It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
Yeah - In short, if you go SS as long as you've got way more power than you'd ever need you'll be fine.
I've got two poweramps, a Matrix GT1000FX and a Mesa 2:90. Either of them is capable of being louder than I'd ever need. They both sound good. Having the presence control and deep switch on the 2:90 is definitely more versatile, so I can definitely see the EQ on the Seymour Duncan poweramps being very useful.
I previously had a magnum 44, it was more than capable of being loud but it ran out of low end thump at very high volumes. Compared to the Matrix it was just thinner at high volumes, at lower volumes I actually thought the Magnum sounded pretty decent
Did the job - didn't affect the sound unless you want it to as it has BMT knobs on it which makes for quick tonal adjustment on the fly. Also a nice light rig!
Also what @digitalscream said about the EQ. I run my Helix into the 2x12 cab section of my combo amp via a power amp. I took the Helix and the power amp to a bass-playing mate's house recently and connected to a cab of his to find everything sounded noticeably darker, which was a bit distracting for me.
Less than 30 seconds of knob twiddling on the power amp and I was set for the day, across all the patches I used. Much easier than a patch-by-patch or even a global EQ change on the Helix, and nothing to change back once I got home. So that feature was really useful to me in one instance of slightly altering the gear I was using. If I was regularly playing different venues/through different cabs etc, it would feel indispensable.
occasionally on tour, the venue only managed to get me a single 1960B, which I've run in stereo mode [8ohms] without issue.
it was certainly loud enough but as you'd expect would lack the girth and stereo width of a pair of cabs
that said, it didn't upset my gig
https://photos.app.goo.gl/i9GXPJwi5QqDwJ3p9
If you are concerned about blowing speakers there are warning lights to show output (it’s in the manual what they relate to at a specific homage).
If you’re concerned about volume they’re super loud
The GT1000 is always set to 2/3 or max and I set the level from the AxeFX.
I turned the AxeFX up to around 1/2 way..
had plenty of volume but not so much that it hurts,
and still had loads left over but never needed it even on that enormous stage..
funnily enough, my level at the festival was only marginally louder than when I played at the Robin 2 a few weeks back..
when I play through my cabs I switch off the cab emulation of course, but as the GT1000FX is transparent I leave the power amp emulation on..
the bit it don't do though which is kind of a shame is to be able to switch off the preamp emulation..
so for example, if you wanted to use a real JMP-1 or 2120, you'd want to run that only into the modelled power amp stage of the amp block..
I saw folks in the fractal forum ask for that a few times..
the workaround was to exploit a feature in the AxeFX that allows you to create custom amps by selecting different tonestacks..
so imaging loading a Mesa MkIIC amp, then swapping the tonestack for a Peavey 5150..
the 5150 preamp runs through a MkIIC power amp.. you can mess around with all sorts of unusual combinations..
so.. the solution was to load the amp that had the power amp stage that most resembles the real rack mounted power amp you're after.. like a modern 100W Marshall if you wanted something like the Marshall EL34 100/100.. and then load the most transparent tonestack you can find [like a Roland Jazz jobby with all the controls at 12 o'clock]..
then you can pop the real preamp [JMP-1 for example] in the fx loop with the return before the amp block and you'll get pretty close to what you're looking for..
as with all things, the AxeFX is not perfect [if there is such a thing], but it's seriously configurable and so amazingly flexible
EDIT: sorry for the tangent guys..
I only know of a handful of guys that wanted to do this..
what they wanted was a lighter rig with a smaller footprint, to keep their fave lead tone for example and still be able to use other models for other tasks..
one guy was interested keeping the JMP-1 for something specific and another a Sansamp for a similar reason
but those I know that had them [mostly guys in the the Fractal forum] spoke very highly of them..
I've always liked Digitech..