Talk me out of the AXE!!!

[rjpilot]

Ok.
I need a reason not to get this thing. The biggest detractor I have found so far is the amount of extra gear required to have a giggable setup. I am an Amp and pedals kind of guy.

I would figure on also needing:
1. A rack to mount the thing in
2. A power conditioner
3. A Floor Controller and an expression pedal
4. A poweramp so I can run it into a cabinet for monitoring purposes.
5. Anything else I am missing? Midi inyerface?

That crap starts to add up. I have a couple of pedals I could probably sell but I want to keep my amps (Knucklehead R, and a Bassman) for now. I'm gonna have to go back to work (April) before any of this stuff happens anyhow.

I think I am steering away from the powered FRFR floor wedge. Too much money and too specialized.

 

[enigma]

You just did

 

[rjpilot]

You just did

I am afraid I am gonna need more help than that.

 

[Scott Peterson]

If you can't pay cash for what you need - all of it - then you can't really afford it.

(*Does that help?)

 

[enigma]

Why don't you save money and get either the Digitech GSP-1101 (~ $450) or Digidesign Eleven Rack ($899) and have $1,100-1,500 left over for other equipment? I'm going through my own purchasing scenario, and leaning towards Eleven.

 

[rjpilot]

Its not the money so much...
I will be returning to work in April and finally making some decent money I just have become used to a lower income (the wife's). I hate stepping into another tax bracket by buying a bunch of stuff is all. You guys just don't get being married. I really have to sell this stuff to the wife. By the time she finally breaks down I get to lower the "oh yeah and there is like 600-700 dollars worth of peripheral gear too that I need".

I guess it boils down to what her dad told me on our wedding night...

"Its ALWAYS better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission."












Caveat...
I have had a few.

 

[rjpilot]

BTW is it wrong to accept the axe as a birthday (march) present? And then go accessory hunting?

I have it on good authority...

 

[strumminsix]

Its not the money so much...
I will be returning to work in April and finally making some decent money I just have become used to a lower income (the wife's). I hate stepping into another tax bracket by buying a bunch of stuff is all. You guys just don't get being married. I really have to sell this stuff to the wife. By the time she finally breaks down I get to lower the "oh yeah and there is like 600-700 dollars worth of peripheral gear too that I need".

1. What you purchase doesn't impact your tax bracket.

2. Why would anyone account for your being married if you never said so?


I've never put myself in a relationship with a woman who doesn't respect the fact that I am a musician. With that comes rehearsing, gigging, practicing in the basement and gear. I'll never understand why guys set themselves up for this kinda fight.

 

[BSHARP]

I have a Guitar Port I will sell ya for 50 bucks. That could substitute for the Axe.

 

[Pat Healy]

As you noted, it does require a good bit of peripheral gear.

It requires a lot of time spent tweaking in order to get the most out of it.

Ummm...that's my best shot.

 

[strumminsix]

Sorry for my short rant.. Let's see:
It will cost you around $4,000 and take 100 hours before you are setup nicely.

 

[rjpilot]

1. What you purchase doesn't impact your tax bracket.

2. Why would anyone account for your being married if you never said so?


I've never put myself in a relationship with a woman who doesn't respect the fact that I am a musician. With that comes rehearsing, gigging, practicing in the basement and gear. I'll never understand why guys set themselves up for this kinda fight.

I know but I am wondering if I am being too self indulgent with this. I

I know that purchases don't affect my tax bracket but I feel like any sort of extra money I make should be squirreled away for retirement when I am too old to enjoy it.

I can think of so many reasons why having an axe is just gonna make my life so much easier but I have gotten to the point where I think this thing is the pie in the sky and that when I get the thing I am only capable of being disappointed. I may have fallen victim to too much hype. I want direct to FOH sound. I want a quiet incredible recording solution. I want supreme flexibility in my live rig.

2 beers and 2 jacks and counting..

 

[GASattack]

but I feel like any sort of extra money I make should be squirreled away for retirement when I am too old to enjoy it.

me thinks ye just gave yourself every reason to buy it right there ... enjoy the money now, so you dont look back when your 80 years old and say ... "i do wish I'd give that axe fx a shot, im gonna die now and have money left over"



LOL






kevin

 

[rjpilot]

Stop right there.

Whew, that was easy.

Every axe guy was using a digital means prior to the axe?
I tried a pod 2.0 back in 2002 but I could not warm up to the thing so I abandoned the idea of using digital means to reproduce the sounds I wanted. Technology has come a long way since then. I still can't warm up to the x3live. Is the axe going to be another dissapointment? I would love to try one out but seen as how thats an impossibility....


