Triaxis difficulties (low gain, too much bass)

[IftodeBogdan]

Hi, I've recently bought a brand new Mesa Boogie Triaxis V2.0 with the Mesa Boogie 2:90 and 2 x Mesa Rectifier 2x12" 8ohm 120W and I've encountered a few difficulties after fiddling around with it's settings. It's the European model, bought from Thomann in Germany, so it's running on 220V.

First problem I experienced was with the gain and drive settings. The owner's manual specifies that you do not need to raise the gain or drive above 8, yet I crank them up to 10 and there still doesn't seem to be enough distortion. For example, when I play legatos, after a few notes, the sound beings to fade (it seems like it doesn't have enough attack). I've seen other people on Youtube playing with the gain set at 6 or 7 and theirs sounded better.
Also, as far as I know, Petrucci used the Triaxis with the gain set at 7.5 and the drive at 6.5 and he could play legatos without much effort. Other people I've asked about this said that it might be from the tubes, being brand new, and that I need to play some more or that there is a signal loss somewhere in the preamp.
By the way, this happens on all modes and the 2:90 is set at Modern and Deep. I've tried using a screamer and it sounded better, but when I cranked the volume up (about half way) it started to feedback (I'm not sure if that's normal). I've been told that you needn't use a screamer to achieve this sound and I have seen other people using only the Triaxis that could easily play fast solos.

Second problem I'm having concerns the bass setting. Most modes have too much bass (even if I set the bass at 0) and don't sound like on the videos I've seen or how they are described in the owner's manual. I'm thinking about sending the Triaxis back to warranty, but it might take a while for it to come back (or it may not even be necessary).

I hope someone will know how to resolve these issues or at least point me in the right direction. I look forward to your answers. Thank you in advance and have a nice day.

 

[ando]

The Triaxis definitely should have more than enough gain. Setting it on maximum should be too much. Some people use a screamer pedal to saturate the sound a bit, but it's really not necessary to achieve heavy distortion. It's quite likely that you have a faulty tube in there. Not likely that all your tubes are bad. Try swapping some tubes around and see if the problem changes at all. I would try swapping V1 and V5 first, and use the send jack instead of the output jack. This with bypass the effects loop, which might give you some clues. Is it the same on LD1 and LD2 modes? Have a look at the owner's manual and see how the modes work and which tubes they use - this will give you an idea of which tubes to swap to test which tube it might be. Obviously a bad tube is the best case scenario.

By the way, if you have too much bass it might be part of the same problem you are having with lack of drive, but it is also possible that its being caused by the Deep mode on the 2:90. Try turning it off.

 

[bluestometal]

Hi

As everybody will say you a brand new set of tubes's the 1st step (brand new tubes with the amp doesn't mean they're good for sure). The Triaxis has plenty of gain and attack, I never use gain over 7 and drive over 6 (on ld2 modes). The bassy sound could be from the 2:90 as ando says (Rhy G, Ld1 G, Y and R are very bassy but it also depends by the guitar/pu you use) or it could be caused by the same problem than the lack of gain. Also check the rest of your gear (guitar, cables, pu's). If you don't find any improvement changing tubes or in the rest you should consider sending it Mesa, yes, it takes some time, the Triaxis is a hell of piece of electronic but you'll be glad to know everything's good in the main piece of your gear.

 

[elvis]

That's a sick setup!

If you have any electronics (like FX boxes or EQ) between the Tri and 2:90, remove them until you diagnose.

+1 for ando's recommendation.

Also, if you have any SPAX7 tubes in it, my experience has been that they are really low gain. Try a regular 12AX7.

 

[IftodeBogdan]

Thanks for all your replies. I've tried swapping the tubes but it didn't change the tone. Could the problem be from the 2:90? And if I bought new tubes and not use them for an extended period of time will they be ok when I need them? Is it worth buying new tubes or should I send it directly to warranty?

 

[elvis]

Unused tubes last a LONG time. It is generally easier to buy a couple tubes at <$20 each than to box up the unit and send it for repair. It's also the cause of the problem 90% of the time.

The 2:90 could absolutely be the problem. There are 3 12AX7 tubes inside it that should be swapped as part of diagnosing. You could also try the Triaxis through a different amp to see if it sounds much better. The power tubes may also be a problem, but that is a big can of worms.

 

[tedsticle]

Plug your guitar straight into the 2:90, change the back from Line to Instrument. See how it sounds.

 

[Triaxstasy]

SInce you bought it new from Thomann it´s all well within warranty.
The German Mesa distributor (Meinl) has a real good and qualified Mesa tech (Reinhold Stieglitz, [email protected]) who also answers tech related questions on the phone (+49 9161 788-181)

I had my Triaxis serviced there last year for real cheap €€ with a turnaround time of 1 week.......

 

[IftodeBogdan]

Thank you for your help. I've sent an email to the tech specialist and I am currently waiting for a reply.

 

[bluestometal]

I had my Triaxis serviced there last year for real cheap €€ with a turnaround time of 1 week.......

Dear lord, in Italy they keep it for about a month (when you're lucky) and the bill's ***-cracking.

 

[Jackie]

I found that my TriAxis' tones have a much "cleaner" distortion than my Marshall, less raunchy and more rounded. It may be normal if you're not used to it but if it's really low gain it's probably a tube. Is it low gain on all the modes? For example, Lead 1 Red has the most gain of all the modes, if you set the Lead Drive & Gain to 6 you should get enough gain for the craziest death metal.

As far as Bass goes, I'd try turning Deep off. I used it a lot but after some gigs and a recording session I decided to turn it off because it ate up all my mids and made everything sound like I have the neck pickup engaged. The only mode where I kept it was Lead 1 Red, but only then paired with Modern.