I bought 3, yes 3 now, pre amps & 2 power amps!

[Markedman]

The gang’s all here by John Bazzano, on Flickr

I will shelter in place and melt my face. Total spent on this project - $2001.00. Strategy 400 - $426.00, Quad & 50/50 - $900.00, Triaxis - $675.00.

And a Rectifier Recording Pre amp - $630.00. It ships tomorrow.

 

[stephen sawall]

Nice !

 

[ned]

So jealous. Would love a quad and 400!!!!

 

[Eevil]

So jealous. Would love a quad and 400!!!!

I would not love to move it anywhere.. including proper 4x12 cabs :lol:

 

[Markedman]

A video - https://www.youtube.com/embed/50cxXdJm4Po"

 

[Marshall_SLX]

That pricing is ridiculous... im in Australia so its naturally higher but Quads here are 1k at least, 1.5k plus triaxis, 50/50 $800, strategy 400 is 1.5k plus....

My Quad and 50/50 was $1,900
Mkiii blue stripe loaded combo $1,800

I have a love/hate relationship with my Quad but in this vid i think it wins, triaxis sounded very nice but mustve had very diff eq sounded fuller less gainy... mkiv sounded thin to me?

Great mk amp collection mate... i hope to add a triaxis or mkiii or iv head at some point

 

[Marshall_SLX]

How would you rank your mk amps in terms of gain on tap? JP2C, triaxis, mkiv, quad, mkiic++ (is that what youve got) I feel my mkiii blue has more gain than my Quad

 

[Markedman]

In order of gain - #1 C++, #2 Blue stripe III, #3 Quad, #4 C+ #5 JP2C #6 Studio pre amp #7 Mark IV #8 TriAxis. I haven't dug too deep into the TriAxis yet, I've spent all my time with the Quad. Tomorrow I'm shipping the Quad to Mesa to have Mike service it.

 

[Marshall_SLX]

Thanks for that mate.... let me know if you change your mind on the Triaxis i assumed it would be right up there in the gain department... ive had my Quad serviced (mesa auth repair... im in Australia) and modded for equal vol in both channels... while my tech was in there he said he could beef up how ch2 sounded and get more gain out of ch1 lead... i was also having a tone suck issue when running both channels at once or if i had both GEQs engaged via the footswitch... this has also been fixed... the one thing i dont like about the Quad compared to my mkiii is it sounds like the GEQs on the Quad have less effect on the tone... like they have a lesser range... any chance you might be able to get an answer from Mike B about that... it really bugs me.

 

[Markedman]

I'll ask Mike about the GEQ's. My list is - balance ch.1 & 2, fix the fizz!, more "presence", as it is dull (could be related to fizz), Mid & Bass don't work, re-voice it so I use less GEQ (which again, may be related to the fizz), C++ it, and if possible, change the reverb boost into a lead boost. There is some other things wrong with the Quad like, volume 1 on ch.1 goes dull after 6 and sometimes all the red lights go on by themselves, there's still a considerable amount of sound when all channels are off, things like that. I'm sure Mike will fix it up real nice. I'm all about the gain, Pantera, Metallica, Slayer tone, I haven't even tried the clean channels! I could live with it the way it is but I do not have too.

 

[little-b]

Nice !!!!!!! I have an early serial # quad that was gone over at mesa not too long ago..sounds great, both modes are balanced, no eq issues...recently pickup a version 2 txd4 triaxis..i love it!!!!! ...i see it has a service sticker on it..not sure what was serviced as it doesn't say but the Dv hardly has any tone suck at all till bout 7ish or so....i had one 20 yrs ago and didn't care for it but man,im really digging this one...every mode ( once set right) is totally usable...lots of gain,tight tone, real nice to play....enjoy yours!!!

 

[Marshall_SLX]

I grabbed a V2 phat triaxis in mint condition yesterday... havnt done a proper comparison with my mkiii blue and Quad yet but im very impressed with it so far... ld2 yellow and red are just bone crushing... ld1 red does actually have a reasonably convincing recto tone and i do have a multiwatt dual rec to compare it to eventually... cleans are glorious... with the mkiii and Quad i can get it super tight and razor sharp with that ***** pick attack but i find it hard to get the low end just right... triaxis first impressions is that the bass is fuller yet tighter than the other 2 and i got to the tone in my head within 2 minutes... ill need a few more weeks with all 3 units before i make a final judgement... cant see myself selling any of them though its such cool Mesa history

 

[Markedman]

So, my plan is to house the Quad and GCX in a 4 space case and the power supply, TriAxis and 50/50 power amp in another 4 space case and the Strategy 400 in its own case. That way I can have a grab and go with the TriAxis set up, or I can bring the whole show! I will use the TriAxis and Quad together using my Ground Control Pro & GCX set up. Right now, the Quad and 400 are at the doctor's office getting a full health inspection, tubes and caps and whatever else they need.

 

[Markedman]

I bought another Boogie pre amp. A Rectifier Pre amp. I'll have it next week to try out. There are two other Boogie pre amps I haven't tried yet, the Formula & V-Twin. I don't have them in my sights and probably won't.

 

[Marshall_SLX]

Nice mate now is a 3rd power amp on the horizon? Something simulclass or maybe a recto 2:100? Im trying to decide between a simul 395 and a 2:90 to compliment my Triaxis and Quad... ill be keeping my 50/50 to go with the JMP-1 and ADA MP1...

