Soooooo... Anyone using the Fractal AxeFX for bass then?

[Dood]

Well, it was going to come to this one day huh?

I really need to downsize operations as I am playing a lot more guitar these days too - but unfortunately I can't have the usual 'big rigs' around the house these days. My little girl needs room for her things

So, I'm thinking that other than cabs I can use one unit for both bass and guitar duties - The AxeFX seeeeeeems to fit the bill so far strapped on to a suitable power amp. I am after some views on this and what others are using. TC Electronic G-System? or what rack? Must be 2u or smaller and I'd prefer not having floor mounted pedals.

I am preparing to sell lots of gear if this unit covers all bases (excuse the pun). Let me have your thoughts,

[Dood]

P.s. i'd really like to try one!

[Noisyjon]

Not got or use one of those but what about the new Kemper rack mount version with a 600W amp built in?
That has caught my eye for double duties and Anderton's have them along with a link to theampfactory.com for studio quality profiles to buy.

[skej21]

I've noticed a lot of guitarists (Guthrie Govan being the most obvious example) are turning to the AxeFX unit but personally I can't see what all the fuss is about. In this video, Guthrie uses a number of guitars and while they all sound ok, there's no 'wow' factor about his tone considering the amount of nice amp/pedal gear you could buy for the price IMO!

http://youtu.be/O5tcxpbETLA

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1381954261' post='2246108']
I've noticed a lot of guitarists (Guthrie Govan being the most obvious example) are turning to the AxeFX unit but personally I can't see what all the fuss is about. In this video, Guthrie uses a number of guitars and while they all sound ok, there's no 'wow' factor about his tone considering the amount of nice amp/pedal gear you could buy for the price IMO!

[media]http://youtu.be/O5tcxpbETLA[/media]
[/quote]
There's quite a lot of 'guitar face' going on there. I'm sure you wouldn't get that with separate pedals

[Dood]

It is quite an expense new I have to agree. I think i'd be looking at the second hand market unless I can get a good deal on a new price. The Kemper idea I like, but not so much the built in power amp. I think I'd really need to try one.

It's the only thing that will make me want to sell my Zoom kit to help fund it. I really love the Zooms!

[molan]

I know someone who loves his Fractal to death but every time I hear him play I'm surprised at how 'processed' his sound always is.

Every review I read says they can be incredibly natural sounding but my ears keep telling me different.

Could just be that he likes a 'processed' sound I guess

N.B. I have tried to broach this subject with him in the past and he always says I'm just 'biased' against rack effects (I'm not!).

[6v6]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1381954261' post='2246108']
I've noticed a lot of guitarists (Guthrie Govan being the most obvious example) are turning to the AxeFX ...
[/quote]

I read an article in Guitarist magazine recently, and they had a rundown of his live rig, and it was a boutique tube amp combined with a load of boutique effects.

[Dood]

I guess the main problem is that the chances of road-testing one before purchase is practically zero unless you have a kind friend who is likely to lend it to you. I've mailed Fractal but no response yet.

[Acebassmusic]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1382002101' post='2246481']
The Kemper idea I like, but not so much the built in power amp.
[/quote]

From what I could see on the Kemper I think you can get them in Rack (just the effects section) or Power Rack (effects and power amp). Also have you looked at the Eventide Eclipse as an alternative?

[Sibob]

Pretty sure Nolly in Peripery uses Fractal FX live, in fact the whole band does.
Think they record using pedals (Nolly loves the B7K famously) and then program those sounds into the Fractal for live.

Nolly is also a guitarist, so might be the right guy to reach out to for an opinion (and maybe a Fractal contact)

Si

[bakerster135]

Same with Meshuggah, they all just use the Fractal stuff live and don't even have amps on stage.

[ratman]

I play regularly with a guitarist who has a recently got himself Fractal system. He has spent time fine tuning his sounds and I must say that I'm mightily impressed with it. It's the best modelling system I've heard yet by miles, Mind you, for the price he paid, it wants to sound bloody good.

[Dood]

Thanks guys, yeah I'm gonna chat with Nolly about it, but I think other than the price - i've pretty much made up my mind. I know that its not the easiest unit to program, but AE3 software is a huge improvement. I'm an IT geek and can easily get my head round the most annoying of menus. So it only has to wow me with it's brilliance and I'll be set... Just... As...soon.....as...i... Can.... Try ..... One!!!

