Is the Triaxis for me?

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iceman

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I've been considering picking up a triaxis/2:90 (for a couple of years now...), the odds are I won't be able to test drive one before buying and I have a couple of questions. I had a Mark V for a couple of days but let it go because it was to "thin" sounding for me, not enough bottom end. Granted that was my first boogie, I could have just been dialing it in wrong. I went with a Roadster instead, and have been playing with it close to a year (and love it, although it took a bit to find the sweet spot). I did the test run of the Mark V with a ESP M-II, which is alder based. Lately I've been playing with a Les Paul Standard through the Roadster and it gets pretty dark sounding. Seems like the alder body is a good match with the "darker" Roadster. So I'm starting to think maybe the Mark V wasn't the issue, it was either a: my lack of experience dialing a boogie, and/or b: the Mark V would have sounded heavier with a mahogany based guitar.

SO the question is, should I just go back to the Mark V with a mahogany based guitar or pull a the trigger and the triaxis/2:90 and give that a whirl. I don't really need the 90 channels of the triaxis, and for a used price I'd get a new V. 90 channels vs 3 aside, do the amps cover pretty much the same ground or are they different animals tone wise. I have a DIY isolation cab so I can really crank the volume of any amp I have (at any time of the day) so the 10W mode vs 90W mode isn't a factor (I've read you need to open up the 2:90 to get it going).
 
iceman said:
Is the Triaxis for me?
Click to expand...
If you play guitar, then the answer is yes.

The TriAxis itself isn't a terribly "bottom heavy" sound, but going through that 2:90, particularly with Deep Extend, you'll hear it.

I guess it boils down to your basic needs. I for one cannot understand why anyone would buy an amp head with 10,000 differnt options but only three available at any given time.
 
You'd be surprised how similiar the bottom end of a roadster is to a triaxis/2:90. Both have booming bottom end; The Roadster in Modern mode, the 2:90 in Deep and Modern with a Lead 2 setting on the Triaxis. Both are crushing sounds and the Triaxis and Roadster are very complimentary. The Roadster is going to have a looser hi-gain sound that when you run an OD in front is going to sound really heavy and gritty. The Triaxis doesn't need that kind of OD in front, gives you a less gritty but still very heavy & dense sound with no need for an OD in front to tighten it up.

A band with one guitarist playing a Triaxis / 2:90 and the other guy playing a Roadster would sound absolutely phenomenal.

If you want to know what a Triaxis can really do, check out my sounds I posted in this thread:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=39304

That was recorded in a pro studio with my band last year, and we used a lot of modes on the Triaxis for the recording. the power amp was always set to deep and modern.
 
Hey desertdweller thanks for sharing the clips they sound great!

A band with one guitarist playing a Triaxis / 2:90 and the other guy playing a Roadster would sound absolutely phenomenal.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing, I want to try to blend these two amps together.
 
I owned a Triaxis for a number of years and a number of other programmable preamps ..... I would not recommend any of them to anyone ever. :D YMMV
 
stephen sawall said:
I owned a Triaxis for a number of years and a number of other programmable preamps ..... I would not recommend any of them to anyone ever. :D YMMV
Click to expand...

Why not? And what would you recommend instead?
 
Parabolic said:
stephen sawall said:
I owned a Triaxis for a number of years and a number of other programmable preamps ..... I would not recommend any of them to anyone ever. :D YMMV
Click to expand...

Why not? And what would you recommend instead?
Click to expand...

I recommend the amps it emulates

Tone .... OK .... not great.
Dynamics .... horrible.
Compared with the sounds it is supposed to sound like .... the real thing was much better every time.

I used one for years and know it very well. When it was stolen ... I never even considered getting a other one.

The idea of a programmable preamp or amplifier is great .... I do not feel anyone has done a good one yet.

Anyone interested in one made by anyone .... I highly recommend doing a side by side comparison with any of the real amps it is supposed to emulate.