I apologize if I argue a point that the original post seemed to infer I was looking for. I really think I want to give this thing a whirl.

 

[GASattack]

They do have the 15 day return policy, if you dont like it ... Ive spent weeks pouring over clips and listening to how it handles things. Ive been nothing but impressed thus far.

I think Scott Peterson is a genius on it. His clips are slick, VERY slick.

I have an XT-Live, myself, and the Axe-FX is beyond light years past Line6's marketing.

FWIW, I plan on going the direction of the AxeFx come the summer or so ... ... Gotta get a Suhr first ...

Kevin

 

[Jerrod]

I think rjpilot should try one to decide if he likes it.

I also think enigma should try it before recommending some purportedly close substitutes.

 

[Gasp100]

Sorry for my short rant.. Let's see:
It will cost you around $4,000 and take 100 hours before you are setup nicely.

Sorry, that's nonsense. Here's my rig as of tomorrow:

USED AxeFX Standard (Firmware 9.0 preloaded) = $1250 (shipped/paypald)
USED Atomic FR = $725 (shipped/paypald)
Total = $~$2K

-- IF I was gigging, I could use many of my patches (Plexi, Mesa Mark IIC+) and the VOLUME KNOB on my guitar with NO problems. If my gigs included a decent FOH with monitors I wouldn't need the Atomic FR.
-- IF I want total control on the ground for gigging I would get a Rocktron Midimate ~$150 used with the 7 pin to 5 pin midi cable.

That right there is an amazingly versatile, killer looking, sounding, light weight rig that will SLAY most of the competition (I hesitate saying all of the competition

If you want to hook up to a computer for future updates, to edit with the software editor (NOT A REQUIREMENT, the front panel is FINE for editing!) I bought a Focusrite Saphire Pro 24 (24/96k, 6 in / 8 out, SPDIF i/o, 24/96khz, MIDI) for $225 shipped!!!
-- I already had monitors but you can find excellent nearfield monitors for very cheap prices that are perfect for home situations. KRK and Mackie have some small powered monitors that are decent for a ridiculously lower price (HINT: look out for Musician's Friend 20% off sales!!!)

So all in all, you could do the whole thing in a very smart and sensible manner that would handle any gig, any jam and any recording or monitoring situation for ~$2500. It can also be piecemeal, you don't need to get everything at the same time depending on what you need to do when. Think about a booteek rig (one great booteek amp and several pedals + board). Then, think about how you're going to record that to disk in high quality??? What about a mic? And that's only going to be ONE tone...

BTW, I consider the Atomic FR the top of the line mate to pair with the AxeFX. You could do solid state power amp and cab (I recommend Art SLA-1 used @$150, Avatar G112 1x12 with Celestion CL80 NEW @$225 = $375...

The numbers being tossed about for building an AxeFX rig are just silly. Yes, the 11 rack is cheaper and takes care of your audio interface as well, but you only get one mic preamp, USB (I prefer firewire) and the pre's are so/so imho. The key factor is how great the amp sims / cab sims and FX sound... I think the AxeFX is the clear winner and worth the extra cash. IMHO, YMMV, etc...
BUT - the 11 rack fits in nicely between the line 6, Digitech and AxeFX stuff. Worth mentioning are the Digitech RP1000 and all of the Tech21 character pedals. Also just a note, I have owned and tested all of this gear and I'm also frugal as hell. In the end, the AxeFX rig with Atomic is worth it to me, even as a stay at home player.

 

[rjpilot]

Sorry, that's nonsense. Here's my rig as of tomorrow:

USED AxeFX Standard (Firmware 9.0 preloaded) = $1250 (shipped/paypald)
USED Atomic FR = $725 (shipped/paypald)
Total = $~$2K

-- IF I was gigging, I could use many of my patches (Plexi, Mesa Mark IIC+) and the VOLUME KNOB on my guitar with NO problems. If my gigs included a decent FOH with monitors I wouldn't need the Atomic FR.
-- IF I want total control on the ground for gigging I would get a Rocktron Midimate ~$150 used with the 7 pin to 5 pin midi cable.

