LnTh
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Why aren't you busy trying to pull 357 scams? Leave the forum and get back to work or your owner might whip you!18&Life said:
Triaxis - Help with Gain needed! (+ Review)
- Thread starter visualrocker69
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I can't imagine anyone being unhappy with a TriAxis. It's overflowing with great tones.
I play metal, first and foremost. I have more than enough amazingly awesome settings for my rhythms, spanning LD1 Red, LD2 Yellow, and LD2 Red. There is plenty of versatility and certainly ample gain for metal.
And unlike most people here, I have no issues with the Dynamic Voice. I do wish I had a traditional 5-band Mark EQ, but I find the Dynamic Voice gives me a very good shaping to my tone. I've been unable to get the same response out of the EQ on my G-Major, especially in my low-end. So I find the DV just fine.
In short, I love my TriAxis, and despite playing through some awesome amps recently, including Bogners, Deizels, and H&Ks, I wouldn't trade my TriAxis for anything.
I play metal, first and foremost. I have more than enough amazingly awesome settings for my rhythms, spanning LD1 Red, LD2 Yellow, and LD2 Red. There is plenty of versatility and certainly ample gain for metal.
And unlike most people here, I have no issues with the Dynamic Voice. I do wish I had a traditional 5-band Mark EQ, but I find the Dynamic Voice gives me a very good shaping to my tone. I've been unable to get the same response out of the EQ on my G-Major, especially in my low-end. So I find the DV just fine.
In short, I love my TriAxis, and despite playing through some awesome amps recently, including Bogners, Deizels, and H&Ks, I wouldn't trade my TriAxis for anything.
Simple fixes:
New pre amp tubes. Tung Sol has been repeated so many times in this forum for V1, we can assume it's a winner. Replace the rest with .... not sure. There's a bunch of good ones. You'll get the Mark series dynamics in living color.
Trade in the 2:90 for a VHT 2/50/2. More bass, cool little Class A switch like the Mesa Mark series, and better dynamics. The 2/90/2 is pretty awesome as well.
New pre amp tubes. Tung Sol has been repeated so many times in this forum for V1, we can assume it's a winner. Replace the rest with .... not sure. There's a bunch of good ones. You'll get the Mark series dynamics in living color.
Trade in the 2:90 for a VHT 2/50/2. More bass, cool little Class A switch like the Mesa Mark series, and better dynamics. The 2/90/2 is pretty awesome as well.
18&Life
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darkalone said:
+ 1.000
gezza
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I thought I would give my 2 cents.
I have had trouble also with my TA.
1st and foremost, you really got to understand what you are doing.
I did the same thing, punched in some numbers that other guys are really happy with, but to me they sounded horrible.
Way too much gain, so I have now spent 3 weeks tweaking and trying to find the magic in there.
Also, I am about to re-tube the TA, as I have no Idea how old they are.
There is a lot of information here regarding what Tubes sound better. And yes they do make a difference to your tone.
Plus I do not think anyone here has the same gear, If fact I guaranty it.
Think about it, your asking for help and no one here has what you have.
Picks, Strings, Pickups, Guitars, Leads, effects, Amp, Speakers, these are just some of the variables.
So you have to find your own way, I have asked for help, but no one here has my set-up or my ears But I got some good advice along the way.
Don't give up, Go for a drive to the music shop and plug into something else, then go back home and compare.
Hope that helps,
Gezza.
I have had trouble also with my TA.
1st and foremost, you really got to understand what you are doing.
I did the same thing, punched in some numbers that other guys are really happy with, but to me they sounded horrible.
Way too much gain, so I have now spent 3 weeks tweaking and trying to find the magic in there.
Also, I am about to re-tube the TA, as I have no Idea how old they are.
There is a lot of information here regarding what Tubes sound better. And yes they do make a difference to your tone.
Plus I do not think anyone here has the same gear, If fact I guaranty it.
Think about it, your asking for help and no one here has what you have.
Picks, Strings, Pickups, Guitars, Leads, effects, Amp, Speakers, these are just some of the variables.
So you have to find your own way, I have asked for help, but no one here has my set-up or my ears But I got some good advice along the way.
Don't give up, Go for a drive to the music shop and plug into something else, then go back home and compare.
Hope that helps,
Gezza.
Swapping preamp tubes in my Triaxis made a world of difference. The right mix of tubes can really wake up the amp. I suggest you buy a few different types and swap them around until you find the right combination. This will also get rid of the fizziness of the Mesa Chinese tubes.
disassembled
Well-known member
I disagree with the above post where pre tubes make a world of difference. They make subtle changes but won't make the TA go from sounding like a turd to a shiny piece of chrome.
The only way i could see someone saying there is a night and day difference is if the old tubes are extremely worn out or are faulty.
It's all in the settings and the player.
