Finally broke down and bought Triaxis and 2:90

[elvis]

Yup, couldn't take it any more. I bought the mythical Triaxis/2:90 combo. I found a v2.0 non-fat, and got a blue-light version of the 2:90. Not great prices, but I couldn't wait any longer.

I like them a lot. The modes on the 2:90 are KILLER, and the Triaxis has a lot of cool tones. I have been using online tips for settings pretty extensively, and have some great patches to start with.

I'm running with a G system for FX and control.

Love it so far...

 

[Danimal]

Congratulations and enjoy! :mrgreen:

 

[dbone]

That's great man, Triaxis 2:90 I still get stoked playing mine after many years it's just so cool and versatile. How ya like the G system? I'm still running a TC g-force with Rocktron all access with the Tri.

 

[PG13]

Congrats... you are now a member of a very tone savvy group of individuals.

 

[elvis]

Thanks to all for the encouragement! I have had a few Boogie pieces over the years. I started with an F50, then went Studio pre into a 50/50. That's what I have been using until the Triaxis. I just bought an F50 head yesterday, as I still love that amp as well. I have the same problem as many here - I love 'em all. I have not had a rectifier yet, so I am still susceptible to the classifieds section...

I like the vintage recto, but it seems a bit fizzy on the low strings, especially low B (I play a 7-string). Lowering the mids seems to help, but at the cost of some punch. Any suggestions for settings to get a good metal-y recto tone would be appreciated! So far I have been running with the DEQ set to 7.5, which helps somewhat.

@dbone: I have been running the G system for about 3 years now. I love it, and was a regular on the Gsys forum for a while. It has its down sides, but overall, I love that I get all the control I need and then some, and it is so easy to set up at a gig. I have the controller in my rack, so all I have from the floor to the rack is an ethernet cable. So I plug in a power cable, 2 speaker cables, and the ethernet cable and I'm done. I use one continuous controller, and have a few pedals in the switch loops in the rack. It also makes it easy to have a spare preamp ready to roll in case the Triaxis goes bad on the gig. The effects are great (to my ears), and pretty flexible. The places people have trouble with it:
1. It's complicated to wire up properly. A guy named Laird Williams wrote an EXCELLENT guide for this.
2. The front end can be a bit noisy with very high gain amp settings.
3. The G is set up with 2 separate processors: a front-end processor and an FX loop processor. This works great for 95% of requirements, BUT it does not allow for switching loop FX to the front end (so phase/flanger can't be put pre-distortion), which is a bummer for VH fans, among others. This can be solved by adding FX pedals to the front end switch matrix, but it's philosophically challenging...
4. the loop return is low impedance, so you MUST buffer the preamp output to preserve your tone. I use a Valvulator, but a chicken-**** JFET will do just as well.

 

[tedsticle]

You should try Ld 2 Red with a DV between 3.5-4.5. Gain at 7.0-7.5, Lead 2 Drive at 6.5-7.0. Make sure the presence is low...2.0 or 3.0. Treble at 5.0-6.0. Adjust Bass to taste, I usually go as high as I can until mud is introduced, then back off....Mids around 3.5-4.0..Engage the deep on the 2:90 and I set my presence on the 2:90 to about 11 o'clock. This setting is only used for my lower tunings.....My standard tuning settings are way different, and usually on Lead 2 Yellow. Higher DV, presence, treble, gain...etc...

 

[elvis]

Thanks, I'll check it out!

 

[Jackie]

One thing I did that paid off with the Lead 1 Red mode is to NOT use the DEQ and try and get the tone I want with just the tone controls and the Presence on the 2:90.

 

[tedsticle]

I agree Jackie....although I have my DV at 2.0 when using Lead 1 Red, plus a tube screamer running in front.

 

[elvis]

Tedsticle, I tried the lead 2 red settings, and the tone was really nice. However, the gain was pretty low compared to what I would normally use for metal. Do you get high gain from that, or do you rely on a pre-driver pedal as well?

I'm trying to figure out if my Triaxis is not gainy, or if most people use lower gain than me. For example, the sample setting I have seen for Petrucci are pretty low gain for me. Maybe all y'all are better players than me. He sure is.

 

[PENNYbLACK]

I too was compelled to buy a 2:90 recently. I have been trying to get the tight bass control of my MarkIII, but can't find a power amp that will come close. I have a real nice 50/50, too, but it does not provide the chunk I am looking for. I want to keep the 2:90. I like the idea of switching Deep?Modern. Any suggestions how to get the bass responce.
I am not using the pre of the Mark3.
The M3 has EL34 & 6L6.
The 2:90 is the older (blue light) model.
Both channels are absent this tone.
I have been wasting a lot of time and $, but it will be worth it if I achieve the grail-tone.
Thanks in advance for any help in this matter.