That right there is an amazingly versatile, killer looking, sounding, light weight rig that will SLAY most of the competition (I hesitate saying all of the competition

If you want to hook up to a computer for future updates, to edit with the software editor (NOT A REQUIREMENT, the front panel is FINE for editing!) I bought a Focusrite Saphire Pro 24 (24/96k, 6 in / 8 out, SPDIF i/o, 24/96khz, MIDI) for $225 shipped!!!
-- I already had monitors but you can find excellent nearfield monitors for very cheap prices that are perfect for home situations. KRK and Mackie have some small powered monitors that are decent for a ridiculously lower price (HINT: look out for Musician's Friend 20% off sales!!!)

So all in all, you could do the whole thing in a very smart and sensible manner that would handle any gig, any jam and any recording or monitoring situation for ~$2500. It can also be piecemeal, you don't need to get everything at the same time depending on what you need to do when. Think about a booteek rig (one great booteek amp and several pedals + board). Than, think about how you're going to record that to disk in high quality???

BTW, I consider the Atomic FR the top of the line mate to pair with the AxeFX. You could do solid state power amp and cab (I recommend Art SLA-1 used @$150, Avatar G112 1x12 with Classic 80 NEW @$225 = $375...

The numbers being tossed about for building an AxeFX rig are just silly. Yes, the 11 rack is cheaper and takes care of your audio interface as well, but you only get one mic preamp, USB (I prefer firewire) and the pre's are so/so imho. The key factor is how great the amp sims / cab sims and FX sound... I think the AxeFX is the clear winner and worth the extra cash. IMHO, YMMV, etc...

I think thats about where I am at with the decision.

The 11r is MUCH more limited and I have TRIED the Digitech GSP1101 and we'll just have to leave it at that.

 

[strumminsix]

Sorry, that's nonsense. Here's my rig as of tomorrow:

USED AxeFX Standard (Firmware 9.0 preloaded) = $1250 (shipped/paypald)
USED Atomic FR = $725 (shipped/paypald)
Total = $~$2K

You ignored so many facts:

1. The dude doesn't even know if he likes it
2. The wife may flip out

Take those 2 things combined and buying new without a return policy is sketchy at best.

He also said he didn't want a powered speaker device.

So get back into the mindset of NEW and the add in the other **** he needs or should have. He mentioned many:

1. A rack to mount the thing in
2. A power conditioner
3. A Floor Controller and an expression pedal
4. A poweramp so I can run it into a cabinet for monitoring purposes.
5. Anything else I am missing? Midi inyerface?

Rack $200
Power conditioner $200
GCP $400
Exp pedals $150
Art SLA2 which many like $350
JBL monitor $350
Axe itself $2000
Cables $200
= $3850

I don't think I was too far off.

 

[Gasp100]

You ignored so many facts:

1. The dude doesn't even know if he likes it
2. The wife may flip out

-- The AxeFX sells itself on the used market. I CAN (and have) bought it for $1250 one day and sold it for $1300 the next... the 11 rack, not so much.
-- I can't help him with his wife, but if he has a bunch of gear laying around that he can't use because it needs to hit "the sweet spot" to sound good, sell it; I did.

Take those 2 things combined and buying new without a return policy is sketchy at best.

He also said he didn't want a powered speaker device.

-- He said he didn't know if he wanted to get into FRFR; I'm telling him from experience that is the best way to determine if the AxeFX is right (or wrong) and will utilize it to it's full extent. The same could be said of the 11 rack.

So get back into the mindset of NEW and the add in the other **** he needs or should have. He mentioned many:


Rack $200 -- Huh? 3 space rack cases are like $50 new (which I never buy new)
Power conditioner $200 -- Doesn't have to be rack mountable; this is not an immediate must have, ISOBAR would work fine, same thing just on the floor.
GCP $400 -- no... Midimate is fine
Exp pedals $150 -- Does he have a wah and/or volume pedal now? You can always use these incorporated into the front of the AxeFX; ancillary stuff as far as I'm concerned.
Art SLA2 which many like $350 -- Waste, Art SLA-1 is a better deal, TubeWorks Mosvalve even better... but it's a moot point. I'd grab a used Atomic FR, FBT 12ma or 8ma or use bing.com cashback and grab a B stock QSC K10 ~$600 SHIPPED and get 8% back!!!

JBL monitor $350 -- IF he wants to record; hell, he could use pc speakers in the beginning...

Axe itself $2000 -- Wrong, standard kills it, $1500 new IF you must (but it makes no sense imho)

Cables $200 -- Dude? C'mon... 1 guitar cable, 1 XLR cable to FRFR. If you buy the Rocktron midimate the 7 to 5 cable is $20 bucks (I have bought AND sold mine with the cable included in the price)

= $3850

I don't think I was too far off.

-- See my comments, I guess we shop differently