Mesa/Boogie TriAxis Owner's Manual page 23

LEAD MODES:
(Continued)
spends enough time to let it...into a virtuoso of feeling, soul, and statement. It growls with ferocity in the low range, staying tight and
urgent. A "thonk and chirp" is experienced traveling through the midrange frequencies. Then suddenly, as if someone redialed for the
highs, an explosive, yet liquid, top end comes ripping out as you squeeze every luscious note out of the treble strings. Sound almost
sexual? Primal? Well many a II-C+ junkie...(there are roughly 4500 of them,) will confess...broken hearts are often cured from a
couple weeks rocking with a C+. Seriously, the blend of this mode is so amazing that most players are finding new great sounds 2
and 3 years after their first ear to ear grin.
While the Yellow mode excels at medium to high gain settings because of these nicely stacked harmonics, don't underes-
timate Yellow for the rootsier low gain sounds. Sure as you can make high gain sounds chirp and squeal on command, low gain
sounds possess the sting essential to tortured blues soloing. Yellow doesn't get as saturated as the Green mode in LEAD 2 making
it the choice for skinnier, more cutting and clean blues lines. The PRESENCE control works extremely well in the Yellow mode dialing
in and out the harmonic content of a given preset. At low PRESENCE and TREBLE control settings the sound is more horn or voice
like. With higher settings of the Presence and possibly Treble the character becomes much more searing and harmonic. Keep this in
mind while tweaking!
So whether it's low gain preaching you're doing, elastic fusion you're crafting, tracking the huge grind or showcasing your smoldering
single note machine...LEAD 2 Yellow has the blend, subtle, but magic - that you'll need to shine. You will probably find this to be one
of TriAxis' most valuable buried treasures.
HINT: The DYNAMIC VOICE Control was the one space programmable way to achieve the ever popular 5 band graphic equalizer
so valued on Boogie combos and heads. This circuit works extremely well in shaping the post-tone control lead circuit that is LEAD 2.
Though it is shipped with a preset curve that boosts lows and highs while reducing midrange subtly, it is extremely well suited to the
stronger mid range e.q. inherent in these three modes. Almost as if it were custom made for these modes, you'll find each increment
delivers subtle, usable and musical enhancements to the existing modes' personality. Experiment completely and use this control as
a customizer for your sounds. Should you find this preset curve unusable for your music after thorough experimentation, don't get
upset...there is an answer! See the DYNAMIC VOICE outline in the CONTROLS section of this manual.
LD 2 RED: This mode is made for shred. In fact, it might be better named LEAD 2 Shred. It is much more aggressive in the top
end than its' yellow counterpart, boasting much enhanced upper harmonics. Though it shares almost identical basic architecture...
additional parts switch in when Red is chosen that give this once balanced, well behaved mode a downright ugly attitude. Harmonics
are boosted and a bit of lower treble is dipped to give this Red a sizzling edge that is unique to this mode only. The harmonic edge
not only benefits high notes...It does wonders for the grinding "Z's" needed for bodacious low end crunch. This enhances the growl
on the low strings as well as it adds cut and sizzle to the higher strings. The frequencies enhanced by this circuit are slightly higher
than those found in conventional power section PRESENCE controls.They are also higher, more rebellious and defined than those
adjusted by the action of TriAxis' PRESENCE control. These highs have that out-of-control-vibe to them, that falling-apart-yet-loosely-
held-together quality that is often associated with modified early British heads using Euro-style EL34 power tubes for their ponies.
This elusive sound affects the feel of the strings and players accustomed to such sounds have difficulty feeling at home on an amp
that doesn't deliver these loose highs.
To be a complete array of guitar sounds, TriAxis had to address these classic heads. LEAD 2 Red possesses most of, if not all the
qualities we mentioned. If a player still finds Red to be lacking in this history making sound, there is always the DYNAMIC VOICE
control to blend in some lower lows and higher highs, while dipping the mids and jacking the bottom simultaneously. If this still isn't
exactly what turns you on...well you could go nuts, and use two TriAxis and a MESA High Gain Amplifier Switch.( see rear of this
manual) Use one TriAxis in LEAD 2 Red and another TriAxis in LEAD 1 Red, then blend the two by turning them both on at once!
CRAZY? Don't laugh...you'd be surprised at the number of guys using two TriAxis' or a TriAxis and another head simultaneously.
However, this gets pretty expensive and we find that mastering one TriAxis is enough of a challenge for anybody. Regardless, LEAD
2 Red is perfect for any part where you need focus and urgency, but want a little bit of that edge for attitude. The same hints
and suggestions apply to the Red in LEAD 2 that we discussed for Green and Yellow. Work with the GAIN control carefully...check
the factory preset that utilizes LEAD 2 Red.
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