Newbie here, need help with gear - Is this all that I need?

[SatchVaiPez]

First off, I just want to say Hi to everybody. *My name is Chris, and I'm a 20 year old music education major from the land of Lincoln. *I've been playing guitar for about 7 years, and my main axes are a Ibanez Jem LNG #54, an Epiphone Les Paul that I absolutely adore, and an acoustic BC Rich Warlock. *Anyways, back to why I posted in the gear section...

I've been playing through a Peavey Bandit 112 transtube combo amp for the past 6 years, and using a Boss GT-3 for fx, and I need a change. *I have always thought that good distortion came from objects outside the amp, and have now realized that good tube distortion is for me. *I'm into Satriani, Vai, and Petrucci, just like the rest of you, and I was curious is I could get a good hybrid tone out of a Triaxis preamp with a simul 2:90 power amp. *I want something versitile, so that I can get a good "clean" distortion, if you know what I mean. *I'd like to stay away from the modeling amps/units and go with some real tube power. *Would the Triaxis and 2:90 be a good start to a good "flexible" rig? *

Not sure if this all made sense, but I appreciate any feedback

Thanks in advance

[littlegreenman]

First of all, I want to welcome you to the site!!!! *
Secondly, I really can't offer advice on tube or mesa anything, cuz I hate tube amps, and I hate Mesa Boogie gear LOL, well, everyone here will likely think I'm insane, but oh well, it's the way it goes.
Anyway, welcome to the site, I hope you enjoy yourself!!!!

[caprile]

hey! welcome!
i would suggest you try a laney head (gh100 i believe) great tone, and more flexible than a mesa (IMHO!!!). and...it should cost a lot less! paul gilbert uses one with a crunch sound, and uses a tubescreamer to get a killer lead tone. the tubescreamer is just a cheap new toneloc pedal, not the green 'collectible' old one.

by the way, what is an acoustic bcrich warlock? never heard of it. any pics??

good luck!!

[trapzilla]

A word of warning - with the triaxis/power amp setup, you will want an abacus footswitch (the triaxis does not come with a footswitch).. You'd be looking at about $1500 or so for the whole rig.... plus rack real estate. *Oh yeah - the above is rendered worthless with out a cab!

Now, someone like Petrucci runs like 3 or 4 amps in his rig - including a Mark IV (ohhh yessss :thumbsup and a dual rectifier (ohh myyyy :shoot.. as well as the triaxis/2:90 combo :angryfire:. *There's a heartbreaker in there, too
:love:!!!

The MarkIV Boogie is a great amp, but for me, dosnt give enough dirt and bite. *The dual rects will... Many people think they are just for NuMetal (like Korn - why do these guys have their own signature guitars?? I have never heard a Korn song that HAS any REAL guitar work in it!!), but I dont think the rect's are that limited... A LOT of people use them. *The MarkIV is wonderful tho and has 3 channels and a recording line out, and some other features....

I guess if you can afford the triaxis setup, go for it.. but read some reviews on harmony central and try to go listen to one. Or just find a great deal, buy it, and if you dont like it, ebay it!!

I think you are on the right track sticking with Boogie. *Not only are they great sounding, they seem to hold their value, and you won't have a problem selling one in the future. Hope that helped.

Shawn

[SatchVaiPez]

Thanks a lot for the speedy replies guys. *I really appreciate the insight, though I think it's time to head out with my guitar and try them all out, and see what I like the best. *Also, thanks for the warm welcomes, I've been a lurker for the past few monthes, and used this sight as a guide to helping me buy my first Jem. *Looking forward to many more posts.

Thanks again,

Chris

[SatchVaiPez]

Ok, I thought of some more questions regarding this topic. *I currently don't play in a band, and I want a rig that i can use at home, and in smaller local venues if I do get into a band, or decide to go solo, lol. *Anyways, volume has never really been an issue, but I understand that tube amps really need to be cranked to get that good tone. *Am I fool for considering buying a Mesa tube rig if I'm only gonna be playing it in my bedroom/dorm/basement? *I consider myself a fairly decent player, and I want to move up from the semi-pro gear that I've been playing (i.e. Peavey transtube series amps) to something more professional. *I've read the revues on Harmony Central for the Triaxis, and it sounds really cool, but I get nervous when I read that it is very loud. *Is there anyway to tame this beast? *Would a Marshall Powerbreak help with this matter? *Like I said before, my main influences are Satch, Vai, and Petrucci, and I would love to get a hybrid sound of all three, especially Satch and Petrucci. *I want to be able to play rockin' tunes like Satch Boogie and some DT stuff, but I also want to kick it back and play stuff like FTLOG and Satch's Cryin' or Always with me.... *I know that Satch is *Marshall guy, but was hoping I could somewhat cloan his sound with a Mesa, though now that I think about that, it sounds kind of unrealistic. *What should I do? *Help!!