I feel the Axe Fx is the best programmable preamp being made right now. But I feel it still has a way to go. They are getting closer ..... who knows maybe someday they well be better than the real thing.

The Soldano was probably the best ever made. Diezel is working on one similar ..... but Peter has not found motors for rotating the pots he is happy with.

There is some very cool things about the programmable amps / preamps that are being made. ..... but I do not feel it is all there yet. It is getting closer all the time.

Before Mesa built the Triaxis ... I was one of the ones that encouraged them to do so. Most of the updates on the Triaxis came from my suggestions. I still have the thank you letter from Randy .... some place around here.

..... some people are very happy with them. I would feel fine doing a gig with one. I can not say that about all gear. But would not recommend one.
 
I was asked ..... and not in this thread I am not repeating myself.

What ever complex you have about your "mother" means nothing to me. This is a discussion about gear, not your psychology. :D But I am willing to play along, read my signature. My friends down there tell me it's been hot in Melbourne ?

I have owned about a half dozen programmable preamps and have time with a few more. The Triaxis is one of the better ones.
I am definitely not against the Triaxis. It does have it's merits. I just feel the amps it models are way better in a lot of ways. At the top of the list would be tone and dynamics.

If someone is really interested in a programmable preamp they should do a side by side with the real amps to see what they are really getting.

As time went by I replaced it with the real amps. ..... and yes bringing a half dozen or more amps to a gig is not realistic for me. So I can understand it's appeal. When it comes to small, portable and versatile the programmable stuff is great.

.... and as with all gear YMMV.
 
stephen sawall said:
I was asked ..... and not in this thread I am not repeating myself.

What ever complex you have about your "mother" means nothing to me. This is a discussion about gear, not your psychology. :D But I am willing to play along, read my signature. My friends down there tell me it's been hot in Melbourne ?

I have owned about a half dozen programmable preamps and have time with a few more. The Triaxis is one of the better ones.
I am definitely not against the Triaxis. It does have it's merits. I just feel the amps it models are way better in a lot of ways. At the top of the list would be tone and dynamics.

If someone is really interested in a programmable preamp they should do a side by side with the real amps to see what they are really getting.

As time went by I replaced it with the real amps. ..... and yes bringing a half dozen or more amps to a gig is not realistic for me. So I can understand it's appeal. When it comes to small, portable and versatile the programmable stuff is great.

.... and as with all gear YMMV.
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, it was just a silly joke about the fact that your reply was almost word for word the same as the one from the other thread. You've given the same reply a few times so I thought it was just a but funny. Nothing serious intended. Just a light hearted dig.

The mother joke is just from the fact that most people don't like the person who dates their mother after their father leaves. Again, just kidding around. Oh well, at least I got one laugh - thanks Danimal!

We had a seriously hot week a few weeks ago (a whole week of 100+ on your scale) , but it's been pleasantly mild for the last couple. I don't expect that to last though. Melbourne Summers are brutal.
 
iceman said:
I've been considering picking up a triaxis/2:90 (for a couple of years now...), the odds are I won't be able to test drive one before buying and I have a couple of questions. I had a Mark V for a couple of days but let it go because it was to "thin" sounding for me, not enough bottom end. Granted that was my first boogie, I could have just been dialing it in wrong. I went with a Roadster instead, and have been playing with it close to a year (and love it, although it took a bit to find the sweet spot). I did the test run of the Mark V with a ESP M-II, which is alder based. Lately I've been playing with a Les Paul Standard through the Roadster and it gets pretty dark sounding. Seems like the alder body is a good match with the "darker" Roadster. So I'm starting to think maybe the Mark V wasn't the issue, it was either a: my lack of experience dialing a boogie, and/or b: the Mark V would have sounded heavier with a mahogany based guitar.

