Triaxis, how good?

[David.W]

Im just wondering how good is your triaxis?

Can you really get all the mark and recto sounds out of it like they advertise?

And is the 2:90 really its best match? Has anyone tried to match it with a 2:100 or a 50-50?

What is it like live, does it have the physical presence of a Roadking or a solo head?

 

[lockbody]

I had a Mk IV right before I got my Triaxis, and I can nail any tone I could get before. Rectifier sounds from the LD1 red (the "Recto" channel)? Not so much. I got a sound I like out of it, but it's nothing like the 2ch Dual Rec I had before my MK.

I don't know about whether the 2:90 is the best match or not as I don't have one (but I do think I want one), but many people on this board don't use a 2:90, but instead use a 20-20 or some a 50-50. I've got a Carvin EL34 pwr amp that is pretty decent, and some people use the VHT amps.

 

[David.W]

Wow i thought it would be crawling with Praise for the triaxis...

eeek

 

[chris_bechtel]

I switched from a Mark IV and Rectoverb to a Tri / 2:90 rig hoping it would be the best of both worlds. It wasn't. The Rectoish tones available on the Tri aren't even in the same ball park as the worst Rectos I've ever heard. The Tri is also super duper compressed and very "polished" sounding. If you're a rack guy and you're used to a "processed" kind of tone than it may work for you but I came from the head school and was horribly dissappointed.

If you're looking for super slick markish tones the Tri is hard to beat though.

 

[David.W]

This is what I was expevting due to its cost and claims, yet few people use them, except for the bedroom crew..

 

[lockbody]

This is what I was expevting due to its cost and claims, yet few people use them, except for the bedroom crew..

Ummm, you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[chris_bechtel]

Actually a lot of very good guitar players use them and love them. I never said they aren't great at what they do, it just wasn't great for what I needed. Don't expect the Triaxis to nail any tone, it is it's own spin on the Mesa sound.

 

[David.W]

This is what I was expevting due to its cost and claims, yet few people use them, except for the bedroom crew..

Ummm, you don't know what you're talking about.

Heres my reason for the post, I was coasting Mesa's webpage the other day and came across the triaxis. I hadnt given rack gear much attention so I thought i'd read the entire sales pitch and I was suprised at the claims that it would...

deliver the elusive creamy gain of the Mark I, the heralded focus of the Mark IIC+, the scooped Rhythm of the Mark IV™, and the heinous crunch of the Rectifier™. But these are just a few of the classic sounds at your fingertips.

So of course never playing one I decided to ask "whats yours like?" im just trying to get my head around the cost vs the claims thats all because its not the most talked about piece of gear in the world is it, but to me the claims where huge...just thought i'd ask.

As for not knowing what im talking about, this is correct, and its why I asked the question in the first place, if my dry humour offended you I apoligize

 

[chris_bechtel]

Well and that's the ***** of it in a nutshell. "And the heinous crunch of the Rectifier" is kind of misleading. I had the version 2 non phat and the Recto was almost kind of in the Vintage mode ballpark but even with the Deep and Modern engaged on the 2:90 it wasn't all the heinous. Then again, that's coming from my expectations.

In all honesty, I don't believe Mesa has built anything that I know of that will do the Modern mode of a Recto head and the smooth Lead channel of a Mark IV in the same amp. If they did, it would be mine regardless of cost.

 

[JOEY B.]

Do not fall victim to the sales pitch hype. If the tri-axis could reproduce these tones (Mark I,IIC+), then the bottom would fall out of the vintage Boogie market. And the Rectifier Solo Head market would suffer as well. This doesn't seem to be happening. As far as the MkIV and Roadking go, the versatility is there. You just have to decide your particular flavor.

 

[disassembled]

The triaxis is kind of a pain to program since there are sooo many combinations of parameters and many other factors that affect your tone (like power amp, interconnect cables, etc). This just isn't a factor with a head since you have a max of 4 channels on a Boogie amp versus 90 on the triaxis. Does the triaxis sound exactly like the amps it is modeled after? My answer is: I don't care because I think it sounds great and can sound even better with tweaking. I believe many people don't have the patience to program the unit to it's max capabilities. For me it actually lightened up my rig (I was using heads along with a small rack if i needed effects and another preamp if i needed different tones). Now all I have is the TA (V2 non phat BTW) along with a 20/20 PA into a PV 212 vertical slant cab with a celestion and eminence speaker (both british voiced). My rack weighs less 30lbs and i can fit all of the cables, tuner, etc inside the rack case for easy transport.

I think I can get a Mark--ish tone along with a Recto--ish tone but what difference does it make as long as the tone is to my liking? Right? If you are unhappy with your tone (which i assume you are since you are asking about this rig) then maybe you should try to find a buddy that has one so you can try or maybe go to your local boogie dealer to track one down to try. I can through all kinds of great adjectives at you but in the end your ears need to the judge. I bought this setup because i have always wanted one but if i didn't like it then it would be up on ebay for someone else to try. If i get serious about playing out i will invest in a more powerful amp or maybe even go to a head for simplicity. I am glad to be able to say that at this point i don't see the need to change or upgrade.

My power amp is probably not the best matched for the TA but for my purpose it works well and provides me enough gig volume as well as decent practice volume/tone.

Lastly, I don't you can get the tone you're after by listening with your eyes because of the settings you dial in.(did i just say listen with your eyes? Yep, sure did!) I think this is a big mistake for some people because instead of listening they use their eyes to judge the sound (oh 2 on the treble is not enough it needs to be 5 to sound good).

Good luck.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I was about to sell my TriAxis rack rig......until I played a gig earlier this week with a borrowed 20/20 (had several of these in the past), and I realized, I'd be a fool to do so. Therefore, I decided to just trade down my 2:90 for a 20/20.

Perfect setup: 4 space rack

Furman Voltage Regulator
TC G Force
TriAxis
20/20

Nails any tone I have in my head. There are times I prefer the vibe of a combo...and then the stereo imaging of a rack setup (even mono at times too).

So I am keeping my TriAxis (albeit in a scaled down rack -- 4 vs 8, SKB vs Shock Rack).

Let's face it a rack unit rarely sounds 100% the same as it's combo counterpart.....but the versatility it offers outweighs the 1 to 5% difference :wink:

 

[Storm]

If it says 'Mesa', then it's gotta be good

Ciao ...

 

[jamme61]

I had the triaxis and loved it but I now have the MKIV and love it more. I think it's important to match the Triaxis to a good tube power amp. It's all good

 

[Cheez]

I had a TriAxis 20/20 rig for years. Swapping out preamp tubes did wonders for the sound, but I never quite fully got where I wanted... due to the power amp section and cabinet I had. 84s generally don't "do it" for me, and Marshall 1960 cabs...bleah.

All said, it was an incredibly flexible rig. Maybe too flexible! On top of the flexibility of the preamp, there's tons you can do with matching out power amps, cabinets, messing with the effects loop wiring schemes, etc. etc. I'm sure if you have the time & money to mess with ALL the ingredients, you COULD get all those sounds mentioned in the marketing.

Though I bought it while playing in a heavy-ish cover band, I eventually ended up spending most of my time in the jazz-to-blues-to classic rock end of the sonic pool. I realized I most loved the MkI sounds. I realized I wanted 6L6s. I realized I wanted an open-back cab. Sold it off for a LSC.