jojo
Inspired
I finally made some time to hook up both of my rigs side by side and compare apples to apples.
My main stage rig is triaxis + mesa 50/50 w/ deep extend mod + TC G-Major + harmonizer + nice wireless.
I'm running the Ultra with a Carvin DCM150, and although I have many unique patches, I have also programmed several banks intended to match the main banks I use in my main rack. I've done some back-and-forth, but never set them up side by side.
In order to compare apples to apples I ran the triaxis and the ultra each thru one channel of the mesa 50/50, into identical mesa 1x12 3/4 back cabs. Then I just went back and forth with the same guitars.
Needless to say, the Ultra sounded way better thru the mesa amp than the little carvin! The 50/50 provided an incredible platform for the axe, I got back a lot of the sibilance that seems lacking in some of the clean modes thru a SS power amp. But live I let the mains do most of the work so that's not a huge deal to me.
Regarding the A/B, there are a few things the triaxis can do that are really hard to duplicate, and one of my favorite triaxis sounds is very elusive: recto patch, with the "dynamic voice" on "1" and mids cranked (mids are really more of a low treble in this mode). You're not supposed to turn on dynamic voice for a "classic" recto sound, but I love love love this tone-cuts out most of the mud. Incredible string to string clarity, no woof, works with any pickup combo, sounds monstrous on huge stages. I wish Cliff would model this. But... good news, I got fairly close using the energyball model with the tonestack changed to USA clean. If I don't mess with the dynamic voice control, recto mode of triaxis is more accessible thru the axe.
All other triaxis modes I was able to ape with uncanny realism. The basic "boogie" sounds are just stellar in the axe, any variances are just different flavors of the same thing. Very very impressive.
Overall, I was pleased and not really surprised. I've been stoked over my axe ever since I got it, and I think the triaxis will be on Craig's list presently to make room for another ultra. I probably won't use the 50/50 with either ultra. As good as it sounds, my back just can't take it anymore. But I do think I want more headroom than the DCM150 so I'll probably go bigger, probably a Carvin DCM 1540L.
More later on this, but I'd love to hear from any others who have done the A/B thing like this. Especially if they can "get" that sound I'm still looking for! :roll:
My main stage rig is triaxis + mesa 50/50 w/ deep extend mod + TC G-Major + harmonizer + nice wireless.
I'm running the Ultra with a Carvin DCM150, and although I have many unique patches, I have also programmed several banks intended to match the main banks I use in my main rack. I've done some back-and-forth, but never set them up side by side.
In order to compare apples to apples I ran the triaxis and the ultra each thru one channel of the mesa 50/50, into identical mesa 1x12 3/4 back cabs. Then I just went back and forth with the same guitars.
Needless to say, the Ultra sounded way better thru the mesa amp than the little carvin! The 50/50 provided an incredible platform for the axe, I got back a lot of the sibilance that seems lacking in some of the clean modes thru a SS power amp. But live I let the mains do most of the work so that's not a huge deal to me.
Regarding the A/B, there are a few things the triaxis can do that are really hard to duplicate, and one of my favorite triaxis sounds is very elusive: recto patch, with the "dynamic voice" on "1" and mids cranked (mids are really more of a low treble in this mode). You're not supposed to turn on dynamic voice for a "classic" recto sound, but I love love love this tone-cuts out most of the mud. Incredible string to string clarity, no woof, works with any pickup combo, sounds monstrous on huge stages. I wish Cliff would model this. But... good news, I got fairly close using the energyball model with the tonestack changed to USA clean. If I don't mess with the dynamic voice control, recto mode of triaxis is more accessible thru the axe.
All other triaxis modes I was able to ape with uncanny realism. The basic "boogie" sounds are just stellar in the axe, any variances are just different flavors of the same thing. Very very impressive.
Overall, I was pleased and not really surprised. I've been stoked over my axe ever since I got it, and I think the triaxis will be on Craig's list presently to make room for another ultra. I probably won't use the 50/50 with either ultra. As good as it sounds, my back just can't take it anymore. But I do think I want more headroom than the DCM150 so I'll probably go bigger, probably a Carvin DCM 1540L.
More later on this, but I'd love to hear from any others who have done the A/B thing like this. Especially if they can "get" that sound I'm still looking for! :roll:
