Lead Modes - Mesa/Boogie TriAxis Owner's Manual

LEAD MODES

LD 1: This group of three modes is probably the older, more tradition based of the Lead Modes in TriAxis. They all have one thing in
common and that is all three are what is referred to in amp freak circles as pre-tone-control gain circuits. This means the boosting
of gain by progressively "slamming" the 12AX7 tubes occurs before the tone controls. This method of squeezing gain through
the tone controls tends to lend itself to a larger, yet slightly less focused sound. Many players rely on this looser, more spread out
sound to be able to get emotional with their soloing style. This circuit also delivers large amounts of bass very well. As opposed to a
"rear end" style circuit, this type of circuit lets you pump larger quantities of bass through the tone controls without increased flub or
cloudiness. Players that lean toward extremely high gain metal or hard rock sounds will find the LEAD 1 modes much more suited
to the maxed out regions of gain required to produce over the top, believable crunch and grind. We especially recommend the Lead1
Red mode for this application. You will find that the DYNAMIC VOICE control may not be best suited for these modes and, in fact, we
recommend working with these modes without the DYNAMIC VOICE first. This EQ was developed to work with the post-tone-control
lead circuits of LEAD 2 so that previous Boogie owners would find themselves at home...especially those players that used the
Graphic EQ aboard their MK II, III, or IV. The DYNAMIC VOICE works fine with the LEAD 1 modes and causes no problems of
any sort, however, the frequencies chosen for the EQ points were dialed in for the LEAD 2 modes. But don't worry...if you like or need
the DYNAMIC VOICE with LEAD 1...go ahead and use it...it won't hurt a thing. We just wanted to share our design concept with you
regarding the DYNAMIC VOICE circuit.
LD 1 GREEN: This mode cries vintage! Based on a Boogie Mark 1, this is the mode that put us on the map. Carlos Santana
heard this mode in 1970 and freaked! Abraxas (his album) came out and boom!...Boogie was on the road to making history. After
all these years the Mark 1 is still a much sought after sound. In fact...so much that we had to re-issue it in 1990. LEAD 1 Green
is a faithful reproduction of Input 1 on a Mark 1. It cries the blues with its fat, warmth and roundness. Sweet, sparkling highs
reminiscent of the Black face era are abundant in this gem of a mode. Green doesn't oversaturate your guitar's inherent tone,
making it the choice for most blues or dirty rhythm work. It cleans up extremely well at low gain settings by simply rolling back
on your instrument's volume knob. Roots players feel more at home with this circuit than the full blown modes that follow, cherishing
the way Green can purr like a big kitty when set right. Here are some hints that will help you get the most out of this sensitive and
most dynamic of the Lead Modes.
1. For those of you that are familiar with the Mark 1's Input 1, it should come as no surprise that the two volume or gain controls
work in series. In other words, what ever you do to the VOLUME 2 control drastically affects the sound. In TriAxis, LEAD 1 Green and
Yellow work identically to the Mark I's layout, though the Front Panel placement of the controls is essentially backwards. In Lead 1
Green the first control in the chain is actually LEAD 1 DRIVE. The second is the GAIN control. This was necessary for the inclusion
of LEAD 2. In the Mark 1 circuit the two controls decide in what stage and how much gain is produced. Mark 1 players know that
the warmest fattest lead sounds are produced by having VOLUME 2 (Gain on TriAxis) set equal to - or higher than - VOLUME 1
(LEAD 1 DRIVE on TriAxis). This blend saturates the note more evenly and tends to bury any fret buzz or intermodulations. If you want
more highs in the mix and want to reduce the saturation...reduce the Gain and leave the LEAD 1 DRIVE set slightly higher. Basically
it's like this: Gain set higher than LEAD 1 DRIVE produces a more blended saturated sound. LEAD 1 DRIVE set higher than Gain,
produces a brighter, slightly more hollow character. Dial to taste.
2. The TREBLE and MIDDLE controls are both very active gain controls in LEAD 1 Green. Their respective regions of frequen-
cies can be brought out while adding substantial gain. If you are looking for the maximum gain in a certain preset in this mode, try
experimenting with these two as well as the GAIN and LEAD 1 DRIVE controls. They can deliver a type of gain in a certain place
that you might not otherwise find. Setting the MIDDLE control to 10 and reducing or turning the and reducing or turning the
Treble and Bass to 0.0 is also an interesting lead sound in this mode. It's probably the setting with the most focused saturation,
although some players with darker sounding instruments might find this setting to be lacking some pick attack. Try dialing in some
more Presence should you find this to be the case.
Again, experiment....Lead 1 Green is probably the most versatile of all the LEAD Modes found aboard TriAxis. It works great for
all styles where complete saturation is not essential. You will probably come to appreciate all the countless hours we spent R&D'ing
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