# Steve Vai rocking his AxeFx live



## Guest (Oct 25, 2010)

As reported by someone at the show: G-System is gone, most of his pedals are gone. There's an MFC-101 and some expression pedals on his board and then, nestled between two Legacy heads is an AxeFx Ultra.



















You can hear it here:

[YOUTUBE]Fv3_bXftP9g[/YOUTUBE]

Man, I could listen to that track all day...


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

So is Vai running the Axe Fx through the Legacy's or are they just dummys/backups on stage? Or is he using them as monitors for himself and sending a signal to the FOH as well?


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2010)

hollowbody said:


> So is Vai running the Axe Fx through the Legacy's or are they just dummys/backups on stage? Or is he using them as monitors for himself and sending a signal to the FOH as well?


Honestly: I don't know. He might running them for monitoring and using just their poweramps. Or he might be running them loaded own (with a Palmer or the like) and feeding their preamp signals in to the AxeFx. Or he might be running them dry and someone at the board is mixing AxeFx + Legacy signals.

Hard to say.

But the lack of a G-System and pedals means the AxeFx is definitely providing the the effects.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

iaresee said:


> Honestly: I don't know. He might running them for monitoring and using just their poweramps. Or he might be running them loaded own (with a Palmer or the like) and feeding their preamp signals in to the AxeFx. Or he might be running them dry and someone at the board is mixing AxeFx + Legacy signals.
> 
> Hard to say.
> 
> But the lack of a G-System and pedals means the AxeFx is definitely providing the the effects.


Yeah, I guess he could just be using the fx, but that seems like a bit of overkill. That's a pricey multi-fx unit, but I guess if you're Steve Vai, you can afford it.


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

I have read him saying that he uses the AxeFX for effects only, still wants tube amps for his main tone.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

TubeStack said:


> I have read him saying that he uses the AxeFX for effects only, still wants tube amps for his main tone.


Weird. How much of a difference could/do the effects in an Axe-Fx have compared to a G-system? 

Again, I'm sure Vai has the cash (or is sponsored) so it's not a relevant question in his case, but the main appeal of the Axe-Fx to me is the amp and cab modelling and the effects second.

Ian, do you have any direct experience with the G-System or the Digi 11R and other units that compare to the Axe strictly in terms of effect quality??


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2010)

hollowbody said:


> Yeah, I guess he could just be using the fx, but that seems like a bit of overkill. That's a pricey multi-fx unit, but I guess if you're Steve Vai, you can afford it.


His G-System/pedalboard setup was in the same range as the Ultra. Add in the Eventide he used to carry for the crazy harmony and delay stuff and you're well under the price of what Vai is used to carrying for an F/X rig when you switch to an AxeFx + MFC.


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2010)

hollowbody said:


> Weird. How much of a difference could/do the effects in an Axe-Fx have compared to a G-system?


Quite a big difference here. I was all set to buy a G-System before the AxeFx showed up on my radar. The G-System pales in comparison to the AxeFx for effects. The routing alone in the AxeFx is in a different league. The G-System is quite limited in how you can route the effects, what order they can appear in, parallelism, stacking of effects (you can't have 2 reverbs in the G-System on one patch for example). It's not even a fair fight really.



> Again, I'm sure Vai has the cash (or is sponsored) so it's not a relevant question in his case, but the main appeal of the Axe-Fx to me is the amp and cab modelling and the effects second.


Fractal claims every one of their endorsee's paid cost for their units. They say they don't give anything away. So, while not street, it wasn't free. But we're talking not much money compared to what Vai is used to spending for effects. The H8000 by comparison is USD$5500. 



> Ian, do you have any direct experience with the G-System or the Digi 11R and other units that compare to the Axe strictly in terms of effect quality??


I do. I was all set to buy a G-System and live with it's sort of stunted routing because it was such a nice form factor and then I found the AxeFx. It was much better for my needs (silent recording, effects routing, sound). I never had the two units side-by-side but the Koch + G-System rig I had for the briefest of moments while I was considering buying the G-System wasn't even close the AxeFx.

The 11R I spent an hour with at L&M's a few months ago. I'm actually considering one as a recording interface. It is really nice. The UI and the software are really polished and easy to use. And the integration with ProTools is just great. The tracks store your patch information so you can automatically recall your settings for a track on the unit (thought not sure how that'll work over firmware changes to the 11R) and reamping with it really easy. It sounds awesome. Models sound different than the AxeFx for models where the two units have the same thing going on, but not bad different. Just different. There aren't as many F/X in the 11R and the matrix routing isn't an option like the AxeFx, but it's what? Half the cost? It's a solid box for sure.

I'd like to own one in addition to the AxeFx.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

iaresee said:


> His G-System/pedalboard setup was in the same range as the Ultra. Add in the Eventide he used to carry for the crazy harmony and delay stuff and you're well under the price of what Vai is used to carrying for an F/X rig when you switch to an AxeFx + MFC.


Crazy, I guess I just hadn't bothered to look up how much the G-System stuff was, or maybe I'm only familiar with the lesser stuff from TC


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## bluesmostly (Feb 10, 2006)

Hey Ian, I tried to send you a PM but it said your box is full so I will try posting on a couple of threads to see if I get snag you that way... 

the other day I saw at the gear page a thread or two about the AXE FX MFC foot controler. I didn't read thru them but it looks like they are now shipping. I am on the waiting list but haven't heard. Are you, or did you already get one? shoot me a PM. 

thanks, David


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## Levi79 (Dec 15, 2010)

I want an AxeFX so abd


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2010)

Here's a new one of Vai using it on the Hendrix tribute gig:

[video=youtube;5bKIxrCa8Tg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bKIxrCa8Tg[/video]


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

Definitely getting a good tone there. I'd be interested in something like that but it's just too pricey for me, not saying it's not worth.. just well out of my range.

Anybody else notice the classic strat shape body Vai's using there?


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

Morkolo said:


> Definitely getting a good tone there. I'd be interested in something like that but it's just too pricey for me, not saying it's not worth.. just well out of my range.
> 
> Anybody else notice the classic strat shape body Vai's using there?


There is no confirmation that the amp tone is coming from the Axe Fx. I assume he is using his Carvin Legacy Amp and the Axe Fx in the loop for effects only?


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

ne1roc said:


> There is no confirmation that the amp tone is coming from the Axe Fx.  I assume he is using his Carvin Legacy Amp and the Axe Fx in the loop for effects only?


That's what I was thinking too, I can't picture a purist like Vai going all digital with his signal.


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## bluesmostly (Feb 10, 2006)

Morkolo said:


> That's what I was thinking too, I can't picture a purist like Vai going all digital with his signal.


I don't know about that. The Fractal AXE FX has won over alot of tube purists, including me, and I had a truckload of top notch tube amps over the years. If Vai was using the AXE for his amp/cab tone, noone would know it wasn't tube tone, it is that good, and the effects sound fantastic. 

I noticed in his floor rig in the first vid he had what looks like a Fractal MFC foot controler,... still waiting for mine.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2010)

ne1roc said:


> There is no confirmation that the amp tone is coming from the Axe Fx. I assume he is using his Carvin Legacy Amp and the Axe Fx in the loop for effects only?


AFAIK he's using for effects only.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2010)

bluesmostly said:


> I noticed in his floor rig in the first vid he had what looks like a Fractal MFC foot controler,... still waiting for mine.


Yes, he got an MFC-101 early. Lucky guy. I'm still waiting on mine...cracked the protective screen on my All Access last week. Argh.


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