SO the question is, should I just go back to the Mark V with a mahogany based guitar or pull a the trigger and the triaxis/2:90 and give that a whirl. I don't really need the 90 channels of the triaxis, and for a used price I'd get a new V. 90 channels vs 3 aside, do the amps cover pretty much the same ground or are they different animals tone wise. I have a DIY isolation cab so I can really crank the volume of any amp I have (at any time of the day) so the 10W mode vs 90W mode isn't a factor (I've read you need to open up the 2:90 to get it going).
Click to expand...

The Mark V didn't have enough low end? :shock: Maybe you should demo an Electro*Dyne, as they're supposed to have a thundering bottom. Either that or start playing bass! :lol:
 
ando said:
stephen sawall said:
I was asked ..... and not in this thread I am not repeating myself.

What ever complex you have about your "mother" means nothing to me. This is a discussion about gear, not your psychology. :D But I am willing to play along, read my signature. My friends down there tell me it's been hot in Melbourne ?

I have owned about a half dozen programmable preamps and have time with a few more. The Triaxis is one of the better ones.
I am definitely not against the Triaxis. It does have it's merits. I just feel the amps it models are way better in a lot of ways. At the top of the list would be tone and dynamics.

If someone is really interested in a programmable preamp they should do a side by side with the real amps to see what they are really getting.

As time went by I replaced it with the real amps. ..... and yes bringing a half dozen or more amps to a gig is not realistic for me. So I can understand it's appeal. When it comes to small, portable and versatile the programmable stuff is great.

.... and as with all gear YMMV.
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, it was just a silly joke about the fact that your reply was almost word for word the same as the one from the other thread. You've given the same reply a few times so I thought it was just a but funny. Nothing serious intended. Just a light hearted dig.

The mother joke is just from the fact that most people don't like the person who dates their mother after their father leaves. Again, just kidding around. Oh well, at least I got one laugh - thanks Danimal!

We had a seriously hot week a few weeks ago (a whole week of 100+ on your scale) , but it's been pleasantly mild for the last couple. I don't expect that to last though. Melbourne Summers are brutal.
Click to expand...

Oh no .... I did not take it serious at all and understood the joke. If I did not like you .... I would just ignore you. I did think it was funny. I hope you did not take my reply too heart either. .... and yes you caught me being lazy and just using copy / paste. :wink:

Thinking back on how I used the Triaxis .... for me the best use was to have one of my regular amps for my main sound(s) and get a bunch of extra tones from the Triaxis. I feel this is a very good way to use a tool like this.

Nothing but cold rain here these days. :D
 
iceman said:
I guess I'll find out if its right for me, got one on the way :D
Click to expand...
You will. If it has the fat mod (note correct spelling) stay far, far away from the Lead 1 Red.
 
So I finally got my Triaxis. Fired it up today for the first time. I'm currently running it through the power section of my Roadster (I guess I know what section of the amp adds the boomy-ness to the Roadster, cause it is still there with the Triaxis). It made a pretty good first impression, and if it is anything like my Roadster, it will only get better as I figure out all the quirks.

- Love the sustain for the leads
- Lead yellow 2 is amazing, couldn't stop playing it
- Seems to lack the dynamics that the Roadster has
- Hard dialing in a clean tone that doesn't break up (and doesn't sound like an acoustic guitar), have to really dial the gain down (like 0-1) and back off the volume on my guitar by at least half. Took me a while to find a great clean with the Roadster. With the Mark V, I dialed in an awesome clean right away (would love to find that chimey 3d clean on the Triaxis, but haven't yet).
- Buttons feel much better than what I was fearing (still miss turning a knob though)

Also I need to figure out a way to change the color of the tuner/mute button on the Roadster, my 2yr old son loves to see the blue lights on the amp. He keeps running over and pressing the mute on the foot switch ugh.... Someday he'll understand and be thankful I bought all this stuff...
 
I also find the cleans lacking. I couldn't get any chime out of any of the clean channels, even with the presence boosted to 9. No DV on those, because I feel it doesn't make them chime, it only makes them thin. The R1 is either dull, with the gain at 1-3, or brakes up in a not so chimey way above 4.
 

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