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Introduction
What is the Axe FX II?
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The Axe-Fx II is an advanced digital preamp and effects processor for guitar, bass, and other musical instruments. It
replaces amps, speakers, microphones, stompboxes, studio processors, and more. It is an all-in-one, end-to-end
great tone solution in a single black box.
Inside, a virtual environment allows you to build your dream rig (hundreds of them, in fact). Choose from an
inventory of hundreds of classic and innovative components. Select and arrange things any way you like, limited
only by the unit’s ample CPU resources and your imagination. “Dial in” your signature sound using basic controls,
or go deeper with advanced parameters, then save presets for instant recall when playing, performing, or
recording.
The sound is of uncompromising quality, due both to extremely high standards of hardware design and to our
advanced proprietary software algorithms. The Axe-Fx II, like its predecessors, asserts that digital has reclaimed its
birthright as the superior solution for musical instrument processing. Words fall short. You only need to plug in and
play to realize that this is “the real deal.”
A Word on Modeling
You may have noticed that the Axe-Fx II is not typically described as a “modeler.” This is not to diminish its debt to
heritage; on the contrary, we’ve done thousands of hours of deep analysis of the greatest amps, cabs, and effects
of all time. In fact, amps and pedals, their vacuum tubes and other components, plus speaker cabs and many
effects, are painstakingly replicated to perform exactly like the originals. But while the unit includes emulations
based on specific product types, it goes well beyond simply presenting models—with their limited controls,
features, and sounds—to offer a do-it-yourself modeling
platform. If it’s models you want, we can give them to
you, but why stop there?
The Axe-Fx II removes limits instead of recreating them. Take our Wahwah effect, for example. You might just plug
in and start cryin’, or you could tune the pedal sweep, tweak the resonance, overdrive the circuit, and tailor the
sound to your exact wishes. Try the Plexi. Dial it in just right. Then open things up and hear what happens when
you drop in the tonestack from a modern Rectifier (all it takes is one turn of a knob to make the change). There are
hundreds more ways that the sound can be customized. Rediscover your all-time favorites, or go crazy creating
sounds you only wished someone would put in a product. And you don’t need to be an engineer to do so, as the
unit is extremely user-friendly.
You are not alone in the quest for tone, either. The Fractal Audio online community has amassed a wealth of
knowledge and is ready to share expertise on every subject, from the deviling details of differently dated diodes in
dilapidated distortions to how to set up your favorite artist’s “
exact
gear used in the
exact
order with the
exact
settings for the first half of the second bridge of the third bonus track off the re-master.”
In comparison to its predecessors, the Axe-Fx II has some great new capabilities as an effects modeler. Just as our
previous products allowed you to select, for instance, a “TYPE” of Amp, Cab, or Drive, now the Chorus, Delay,
Flanger, Phaser and other effects include a control to automatically dial in all-time favorites—settings like
