Should Mesa Re-Issue The Triaxis?

[Eagle]

The best interface on any midi preamp was the X99 but I don’t think you need anything beyond my 88ir.
If you’re not familiar the pots are motorised and move vey quickly to the position stored and the channels and bright switches are light up push buttons. The same as an 3 channel amp with 128 saved selections.

But rare as hell and the price of a car.

 

[EOengineer]

Most people chasing various Mesa Mark tones are not going to be appeased by a Soldano preamp. We’re comparing apples and razor blades.

 

[Eagle]

Most people chasing various Mesa Mark tones are not going to be appeased by a Soldano preamp. We’re comparing apples and razor blades.

Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler got some of their best tones ever from Soldano. I was actually showing the interface. My X88ir is a lot better than the Mk2 Triaxis I had.

 

[EOengineer]

Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler got some of their best tones ever from Soldano. I was actually showing the interface. My X88ir is a lot better than the Mk2 Triaxis I had.

I’m not saying the Soldano doesn’t sound good. I’m saying it doesn’t sound anything like a Mesa Mark series preamp, which is why your comparison was confusing me.

I think I was misunderstood though, as you’ve stated you were comparing the interfaces. Triaxis definitely has a very dated interface, no doubt about that.

 

[Eagle]

I’m not saying the Soldano doesn’t sound good. I’m saying it doesn’t sound anything like a Mesa Mark series preamp, which is why your comparison was confusing me.

I think I was misunderstood though, as you’ve stated you were comparing the interfaces. Triaxis definitely has a very dated interface, no doubt about that.

I was originally only talking about interfaces

 

[EOengineer]

I was originally only talking about interfaces

I’m still learning to read.

 

[0XI0]

I was originally only talking about interfaces

ok now we got something actually quantifiable to argue about. cause motorized pots and presets > preset value membrane switches. best of both worlds would be digitally controlled analog everything. but not for reliability... I'd rather have real motorized analog pots, so my actual finger decides where it should be. and every time it gets recalled, it's never going to be exactly the same. vs a digital pot telling a microcontroller to set a surface mount pos pot to an "value" it's been told is "correct". fuck that, i want my finger on the pulse of the signal path. triaxis v2 would sell like hotcakes

 

[Eagle]

ok now we got something actually quantifiable to argue about. cause motorized pots and presets > preset value membrane switches. best of both worlds would be digitally controlled analog everything. but not for reliability... I'd rather have real motorized analog pots, so my actual finger decides where it should be. and every time it gets recalled, it's never going to be exactly the same. vs a digital pot telling a microcontroller to set a surface mount pos pot to an "value" it's been told is "correct". fuck that, i want my finger on the pulse of the signal path. triaxis v2 would sell like hotcakes

That’s exactly how the x99 works. Step motors turn analog pots.

 

[GreatGreen]

I think a new Triaxis would be awesome, but for it to actually work as a marketable product, it would really need to represent the tones of Mesa's entire catalog, not just a handful of Marks. You'd need everything from the cleans of the Fillmore and Cali Tweed, as well as the Mark VII's modes of the Crunch, IIB, IIC+, and IV, and the Orange and Red channels of the Recto, maybe even throw in a channel from the Badlander too. Not to mention you'd probably want a better control mechanism than the old UP / DN membrane buttons and LED displays on the front.

Oh and you'd need a much, much better representation of the GEQ. The OG Triaxis' Dynamic Voice control was and is still awful. I've never once used it on a higher setting than 1 (which just gives you some bass boost and nothing else, pretty much). Instead I've always used a separate outboard EQ. To replace the Dynamic Voice, you'd either need a separate section of the front dedicated to just EQ and the ability to tweak each band, or a way to implement "pages" for each patch and have the 2nd page give you control of each EQ band.

 

[Baba]

Wouldn't a new one cost like, $2,999.99 street?

 

[Eagle]

Wouldn't a new one cost like, $2,999.99 street?

Probably more.