Triaxis with a Marshall EL34 100/100

Has anyone had any experiences with this combination? Any reason why it wouldn't work or sound good? I have the opportunity to pick these pieces up locally but from separate sellers, no way of trying it out before hand...

What do you guys think?

#2121313 said:

Has anyone had any experiences with this combination? Any reason why it wouldn't work or sound good? I have the opportunity to pick these pieces up locally but from separate sellers, no way of trying it out before hand...

What do you guys think?

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I've run a similar combination for about 6 months - in my case, a Marshall 9200 which is the immediate predecessor to the EL34 100/100, but with 6L6 type tubes (actually, 5881). It sounds fine and works fine and I have had no problems with the combination. But I recently picked up a Mesa 2:90 power amp and I must say the combination is better for me. Tonally they seem to match just a bit better. If I didn't have the 2:90, I would have been quite happy to continue with the Triaxis/Marshall combination though. There is nothing wrong with it and it probably is capable of a tone that the Mesa isn't. It's all about what you want. I found the sound with the Marshall to be a bit more raw and edgy - more of a classic rock tone. With the 2:90, it's smoother and more modern sounding. Depends what you like.

That should sound great....IIRC, Joe Satriani recorded his earlier albums with a Mesa Quad pre into the power section of a Marshall 100w head (can't recall which model). Listen to "Surfin'" or earlier to get an idea.....

I have a Triaxis with the 50/50 and I like that combo just fine. Different sound than a Marshall however.

It's always a matter of taste, but the Marshall amp with the Triaxis will definitely sound good!

Don't do it. It's sort of blasphemous to pair a Marshall power amp with a Boogie preamp. OK... but some guys do it and like it. So maybe do it.

1. If you love Boogie tone, don't do it. The EL-34 based Marshall power amp sounds very different than a 6L6 Boogie power amp, and the Simul-Class 2:Ninety in particular has a VERY unique signature sound that gives the Marks series its tone.

2. Pair that Marshall power amp with the Marshall JMP-1 MIDI Tube Preamp for classic Marshall tone. I played this rig before falling in love with Boogie tone.

3. Marshall power amps are NOISY!!! With high gain sounds in your Triaxis, I'd bet you'll need a noise gate (a stereo one, of course). The Boogie power amps are extremely quiet, especially the 2:Ninety. I had one of my Marshall power amps modded just to reduce the noise.

Scott

#2121313 said:

Has anyone had any experiences with this combination? Any reason why it wouldn't work or sound good? I have the opportunity to pick these pieces up locally but from separate sellers, no way of trying it out before hand...

What do you guys think?

Click to expand...

Did you get the Marshall power amp? If you like it, keep it. If you still want to experiment, get a Mesa 2:100 for comparison. The 2:100 has a bias select for 6L6/EL34s. Huge tone and lots of Marshally flavor with EL34s.

Ive ran my triaxis into my vht 2150 and also the vht classic...and it slays!..but I think a key is to the 2 90's master up to noon or 1 oclock..Then it com es alive.

scottkahn said:

Don't do it. It's sort of blasphemous to pair a Marshall power amp with a Boogie preamp. OK... but some guys do it and like it. So maybe do it.

1. If you love Boogie tone, don't do it. The EL-34 based Marshall power amp sounds very different than a 6L6 Boogie power amp, and the Simul-Class 2:Ninety in particular has a VERY unique signature sound that gives the Marks series its tone.

2. Pair that Marshall power amp with the Marshall JMP-1 MIDI Tube Preamp for classic Marshall tone. I played this rig before falling in love with Boogie tone.

3. Marshall power amps are NOISY!!! With high gain sounds in your Triaxis, I'd bet you'll need a noise gate (a stereo one, of course). The Boogie power amps are extremely quiet, especially the 2:Ninety. I had one of my Marshall power amps modded just to reduce the noise.

Scott

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Sorry I don't agree.
I run the triaxis through a sterep EL34 brunetti and if anyone tried to guess the tubes they would say they were 6L6's. They were not. EL=british is a myth.

I also loved pairing the jmp-1 with a fender twin power amp and it did have classic marhsall tone. Maybe not plexi marshall tone. But it matched perfectly. 6L6=american tone is a myth.

I do agree on the unique signature of every power amp though. In generall I think that the circuit sculptures the sound much more than the power tubes...

Just for the record, the Marshall 9200 uses 5881's or 6L6's......not EL34's.

srommes said:

Just for the record, the Marshall 9200 uses 5881's or 6L6's......not EL34's.

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I did point that out clearly in my post. I'm wasn't trying to mislead anyone, my main point is that different poweramps can be quite acceptable with the Triaxis - the listener must be the judge. I agree with glorikas81 - the sound of an amp is more than just the type of tube it uses. The Marshall 9200 doesn't sound that much different to the EL34 100 - they have an unmistakable Marshall sound in them.

I've been using a Mesa Quad with a Marshall EL34 50/50 for some time now and it just sounds nothing short of magical. The EL34 replaced a Mesa fiftty/fifty and prior to making the swap, i've compared both poweramps and the EL34 matched the Quad a lot better but YMMV.

The fifty/fifty on it's own sounded very good, but compared to the EL34, it souded very thin indeed.
For mid to hi-gain, the 50/50 is relatively on par but for cleans and crunch, the EL34 just add's more life, bloom, depth and warmth to the sound. Mind you, the fifty/fifty was fitted with 4 Svetlana Winged C's, the EL34 is fitted with Tungsol's.

I also own a Marshall 9005 with one half using Tungsol EL34 en the other half using Tungsol 6L6. Although the EL34 50/50 sounds better/meatier the 9005 does do the Quad justice, be it in blended mode (both channels on, be it in 6L6 mode or EL34 mode.

A poweramp is very important, but my guess is that it's not at all paramount that one should pair a Mesa preamp with a Mesa poweramp. It sounds vastly different, that much is true but IMHO, a quality preamp should sound great on any QUALITY poweramp. Just my 2 cents

I run the TriAxis into my Marshall JVM's poweramp for chuckles sometimes and I always end up seriously considering that tone as my main (but I don't use it since it's obviously very impractical and each amp separately sounds awesome anyway). It's not the same poweramp as the EL34 100/100 but I dare say a TriAxis and a Marshall poweramp go well together.

Wasn't "Master of Puppets" recorded with MkIIC+ pre plugged into Marshall's power section ?

There is no rule that states Boogie preamps must go with Boogie power amps. I encourage you to try the Marshall power amp. I myself am running a Studio Pre through EL-34s and love it.

My power amp is a Boogie/Marshall hybrid - it's got a Boogie power tranny with a Marshall output tranny and a Marshall choke. :lol:

crane said:

Wasn't "Master of Puppets" recorded with MkIIC+ pre plugged into Marshall's power section ?

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Not wanting to stray too much off-topic, but yes, a MkIIC+ slaved into a JCM800.