trade?

[Fox<AUTIA>]

should I trade my triaxis v2 non phat and 50/50 rig for a roadster head? :?:

 

[TheCapstan]

Sounds good. About the same value..
The Triaxis is amazing, but you dont really need all its sounds. The Roadster is all what you need in one enclosure.
Enjoy it.

 

[Danimal]

should I trade my triaxis v2 non phat and 50/50 rig for a roadster head? :?:

With the non-fat version of the TriAxis you can get a very good rectifier sound PLUS all the outstanding Mark series sounds, 90 presets, and the CC software to change paramters on the fly. With the Roadster you have only the rectifier sounds with only four presets at a time that remain the same without running over and fiddling with knobs.

Unles there's another set of circumstances like you just don't want a rack anymore or something, I don't even understand the question. :?:

 

[ando]

should I trade my triaxis v2 non phat and 50/50 rig for a roadster head? :?:

With the non-fat version of the TriAxis you can get a very good rectifier sound PLUS all the outstanding Mark series sounds, 90 presets, and the CC software to change paramters on the fly. With the Roadster you have only the rectifier sounds with only four presets at a time that remain the same without running over and fiddling with knobs.

Unles there's another set of circumstances like you just don't want a rack anymore or something, I don't even understand the question. :?:

Danimal, I've never played a proper Rectifier amp, how close is the Triaxis to the real thing? I read in my Triaxis manual that the Triaxis rectifier is a "vintage" version. What does that really mean? It certainly doesn't sound vintage in the 60's rock n roll sense. Is "vintage" referring to the first of the Boogie Rectifiers, which aren't actually that old at all? Or is it just some vague term meaning - like it sounds a little British? Why do you thing Mesa decided to make a "vintage Rectifier" for the Triaxis and not a "modern"?

 

[Danimal]

The term refers to the modes of the Rectifier amps' distortion channels. There's a "Vintage" and a "Modern," newer ones now also have "Raw." The LD1 Red in the TAs with the recto board is taken from the Vintage Orange mode of the Rectifier. I think it sounds very convincing. I have a recitfier head long ago and for my money it's very tough to tell the difference.

Remember that power amps will make the difference too, but overall the LD1 Red is very close to an actual rectifier.

I should add that this is only on a NON fat mod TA. The fat mod added all kinds of "flubby" low end that was meant to smooth the character but mostly just made it unusably terrible. A rectifier isn't supposed to sound smooth!

 

[vitor gracie]

I read in my Triaxis manual that the Triaxis rectifier is a "vintage" version. What does that really mean?

My Triaxis has the "Vintage" channel from the Rectifiers or more specifically the "Orange" channel of the old Solo (2 channel Dual Rectifier) heads. The Orange channel that the Triaxis is "cloning" was added to appease guys like me who wanted the versatility of all the great "Mark" series amps with programability but also wanted the Orange channel from the Rectifier series. You can use the dynamic control on the Triaxis to scoop out the mids of the Orange channel (which I hate) to make it sound more like the Red channel of the same Solo Dual Rectifier heads. In essence, thats what the Red channel is anyway on the Solo heads, just a REALLY aggressively scooped version of the normal or "Vintage" (Orange) channel with maybe a bit more gain.

I think they called it vintage because they where trying to get that Orange channel to basically do what a VERY hot-rodded Marshal does. It really doesn't sound like that though.
To many who own older and newer Rectos alike, the Orange channel really is king when it comes to tone on those amps (myself included)

should I trade my triaxis v2 non phat and 50/50 rig for a roadster head?

I actually did it the other way around. I traded my Roadster head for a Triaxis rig. I own a deep modded 20/20 and a 2:50 power amp with the Triaxis and use one or the other amp depending on how loud I need to be for the gig. I am happier with the Triaxis rig but I gotta say it took a long time to get used to the sounds. I realized that I was doing things on my Roadster that told me I was getting unhappy with the sound. Things like turning the low nob all the way down to try to take the massive lows that the Roadster produces out. Turning my mids ALL the way up for certain things and still not getting enough to cut through. Turning my treble nob very low and my presence up a lot to make up for the high cut... things like that. When you set an amp to extremes I feel it's because your tastes are out growing the amp or it's not the right fit for your guitar or cabinet. All these things where true in my case with the Roadster. I do miss the tones, but I really am happy with the Triaxis for the current project I am in. And ironically, I really only use like 4 or 5 settings on the Triaxis.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ando]

Thanks for the info Danimal and Vitor

I am using a Marshall 9200 power amp with my Triaxis - not necessarily out of choice but because I can't even find a Mesa power amp to try out in Australia. These things are as rare as hens teeth in Australia, and the expense of sending a power amp from the US is totally prohibitive. So I am settling for my Marshall - which happens to match my other preamp, the JMP1. To be honest, the Marshall sounds pretty good. I mean, it also has modern and vintage voicings on it and it's using the 6L6 tubes as well.

I'm thinking of rigging one side of the power amp with EL34's to give more tonal options. Having no Mesa Power amp to compare to, I think it sounds very good, but I suspect my rig might sound a little smoother with a Mesa power amp. The Marshall has balls, but it has a slightly bitey British aspect to it, which I have mostly dialed out with the presence and tone controls, but not quite. I can live with it though. I suspect that I must be pretty close to the sound of a Rectifier head with the Triaxis and the 6L6's though. It does sound pretty bone crunching! Perfect metal tone. I just need to smooth out my Mark lead tones a little more. Maybe a bit of EQ from the G Major II will help with that.

I think there are only 4 or 5 stores that have Mesa's on the floor in the whole of Australia - and none that I know of in Melbourne. They seem to be too high end for retailers to stock here - they are at least 50% more expensive here than in the US, it's crazy. There is heaps of Orange, Bogner and Hughes and Kettner etc. stuff - plus all that awful Line 6 modeling type of rubbish. I can't stand the tone of Line 6 amps. The funny thing is, there are dozens of authorized Mesa service centers, so one can only assume that these amps sell from their reputation and internet/CD sound clips alone. You can order them online in OZ, or do as I did and buy them on eBay from the US, but you take your chances that way. Goes to show though - Mesa makes no effort whatsoever to promote them in OZ, yet they still have a huge reputation. There has been a backlash against metal/prog type amps in OZ though. That must be why all the Hughes and Kettner type of stuff is dominating the shop floors.

 

[Danimal]

Do you run both preamps at the same time? I've been kicking around the idea of adding a JMP-1 to my rack but I'm not sure how I'd switch between them.

Usually I end up dialing in some of my more "Marshally" patches on the TriAxis and I realize I don't really NEED the JMP so much as just WANT it.

 

[ando]

Do you run both preamps at the same time? I've been kicking around the idea of adding a JMP-1 to my rack but I'm not sure how I'd switch between them.

Usually I end up dialing in some of my more "Marshally" patches on the TriAxis and I realize I don't really NEED the JMP so much as just WANT it.

I've never run them at the same time, although I may try that at some point. I think I would use a line splitter before the preamps and a line mixer before the power amp. Then I would set up patches with MIDI so that I could select either the JMP1 or the Triaxis - obviously when I was using the Triaxis patches, the corresponding JMP1 MIDI patch would be at zero volume and vice versa. I don't think it would be very hard to do.

 

[masque]

no

 

[scottkahn]

They are sooo different tone-wise.
Do you prefer the sound of a Mark IV or a Dual Rectifier? That's the simplest fundamental question ignore all the features and price stuff. If you favor Mark-series tone, you can't touch that in a Roadster, which is a dual recto. And the Triaxis doesn't do Recto tones. While one preamp mode in the Triaxis uses similar voicing to a recto preamp section, it's different sounding in the end because you're not running into the power block from a dual recto. So it's recto in spirit, but not quite in tone.

They both sound fantastic. I have a Road King II and a Triaxis/2:Ninety rig... but they do not overlap tone-wise. Very different. Go play any dual rectifier amp at a local store to see how you like the different heavy tone. All of the dual rectos share some identical heavy channels. The Roadster and Road King have better cleans than the other recto amps, and better than in the Triaxis.

Scott

 

[jojo]

I still have my triaxis as a gold standard, but I've been using a Fractal Audio Systems Axe-Fx lately. That covers the triaxis/jmp-1 bases quite well, with the added bonus of stellar effects, reverb/delay spillover (a must for me) and a programmable harmonizer. The guy who designed it was a triaxis user, and he gets the mesa stuff right. Your power amp is much less of an issue with the axe-fx, so long as you have plenty of headroom. By the time you have a triaxis and a jmp-1, you've paid for the axe-fx, and you don't have effects yet. It's really an incredible unit, and there are a number of users in Australia, including Melbourne I believe.

If you can't be without the triaxis I understand, I kept going back to it for over 15 years. In that case a used jmp-1 is always around. I had a jmp-1 also, but I found I could do everything I needed to do with the triaxis.

Hint: one of my favorite triaxis sounds for a "slightly more aggressive than vintage but not sledgehammer" rhythm is recto patch with the dynamic voice on "1", and the drive & gain down in the "4" range. It doesn't sound super fat in the bedroom but on a big stage it sounds huge and articulate, even with a 3-piece band. Most of the live clips here are a variation on this patch:

http://www.myspace.com/ice9sa

I use a cc to morph the patch into a lead patch with the gain and drive a little higher. Just barely turning on the dynamic voice totally changes lead 1 red, and it's the one sound I can't really duplicate with my axe-fx (or anything else).

the rig in the clips is triaxis, g-major, old digitech harmonizer, mesa 50/50, mesa 4/12 traditional cab, and a nice wireless.

 

[Danimal]

The tone is great in the clips, I'm going to have to give it a shot, thanks!

 

[jojo]

Forgot to mention, crank the mids. Mids act as a low treble control in the recto mode. Lower settings make it more spongy, higher make it "harder". I like both, but in those live clips the mids are around 8. In the studio clip on the page, the stratty part is neck pickup of an ash strat which had Lace Sensors at the time, thru lead 1 red with the gain and drive low, dynamic voice cranked higher (probably 4 to 6) and the mids low. The wah part is lead 2 red, bridge pickup of the same guitar (I think it was a red lace sensor at the time).