Vintage Deluxe Reverb vs Fractal Axe-FX III

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In this video, let's put my vintage 1974 Fender Deluxe Reverb up against the Fractal Axe-FX III. Is one tonally superior? Can you hear the difference? And (maybe most importantly) which example did you think sounded best? To spice things up let's also test my JHS Morning Glory and a digital counterpart. To keep things a bit more fair, I've added a third sound example of a secret source revealed toward the end of the video. Can you tell which is the Axe and which is the amp?

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[joemiller]

My faves A, C, B in some cases A and C switched positions nut overall I Would pick A. Thanks Matthew!

[bobprince]

I’ve given up trying to distinguish between modelers and real time amps.
As far as faves:
C was my fave. It’s got the best definition.
A was very good but needed tweaking lol.
B was muddy. Which has always been a problem I’ve had with Deluxe Reverbs. It’s why I prefer Twins for cleans.

[JarickL]

My guess is A and C are modelers and B is tube amp because there’s more of a hifi clarity to A and C. Preference was C as it was tonally between the others. Will follow up with the reveal!

[jaimemonroyofficial]

No matter what is the tube ultra vintage and pure analog... what really matters is all sound usable. In a whole mix live or studio any will work. Nowadays to use analog gear instead of Axe FX III it's just to show up in the visual realm, no one will notice a lack of quality.

[daviguitar]

Mathew, recently I switched from Tonex to fm9. I admit it's been a little difficult. Although the fm9 delivers a lot, I'm finding it difficult to adapt to the type of sound offered.
My perception is that fm9 seems to be a little "harder". The notes played are drier, without much dynamics. To feel a more striking pick, you need to add a lot of gain.

And this undermines the definition of sound.

Am I doing something wrong or is this the case?

[PatternRecognitionMusic]

I knew better than to try and guess, although my initial impression was A was a bit darker, which led me to suspect that it was the Fractal. I've found that a little bit of digging into the settings can go a really long way with the Fractal stuff, as untweaked models tend to sound a bit dull to me. I was able to distinguish between B and C, figured one was a tweaked version of the Fractal but couldn't have guessed which - they're really close to my ear. I spent a fair bit of time building my go-to preset to match the tone and feel of my 6505+, and it's all but indistinguishable - if anything, it sounds better. Tighter, more focused and less flubby around the bottom when playing 7 or 8 strings.

[miggie]

B is tube C is AxeFX and A is the secret.
Likes in order is C B then A.

[bradleywilliams]

it would have been interesting to have captured the cab with the mic placement intact and used that IR for the examples. B sounded muddy and under a blanket. I suspect they all would have had that in this scenario and been way harder to distinguish. I will declare modelers better for the simple reasons, lighter, smaller, more features, less overall cost, smaller lighter, smaller lighter and sound just as good in a mix. also did I mention smaller lighter and more features?

[NehirF]

In recording maybe you cannot hear the difference but live playing differs because you cannot hear the axe-fx from the real speaker/cab.

[SilverTheSky]

thats crazy cos i liked everything but b and i had a feeling that was the tube, that makes me happy

[jimamsden]

I liked A best and did identify B as the tube amp. C to me wasn't quite as transparent.

[MostlyElectrolytes]

Funny. I've had every AxeFX since the Ultra and I got A and B right, but I was convinced that C was a mix of both. I think that adding the ribbon mic added some of that honk that is present in the real amp. With that said none of them were like "this sounds horrible" or "this sounds more amp-like/modeled"...they just sounded like different examples of the same thing and the fact that they reacted similarly to your dynamics is really impressive. As for preference it'd probably be C, A and then B, but without playing through it myself..yada, yada, yada.

[Nizodizo]

With having a third option I pick four.

[SixStringHarmonies]

I'm not going to be the guy who mentions _YouTube compression._

Oops.

However, even without said compression, in person, it's impossible at this point to distinguish between anything Fractal makes and it's analog parent.

Feel is also included in that calculus.

Honestly, given it's compact size, light weight, USB compatibility, and infinite adjustability down to the most minute sonic detail, the Fractal modeler is superior.

That goes double when you have to carry it up 4 flights or stairs.

[cigilovic]

I got the A and B correct, but couldn't guess what C was about :)

[musiccreation]

My Favs, in order, C, A, B. I'm guessing the tube amp is B. Edit: Ok, I was "right" but I'm questioning my super hifi sounding preference. Thanks Matthew.

[thehightenor]

B has a more defined mid register which has a slightly larger bandwidth - this means there's more to manipulate in a mix setting before the sounds thins out - the AXE FX III sounds are more "pre-mixed" and idealised. This has always been my experience of everything digital from E Drums, to VI synths to guitar modellers - sounds are pre- mixed more "ideal" from the get go. Real acoustic instruments and tube amps etc require far great skills to mix as they are truly raw ingredients. It depends so much on how you approach your productions. If you want to be able to sculpt everything at the mix stage then a tube amp will give you a bigger mid register tone to carve and enhance - if you want to have a faster workflow and mix less - all things digital will get you there quicker.

[danielminhao]

ax fx + combo Marshall 1959+1960. It's satisfactory 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻

[ksharpe]

WOW was i WRONG, makes me want an FM9 really bad now. I would really like to see a set up where or between you and Tom Bucavac, to see if Uncle Larry could be FOOLED and pick the modeller over a Miced actual amplifier. I also would like to see if John Cordy the Wizard of helix could do the SAME. I would even pay to See a Video on this, Session man vs MODELLER KINGS. Would be a Stellar Video!!!!

[tonemasterus]

I thought in order of like vs not so much A, C, B.