to sound more smooth and polished. This could be a plus or a minus to you.

This is just my experience, others may say that modellers sound exactly like tube amps. I should caveat that I am basing my claim on running a tube amp into a cabinet. I just don't get, or am unable to get, a similar sound from running my modellers into my PS-2 and then into a cabinet. It's a great tone, make no mistake, but it is very polished and refined. And yes, that can be an awesome thing.

Modellers do have a lot going for them though. They are much more portable. They also have in-built FX. And signal routing is far simpler. And there are so many in-built models in them, that you may find an amp that you really love and want to try out in real life.

Also, the Axe FXIII makes a great pairing with a tube amp, which is what I think you were initially aiming for when you said you wanted to try out the 4CM. I have my PS-2 and Suhr RL permanently hooked up to one of the inputs of my Axe FXIII, and I have a long cable that allow me to plug into the input of any amp from one of the sends of my Axe FXIII.

This allows me to have a drive, noise gate, compressor, or whatever in front of the amp and other stuff after the preamp and power amp. I also use the Axe FXIII for a cabinet, EQ, reverb, delay and whatnot.

Superb device, I can't recommend it highly enough.

But don't sell your amps if you can help it. That would be my 2 cents.

 

[rsm]

Yes, make sure you don't need your pedalboard; you spent time, money, effort to build it...wait until you're sure the Fractal works for you.

I try to keep everything; as my music focus changes, I'll sell some gear and buy more. I've been buying mostly guitars and tube amps (and keyboards) as I prepare for retirement.

The digital gear is a journey that will see updates and new hardware going forward some will cost money; my guitars and tube amps - assuming I have what I want for now and the future - are pretty much fixed (they do what they do, and just need basic care and maintenance), and I can sell if I want something different.

 

[gibson5413]

The Fractal stuff is really good and I have loved having their products for the past couple of years. I originally had an Axe-FX III but switched to the FM9 about two years back. It is a very good unit and does everything I need in comparison to the III. I actually bought a second one to leave at a rehearsal space but that fell through. I am going to sell it as I don't need two of them. Will be posting in the classifieds sometime today or tomorrow. That being said, my main FM9 is going nowhere.

 

[grrr_me_scary]

Yes, it started life as 1/2 sheet of 3/4” plywood.

I found this used rolling case on line for $50, refoamed it for another $50.

The space over the foot controller, in the case, is actually storage box as well.

View attachment 361799

View attachment 361802

View attachment 361805

The rear door has a 6” exhaust fan.

View attachment 361808

This is the cubby hole behind the expression pedals, sneakers just to give size prospective:

View attachment 361811
View attachment 361814

You did such a great job on building this box especially with all of the extremely useful things that you included.

And thanks for providing an explanation for the reason the shoes were in there

 

[Bronco]

Apparently this thing is showing up tomorrow? Damn fast shipping.

This has kicked my ass in gear a bit. I've been meaning to put together a new space for my guitars and set up the monitors I bought over a year ago and haven't used. Just cleared the needed space out in the corner of my living room and bought a set of stands off Amazon that should be coming tomorrow. With the speakers against opposing walls in a corner and set on stands to head height (I only play standing up) I hope I'm able to get a really awesome stereo image.

Thinking more about the rest of this board. I think I'm going to stick with Temple Audio and get the Duo 34. That way I can reuse the modules I already have. The patchbay will be used the same way as my current board: Instrument input, send, return and MIDI (via TRS) to amp. And of course I can build on this, adding a set of XLR outputs, a headphone out and a USB out. As a bedroom player I don't really need any of this of course, I can just have my shit all on the floor, but I do like to have everything tidy and organized, and avoid extra wear on the device's ports.

I'm also shopping around for expression pedals. The Mission Engineering stuff is appealing to me most. I'd like to have two, one as a dedicated wah and one for general expression. For the wah, I love the look of their raw metal model, it reminds me of the Wylde Wah:

I could just use my Morley, but if I'm going this route I might as well get my wahs from the FM9 too and take full advantage of the tweakability. Plus I prefer the look of a traditional wah enclosure, especially this bad motherfucker. I will for sure get the spring loaded version though, with auto engage it should feel like my Morley. I don't like the switch to engage a wah, but maybe I could get the switch version and use it to change channels on the Wah block - channel A being a normal wah with auto-engage, channel B being parked at the sweet spot. But then I wouldn't have the spring, so I could just park the wah where I want it anyway. Hm.

For general expression I'm thinking just getting a regular switchless springless version.

The whole thing is very exciting. Tearing down my board and selling it piece by piece is going to be a drag, and I don't know how hard it's gonna be to sell the board itself or some of the odder items, but I'm so looking forward to being able to plug and play.

Make sure you download the Fractal edit software...this is a must! Everything is super intuitive and gives you immediate ability to tweak as necessary without breaking your back.

 

[GreatRedDragon]

If you can avoid selling your tube amps, don't sell them. Tube amps have their own attraction to me, even though I own an Axe FXIII and a Quad Cortex.

First of all, the sound that modellers all strive to achieve is that of a tube amp. Yes, you can go places where a tube amp can't with a modeller, but a tube amp sound still has a unique character that modellers cannot achieve imho.

Second, playing a tube amp is far better than playing a modeller. Data provided by modeller companies show us that there is always latency when we play through one. I believe it is about 2ms for both the QC and Axe FXIII and about 3ms for the Kemper.

A tube amp, on the other hand, has zero latency. Touch the strings and the amp responds. I like to describe the feeling of playing a tube amp as being a tactile experience in which you get an immediate response when you play, as opposed to modellers due to the need to go through the digital pathway.

This is most easily experienced if you palm mute very fast in a staccato fashion. With a tube amp, you'll feel the immediacy, with a modeller, you'll feel the latency. It is very low, but try A/B comparing and you should be able to discern it.

Third, tube amps tend to sound very raw and organic and rude. whereas modellers tend to sound more smooth and polished. This could be a plus or a minus to you.

This is just my experience, others may say that modellers sound exactly like tube amps. I should caveat that I am basing my claim on running a tube amp into a cabinet. I just don't get, or am unable to get, a similar sound from running my modellers into my PS-2 and then into a cabinet. It's a great tone, make no mistake, but it is very polished and refined. And yes, that can be an awesome thing.

Modellers do have a lot going for them though. They are much more portable. They also have in-built FX. And signal routing is far simpler. And there are so many in-built models in them, that you may find an amp that you really love and want to try out in real life.

Also, the Axe FXIII makes a great pairing with a tube amp, which is what I think you were initially aiming for when you said you wanted to try out the 4CM. I have my PS-2 and Suhr RL permanently hooked up to one of the inputs of my Axe FXIII, and I have a long cable that allow me to plug into the input of any amp from one of the sends of my Axe FXIII.

This allows me to have a drive, noise gate, compressor, or whatever in front of the amp and other stuff after the preamp and power amp. I also use the Axe FXIII for a cabinet, EQ, reverb, delay and whatnot.

Superb device, I can't recommend it highly enough.

But don't sell your amps if you can help it. That would be my 2 cents.

Yeah I have no plans of giving up my tube amps, but I am very curious to A/B them with the models.