BTW i am not calling you a liar it just seems a little exaggerated.
Greg
The only way i could see someone saying there is a night and day difference is if the old tubes are extremely worn out or are faulty.
It's all in the settings and the player.
BTW i am not calling you a liar it just seems a little exaggerated.
Greg
I've had two Triaxis'. The first was a Guitar Center demo, and the second was a very new but used 2.0 model also from GC. The first one was used with a Fender Prosonic combo, and the second with a 2:100. With my limited experience I hereby pronounce....
Pre amp tubes make a world of difference!
On both models, the absence of the Mark series dynamics was very obvious, and the sound was relatively sterile over all. I pulled the pre amp tubes and replaced them with EH, JJ or whatever I had lying around, until I got a sound that I liked, and every channel improved.
But that's not the end: Since the Mesa tubes were relatively new, I decided to plug them into my old Twin Reverb or Band Master, and there it was again... that sterile cheap tube sound! The orignal tubes from the more recent 2.0 Triaxis were a bit worse in the tone department, but swapping them out made a world of difference.
I agree with everything Tube Freak says.
http://www.tubefreak.com/triaxis.htm
Pre amp tubes make a world of difference!
On both models, the absence of the Mark series dynamics was very obvious, and the sound was relatively sterile over all. I pulled the pre amp tubes and replaced them with EH, JJ or whatever I had lying around, until I got a sound that I liked, and every channel improved.
But that's not the end: Since the Mesa tubes were relatively new, I decided to plug them into my old Twin Reverb or Band Master, and there it was again... that sterile cheap tube sound! The orignal tubes from the more recent 2.0 Triaxis were a bit worse in the tone department, but swapping them out made a world of difference.
I agree with everything Tube Freak says.
http://www.tubefreak.com/triaxis.htm
18&Life
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disassembled said:
+1
visualrocker69
Well-known member
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... how can there be such an inconsistency in opinions regarding the impact of tubes? This ain't politics people :shock: it either makes a HUGE difference or it doesn't. If it's a HUGE difference, anyone could notice it! Something as obvious as that wouldn't strike such controversial differences in opinion.
I want to try diff tube combinations just because I want to exhaust every option before I decide the TRIAXIS isn't for me. It is, after all, a conceptually a good preamp.
I want to try diff tube combinations just because I want to exhaust every option before I decide the TRIAXIS isn't for me. It is, after all, a conceptually a good preamp.
ToneAddictJon
Well-known member
IMO tubes make a big difference. It may sound similar after a retube, but it will feel and react differently. I've done retubes that give an amp a completely different sound, and I've done some that sound similar, it all depends on the current tubes vs the ones you replace them with. If you can't tell the difference tubes make, you might want to check your amp, tube amps are meant to sound and feel different with different tubes, or we should just be playing solid state gear if we didn't want that.
visualrocker69
Well-known member
Oh, I am DEFINATELY liking the prospect of having the flexibility of trying diff tubes. So I guess I'll do a bit of research now and try diff stuff for my Triaxis 8)
If you can't hear the difference between what we refer to as good tubes and bad tubes, then you really just can't hear the difference. Whenever anyone on this board says "I can't hear a difference", they are absolutely correct. If you can't hear a difference, you'll never have to spend a dime on tube upgrades. Now that's not a bad thing, is it?
In my case, the personality of my amps change quite a bit with different power tubes and pre amp tubes, and that's not a bad thing either.
In my case, the personality of my amps change quite a bit with different power tubes and pre amp tubes, and that's not a bad thing either.
disassembled
Well-known member
I was referring to switching between tubes that are good not going from dead ones to brand new ones. It's about a $50-$60 dollar investment for new tubes and you may not get anything out of it.
Changing between brand new JJ's, chinese, sovs , etc will lend to slight changes in tone but you aren't going to have the effect that some people make it out to be like a balnket was taken off of your amp. When you get a huge effect on your tone that means that something was wrong with one or more of your old tubes.
I almost always change my tubes out if they are original because I figure if these tubes are 10+ years old they could be used way more than their intended lifespan. I consider it good maintenance too. When switching between brands I notice differences in gain characters and EQ but I can still use the equipment with either tube.
The problem in this thread is the OP is having a hard time dialing in the amp; not that he has it dialed in almost perfectly and needs just a hair more clarity or just a hair more ummph.
I believe the problem has nothing to do with tubes, unless they are faulty, but possibly a personal taste confliction, settings, technique, etc.
If you want to buy tubes, go ahead, noone is stopping you but don't expect miracles.
Greg
Changing between brand new JJ's, chinese, sovs , etc will lend to slight changes in tone but you aren't going to have the effect that some people make it out to be like a balnket was taken off of your amp. When you get a huge effect on your tone that means that something was wrong with one or more of your old tubes.
