I’ve blogged lots about my gear over the past year because I’ve been trading equipment around like crazy. Here’s what I’ve had in just the past few years:
POD XT Live ->
4-space rack with various units->
Floor-based pedalboard setup ->
Boss GT-10 floor-based processor ->
???
I didn’t even bother blogging about the GT-10 because I only kept it a few months, and because the only people that really care about this stuff are my fellow guitar geeks anyway.
Without going into too much detail about why each of the previous gear setups weren’t right for me, I will say that none of them were awful. I put *a lot* of time into researching stuff before I buy. Each time I’d trade in, I figured I’d be happy with the next installment, but for some reason I never was. I’d tell everyone I was going to be finally happy with my gear, and end up eating my words. Apparently, this has a name: Gear Acquisition Syndrome, or G.A.S.! Some musicians get it pretty bad – I wouldn’t want to be this guy:
Well, I finally think I’ve hit the “totally satisfied” mark with my latest purchases. Really! I spent hours researching, studying, comparing, and I think I have a great setup! Here’s what:
1) Fractal Axe-Fx
2) FBT Maxx 4a
3) Grundorf 3-space rack case
Here’s my reasoning for this strange assortment of gear:
The Axe-Fx is one of the most expensive guitar processors out there, and for good reason. It can emulate almost any tone beautifully. Fully routable, a full complement of effects, a myriad of I/O. It’s truly a great machine.
To take full advantage of this awesome processor, many owners (and the makers) recommend a full range system. This means a true full range speaker, NOT a guitar cabinet. The Axe-Fx flawlessly emulates guitar amp+cab sounds, so you don’t want to affect your tone twice. Hence the odd combination – a processor and a PA speaker.
After I got the Axe, the hardest thing was the choice of full-range speaker. I sought advice from sound fanatics, called stores, researched for a week, and finally decided on the FBT. It’s a great speaker, and accurately reproduces what the Axe creates. The sound is beautiful (assuming what I play is good, heh) and there are so many tonal possibilities and effects combination that I will probably never figure it all out.
All this in TWO RACK SPACES! My gear is so portable! Just the 3-space rack, one guitar, and a 35 pound speaker that’s easily as loud as two 4×12 guitar cabs. And if I ever plug into another sound system, it’s already EQ’d for the board with no tinkering required, and I can use my speaker as a monitor on steroids. No mic’ing amps, no fiddling with EQ, just pure full-range sound.
Finally, my band (Sugar Road) can use a small mixer and *everyone* can play through this speaker. Our first gig using it was tonight, and it sounded awesome. Even our bassist plugged into it instead of lugging his amp. It was barely turned up and provided enough sound for us and our audience.
The only downside is that this gear was expensive 
But since I sell all my old gear when I trade, it’s really not that bad!
Please shoot me if I ever get GAS again, this stuff is great! Here’s one pic I took recently:
