Triaxis & 2:90 VS. Mark IV

[mr_fender]

For anyone who has owned or played both: how close are the various modes on the Triaxis (with a 2:90) to the sound of an actual Mark IV. I used to have a Triaxis/2:90 rig before my Rectoverb combo, and lately I've been missing the tones of the Triaxis & 2:90. I've grown away from the more buzzy modern tone of the Recto's red channel, and I really loved the sounds I got from my Triaxis/2:90 rig. I had a Triaxis, 2:90, G-Major, rack tuner, furman power strip, rack drawer, heavy-*** 8 space rack, a huge midi footcontroller, and two recto 2x12's with Vintage 30's. It was a great sounding rig, but I got really tired of lugging all of that stuff arround everywhere and I found a great deal on the recto. Now I've got that rectoverb s2 combo and a small pedalboard. That's it. My back loves the difference, but lately I find myself missing the flexibility and tones of the Triaxis. I'm hoping that the Mark IV will get me in the same ballpark as the Triaxis, but still be a smaller, more simple setup than the whole rack mess. I'm thinking maybe a Mark IV short or medium head and one recto 2x12 or maybe an avatar vintage 2x12 w/ vintage 30's. Let me know what you think. Ah, the quest for better tone goes on...

 

[Paul Secondino]

The Quad preamp and a 50/50 power amp are alot more like a MArk 4 than the triaxis and 290 are.

I can't stress enough how muddy the triaxis and 290 combination can be. And by muddy, I mean "dark" THe low end tends to boom instead of chunk.

With my quad and 50/50 I have a preamp and power amp combo that is actually pretty amp like.The sound breathes like a real amp and the quad preamp is open like hte Mark 4 is. IN comparison, the triaxis sounds more colored, compressed and when the gain is abused, ver ycongested sounding.

I still have my triaxis but I run it through a VHT 2502 now because I much prefer the EL34 power section over my old 290 power amp

 

[lockbody]

I traded my MK IV for a Triaxis setup because I got tired of that 85lb combo. Not to mention the two 4x12s I had at the time! Even with another amp besides a 2:90, I'm happier with the tones I get from my Triaxis setup over the Mk IV. I loved ch3, but didn't really care for the hyper cleans of ch1 (love r1 green on the TA), and ch2 was always a compromise since it shares bass and mid controls with ch1).

 

[mr_fender]

What do you mean by "open"? Less tight and focused? I too noticed that the Triaxis and 2:90 could be boomy together. However running the bass a little lower (like on most Boogies) will really tighten the low end up a lot. I also rarely ever used the "Deep" feature of the 2:90 because of said boominess. My rectoverb combo can be VERY boomy. I rarely run the bass up past 11 o'clock. However I did notice that my rectoverb combo feels much more "alive" than the rack setup. The Triaxis and 2:90 felt a little bit more "processed". I'm just curious about the Mark IV. If the Mark IV will get as good of tones as my Triaxis & 2:90 did, or even better, then I'd be in tone heaven with one.

 

[lockbody]

I still have my triaxis but I run it through a VHT 2502 now because I much prefer the EL34 power section over my old 290 power amp

I've gone back to EL34s in my TS100 and I'm digging it more and more. Maybe Hetfield was on to something after all. :lol:

 

[mr_fender]

The Boogie product guide shows the weight of the widebody Mark IV combo as 66 lbs (seems light for an 85 watt combo), 4 lbs lighter than my 70 lb Rectoverb combo. Not sure if that is correct. Anyway, I'd most likely get a head (only 45 lbs) and separate cab. I wanna go back to a sealed back cab. The lows on my rectoverb combo can be a bit farty at high gain/volumes. I liked the recto 2x12's I had before. Maybe the recto slant vertical 2x12 for better spread. We'll see.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I am going back to a Mark IV, not because it is better or any worse than the Triaxis/2:90, but because I got a RK II -- and that's enough complexity for me...and am very very happy with the palette of tones. The only thing missing are the Mark tones which I love. Also, the combo is easier for me to travel with. I no longer haver an SUV or a van so the rack setup is impossible to load into a sedan.

You can definitely get Mark IV tones and beyond if you take the time to read and understand the manual.....I have found that those that have the worst things to say about it did not read (or read and didn't understand) the manual.

 

[mr_fender]

I hear you on reading the manual. Boogie manuals are great. They lay it all out for you in plain language. I guess specifically what I'm asking is, are the Triaxis' Mark IV modes an accurate representation of the Mark IV's sound, and can I get the Triaxis' other sounds on a Mark IV? I loved my Triaxis when I had it, so if I can get those tones with the Mark IV, I'm gonna get me a Mark IV head to replace my rectoverb combo. I'm dying to try the Mk IV out, but they are hard to find in stores. Every Boogie dealer I've tried in my area would have to special order one, but I want to go used (probably ebay) to save money. I too grew tired of lugging my huge, heavy rack arround. A nice tidy combo or head and small cab is SO much easier.

 

[lockbody]

You'll be hard pressed to get anything like R1 green out of the Mk IV. If two of your favorite modes on the TA were R1 yellow and LD2 red, you should be pretty happy with the MK IV.

Speaking of compact and easy to carry around, when looking at cabs, don't forget about the Thieles. A couple of them fill up a lot of sonic territory.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I'm with GintownSound.......

You won't get the other TA sounds in the Mark IV unless you start adding pedals (i.e. EQs, OD, etc), but then that just adds more things to carry around. After the rack experience, I am after as minimal approach possible.....

A tuner, Compressor, AMP....and my G Force in the loop.

 

[mr_fender]

Bummer. My favorite modes in the Triaxis were Rhythm Green (Mark I clean I think) and Lead 2 Yellow (Mark IIC+ lead I think). I also liked using Lead 1 green with the gain set low for a fat blues sound ala Red House by Jimi Hendrix. I'm surprised that the Mark IV won't get those tones, since everyone on here declares that the Mark IV will get "any sound you want". I'm always skeptical of such claims. No amp will do everything. I figure the Mark IIC+ would be the way to go, but they are hard to find and WAY too expensive. Are there any other Boogie heads that will get these tones? Stiletto? Roadster? Lonestar? Mark III? Anyone know of any new amps in the works at Boogie for 2007? I've stumbled across roomers of a possible Mark V, but I don't know if there is any truth to this.

 

[Paul Secondino]

What do you mean by "open"? Less tight and focused? I too noticed that the Triaxis and 2:90 could be boomy together.

Exactly.Except for the less tight part. Play a Mark 4 and then run a Line 6 Pod into the effects return. THe Pod sounds tiny in comparison to the MArk 4 preamp. Mega compression is part of it but with any amp or preamp, you get a certain fundamenmtal character aside from compression factors.

And the triaxis fundamentally sounds narrower than the Mark 4 aside from it;s own compression factor. The cool thing about the MArk 3 and 4s is that you can get a deeper low end out of them with the pull controls

Anyway, the Mark 4 can be ver tight as can be the triaxis when tweaked well.So "open" in this case doesnt equate loose by any means

 

[boogiemonster]

You'll be hard pressed to get anything like R1 green out of the Mk IV. If two of your favorite modes on the TA were R1 yellow and LD2 red, you should be pretty happy with the MK IV.

Speaking of compact and easy to carry around, when looking at cabs, don't forget about the Thieles. A couple of them fill up a lot of sonic territory.

So you can't get a Mark I type clean from the Mark IV? How is the Mark IV clean different? I ask because I'm thinking about getting a Mark IV but haven't had a chance to try one. I have tried a Mark I and wondering if it is a good reference point because I may not be able to try the Mark IV before ordering. Thx