Mark V - Triaxis/Nomad hybrid??

[igfraso]

I don't know if it is just me but I sense that the Mark V is a new version of the Triaxis trapped in a Nomad format.
I recall that a couple of years ago I told Mike Bendinelli that a Triaxis in a combo format would be a very attractive amp. He just laughed and didn't say a word.
Regards
Daniel

 

[Restless Rocks]

I've often thought that a scaled down triaxis board on a simul pwr chassis would be a very competitive modern type amp. Especially with a built in FX card.

 

[Koreth]

I think we're going to have to wait until the Mark V hits the streets and people can take comparison photos of the amp's guts or can make comparisons of the circuit diagrams between the Mark V, Nomad, and Triaxis. Without anything to base it on beyond the similar knob layout between the Mark V and the Nomad, Mark V = Trixaxis + Nomad hybrid sounds like speculation to me.

 

[dmcguitar]

I think he's getting at the fact that its a "best of" amp. Where the triaxis has 6 different popular amp circuits, the M5 is doing the same thing, but in a head/combo format.. and looks like a nomad...

it would be more accurate to call it a full amp version of hte triamp

 

[igfraso]

Yes, it is pure speculation from my side.
But if you read the Triaxis owner's manual, you will find many similarities with (what we know of) the Mark V.

So allow me to speculate further and tell me if it doesn't look like:

- Channel 1 Mk V = Rhythm 1 Triaxis: clean mode=R1 yellow, fat mode=R1 green, tweed mode=R1 green cranked.

- Channel 2 Mk V = Lead 1 Triaxis: edge mode=LD1 red (Vintage/Orange Dual Recto), crunch mode=LD1 yellow, Mk I mode=LD1 green.

- Channel 3 Mk V = Lead 2 Triaxis: Mk IIC+ mode=LD2 yellow, Mk IV mode=LD2 green, extreme mode=LD2 red (Mk IV with presence pushed in; Mk III searing lead).

- Preset depth Mk V = Dynamic Voice Triaxis

- Front panel layout Mk V = Front panel layout Nomad

Regards
Daniel

 

[igfraso]

I think we're going to have to wait until the Mark V hits the streets and people can take comparison photos of the amp's guts or can make comparisons of the circuit diagrams between the Mark V, Nomad, and Triaxis. Without anything to base it on beyond the similar knob layout between the Mark V and the Nomad, Mark V = Trixaxis + Nomad hybrid sounds like speculation to me.

Maybe hybrid is not the proper word. I just mean that it looks like a Triaxis preamp (combined with some Simul-Class power amp), built into a Nomad-type front panel layout.

I have never touched a Mark V so I am just only guessing here. It just makes sense to me that Randall Smith, being a good businessman, would put his hands on something that has been extensively tried and tested and just make some fine tuning. I would think that the Mark V preamp is a newer version of the Triaxis.

Keep in mind that the Triaxis hit the markets in 1989 or 1990, at a time when the Mark III was still around and the Dual Recto was not being born yet. Extensively tried and tested, indeed, and still being produced nowadays as a rack-mounted preamp.
Regards

 

[igfraso]

it would be more accurate to call it a full amp version of hte triamp

You are right. A full amp version of the Triaxis preamp.

 

[igfraso]

Now, that we have more information, we can see that:

- the Mark V Channel 1 is a copy/further development of the Roadster/Road King II channel 1 (clean and fat coming from the Lone Star)
- the Channel 2 is a pre-tone-control gain circuit copied/further developed from the Triaxis Lead 1 channel, where they made room for a second Brit voicing (from the Stiletto??) by using a "voicing mini-switch" exclusively dedicated to the Mark 1 mode
- the Channel 3 is a copy/further development of the Triaxis Lead 2 channel

The power amp is probably a single channel development of the Simul-Class 2:Ninety which was designed some years ago to match the Triaxis. Of course, it includes the single ended class A design from the Lone Star.
Regards

 

[Dolebludger]

I don't know all anything about the electronics "in the box", and I think we all are going to have to wait and see about this. But I do think Mesa did copy the Nomad knob arrangement with the six knobs for each channel on the Mark V, simply because it is intuitive and it is much easier for people like me to use. Much easier than the Mark III control set up for example, which I never got right in 22 years! But the electronics behind the panel? that's the big question.