As many of you may know, I believe that if you want to achieve real deal electric guitar sounds, you need to record with a real deal amp in a real room with a real mic. (There are a few exceptions to this....Nine Inch Nails and Def Leopard come to mind).

I've watched the Line6 POD rise (and fall). I even own a Rocktron Prophesy which I consider to be just a hair towards this side of useless for direct guitar recording. I also have the Native Instruments Guitar Rig2 plugin. It has one tone that is useful for me....but not that useful. In other words, I've just not been that impressed with these direct guitar gadgets. I have heard people make great music with some of these, but they are usually going for “different” guitar tones. The mixes I've heard that tried to use these emulators when a real deal guitar amp was required usually came up short.

I have to admit that I have some very fun electric guitar toys that make it hard for me to reach for some new gadget. My Rivera Knucklehead, 5150, Marshall Super Lead from 1971, JCM 800 cabinet loaded with Celestion G12H30s, complete guitar fort, and Royer R121 ribbon mic are some very fun toys. The average person is not stupid enough to blow this much money on ridiculous noise making equipment (but you may!).

In short, I just don't think direct guitar technology is ready for the big time.....until today.

Yup, finally I have to throw in the towel and lower my nose a little bit (which is a good idea because my nose hairs are probably quite gross!).

Fractal Audio Systems now has the Axe-FX.
For $1700 you get a direct guitar recording that actually has “life” to it. What do I mean by “life”? Hell, I don't know....excitement!...I guess. To me, every direct recording method I've heard just sort of seemed “boring” or “missing something”. When I hear my Marshall or Rivera cranked to oblivion and I like the chord ring, I can hear stuff happening. It sounds like giant gears are turning in some sort of Industrial Revolution factory. If you stick your hand in there, it immediate rips it right off.....that type of thing. I've always missed this in the direct stuff. Well, it appears that Fractal Audio Systems may have finally got the direct guitar right.

Check out the Sound clips. This damn thing actually has “life”. Check out the JCM 800 (Brit 800) sound clip. (Ignore the out of tune parts).

Am I Selling All My Amps?
A part of me says “FINALLY!!! I can sell all my amps and buy a bass boat or rocket launcher!” (I've always wanted both of these). I'm going to wait just a little bit before I shell out the $1750 for a direct recording box. However, I'm tempted to sell some stuff and maybe make some changes.

Is The Fractal Audio Axe-FX Perfect
I don't think the Axe-FX is perfect, but I hear some real magic in their box. I'd love to have one. I think I could use it on just about every record I ever do in the future. With that said, there is probably an extra 5% that could be gotten from the real deal gear....maybe. This is just based on the clips I've heard. Guitar purists may still find subtle nuances in the real stuff that you can't get with the the Axe-FX. However, these people are probably more interested in magic guitar tone than recording magic songs...(or maybe magic guitar in magic songs......I don't know....this is getting a little too magical for me!)

Conclusion
The Axe-FX seems to be a revolution. For the first time, a bunch of digital electronics nerds have gotten the real deal amp thing happening in a way that has got me excited. It's not cheap. I'm going to have to sit back and watch what happens to see if I really “need” one of these things to see if it can replace a bunch of my gear I already have.

With all “digital nerd” technology, I expect A) the price to drop and B) someone else to come out with a “better” one in the next 18 months. Time will tell. Either way, I can no longer say that direct guitars suck....unfortunately.