Why so many FX8s for sale?

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Jonathanthomas83Jonathanthomas83 Frets: 3466
Seeing a lot of these go up, any owners/past owners care to share their thoughts?

I'm not after one, myself, but being an Axe FX owner, I'm intrigued to hear why it didn't work out. I have my own thoughts and feelings about it but I'll talk about it after others have chimed in. 
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View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • John_PJohn_P Frets: 2744
    I sold mine to move over to an ax8 but that was over a year ago.  I suspect we are seeing more now as they have become more available.    
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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6090
    edited April 2017 tFB Trader
    Seeing a lot of these go up, any owners/past owners care to share their thoughts?

    I'm not after one, myself, but being an Axe FX owner, I'm intrigued to hear why it didn't work out. I have my own thoughts and feelings about it but I'll talk about it after others have chimed in. 
    because GAS.....?
    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • thomasw88thomasw88 Frets: 2316
    I loved it in the house but couldn't get it to work for me live.  Real shame tho and was sad to sell. But the main bugbear was the drives which were good but not quite good enough
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  • cbellangacbellanga Frets: 572
    edited April 2017
    John_P said:
    I sold mine to move over to an ax8   
    +1
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  • BintyTwanger77BintyTwanger77 Frets: 2208
    edited April 2017
    @Jonathanthomas83 ;;They're brilliant, but I don't have a huge board of pedals to tap dance with (5 or 6 at most) and I prefer the sound of my pedals, nothing more. The FX8 does sound great though.

    I'm going to have another muck around with the FX8 tomorrow, though, see what I'll be missing.
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  • @cbellanga and @John_P did you notice that the drives improved when you tried them with amps on the AX8? My (unsubstantiated) theory is that they'd sound better with modelled amps than real ones.

    Have to admit, the drives sound great with the Axe FX amps and I'm enjoying them a lot. I find they sound really close to the ones I've owned...so trying to figure out why the FX8 drives don't work for people.
    Read my guitar/gear blog at medium.com/redchairriffs

    View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • VaiaiVaiai Frets: 530
    I love my FX8 but need to get into modelling for certain gigs so looking for a Helix instead - still no hardship to keep using the FX8 till that one buyer comes along! I use it as I was never a fan of modelling (tried a Kemper too) but have had my head turned by the Helix due to mates getting them and I have been impressed, Will be hard to not use the Victory V30 but the simplicity of it will help ease me thru that :)

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  • I like interesting ambient tones and while the FX8 is capable I'm going to give the Strymon gear a go as they can achieve the sounds I want without the programming and faffing.

    And as above, just can't get the drives to work for me at all. 
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  • I reckon the digital drives into an analog amp could be the issue. And yes, the Strymons will give you a more instant gratification...I can understand that, I've been able to create a lot of the stuff I loved about the Strymons, but not without a bit of grafting. It's in there though.
    Read my guitar/gear blog at medium.com/redchairriffs

    View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • TeetonetalTeetonetal Frets: 7801
    Maybe... they are not as good as the hype suggests so suffer from exaggerated expectation? 

    I keep looking at them. For live in use with a valve amp they tick a lot of boxes but that question mark over the drives had been there a long time now.

    I'd love to compare one to helix.
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  • BintyTwanger77BintyTwanger77 Frets: 2208
    edited April 2017
    I like interesting ambient tones and while the FX8 is capable I'm going to give the Strymon gear a go as they can achieve the sounds I want without the programming and faffing.

    And as above, just can't get the drives to work for me at all. 
    +1, though I did like the Mid and JFet boosts and the Tim.
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  • Maybe... they are not as good as the hype suggests so suffer from exaggerated expectation? 

    I keep looking at them. For live in use with a valve amp they tick a lot of boxes but that question mark over the drives had been there a long time now.

    I'd love to compare one to helix.
    I think that's probably spot on.
    Read my guitar/gear blog at medium.com/redchairriffs

    View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • welshboyowelshboyo Frets: 1808
    Maybe... they are not as good as the hype suggests so suffer from exaggerated expectation? 

    I keep looking at them. For live in use with a valve amp they tick a lot of boxes but that question mark over the drives had been there a long time now.

    I'd love to compare one to helix.
    I have as I owned both..

    The FX8 was brilliant and I got on fine with the drives the way to get over the drive issue was to run the mix on them a lot lower - this tended to get rid of the digitalness of them and sounded fine. 

    The Helix is more comparable to the AX8 IMO but in keeping with the thread the Helix wins hands down - all of this hype about the FX8 being superior to anything else in 4CM is not totally true IMO - the Helix is just as quiet provided you get the line/instrument assignments right for the outputs and you disable the volume knob for the 1/4 outputs.

