Axe-fx for bass?

[5StringThunder]

I know that every guitarist (almost) uses Axe-fx now. What do y'all think of em for bass?

[runmikeyrun]

Oh gawd, that reminds me of the ART rack fx processors from the 90s.

I don't have any experience with this particular unit, but generally guitar effects are built (or in this case, modeled) around guitar frequencies. The biggest problem you're most likely going to have is a loss of low end. There are probably EQ settings in one of the thousands of menus, but they may or may not be adjustable frequencies. If they're not it's going to be harder to dial in a good sound, again, because they will be tailored to guitar and not bass. Ever use a guitar eq pedal on bass? I have... it "sort of" works. Things like chorus, flangers, and phasers can cut your low end completely.

I highly suggest you go to a store who carries it and ask them to try it out.

[cheapbasslovin]

Originally Posted by runmikeyrun

I highly suggest you go to a store who carries it and ask them to try it out.

Bwahahahahaahahha... good luck with that.

I don't have any personal experience with one, but the few people around here that I know tried it liked it. Versatility is unrivaled, but there are some guitar centric models that don't work so well, IIRC.

[KunkBass]

I just used an axe fx with a bass the other day at the recording studio I work at. If any of the effects were supposed to be guitar-centric, I didn't notice. I played while my boss flipped through the effects, and pretty much everything sounded fantastic.

No loss of low end, preserved the natural sound of the G&L bass I was playing very well. I get now why my boss calls it the best piece of gear he's bought in years. We've had a few big clients come through and they've all loved using it, guitarists and bassists alike.

[AndyLES]

As far as modelers go, it's the proverbial REAL DEAL - I know a guitar player who literally replaced a "fridge" full of high end rack gear with one Axe-FX.

That said, as awesome as it is, it might be overkill in 80% of WORKING bass player situations. It's also very deep to program, with a big learning curve (well, at least to get the most out of its capabilities), and it's very, very expensive. I'm sure it'll sound great on bass, but honestly, I'd probably use only two or three sounds. Then again, YMMV.