Triaxis difference between PHAT mod and NON? WORTH IT??

I have several questions about the PHAT MOD.
1. How are the Triaxis' with the PHAT MOD? i have seen several Triaxis' that say they have the "RECTO" board but also with "NO Phat Mod"? I thought the PHat mod was the RECTO Board on newer Triaxis'.

I like the Recto tones. and i do like the Mark iv tones.

2. So does the PHat mod affect all modes? or just one particular mode?

i like high gain tones but i want definition and tight low end. I dont want a Fizz tone.

3. can the Triaxis without the PHat mod accomplish this?

4. IF the PHAT Mod replaced a old Mode? what mode did it replace? a bluesy mode?

Thank you if you could give me some insight.

dgabriel said:

I have several questions

Click to expand...

1. How are the Triaxis' with the PHAT MOD? i have seen several Triaxis' that say they have the "RECTO" board but also with "NO Phat Mod"? I thought the PHat mod was the RECTO Board on newer Triaxis'.

There is no TriAxis on the planet with a "PHAT MOD." It's the "fat mod." It was a modification that was done to the Recto board to make it "warmer" as people thought the original was too harsh or bright. The original sounds closer to an actual Recitifier amp. Note that neither is spot on but with the fat mod the tone gets kind of muddy and nearly unusable.

2. So does the PHat mod affect all modes? or just one particular mode?

The fat mod was done only to the Recto board and affects only Lead 1 Red

3. can the Triaxis without the PHat mod accomplish this?

No. But a TriAxis without the fat mod can.

4. IF the PHAT Mod replaced a old Mode? what mode did it replace? a bluesy mode?

As above, the fat mod didn't replace a mode so much as attempt to improve an existing one. You'll find that the most common belief is that it didn't.

I have the "inbetween" model. It's V2.0 with the Recto board, but NO fat mod.

To be honest, Lead 1 RED is mode that sort of stands out, but I love it just because of that. It is motherFUCKING brutal. You can pump so much bass through that preamp WITH Deep mode engaged on the 2:90 and it won't flub, it just THUNDERS. I'm not kidding, the bath tub the other side of our house was rattling when I turned it up once.

The way I have it set up, it is fizzy and a bit undefined if you keep it down. Once you turn it up, all hell breaks loose. Opens up wonderfully and it just buries you with sheer force. It's unrelentless and perfect for anything that requires a tone heavyer than hell. So for me, Non-phat does the trick just fine, I don't really care how close to the Rectifier it is. IMO it would take me some A/Bing to see if the phat one is really worth getting.

Btw, I think most people spell it as "phat", God knows why :lol:

Jackie said:

Btw, I think most people spell it as "phat", God knows why :lol:

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Most people also say "orientate." Most people are stupid.

That said, Mesa themselves spell it "fat," so therefore that's what it is. :mrgreen:

+1 on Jackie´s opinion/findings on the V2.0 Non-Fat.
I have a pretty early TA (Ser# T13XX) that was coverted to a V2.0 Non Fat (TX4C) in the mid 90s and when I A/B'd it with a friend´s V2.0 Fat TA mine (especially the Ld1Red) smokes the Fat Version.
The Fat is muddy, flubby and undefined whereas the the non-Fat is focused and delivers a near-Recto kinda sound of it´s own with all pros of the Recto´s channel that is to be represented (imho)

While I had it serviced recently the tech asked me if I wanted to have it "upgraded" to a Fat version.
My reply was: "Thanks a lot for the offer, but I don´t wanna have my TA to be downgraded to a Fat version"

just my 2 cents

I think PHAT is a good definition of the FFFFFFFFAT traixis recto mod !

Mine is non-fat, but to use it correctly I've put a 5751 (RCA) in V1 and a 12AT7 (old Mullard) in V2. Now I can turn in gain, dial in bass, etc... perfectly more usable !

Orientate is used fairly freely here in the uk and has its place in the oxford dictionary. Oriented sounds at best an Americanism if someone says it over here. But then what do I know , I'm convinced I play a 'valve' amp

Let's call the whole thing off?

Danimal said:

Jackie said:

Btw, I think most people spell it as "phat", God knows why :lol:

Click to expand...

Most people also say "orientate." Most people are stupid.

That said, Mesa themselves spell it "fat," so therefore that's what it is. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

Hi guys.

I bought my Triaxis second hand some 12/13 years ago. How can I find out what version it is (and thus if it's an old non fat mod or V2)? Is there a serial n° archive or some power up sequence that's going to show me the actual sw version?

Thanx

To tell if it's V2, look at the LEDs when it powers up and see if they say 2.0. As a general guide to the Ld1 Red versions:

Units with serial #'s T0001 to T1629 are Version 1 w/o Midi/recording out circuit upgrade
Units with serial #'s T1630 to T8278 are Version 2 w/ TX4 "Vintage Rectifier" Lead 1 red circuit and Midi/recording out circuit upgrade
Units with serial #'s T8279 and up are Version 2 w/ TX5 "Fat Mod" Lead 1 red circuit and Midi/recording out circuit upgrade

You're very helpful to me!!!

I have two new FAT mod versions of the Triaxis and I think LD1 Red sounds like *** and is completely unusable.

LD2 Yellow and LD2 Red = PURE AWESOME!
RHY1 Green and RHY1 Yellow = PURE AWESOME!

That is all.

Every mode on my old Tri was pure awesome. I had the 2.0 non-fat I believe. Ld 2 is where it's at though. All 3 modes are brilliant.

Danimal said:

dgabriel said:

I have several questions

Click to expand...

1. How are the Triaxis' with the PHAT MOD? i have seen several Triaxis' that say they have the "RECTO" board but also with "NO Phat Mod"? I thought the PHat mod was the RECTO Board on newer Triaxis'.

There is no TriAxis on the planet with a "PHAT MOD." It's the "fat mod." It was a modification that was done to the Recto board to make it "warmer" as people thought the original was too harsh or bright. The original sounds closer to an actual Recitifier amp. Note that neither is spot on but with the fat mod the tone gets kind of muddy and nearly unusable.

2. So does the PHat mod affect all modes? or just one particular mode?

The fat mod was done only to the Recto board and affects only Lead 1 Red

3. can the Triaxis without the PHat mod accomplish this?

No. But a TriAxis without the fat mod can.

4. IF the PHAT Mod replaced a old Mode? what mode did it replace? a bluesy mode?

As above, the fat mod didn't replace a mode so much as attempt to improve an existing one. You'll find that the most common belief is that it didn't.

Click to expand...

The Phat mod is something done to Mesa Boogie 50/50 Stereo Power amp so it can achive more lowend when used with a Triaxis Preamp.