Its been a long journey with MTS...

Like the title says its been a long journey with the MTS line but after 3 years of chasing tone with Randall its time to say good bye.

I just received my Fractal Axe FX II and after a week with it, including going through a very loaud & long band practice I have to say I have found the tool to get my tone where I want it. I will be listing my MTS gear on here as well as on ebay later this week or the first of next week.

I'll be selling my RM4 pre, 2 xtc modules, mr scary, 1086, treadplate & ultra xl (all 6 modules are stock). I'd like to sell them as a package which is how I am going to list on ebay then if no luck will sell individually.

I have to say that even a tube purist like me has been convinced by the fractal...I can't get over this unit![/list]

Are you using it with a poweramp? It's all about the poweramp... without it, you've got a POD! 8)

Tone tastes change over time.. go with whatever makes you happy and makes you play. Too much time is wasted on tone chasing..

Sounds like you never tried the land of modded modules. Too bad. Good luck with the AXE FX. What power amp are you using?

Right now I am using my 5150 as a power amp, will probably look into a Carvin or something down the line.

Also no I never ventured into the land of modded modules but to be honest if I would have gotten each of my modules modded (which would have had to be done to be happy) then we're talking about another $900 on top of the $2,100 I spent on the MTS gear already, then add FX to the mix and for the money it makes more sense to me to get the Fractal.

If your 5150 does not have the bias mod you are running cold. This could possibly be a reason to not get the sound you are looking for from the Randall gear. Not a big deal but the tone does change. If you do that mod to your 5150 you will probably like the 5150 by itself as a amp all together. I love mine for cleans and dirt. In fact when my Splawn had an tube issue at an outdoor gig over the Summer I backed it up with my 5150 and it sounded killer.

i felt ur plight awhile back and got out too. in the end i spent too much money when i could have just bought the real deal. although with all the modded stuff alot easier available these days i wouldnt mind trying it again but idk i guess time will tell. good luck with the axe make some clips

Now that I have all the Marshll basis covered with my MTS stuff, I am very tempted to try and changed my JCM800 vertical input combo for a 5150 combo + a bit of cash. Am I crazy? Off topic i know.. but seeing as you guys are familiar with the 5150's.

Wow..I dont know where you all get your mts stuff,but it doesnt cost that much money comparively and you have just as great of tone with more flexibility....you can get a Salvado deluxe module and rm50,100..etc for well under $1000 and still have extra slots for more versatiliy...a used soldano HR50 is over a grand easily...same goes with any Recto,Engl,Marshall....and an AXE prosessor is alot of money,even used...which is how I shop,just makes more sense to me...you loose too much money if you dont keep it and we all know that we get bored with stuff easily....lol....

All depends on what you want. For me, personally, I find that having limitless tonal options leads me down a bit of a black hole of constantly tweaking. In addition, I generally play with zero effects (I have a pedal board with a few things but only use it occasionally). That makes an MTS setup with a judicious collection of top-quality modules a great choice for me. If you were the type of player that could truly take advantage of the versatility and you wanted access to effects too, I can see how the Axe would be the best way to go.

Some Salvo modules are superior to the real deal :shock:
The S1S0 kicks the crap out of the 6505

Thats kinda where i am... i make good use of fx, a pedal board wouldnt provide the flexibility i need. In my original band i do alot of ambient & texture stuff and honestly having an fx unit allows me to use some interesting sounds that i wouldn't otherwise if i had to buy a pedal and take up space on a board to do so.

Now in my cover band i use fx to mimic keyboards & other sounds so multi fx are very handy. Til now i have been using a Boss GT Pro which worked very well, i even side lined the RM 4 and started using the pre amp in the Boss which everyone in my band agreed sounded better & it took much less tweaking to get good tones.

There are a couple of reasons I switchec to the AXE II. 1.I love the idea of 1 unit for my Amp sounds and FX. 2. This unit does equally amazing at both (unlike the Boss lacking in Pre's or Line 6 lacking in FX) 3. The seemingly limitless tweak options of the amps themselves, like swapping tone stacks, changing the values of transformers, bright caps, EQ active or passice, center freq of the eqs power amp dampening etc. I think that as I get tired of my tones i'll be able to find new tones I love in the unit. 4.Its realistic! Super realistic, if you blind compared most would not know the difference, even the feel is there..

stm113 said:

if you blind compared most would not know the difference, even the feel is there..

