[7 Dying Trees]

Awesome, I didn't realise someone shared this video here.

This was such a fun test to make!
Firstly because I had just bought my first ever Mesa so it was just a lot of fun to play through it, but it was also so interesting to see how all the modelers compared.

Right now I do believe that tube amps still sound a little different than modelers and one could argue that they sound better.
I hadn't used tube amps for about 12 years until a few months back.
Especially since recently I felt that amps sims just were 'there'.
I still believe that some modelers like the Axe Fx and Helix are really good and I use them all the time for various reasons, however they are not there yet so I feel like tube amps still have a place, as they should.

I now own 9 tube amps and it feels like I'm discovering that whole thing again.
There just is something magical about tube amps.
Even when going through a load box with IR's like how I use em most of the time.

Now, I've been slowly buying amps I've always wanted to own for a while, slowly collecting them. Ever since I got a torpedo studio so I could use them I've really been enjoying recording and playing through them at home. I started with 4 amps this year, and have now gone up to 7 (although I still haven't collected one).

I got an axe fx 2 a while back, which I was hoping I could use for recording, but nothing has really gelled with it or stuck out, and everytime i plug into an actual amp, there's just something more fun about playing it, feels nicer, more inspired. I think one thing is that I don't tweak as much using an amp, just set it to a sound, do a few adjustments, and then just go with it. Plus i can touch the knobs, which is really nice.

Thing is, a lot of amps are now selling for not that much as noone wants them like they used to, so you can pick up bargains. I'm quite happily slowly hoarding them when I find ones i wanted as a kid, or ones that I've wanted to try out.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Yeah man, there are some good deals out there for sure.
As soon as I have the cash I want to get a Mesa MK V 25/35....

I was lusting after a mark series amp, ended up buying another triaxis, gives me the mark tone fix, and with the ld1 red (recto, without the fat mod) i also got one of my favorite rectifier versions as well! Whole setup with a 2:90 power amp was still less than a mark V (even a 25/35 one)

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Do you really feel like the Triaxis can nail the MK tones?
I know it's good enough for a lot of guys like Metallica and Petrucci but with the amp modelers (Axe Fx and Mercuriall) I don't get that Mark feel and sound.
I know, not real amps but the Axe fx can definitely give an idea of how a real amp sounds...
Very curious about that!

It doesn't 100% do the amps it's got the preamps for (remember it's NOT a modeler), but it'll do 90-95% with the other 5-10% being it's own flavour, but the feel is all mark. I mean, it's mesa, each preamp is analogue, and each one is a mark preamp. Combine it with a 2:90 which is imulclass, well, you get the drift. It dials in like a mark series, all of them react like a mark series (various, from blackface mark1, to mark 2c+ to markIV etc etc). Best thing is to just read the triaxis manual. You'll most likely end up on reverb hunting for one within a few minutes.

Basically, it is a mark series amp with a rectifier stuck on (via a TX4 expansion board). You want the 2nd revision, TX4 board, without the phat mod. Best way to tell is via the serial number:
https://mesaboogie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217784798-What-TriAxis-version-do-I-have-