Thanks in advance

p.s. *Sorry for rambling, I won't be able to get out to a music store for a few days, so I'm getting myself all worked up about what I need to try out when I drive out to the Guitar Center/Sam Ash this weekend. *

[trapzilla]

Yeah a power brake would work. *A lot of Boogies (MK4, the tremoverbs) can run 1/2 power. *I am getting a a tremoverb head in anyday now, 100Watts, and supposedly I can run it with 2 EL34's in the outter power sockets and ONE rectifier tube to make it more managable... I personally have not tried this, but the guy I am getting the head from says he talked to Mesa about it and they said it would be fine, and it's what he has been doing to play at bedroom levels....I will try it when it shows up.... *Good Luck!

Shawn

[7 Dying Trees]

Being someone who decided to go for a triaxis, here's the deal:

It's fantastic and verstaille. Get one. Really. Yes, it does sound better cranked up a bit (it really comes into it's own then), but if you place an FX unit in the triaxis loop, then you'll be able to regulate the volume via that quite well (which is what I do).

If you are worried about everything being too loud then maybe a 2:90 isn't for you. They are powerful poweramps. And loud. Get a mesa 20/20 or something that's less powerfull (so that cranking it isn't going to make your room vibrate). If you can get it second hand that's good, because it will hold it's value and you'll be able to upgrade if you need more power.

edit: thought I might add: if you can get a good floorbased fx unit with midi out, you can use it as your FX unit and a controlboard as a stopgap unless you can buy the whole rig straight out. This is my stopgap solution, and works quite well I find.
James


(Edited by 7 Dying Trees at 11:50 am on Dec. 19, 2001)

[Gresh]

If you are worried about everything being too loud then maybe a 2:90 isn't for you. They are powerful poweramps. And loud. Get a mesa 20/20 or something that's less powerfull (so that cranking it isn't going to make your room vibrate). If you can get it second hand that's good, because it will hold it's value and you'll be able to upgrade if you need more power.

The 20/20 is a great little power amp, but it is anything but quiet. *Cranking it will make nearly any room vibrate. *It is REALLY loud, but an excellent lower power alternative and lower cost alternative to the 2:90

Brad

[SatchVaiPez]

I really appreciate the feedback everyone, this is a tough choice that I don't want to rush into. *I've found some reasonably priced Triaxis' on eBay, but I'm aware that there is a 2.0 version, and "Phat Mod." *Do these make a huge difference? *I think I remember reading that one of these changes affected the rectifier? *Should I save up and get a newer model with these adjustments or go cheaper with the older version? *

Has anyone tried the V-Twin Rackmount Preamp? *Is this anygood in comparisson to the Triaxis for a good Satch,Vai,Petrucci distortion? *

Thanks in advance

[7 Dying Trees]

Just get the 2.0 version. As far as I know the phat mod is on the rectifier amp, but I don't know what it sounds like as I have the non-modded version (I think anyway)

The phat mod is reversible, or doable if it's not there, so just make sure you get the 2.0 version, as this has the continous control option, which sounds cool (even though I don't think my current setup is too happy about using it, or it's just not possible with my control setup)

[jono]

The V-Twin preamp doesn't have nearly as much gain as the triaxis and in truth I think it serves best as a volume boost for a head or other preamp, or to get more bluesy / less rocky type sounds.

[jeff l]

Take a look at the Marshall DSL 401. If you wanted to expand your sound later you could add an extension cab and/or a preamp (into the poweramp input) for different sounds.

* It 's going to be much more portable and affordable to start this way. Good luck.

[keith]

I'm coming in late on this...so "sorry".

And I'm not going to give you any real-world advice, so "DOUBLE-sorry".


But all of this made me remeber something.....you are looking after my dream rig. After lots of thought and reflection this is what I came up with:


Mesa triaxis
Bogner Fish preamp
Mesa 20/20
Mesa Simul 2:90
Mesa high-gain switch.


This will be the most flexible setup IMHO , with the avantagarde edge of the triaxis and the soothing smoothness of the Bogner Fish.


The mesa switch is there to coordinate which preamp connects with which power amp.

[Gresh]

Hey Keith, *you forgot to include which bank you're gonna have to knock over to get that gear. *The bogner alone will run you a pretty penny. *Cool rig though...and I only have to assume you would run this through a tasty combination of bogner and mesa cabs.