Please help me with my new Triaxis Rig! I have QUESTIONS...

bfontaine · Dec 22, 2009

Hi everyone! This is my first post but I felt that I must join this Board now. For Christmas I FINALLY purchased a complete Triaxis Rig from someone looking to move on. Here are the items included:
1x Mesa Boogie Triaxis Version 2.0 Non Phat
1x Mesa Boogie Simul 2:90
1x Ground control midi controller
1x TC Electronics G-major
1x rack box custom built for the rig
1x set of cables to inter connect
(Will be running through a custom Avatar 2x12 with Vintage 30's)

The guitar tones I try to emulate are Petrucci, Van Halen, Wylde and Tremonti.

I have literally dreamed of owning this rig for years, but now I have some questions! Please help!
1. Is there really any advantage to having the g-major as opposed to pedals for effects and delay?
2. Will this rig really need a noise gate, and if so, would an MXR Smart Gate suffice or do you recommend the noise gate on the g-major?
3. Do you recommend adding anything else that will improve the performance & sound of this rig?
4. Where can I find some good Triaxis settings to help me dial in the sounds I am trying to recreate?

Thank you so much for your help! Happy Holidays!

Brendan Fontaine
[email protected]

Turumbar82 · Dec 22, 2009

The advantage of having the g-major for your effects is that it's midi and it can change presets with the triaxis. You can go from one sound to another sound with the click of one button. That's basically the advantage of any midi fx processor over pedals. The ability to have presets for everything is very nice.

gummx97 · Dec 23, 2009

Is there really any advantage to having the g-major as opposed to pedals for effects and delay? - it depends on what you are trying to do. i almost have the same rig like yours, only i have the g force. having midi capabilities and control offer you the programming advantage of creating your own sounds that are tailored to your needs. example, you could have no delay on a patch, then make a patch with the same sound except increase the mix of the delay. the possibilities for tailoring your effects to your needs (songs) are very extensive, might be only limited by your imagination!

Will this rig really need a noise gate, and if so, would an MXR Smart Gate suffice or do you recommend the noise gate on the g-major? - G force has a noise gate in which you can tailor to your needs. the usual parameters are there and from my experience, quite good for what it is.

Do you recommend adding anything else that will improve the performance & sound of this rig? - of course there is always room for improvement, suggest to enjoy your world class rig for now, explore the sounds, the preamp modes, the deep/modern/half-drive modes on the power amp prior to adding any component. your rig pretty much covers a lot of ground! I thought about adding a BBE sonic maximizer, but, the rig in itself is already heavy...for now, play it for what it is, even better, gig with it!!! By the way, the harmonizer sounds very very good!!

Where can I find some good Triaxis settings to help me dial in the sounds I am trying to recreate? - hate to say it, but check out the factory setting on the manual and use that as a spring board for whatever you ears desire! also, the settings that just guidelines, experiment! from my experience with a rig similar to yours, in a band setting, i usually stay with 2-3 presents as far as preamp sounds are concerned. bear in mind that what you hear while practicing/noodling alone will change in a band setting. Moreover, when the club your playing starts to fill up with people and everyone gets excited and plays a little louder!

hope i didn't bore you to death with the long post, but your questions are certainly valid! enjoy your rig!!! you'll get awesome tones out of the triaxis.

jaquetapus · Dec 23, 2009

I have the same rig and I love it! The G-Major's noise gate works perfect for me. I love being able to save all the patches and call up all kinds of changes with one press of a footswitch. Plus the tone! [oh man, the tone!]

-dave

scottkahn · Dec 23, 2009

That's a great rig. I have all the gear you mentioned, actually, other than an Avatar cab of my own (but those are excellent).

The Triaxis/2:Ninety is possibly the quietest high-gain amp of all time. There is definitely no reason to add a noise gate to it. And for those times you think you might want one, the G-Major's gate will more than suffice.

The G-Major is outstanding at digital delay, chorus, and reverb in the FX loop of a rig like the Triaxis. You wouldn't want to use pedals for these FX. The guys you're trying to emulate certainly use rack delays, too. You'd want pedals (perhaps) for a few front-of-the-amp effects like wah, pitch, tremolo.

You're going to find most of the tones you seek in Lead 2 Yellow and Lead 2 Red for the high-gain stuff, and Rhythm Yellow for the pristine Petrucci clean stuff.

Scott

MickPotter · Dec 23, 2009

Got to agree.. Great rig. I use very similar. I dont think the sonic maximiser is necessary, as you can pull pretty much most tones as is. Agree with Scott re gate. In studio I sometimes find a little noise, and thats the only time I look to gate it out. Live generally no prob. Good luck. All sounds like a very cool rig!
Mick