[tayste_2000]

Guy in Deftones is he's been a long time virtual rig user he's moved over from Guitar Rig setups

[Dood]

Cool!

I'd even entertain alternatives, especially 1u but there doesn't seem to be anything close, even guitar only.

[AttitudeCastle]

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1382010256' post='2246619']
Pretty sure Nolly in Peripery uses Fractal FX live, in fact the whole band does.
Think they record using pedals (Nolly loves the B7K famously) and then program those sounds into the Fractal for live.

Nolly is also a guitarist, so might be the right guy to reach out to for an opinion (and maybe a Fractal contact)

Si
[/quote]

Yep! Axe FX with B7K in the effects loop, into a Matrix GT1600FX into two Zilla Neo loaded 6x10 cabs. Maybe ask him about the Matrix too Dan?

He's an insanely awesome guitarists. Was sad when he left Red Seas Fire, incredible band! His vik signature is one of my favourite guitars, and he is simply one of my favourite guitarists. Not to mention his awesome work with Bareknuckle pickups!

I've messed with the AXE FX as a guitarist pal of mine owned one for his home studio before he moved. Best thing was the tone matching/capture was insanely good.

I actually quite like it for bass, much better for the highly dressed sounds, with lots going on, for a pure signal it's not the best. On guitar I find the cleans a little lifeless, and with bass they aren't amazing, but it sounds fantastic when you get into layers of amps and effects to create some spectactular tones. One of my favourites is the RAT model along side a clean tone, blended with a driven SVT sim, with some nice compression on the clean side. Sounds like a monster!

Nolly's distortions tones (check the headstock cam video of MAKE TOTAL DESTROY which is just him, that tone is this) from before Periphery started bringing stage gear again (a more recent thing) were from the studio where they used the tone match on the AXE FX from him playing into it from his Ampeg/Darkglass sound and it sounds awesome. It's a feature my buddy loved as it meant he could leave his boutique pedals at home, or the rare ones at home. Not sure how it works though!

Also, not to derail, but you see Nolly has a signature Dingwall prototype now? Full reveal at winter Namm Will be a Combustion I'm pretty sure, in his classic yellow.

I hope they do a 6 string version, but not likely as he doesn't have any dingwall 6's.

[Dood]

Cheers for the updates - I'm well versed in Nolly's set up already which is cool. I've reviewed the B3K and Vintage pedals, a superb Dingwall 6er and a prototype F# Dingwall brought over for me by Sheldon Dingwall himself. The guys have discussed their reasons for live backline again which is cool and I have to say I agree and a reason why I like a rig behind me too. The Matrix GT I have and it really is superb.

Really, the only thing I've not been able to do, is get my hands on the AxeFX to demo. I mean, they do wanna sell these things right? Lol i'm after basschatters personal experiences with the unit - but it seems no one has one! Maybe we're far too sensible to splooge such "crazy money" on a processor?

[donkelley]

As opposed to Axe FX (which only has an SVT in it), how about something else high end that's targetted at bassists?

I just started using a Roland VB-99.

Yes yes yes I have the fancy hex pickup mounted on my carvin bunny 5 to emulate a rick, jazz, precision, stingray, hofner, flats with my rounds, synths, and sound like a les paul LoL... and yes it's absolutely the single coolest way to downsize your number of basses with the singular best sounding jazz, precision, and rickenbacker bass tones (I own ernie balls already so have the stingray tone down).

BUT aside from that you can also just plug your normal bass into the thing and use it's insane array of brilliantly (perfectly, imho) modelled bass amps.

I've used a lowly behringer bass v-amp pro for years for professional session work - it's great, for sure. EDIT: note: I also have used line 6 modellers for years on guitar and bass and also own an 11 rack and zoom g3 for guitar. This is only so you understand that I'm very modelling aware and experienced. The axe fx is incredible, just ask Devin Townsend, but for bass I highly recommend the roland unit!

This BLOWS the other bass modellers away with depth, sensitivity, expression, realism in your room when playing. I can grab any of my basses, plug them in, and have insanely perfect SVTs (even two of them running in stereo), the geddy or chris squire classic two-different-amp setups, a flip top that is beautiful sounding but without the noise of the real thing....