 

[elvis]

PB: I think it would make sense to try the M3 preamp into the 2:90. That would help you to understand exactly where the bass response is formed.

It would also make sense to try to set up the 2:90 with the same power tubes as the M3.

 

[tedsticle]

Elvis, what pick-ups are you using? I'm using active EMG's in all my guitars, and they are very hot pick-ups. Although, the better guitar player you become, the more you will see lowering your gain will actually make your tone better! Here's a cool article http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2011/Jul/5_Mistakes_Guitarists_Commonly_Make.aspx?updated=0622112100#comments

Here's a clip of my band playing "Black" by Sevendust with the Lead 2 setting I described. The sound is coming from my drummer's gf's camera in the crowd. Not the greatest sound quality obviously, but gives you an idea. The guitar is tuned down a whole step, plus drop C. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNQ6rQmNdYw

 

[gummx97]

Yes, I find the triaxis/290 rig sounds great. The sounds you get are pretty compressed.

The online article is also very educational, tried to lower gain settings to and certainly cleared up the mud from too much gain. The only drawback that I have experienced with lowering gain is losing the sustain and liquid feeling for the strings. Sometimes hard to find that balance, too many factors in the equation ranging from one's abilities to guitar strings, pickups, the guitar itselft, etc....

 

[tedsticle]

When you lose your sustain....it could be many factors at play, but I can get sustain for days with a 7.0 gain setting. Either the Master isn't high enough, or the power amp isn't high enough....bedroom volumes are gonna laugh at you when sustain is needed. I understand the liquid feeling being gone. I bump the gain up to 8.0 and even 9.0 sometimes when soloing, but this is only solos that I ever go high on gain.

When in a band situation, I have found that I come through the mix much clearer with lower gain....The bass player is filling in a lot. Too much gain, and I start to get lost in the mix, or at least the notes aren't as clear.

 

[gummx97]

When you lose your sustain....it could be many factors at play, but I can get sustain for days with a 7.0 gain setting. Either the Master isn't high enough, or the power amp isn't high enough....bedroom volumes are gonna laugh at you when sustain is needed. I understand the liquid feeling being gone. I bump the gain up to 8.0 and even 9.0 sometimes when soloing, but this is only solos that I ever go high on gain.

When in a band situation, I have found that I come through the mix much clearer with lower gain....The bass player is filling in a lot. Too much gain, and I start to get lost in the mix, or at least the notes aren't as clear.

Whole-heartedly agree!! I was giging with my mark 3 and the drive was at around 7 and boy did it sustain! It was the high volume setting that did it.

Highest gain on my triaxis is 7, anything higher and it just becomes noisy. What I really like about the triaxis is that even at loud volumes, the sound is defined.

 

[elvis]

Thanks for the tips! I am playing a J Custom 7-string in standard tuning with an Evo-7 bridge pup and .010s. I notice that for some sample settings, as well as some of the factory settings, the gain is really quite high, and I get lots of sustain and liquid-ness even at bedroom volumes. For others, I barely get enough gain to get the notes to come out.

I agree that running very high volume makes a big difference, and backing off on gain becomes necessary. I generally run fairly low gain on my own settings, and use an OD808 to bump it up when I'm at low volume or want more sustain.

Ultimately, I'm no slouch on guitar. I've been playing pretty seriously for almost 30 years. So if I can't get sustain, I feel like I'm missing something. When I play through JP's settings and can't get any crunch, much less sustain, I really wonder how he can play Dream Theater stuff that way. Massive multitracking? Extreme high volume? Front-end drive via a pedal? I compare this to Killswitch Engage, where they drive the hell out of a Cobra and still add an overdrive in front.

 

[tedsticle]

In my opinion, the Triaxis can't do Killswitch Engage type stuff. My band plays "End of Heartache" and I can't get that tone. As good as the Triaxis is, I think it needs to be blended with another amp.....like Hetfield does.

 

[Jackie]

In my opinion, the Triaxis can't do Killswitch Engage type stuff. My band plays "End of Heartache" and I can't get that tone. As good as the Triaxis is, I think it needs to be blended with another amp.....like Hetfield does.

I'm not much of a Killswitch Engage listener but I think you could get pretty close with LEAD 1 RED and a good booster type pedal. I have the V2.0 without the fat mod though so yours could be different.

 

[MesaGod666]

TS808 + LD2 RED achieves the Doucheawicz tone quite nicely.

My settings are:

Gain7
LD2 Gain 5
Treble 6.5
Mid 4.5
Bass 3.5
Presence 5.5
DV 6.5

2:90 Modern