Uploaded February 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Most of you know that I'm first and foremost a tube head maniac, but that when it comes to "modelling" I'm quite partial to the magnificent Kemper.
I've never been a big fan of the Axe FX, but recently I had to admit that that's not because of its amp models but due to the terrible speaker IRs it comes with.
And since I've never been a fan of using other people's sounds I went on a mission to create my own IRs.
That, my friends, was a MAJOR pain in the scrotum, even getting Axe Edit to connect to my AFX caused me to age a few years...but eventually I got everything installed and set up and was able to apture the first IRs of some of my favourite cabs/mics...after a few conversions of said IRs (like 3-4 types of buggy software, one for each step to go from "capture" to "convert to .syx") I was finally able to load those newly recorded cab IRs into my Axe FX Standard and try them out...
here are the first results.
So far I'm quite happy with it..... granted, it still sounds better played into the torpedo live with my IRs of the same cabs, but the Axe FX definitely more than just usable on its own now...I think so at least.
I recorded this little comparison just for myself but then decided to share it anyway...This video I mean, NOT the IRs.
This video should probably give you a pretty decent idea of how the two most famous mesa cabs compare and what the differences between the mics are, but it was not meant to advertise my IRs or so...cause I WILL NOT sell them..sorry folks ;)
Clips:
0:05 Mesa Stiletto (formerly known as traditional), miked with sm57
0:29 Mesa Rectifier (formerly known as oversized), miked with sm57
0:52 Mesa Rectifier, miked with m201
1:15 Mesa Rectifier, miked with md421 (positioned slighty more off center than the other mics)
1:38 Mesa Rectifier, miked with sm57+m201
2:01 Blend of Rectifier cab and Stileto cab, both miked with sm57
Amp and drive settings were identical for all the clips.
FX loop was just inserted for live use to tap the signal before the cabs.
Post EQ is just HP/LP @ 60Hz/12k
Thanks for watching
Most of you know that I'm first and foremost a tube head maniac, but that when it comes to "modelling" I'm quite partial to the magnificent Kemper.
I've never been a big fan of the Axe FX, but recently I had to admit that that's not because of its amp models but due to the terrible speaker IRs it comes with.
And since I've never been a fan of using other people's sounds I went on a mission to create my own IRs.
That, my friends, was a MAJOR pain in the scrotum, even getting Axe Edit to connect to my AFX caused me to age a few years...but eventually I got everything installed and set up and was able to apture the first IRs of some of my favourite cabs/mics...after a few conversions of said IRs (like 3-4 types of buggy software, one for each step to go from "capture" to "convert to .syx") I was finally able to load those newly recorded cab IRs into my Axe FX Standard and try them out...
here are the first results.
So far I'm quite happy with it..... granted, it still sounds better played into the torpedo live with my IRs of the same cabs, but the Axe FX definitely more than just usable on its own now...I think so at least.
I recorded this little comparison just for myself but then decided to share it anyway...This video I mean, NOT the IRs.
This video should probably give you a pretty decent idea of how the two most famous mesa cabs compare and what the differences between the mics are, but it was not meant to advertise my IRs or so...cause I WILL NOT sell them..sorry folks ;)
Clips:
0:05 Mesa Stiletto (formerly known as traditional), miked with sm57
0:29 Mesa Rectifier (formerly known as oversized), miked with sm57
0:52 Mesa Rectifier, miked with m201
1:15 Mesa Rectifier, miked with md421 (positioned slighty more off center than the other mics)
1:38 Mesa Rectifier, miked with sm57+m201
2:01 Blend of Rectifier cab and Stileto cab, both miked with sm57
Amp and drive settings were identical for all the clips.
FX loop was just inserted for live use to tap the signal before the cabs.
Post EQ is just HP/LP @ 60Hz/12k
Thanks for watching