I almost always change my tubes out if they are original because I figure if these tubes are 10+ years old they could be used way more than their intended lifespan. I consider it good maintenance too. When switching between brands I notice differences in gain characters and EQ but I can still use the equipment with either tube.
The problem in this thread is the OP is having a hard time dialing in the amp; not that he has it dialed in almost perfectly and needs just a hair more clarity or just a hair more ummph.
I believe the problem has nothing to do with tubes, unless they are faulty, but possibly a personal taste confliction, settings, technique, etc.
If you want to buy tubes, go ahead, noone is stopping you but don't expect miracles.
Greg
18&Life
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+1
Greg I always agreed with your coments.
One of the few members who are not stucked with myths whatever.
Greg I always agreed with your coments.
One of the few members who are not stucked with myths whatever.
visualrocker69
Well-known member
disassembled said:
Personal taste confliction :lol: You nailed it there, mate!
I think I'm bipolar. I'm loving the Triaxis today
Getting closer tone-wise too. I can't get the gain I want without maxing it out, though Anyway, I tried a tad more treble and mids and less bass:
Triaxis
Gain: 10
Treble: 8
Mid: 6.5
Bass: 2
Lead Drive: 8
Master: 4
Presence: ...really varies. I'll explain later.
Dynamic Voice: 2.0 to ZERO!
2:90
Level A: 12 O'clock
Level B: 12 O'clock
Presence: Both at ZERO!!!
Modes engaged: Half Drive + Modern
OK, so I got a tip from Pauly from the Petrucci Forum that more presence is essential to more percieved gain. He told me to crank the presence on the TA and really not use it much at all on the 2:90 except to fill in the upper frequencies a tad. So I have the presence set on my Triaxis anywhere from 2.0 to 5.0 depending on how sizzley I want my preset to be. Obviously for smooth soloing, I keep it down there between 2.0 and 3.5 but I crank it for high gain riffing 8)
Anyway, I'm sure that with some tube swaps for these "subtle" changes I can nail the tone I want... more or less.
disassembled
Well-known member
Save those settings to a preset and revisit them in a month and you will probably think the it sounds like butt
The gain that high makes me want to say there's a problem. It might be your guitar, cable, a bad tube, etc.
I would suggest this: Take out V3 and V5 and swap them with V2 and V4.
V1 is for LD1 Red ONLY so it isn't important worry about right now. V2 is used on channels R1+2, LD1G+Y while V2 AND V4 are used on LD2 G,Y,+ R.
Do the FREE stuff first before you go ahead and potentionally waste money. I have a good 15 extra preamp tubes that I have collected over the years so luckily I can just swap them out at will. If you are going to buy tubes I would suggest just replacing the essential ones at first (V2,V4) to see what kind of a difference you get before you sink a bunch of money into a retube.
Greg
The gain that high makes me want to say there's a problem. It might be your guitar, cable, a bad tube, etc.
I would suggest this: Take out V3 and V5 and swap them with V2 and V4.
V1 is for LD1 Red ONLY so it isn't important worry about right now. V2 is used on channels R1+2, LD1G+Y while V2 AND V4 are used on LD2 G,Y,+ R.
Do the FREE stuff first before you go ahead and potentionally waste money. I have a good 15 extra preamp tubes that I have collected over the years so luckily I can just swap them out at will. If you are going to buy tubes I would suggest just replacing the essential ones at first (V2,V4) to see what kind of a difference you get before you sink a bunch of money into a retube.
Greg
disassembled
Well-known member
Oh about the presence stuff..........Mesa amps are dark by nature and since you are playing alone it's ideal to make them even DARKER by turning down the presence. If you ever play with a band you will need to almost crank the presence to cut through and not sound like garbage.
I suggest you find a couple of guys to jam with if you really want to hear how your TA sounds.
Greg
I suggest you find a couple of guys to jam with if you really want to hear how your TA sounds.
Greg
I have played TA's and loved them... Love my Quad much more though!!!
I also use a Behringer v-amp pro at 96k into my protools setup... sounds wonderful and I think a good proof that everything has its uses.
Great idea to play with a band and feel the difference. Always an important deciding characteristic for me... but try it a few times so you can fine tune things.
12ax7's are pretty cheap really... always good to try switching positions with the old ones and investing in a few newbies as it is handy to have a spare lying around anyway. It can't hurt to experiment!
I also use a Behringer v-amp pro at 96k into my protools setup... sounds wonderful and I think a good proof that everything has its uses.
Great idea to play with a band and feel the difference. Always an important deciding characteristic for me... but try it a few times so you can fine tune things.
12ax7's are pretty cheap really... always good to try switching positions with the old ones and investing in a few newbies as it is handy to have a spare lying around anyway. It can't hurt to experiment!
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