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Perhaps, but dont kid yourself (not to sound like a complete a$$h0l3). Yes the AxeF/x is probably the better piece of equipment for your application. Yes the AxeF/x is a handy tool and provides a good quality recording instances of other amps.

An putting the AxeF/x to the a/b test and holding its feet to the fire with a savy Axe II user and his best Bogner and Cameron patches.... Theirs a difference and its noticeable with all High Gain patches vs amp channels.

Cleans are a different story and will come down to what someone preferences are. I will say I prefer the ease of capturing cleans of the axe over my tube amps. But after adding effects to the clean chain it becomes just a matter of ones preference.

We A/B'd a Twin Jet, My Bogner Fish with a cantrell mod and a Cameron CCV. Cab was a Mills with scumbacks. The only time the Axe got onto the same field was his bogner Uberschall patch and thats only because we let him run through the Twin Jets power section. Even then the Axe F/x doesnt capture the low end girth of the Twin Jet or the cameron's for that matter. But it did sound good, not as good.

Tubes are always gonna be the bench mark for amps. If they werent, then why all the collection of other manufacture's sound signatures?

stm113 said:

if you blind compared most would not know the difference, even the feel is there..

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I beg to differ...

If you want to use an Axe FX, no worries. But the second you tell me it's the same as room full of tube amps, vintage or modern, I'll call BS every time.

Axe FX is a compromise, plain and simple. You don't want the "hassle" or expense of multiple tube amps. I get that. But there isn't a respectable recording engineer or producer that was choose an Axe FX "model" over a tube amp, 4x12 cabinet, choice of microphone(s) and mic preamp.

Enjoy your Axe FX but please, don't tell us it's "the same". Because it's not.

Have you A/B'd the axe FX to the real thing?

I have, in person, you'd be surprised by the results

stm113 said:

Have you A/B'd the axe FX to the real thing?

I have, in person, you'd be surprised by the results

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Yes, I have and no, I'm not. It's digital.

Turn off all the effects and pull up a Plexi or Rectifier or anything modern. Then compare directly to a tube amp. If you think they're even close, our perceptions vary greatly.

I'd never use Axe FX for any of my productions at this point in time. Maybe someone will "get it right" in the next decade or so but I'm not banking on it.

Mike P said:

stm113 said:

Have you A/B'd the axe FX to the real thing?

I have, in person, you'd be surprised by the results

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Yes, I have and no, I'm not. It's digital.

Turn off all the effects and pull up a Plexi or Rectifier or anything modern. Then compare directly to a tube amp. If you think they're even close, our perceptions vary greatly.

I'd never use Axe FX for any of my productions at this point in time. Maybe someone will "get it right" in the next decade or so but I'm not banking on it.

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I have to agree, I have played the Axe Fx as well and while it is the best attempt at modeling to date- no way is it the same as my current or past high end tube amps. If it works for you or others, that's great! I wouldnt move to that platform, just not for me

oh, and if you do list some of your mts modules seperate, I may be interested! (Mr Scary, 1086) 8)

Curious, which unit did you try the Standard, the Ultra or the II? There is a huge difference...

I never really thought about them until the owner of a mid-to high end studio here in my area unloaded Voodoo amps modded JCM 800's, Mesa Dual Rec & 5150 to get the AxeII. He told me the only reason he even thought about it was because alot of the bands coming through were requesting it. He tried it out & made the change

I will say that this past Monday I A/B'd it with my 5150 (not 6505) and the difference or lack of was almost scary.

stm113 said:

Curious, which unit did you try the Standard, the Ultra or the II? There is a huge difference...

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The II. It's sterile and lame, especially with high gain amps. It's got that buzzy, digital thing happening (same as the POD HD's).

Again, it's a compromise. Trust me, if I could dump my mic preamps, Apogee converters, mics, amps, etc. and purchase an Axe FX with absolutely no discernible difference, I'd do it in a heartbeat and take that $15k and throw it in the 401k. The problem is, it's NOT there for critical applications.

As I stated earlier, enjoy it. But don't try to convince me that it's the same because it's not even close to my ears.

Mike P said:

stm113 said:

Curious, which unit did you try the Standard, the Ultra or the II? There is a huge difference...

Click to expand...

The II. It's sterile and lame, especially with high gain amps. It's got that buzzy, digital thing happening (same as the POD HD's).

Again, it's a compromise. :Edit: Body deleted:

As I stated earlier, enjoy it. But don't try to convince me that it's the same because it's not even close to my ears.

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you guys are F'n NUTS