I HIGHLY recommend the vb-99 just for the effects and amp sims alone. And with the VB-99 you can go one HUGE step further than the axe fx or other amp modellers and actually model basses and string types and synths etc, all with no latency (a few ms that you can't feel or hear, all a/d d/a conversion has similar latency), so grab a hex pickup (gk-3b in my case), mount it with double sided tape on your favorite FEELING bass (tone isn't relevant and it doesn't even need working pickups), and you will have quite literally perfectly modelled classic basses and customizable modern active basses and any combination you can think of, all with one instrument and one effect module.

Yes I'm in the honeymoon stage - I JUST got it and started playing it, but this is after a LOT of research, listening to extensive sound samples from forums and the like, and it truly is superior to any other dedicated amp and effect modelling system for the bass guitarist (eg: behringer, zoom, line 6... axe fx isn't dedicated to bass so I'm not counting it here), and if you get a hex pickup it is QUITE superior in tone to a variax, to the point that you forget you're not playing a rick 4001 or hofner violin bass or alembic series II. I played a variax bass for 3 week straight and own a variax guitar... cool, but the more you use it the more you grow to realize it's limitations and drawbacks... of which I can find nothing similar in the VB-99 no matter how picky I am about little subtleties in my playing and listening.

IMHO YMMV and all that stuff. Just trying to help you find the best solution to your requirement, which axe fx imho might be but this roland might also be.

Big investment, but not as big as an axe fx that, while also resulting in fantastic modelling, is clearly not targeting the working bassist with it's one (Great) amp and cab model and no bass-intended fx (like bass overdrive and well known bass compressors etc).

I heartily recommend the vb-99. I don't understand why it's not the obvious most-desirable-product for working bassists in forums. Certainly as a session player it's going to be invaluable to me.

I'm already polishing up my hagstrom 8 string in preparation to sell it - with my vb I have a 10 string stingray (which doesn't exist in real life) that is easily the best octave string bass tone and feel I've ever experienced.

Edited October 24, 2013 by donkelley

[fretmeister]

Anyone taken the plunge then?

Now that Fractal are introducing more bass amp models I am getting more and more tempted!

[Dood]

Nope. Sadly Fractal's customer care left me cold and I turned on my heels rather than taking the plunge.

[fretmeister]

Details please!!!

[mSz]

Ken Andrews and Greg Edward from Failure are both using Fractals. Check this video [url="http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21068-rig-rundown-failures-ken-andrews"]http://www.premiergu...res-ken-andrews[/url]

They both switch between guitar and bass. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h8XGfCOQ0A"]https://www.youtube....h?v=3h8XGfCOQ0A[/url]

Edited July 21, 2014 by mSz

[fretmeister]

That's a nice bass sound on the live show.

A lot of the bass demos on the Fractal website are all high gain with no proper low end.

[jimfist]

First post here on Basschat! Glad to be part of the online community here.

As for the AxeFxII and Fractal Audio Systems support, I'm wondering, [b]Dood[/b], if you care to elaborate on what it was that turned you off to the AxeFxII and FAS? In Europe, G66 is their distributor, and both they and FAS are generally regarded to have an excellent reputation with respect to customer service. I'm curious as to what could have transpired that sent you away from them without trying the AxeFx.

I believe I'm correct in saying that Fractal Audio offers a "no questions asked" return policy with a 15 day evaluation window in order to determine whether it is a keeper or not. I also believe that FAS does not offer any "rock star" endorsement deals - presumably, everyone on their endorsing artist list pays for their products. At least, IIRC the company's owner is on record somewhere saying this.

As for the AxeFxII itself, I've been an owner of both the (now discontinued) AxeFx Ultra and the AxeFxII (version 1) for about 4 years, and I've found it to be an excellent processor for guitar, bass, and just about anything else that you'd want to plug into it. It's a true one-of-a-kind pro-level processor that is incredibly flexible (some get mired up in that flexibility and complexity, but it doesn't have to be that way if you prefer not to go there) and top notch sonically.

I'd like to see more bassists consider the AxeFx, especially if you have the need for a bit more than the typical bassist. It's not for everyone, certainly, but if you wear a lot of hats musically, and need something that can keep up well with those varied needs, then the AxeFx is a great way to go. My subsequent gear purge paid for the AxeFx outright, plus any other (speaker system) gear I needed to replace that which was sold...and with money left in my pocket to spare.

Sorry for the long first post! Thanks ~ Jim