Thin sounding Triaxes

[Manalishi13]

Hello all! New to the forum. Awesome place! Lately I have been trying to go back to a rack setup after a decade of using various Recto heads with a few stompboxes. I'm currently trying to set up a Triaxes with a 50/50. The clean sounds are great but the distortion sounds very thin and full of treble. Almost like a wah in toe down position. I don't remember it sounding like this 10 + years ago. Maybe compared to the Rectos my ear has gotten use to that great Recto sound. LOL! Just wondering if anybody else has had this issue? My rack setup is Triaxes - G Major 2 (is currently bypassed for trouble shooting) - Mesa 50/50 - Mesa Recto 4x12. All patch cables are balanced Monster cable. Midi and speaker cables are also Monster Cable. As for control (which is disconnected for trouble shooting also) I'm using a Rocktron Midimate and a Rocktron Hex expression pedal. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bluestometal]

If you get used to the Recto tone then the Triaxis should sound HUGE, full and warm to you! Aside checking the preamp (and even poweramp) tubes first: how old is the unit? Does all the lead modes sound "thin" or just lead1 or lead2? If you tweak the controls (gain, drive, bass...) do that affect the sound or ot looks like you're not touching anything?

 

[Screamindv]

If is sounding like it is out of phase, open it up and use some deoxit on all the ribbon connections. then make sure all of the connectors have been put back on firmly. That solved my problem.

 

[Manalishi13]

Hey Thanks for the suggestions, I'm not sure about the units age, But I do know that the tubes are new. ( Triaxes and 50/50) I changed them a few years ago, but I never turned them on. I'm sure there's a slim chance I could get a new bad tube. I do have some known good used tubes. I'll try and swap them out soon. I may go ahead and open it up and clean the ribbon cable connections since that seems to be a common problem. Thanks again. I'll try and get back here on the weekend.

 

[Big_Al]

Any updates? I have a problem with a Triaxis but mine is opposite. Sounds like a wah in the heel position or like I am using the neck pickup instead of the bridge.

 

[Manalishi13]

Hey all, I cleaned all the ribbon cable connectors, but while I was in there something told me to check the power cable plug and upon doing so I found the the polarity was reversed. Don't really know if this really matters but.... Yes, some of my not so handy work a few years back. I actually shortend the power cable and put a aftermarket plug on it. I hate 5 feet of powercord to have to wrap up behind a rack unit before plugging it in. So, after correcting the polarity and cleaning the connectors this thing does sound really good. More of a Mark series than a Recto. Im using a 50/50 vs the 2:90 which could help in tightening up the bottom end. I do miss the tight bottom end of a Recto. Lots of tweeking left to do with this thing. Thanks. Hope this may help someone else.

 

[ando]

Reversing the power wires won't change the sound on its own, but if you were experiencing out of phaseness with your power amp or another device, it could make a difference. There is no actual difference between the so-called active/passive, positive/negative wires in an AC circuit. Any standalone device won't care which way around they are. It's only when you start linking devices that you want them to be all wired the same way so you don't get phase shifting. If it helped, good pick-up!

 

[tonefordays]

Presumably you are using both channels of the 50:50, i.e. using the cab as stereo with the stereo G-Major 2? Are you using balanced TRS cables to connect the G-Major 2 to the 50:50? If so, don't! Switch them out for unbalanced TS cables, then report back. The G-Major 2 can accept balanced cables, but the 50:50 is not intended for them, so the phase reversal that occurs as part of the noise reduction aspect of using the G-Major 2 in balanced mode never gets corrected at the other end of the cables (50:50). What you are likely hearing is 2 of the drivers in your cabinet acting out of phase with the other 2.

edit: just reread your initial post. Ditch ALL balanced cables in this setup. The balanced input/output capabilities of the G-Major 2 combined with the lack thereof on the inputs of the 50:50 and the outputs of the Triaxis are to blame for this, and it's immediately far more noticeable because you are using a single cabinet in stereo mode. If you were using 2 separate cabs separated by a decent distance you would probably sense something wrong, but not as dramatically.

BTW, I went through the exact same thing with a Triaxis/G-Major2/2:90 setup with a 2x12 used in stereo mode.

 

[Manalishi13]

Yeah I didn't think it would really make much of a difference on the polarity. Prob not the best thing though.LOL! I don't have the G major connected yet. Just wanting to get a feel for and tweek alittle more on the Triaxes. I will try and use unbalanced cables even though I think I tried that and it didn't make a difference. I may have had other issues at the same time ala ribbon cables. Any suggestions on running the G major in loop vs series. Mesa suggests using the loop while TC Electronics suggest using in series. Thanks again.

 

[tonefordays]

Series is the best way for the G-Major 2.

 

[bluestometal]

Yeah I didn't think it would really make much of a difference on the polarity. Prob not the best thing though.LOL! I don't have the G major connected yet. Just wanting to get a feel for and tweek alittle more on the Triaxes. I will try and use unbalanced cables even though I think I tried that and it didn't make a difference. I may have had other issues at the same time ala ribbon cables. Any suggestions on running the G major in loop vs series. Mesa suggests using the loop while TC Electronics suggest using in series. Thanks again.

I use my G-maj in the loop. It's a quite diffuse question as you'll be able to see. There're pro and cons for both loop or series, just try both and follow your ears. Just a 2cents advice: keep tweaking your Triaxis a lot more before adding any fx to the chain, you'll find out you can get rid of a lot of stuff such comp, eq and rev and reach that tone just using the preamp, that's TONEmachine; that's one of the reasons I use the fx in the loop, so I can compretely skip it on certain presets.