Tested out the mighty Triaxis - Hmm..not bad at all...

ChrisReedSmith · #1 04-16-2001, 10:12 PM

Well I went down to GC with my trusty RG7 today and tried out the Mesa Triaxis running through a 2:90 and into a 2X12 cab with the V-30's. Wasnt bad at all! I can see what people mean by tube tone. and i wasnt even cranking it to much (i didnt want to ****
off the employees) even tho the guy was wicked cool and was like "crank it all you want!" i knew what he meant. but it was good enough. i got some real tight distortion out of it and the cleans were really awesome too. very clear and very...hmm..whats the word...good sounding? I dunno man im tired. anyway...one thing im kinda worried about is shelling out 850+ for a USED TriAxis when I am really only going to use like 3 or 4 presets. Dont get me wrong, you can get a milliion different sounds out of it. but for my personal taste I only NEED a few. then i start thinking about the Marshall JMP-1, which I was going to originally get, which is good because its MUCH cheaper and can only get a few good sounds anyway. but I dont know if I'd like the JMP-1's distortion as much as I like the TriAxis's Lead 2 red channel. any comments??

chris

bammbamm · #2 04-16-2001, 10:14 PM

Its kinda nice to have the option, because your tone preferences will vary over time, the tri will work with you.
850 is a pretty good price too !
Bamm

ChrisReedSmith · #3 04-17-2001, 10:02 AM

Yea thats from Ebay. I saw a few others for 950 and 1,000. I thought of that too...You know like..Sure its a helluva lot of $ but in the end at least I'll have most any sounds I could want. I dunno...

I've decided to stick with the JMP-1/ EL 50/50 pair and if in the distant future I decide I REALLY need the triaxis then I'll probably be in a better position to buy one anyway. Hell, I'm only 17!!!

chris

P.S- the Deftones are my all time favorite band. Especially Adrenaline. And the Deftones are ALL JMP-1.

Christopher Chen · #4 04-17-2001, 10:38 AM

Triaxis tone is one to die for!
I had one on loan from a friend...and believe me I sure took my time to return it

The clean tone is really good, some might say it sucks but I never understood why. It sure sounded good to me. But with an amp like the triaxis the only way you're gonna get the killer tone is to crank it up real loud....well maybe not really loud, but it was most definately louder than what I actually played most of the time at home.

When cranked the tone was awesome...pure gain...not to forget the AWESOME effect it had on my room...a big ass low B rattled every single thing in my room out of proportion! Fancy that!

The triaxis really kicks but it's just not for me. If you're a gigging, recording or even pro musician...it serves your purpose if not surpasses it. It's the type of gear which you buy and don't worry about replacing it. It stays all the way.

Congrats on the jmp1! Nice piece of gear as well.

Chris.

gkelm · #5 04-17-2001, 11:03 AM

If you ever have a chance, spend a few moments with a Rocktron Piranha. *Don't limit your test drive to the factory presets, which are brash IMHO. *The thing is extremely tweakable with +/- on the tone controls, and sweepable mids--capable of shimmery clean to raging distortion. *It also well built, easy to use (knobs), and going for much less than a Triaxis used. *I stumbled upon on of these in pursuit of a Triaxis, and have been quite satisfied.
Greg

ryan · #6 04-17-2001, 11:27 AM

Be very wary of ebay auctions selling a TriAxis for "the nice price..." * The rhythm guitar player in my new band got burned by paying $900 for one.

It's version 1 and doesn't have the recto circuitry in it. *

It sounds like a sorry turd compared to the new TriAxis models (and compared to his old ADA MP2 and my 5150...) *But, he happily discovered when we made a visit to Chuck Levin's that the Version 2 system is all it's made out to be. *Mesa will do the upgrade, but be aware that you'll pay at least $300 for the pleasure, plus shipping charges to and from CA.

rkeeler · #7 04-17-2001, 10:14 PM

The Triaxis is an amp that you grow to appreciate more and more. *I've had mine for the past 5 or 6 years and I'm always discovering new things/tones. *It takes a while to truly master this beast too. *You have 8 completely different modes to learn. *Each mode acts and reacts completely different to button/knob settings. *

MD · #8 04-18-2001, 12:43 PM

A little problem with Triaxis is that it only sounds good with 2:90 cranked up all the way. The other poweramps rather do not fit in this combo. Cranked up TriAxis powered 2:90 is not that thing your neighbours would like to hear.
I am thinking about builiding a special room or something like that for miking. For now I just use my flextone II amp which sounds 90% like mesa even at lowest volume levels.

tomizm · #9 04-19-2001, 01:09 PM

I just got one today YAY!!!

I have a question though, it seems only one tube is glowing, even changing from preset to preset, the same one tube glows. *. *It sounds great and seems to be in full working order though. *What gives?

(Edited by tomizm at 1:42 pm on April 19, 2001)

ryan · #10 04-19-2001, 01:44 PM

Check the specs in the manual. *If you don't have the manual, get the pdf from Mesa.

I believe only one tube is used for any given function. *(one tube for clean, one for lead 1, one for lead 2, one for lead 1 red and one for effect loop...) *

I could be wrong tho, it's been awhile since I read thru the manual...

diek · #11 04-19-2001, 01:50 PM

Chris,
*I only use my triaxis for 5 different tones. Lead, Rhy, Clean, Jazz Clean, and also for a nice dirty distortion. I thought I'd be using using for a million different things, but as I tuned it to my liking I realized I only wanted one type of lead, rhy, clean, etc... I use my Triaxis with a Classic 120/120. While it may not be great with all amps, I've found that it's pretty good with any class a or a/b tube amp, but it has to be tube.have fun

lgascoig · #12 04-20-2001, 11:13 AM

The Triaxis was designed to work specifically with the 2:90 (which has 4 operation modes that can be switched by the Triaxis). *I still think a Mesa "non-cranked" tone is better than modeling however even when playing at 1 on the master its still LOUD for an apartment (i.e. only during the middle of the day can you get away with it).

To make up for this, I play through a Korg pandora's box straight into headphones when I practice early in the morning. *Then I can play as loud as I want and nobody will ever know...