    Most people ran the Reverbs in FX8 in lower quality anyway as the whole definition thing is lost at a valve amp - IMO, the Helix reverbs and Delays are just as good.

    I sold the FX8 as I needed to go direct for some gigs and the Helix seemed the logical choice as I needed both direct and 4CM and channel switching.

    FX8 is brilliant and I would buy another in a heartbeat if one came up at the right price but it would never displace the Helix.
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  • welshboyo said:
    Maybe... they are not as good as the hype suggests so suffer from exaggerated expectation? 

    I keep looking at them. For live in use with a valve amp they tick a lot of boxes but that question mark over the drives had been there a long time now.

    I'd love to compare one to helix.
    I have as I owned both..

    The FX8 was brilliant and I got on fine with the drives the way to get over the drive issue was to run the mix on them a lot lower - this tended to get rid of the digitalness of them and sounded fine. 

    The Helix is more comparable to the AX8 IMO but in keeping with the thread the Helix wins hands down - all of this hype about the FX8 being superior to anything else in 4CM is not totally true IMO - the Helix is just as quiet provided you get the line/instrument assignments right for the outputs and you disable the volume knob for the 1/4 outputs.

    Most people ran the Reverbs in FX8 in lower quality anyway as the whole definition thing is lost at a valve amp - IMO, the Helix reverbs and Delays are just as good.

    I sold the FX8 as I needed to go direct for some gigs and the Helix seemed the logical choice as I needed both direct and 4CM and channel switching.

    FX8 is brilliant and I would buy another in a heartbeat if one came up at the right price but it would never displace the Helix.
    The reverb resolution with valve amps and "digital drive" comments pretty much confirm my thinking that the FX8, though great, may not be the answer everyone thinks it may be, when paired with an analogue amp.

    I think those sounds would blend and mix better with digital amp emulation, hense the jump for a few to the AX8.
    Read my guitar/gear blog at medium.com/redchairriffs

    View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • cbellangacbellanga Frets: 572
    edited April 2017
    I never had any problems with the fx8 drives. As mentioned above, bringing the mix level down helps a lot. I've done a very extensive side by side comparison with my older pedalboard pedals (Tim and TS-9) and thought it was a good match. Just sold it as going directly + all the amps possibilities from the ax8 is super fun

    I still have a valve amp and would definitely have the fx8 again if the ax8 couldn't replicate the same thing.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27587
    I'm not sure the churn rate is particularly high for the Fractal kit, Kemper or Helix. Every so often there's a cluster which makes it look like more, and sometimes (though I'm not accusing anyone here) there's an element of "hah - these newfangled digitwossnames must be as bad as I assumed - everyone's selling theirs!".
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9448
    @Sporky - good post above mate...

    I still rate the verbs and delays in the FX8 equal (or better) than anything Ive played.

    I'll tell you what I did find; I could mirror and mimic virtually every pedal I've owned, and the tweaking came easily and naturally. However, I struggled with all digital stuff when I haven't got the original to compare to :)
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  • Sporky said:
    there's an element of "hah - these newfangled digitwossnames must be as bad as I assumed - everyone's selling theirs!".
    That's funny you should mention that, I think that's definitely a thing.

    cbellanga said:
    I never had any problems with the fx8 drives. As mentioned above, bringing the mix level down helps a lot. I've done a very extensive side by side comparison with my older pedalboard pedals (Tim and TS-9) and thought it was a good match. Just sold it as going directly + all the amps possibilities from the ax8 is super fun

    I still have a valve amp and would definitely have the fx8 again if the ax8 couldn't replicate the same thing.
    Glad to hear that, mate. Hope you're enjoying the AX8!
    Read my guitar/gear blog at medium.com/redchairriffs

    View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • @Sporky - good post above mate...

    I still rate the verbs and delays in the FX8 equal (or better) than anything Ive played.

    I'll tell you what I did find; I could mirror and mimic virtually every pedal I've owned, and the tweaking came easily and naturally. 
    +1 to all this...that's my experience too. When you say 'every pedal', I mean 'EVERY pedal' and 'every amp I've owned!'!
    Read my guitar/gear blog at medium.com/redchairriffs

    View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • kjdowdkjdowd Frets: 852
    Sporky said:
    I'm not sure the churn rate is particularly high for the Fractal kit, Kemper or Helix. Every so often there's a cluster which makes it look like more, and sometimes (though I'm not accusing anyone here) there's an element of "hah - these newfangled digitwossnames must be as bad as I assumed - everyone's selling theirs!".
    Yes exactly. There was a time a few months ago when you couldn't move for a Collings i35 in the classifieds. Doesn't mean they're rubbish. 
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