Periphery is on the Axe, Chris Broderick from Megadeth, Dweezil Zappa, Petrucci, Vai, list goes on. A few people have gone back to a tube amp due to a lack of 'feel' which I hear was greatly improved on the Axe II.
4cm with the Peavey has so far turned out to be incredible. There is a bit of hiss on the high gain channel, but with the dual noise gates I can completely shut it off. Signal loss is minimal, can't really detect it plugging straight in. Big plus is the relays out the gmajor that can switch the amp channels. 1 press of the footswitch to do it all. The big thing with the GSP was the beta C63 firmware allowed uploading of custom IR's. Huge deal when recording direct. It becomes the real poor mans axe. I downloaded the whole Redwirez pack, the Guitarhacks ones, Catharsis and some others. All sound 10x better than the stock ones.
Nice to know it's working out okay. Not so much a poor man's axe, Bro - you got some tech there.
As for the list of Axe users, Vai is the only one who stands firm on his use of the A2 being STRICTLY for FX only. He knows a good endorsement (Carvin) when he has one ;)
I was on the horn with Dweezil's tech last year. There was a lot of talk about the new Atomic FRFR systems that were being engineered. They're just starting to hit the public - I've had mine for a while with MASSIVE expectations and they have exceeded them all. I'm in awe. The A2 - as much as I wanna hate it as I'm a diehard toober - is really killin' it. Kemper's the other one, seems more for those wanting to stick with traditional cabs. But you're right, the IRs today are nutso. Check out the far-field ones for some serious "amp in the room" feel. For me, I love the feeling of moving air with a 4x12 (or three); but practicality and the like win out - the DI recording aspect of the A2 is a killer; Redwirez is killer; and even with the heads I've got, I'm finding more consistent time clocked in the studio with Two-Notes than a multiple close mic set up.
Can't stand working mics to the sweetspot LOL!!
Keep it up. And hey, the used market with the Ultras is looking good to get a foot in if you ever want to go there ;)
Peace - off to play a couple hours before shut-eye.
Night Folks!
DS
"I'm addicted to surfing."