Ok, I'm asking this question just as an exploratory curiosity. No sir, I'm not thinking about switching actual heavy and loud and awesome valve amps for a little digital wonderbox, nope, never, not a chance...
... but... if I did get, like, a L6 Helix or something...
What's the consensus and experience here about the best way to hear it on stage? Obviously the main outputs go straight to front of house and they do with it what they will, but up on stage, do you trust them to send it back to you through the stage wedges in a manner that will sound and feel comfortable as a performer? Or do you use another output and send it to a foldback speaker/ cab of some kind that you control?
My instinct would be that I'd want my own guitar foldback wedge at my feet that the sound person had nothing to do with, and I could set for my own comfort. And that I'd want it to be a normal relatively flat speaker so I could send it the same signal, amp and cab modelling and all, that would be going to the front of house.
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Helix 1/4" out to a Yamaha DXR10 on a short speaker pole behind me. Nothing sent to PA as my band just runs off backline, with only vocals (and sometimes bass drum) going through the PA.
@clarky uses a Marshall and 4x12. If he’s around he can provide a different view.
Power amps and guitar cabs will give you the most traditional sound. Solid state power amps are usually more neutral sounding whereas valve amps are warmer and more punchy with faster transients. Let me reassure you that an Axe FX II into a Mesa 2:90 driving a couple of 2x12 cabs will hold its own against any valve head and cab(s) rig!
Last weekend I did a gig with my Kemper into a Red Sound RS-LG12 powered cab and a Yamaha DXR10. I also had a feed to the PA for some extra spread. The Red Sound was on the floor with the DXR10 pole mounted behind it. It was loud and very articulate- I was really impressed with the sound. A bit lighter than a power amp and cabs too!
I settled on a Red Sound RS LG12, and then going into an Allen and Heath mixer into a 2 x DXR10 based PA...
Now, at home, it's a completely different bag. This time I use Genelecs 8020s...
But with a modelling amp, there's another level of variability which is that the things that are generating the actual tone silently pass out an electrical signal, and then leave it up to you to decide how you're going to hear it.
So in that case... does it become harder to dial in tones that translate across different rooms and different playback systems? One of the things I like about a real amp is that it's a sonic event, and even if the soundman is a bit incompetent at least the amp is there sounding exactly the way I know it always does.
With modelling gear, do you ever dial in the tone on monitors at home then get to the gig and go "oh fuck, all my patches have way too much bass"? Or even, do you dial them in alongside the band in the practice room at gig volumes through a FRFR cab, then get to a gig and have to use IEMs and hate the tones, or get stuck using the provided monitors that sound nothing like what you were setting the gear up through? Do soundmen ever shaft you by doing daft things at the FOH that shift the sound far from what you intended?
I know these are all kinda existential thoughts, it's very interesting reading the various setups people are using in this thread so thanks for the replies!
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It also weighs less and has a better 'feel'..
tone wise though I can't hear much, if any difference between the 8008 [set Linear] and the GT1000
cabs: I use a pair of Marshall 1960B cabs set 4ohms
live the cabs are mic'd normally [no DI from the Axe-FX to the PA]
Axe-FX power amp modelling is active, cab modelling is off
in the studio at home, I don't use the backline
the Axe is jacked into my mixing desk and USB to my Mac for recording / reamping
in this configuration Axe-FX power amp modelling is active, cab modelling is active
We've got an HK Audio Linear PA system and the sounds I get at home are just the same as through the PA.
There's a global eq on the Kemper output section so you can alter it on the fly without going to the desk.
have used direct to PA and sounds superb. IR files and a global eq can tailor to venue quickly.
Last gig I went straight into Power Amp in on a Lab Series L7 (4x10) (used options of - power amp & cab/valve power amp setting in setup - as L7 didn't need the solid state eq/hf attenuation the solid state power amp setting gives).
Can highly recommend Lab Series amps as a great amp platform for a quality modeller. Not sure how well it would work with modellers of lower quality (they may benefit from a warm and coloured valve power amp) but Lab Series is sublime with good modellers and plus point they aren't expensive at all. Sounded better with lab series by a fair margin than it did in practise room using power amp in on a 60w Marshall jcm2000 and 4x12. This combo sounded as good as any valve amp i have used either with modelled preamp or gt trio valve preamp.
Lab series power amp in keeps master volume in line so easy to tweak stage volume to desired. Have also mic'd the lab series to pa rather than xlr (as didn't have a suitable matching IR at time) and it also sounds fantastic this way too.
I am so impressed I am gonna buy a beat up lab series L5 (as well as my L7) and convert to a light neodium driver 1x12 with my spare gsp built in to the combo with as a lighter grab and go amp for Jam's, practise and maybe odd short notice gig.
https://youtu.be/nvdYAS0gjnM
I used mine into a Roland AC60 acoustic amp the other day. Sounded pretty good, considering I had no setup time whatsoever.
I tend to run helix split path with a send to a matrix GT1000 and out to a cab either side of the stage (2x12s if its my gear or whatever cabs are being provided as backline), and a path with dual stock cabs out Mono to FOH.
On a bigger stage / one with decent monitoring, I'd be happy to run it without the stage cabs, but I do like having some grunt behind me. also the stage cabs help out the drummer when he hasn't got any monitoring. Also means I can turn them up or down and move them about a bit for drums/bassist, without mucking up the mic placement or send volume.
Between us we had:
2 x Axe FX II
Kemper
Digitech GSP1101
Matrix GT1000FX
Fryette Power Station
A Montage 2x12 cab with Celestion Neo Creambacks
Red Sound RS-LG12
2 x Yamaha DXR10
As is usual with these sorts of things, any conclusions we came to were purely subjective but some things were very obvious. The Axe FX is a great bit of kit and can sound wonderful but in every comparison we thought the Kemper's amp sounds were superior. They sounded more natural and believable and through the Red Sound/DXR combo the KPA sounded immense.
We tried the Axe through both the FRFR system and through both power amps and cab and it was great either way. Surprisingly, the two power amps were very close and there wasn't much to choose between them.
We only used the GSP1101 very briefly through the FRFR system (I use it as a spare/back up) and we were surprised at how good it sounded. Not quite up to the KPA or the Axe but for £200ish s/h it's a bargain.
Guitars were a Schecter C1 that my friend bought two weeks ago (I have no idea about pickups but it cost around £1k so imagine they're decent). A USA Strat with Di Marzio's, a Patrick Eggle Berlin with Oil City Scrapyard Dog + pickups and a PRS Tremonti SE Custom with Oil City Blue Streak pickups.
As a result of all this we are swapping presets for the Axe between us and my friend's saving up for a Kemper!