Fractal AX8 ... a (relatively) cost effective alternative to individual pedals
Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:36 pm
As you may be aware I've been hot-and-cold about the modelling equipment made by Fractal. About 5 years ago I bought an AxeFX II with foot-controller. It had excellent tone-and-feel, but ultimately I sold it for two main reasons:
1) It cost nearly CAD$5000 and it was WAY too much money to have tied up, plus the depreciation was going to be eye-watering when the AxeFX III came out.
2) I found I was spending time tweaking, not playing.
I went back to a (mainly Boss and DingoTone) pedalboard through my old Dr Z amp. Very happy with the tone-and-feel, but started to really miss having stereo effects.
I bought a GT-100 and ran it through the Dr Z on one side and my Fender Twin on the other, but it just didn't cut it.
Eventually I decided to buy another Fractal unit. This is the story about why I did it, and why I think it is a good and viable alternative to a pedalboard.
Fractal released a unit called the AX8 around the same time as the AxeFX II. The AX8 is essentially a floor-board format, cut-down version of the Axe FX II (that's not an exactly correct description, but close enough).
The AxeFX II has now been superseded by the AxeFX III, and the AX8 is now marked as "legacy" and will be replaced by the FM3 and perhaps another larger floor-board.
So. AX8 units can be picked up used for a reasonable price. Prices will only go down once the replacement floor-boards are actually available.
I really, really, like the Fractal stereo effects. I bought an AX8 for CAD$1100 (about USD$830).
For a while I simply ran the AX8 through the guitar amps and that was good. But the Fractal stuff is really meant to be run through FRFR speakers (Full Range Flat Response) with amp and speaker modelling turned on.
I picked up a pair of Yorkville NX55P mid-high speakers used for CAD$700 (about USD$530) and repurposed a couple of old expression pedals. My modelling rig is now fully setup for a total cost of USD$1350.
This is much less than the cost of a pedalboard with a single good tube amp. The clean Fender-ish tones on the Fractal are so good I'm selling my Fender Twin, and I've already sold my GT-100 ... between the sale of the Twin and GT-100 the modelling rig is paid for.
The AX8 is permanently USB connected to my laptop and I can change almost any parameter you can think of in real time using the Fractal editing program.
Why I think it's a viable alternative to pedals:
- It is a virtual pedalboard with MUCH easier editing than tweaking knobs. I really like the Fractal editing software. Plus it has presets.
- Because the AX8 is simpler than the AxeFX II that I used to own I'm finding I'm spending much less time tweaking and more time playing. I've really only spent a few hours dialing in some clean and heavy tones that I like.
- Because the price of the AX8 is so reasonable I'm not worried about it depreciating and losing thousands of dollars. If I use it for 10 years and then it's only worth $200... oh well.
- The Yorkville NX55P were purchased used and are standard PA speakers so they won't depreciate much, plus I can use them with my friend's band if we need more speakers for a bigger gig.
This is the rig: - .
This is the editing software. Things are laid out on a graphical grid and you simply drop effects into the grid.
1) It cost nearly CAD$5000 and it was WAY too much money to have tied up, plus the depreciation was going to be eye-watering when the AxeFX III came out.
2) I found I was spending time tweaking, not playing.
I went back to a (mainly Boss and DingoTone) pedalboard through my old Dr Z amp. Very happy with the tone-and-feel, but started to really miss having stereo effects.
I bought a GT-100 and ran it through the Dr Z on one side and my Fender Twin on the other, but it just didn't cut it.
Eventually I decided to buy another Fractal unit. This is the story about why I did it, and why I think it is a good and viable alternative to a pedalboard.
Fractal released a unit called the AX8 around the same time as the AxeFX II. The AX8 is essentially a floor-board format, cut-down version of the Axe FX II (that's not an exactly correct description, but close enough).
The AxeFX II has now been superseded by the AxeFX III, and the AX8 is now marked as "legacy" and will be replaced by the FM3 and perhaps another larger floor-board.
So. AX8 units can be picked up used for a reasonable price. Prices will only go down once the replacement floor-boards are actually available.
I really, really, like the Fractal stereo effects. I bought an AX8 for CAD$1100 (about USD$830).
For a while I simply ran the AX8 through the guitar amps and that was good. But the Fractal stuff is really meant to be run through FRFR speakers (Full Range Flat Response) with amp and speaker modelling turned on.
I picked up a pair of Yorkville NX55P mid-high speakers used for CAD$700 (about USD$530) and repurposed a couple of old expression pedals. My modelling rig is now fully setup for a total cost of USD$1350.
This is much less than the cost of a pedalboard with a single good tube amp. The clean Fender-ish tones on the Fractal are so good I'm selling my Fender Twin, and I've already sold my GT-100 ... between the sale of the Twin and GT-100 the modelling rig is paid for.
The AX8 is permanently USB connected to my laptop and I can change almost any parameter you can think of in real time using the Fractal editing program.
Why I think it's a viable alternative to pedals:
- It is a virtual pedalboard with MUCH easier editing than tweaking knobs. I really like the Fractal editing software. Plus it has presets.
- Because the AX8 is simpler than the AxeFX II that I used to own I'm finding I'm spending much less time tweaking and more time playing. I've really only spent a few hours dialing in some clean and heavy tones that I like.
- Because the price of the AX8 is so reasonable I'm not worried about it depreciating and losing thousands of dollars. If I use it for 10 years and then it's only worth $200... oh well.
- The Yorkville NX55P were purchased used and are standard PA speakers so they won't depreciate much, plus I can use them with my friend's band if we need more speakers for a bigger gig.
This is the rig: - .
This is the editing software. Things are laid out on a graphical grid and you simply drop effects into the grid.