I was close to buying a recto pre and 2:90 setup last year but ended up finding a mint multiwatt dual rec for $400 less... be very interesting to compare Triaxis ld1 red to your recto pre... is your Triaxis a V2? My Triaxis is a V2 phat and i quite like ld1 red despite the non phat having a better reputation... ill get around to a comparison just as soon as i get some decent recording gear...

Have you played/owned a studio pre mate? I know its basically the same as the top of the Quad but it still interests me... ive not played one... EDIT sorry you referenced it twice before is it worth having aswell as a Quad?

Have you got the Quad and 400 back from Mesa yet?

 

[Markedman]

I have owned a Studio Pre & 295 set-up and thought that it had a great tone but was a pain to move so I stuck with Mark IV, C+ & C++ amps. I tried my friend's Mk.V 25 for a few weeks but it gave me ear fatigue. I went to several guitar stores and tried a lot of "lunch box" amps at low volume and they all sounded the same, sterile. photo-19 by John Bazzano, on Flickr

I'm excited to compare the TriAxis to the Rectifier in a winner takes all shoot out. I' have learned about having way too much gear, it's selfish, so I will sell the loser. The Quad is my style of tone, but I hope the Rec will be a nice flavor. The TriAxis is great and I don't have to sell it and maybe won't but if I don't use it or miss by the fall, out the door and into someone else rack for awhile.

The Quad & 400 are still in the shop. The tech apologized and I told him that although I am excited about getting them back I don't want to risk shipping to Petaluma and back. He is very good with Boogie stuff.

I'm hoping the 400 will be my go to amp and the 50/50, a nice back up. I'm not currently looking for a match for the Rec or TriAxis, but if something comes along in good shape for $300-400, I'll probably buy it to check it out anyway, but paying $750 or more, not happening. I'm a cheap guy.

 

[CoG]

The Rec Pre is underrated, especially for what it goes for. There's loads of great tones in there, like all Rectos sometimes it's good to just pick a channel, set all the knobs to 12, and just see what you can find. Rectos are always more versatile than you think!

 

[GIG4FUN]

I'll ask Mike about the GEQ's. My list is - balance ch.1 & 2, fix the fizz!, more "presence", as it is dull (could be related to fizz), Mid & Bass don't work, re-voice it so I use less GEQ (which again, may be related to the fizz), C++ it, and if possible, change the reverb boost into a lead boost. There is some other things wrong with the Quad like, volume 1 on ch.1 goes dull after 6 and sometimes all the red lights go on by themselves, there's still a considerable amount of sound when all channels are off, things like that. I'm sure Mike will fix it up real nice. I'm all about the gain, Pantera, Metallica, Slayer tone, I haven't even tried the clean channels! I could live with it the way it is but I do not have too.

Have you received the Quad from them yet? I am curious of what was done and how much it cost! AND of course your opinion of any mods. Thank you, Russ

 

[Markedman]

I never sent it out to CA for fear it wouldn't survive the travel as it was already lost once so I took it to the tech who is working on Strategy 400 which would turn on, then turn off. He said it would take two weeks to fix both. I still don't have it back yet. I have called repeatedly without any return call. Very frustrateting to say the least.

I sold the TriAxis for $850.00 and bought a Rectifier Recording pre amp for $630.00. I liked the Rec better, that's why I sold the TriAxis. Having the rec and quad will be perfect for me. The rec ch.2 has it's own thing and the clean ch.1 has independent EQ and gain control so I'll use that as my clean channel. I can control it simply with the Voodoo Lab GCPro & GCX.

 

[Marshall_SLX]

Markedman did you feel the Triaxis didnt deliver the goods when it came to Mark amp tone? Or was it more the fact that it lacks a proper GEQ? I personally dont have an issue with the DV... i bought a Mesa 5 band GEQ pedal to compare and theres really not much difference at similar settings but the pedal is more versatile.

Stock vs stock i felt the Triaxis absolutely destroyed the Quad in all areas... i had a few mods done to my Quad and its now much better and i basically like both equally but if i was forced to choose it would be the Triaxis.

Ive just bought a second Triaxis and also a 2:90... both my Triaxis' are V2 phat... so im having the phat mod removed on one of them... i dont have the new stuff yet but i cant wait to play the Quad and Triaxis through the 2:90 instead of my old 50/50... if i was a better lead player ide probably lean more towards the modded lead 1 of the Quad... it seems a touch more liquid than the Triaxis but then again ive really only spent time dialing in Metallica rhythm tones on either.

I keep saying ill sell off my amp heads now that ive got a rack pre of most of them that i use more but i cant bring myself to do it just yet....i would love to try a recto pre against my Dual rec multiwatt... i personally think that ld1 red on the V2 phat Triaxis does a reasonable job of imitating the rev g recto... but it doesnt do the tighter feel of the multiwatt... im hoping once i get the phat mod removed from one of them it will approach the tone of a multiwatt then i may consider selling my recto head.

Im surprised Markedman that you find the Quad to have more gain than the Triaxis when stock... i find ld2 yellow and red kill the Quads lead channels for gain... but despite being checked over by a tech i never felt it sounded right until i had it gone through with fine tooth comb by the Mesa Auth repairer over here in Australia.

To those who are considering these units if you only play leads and dont need a dedicated clean and or rhy chunk to footswitch between then IMO the Quads where its at... if you need any sort if versatility or mostly play Rhythms i would go Triaxis. Still my Mkiii blue stripe gets the nod for a single great chunky rhy tone... no versatility however (at least at those gain levels).