1st Electra Dyne gig.

[YellowJacket]

Well, that was my first gig since last summer.

It wasn't the greatest show but MAN, the Electra Dyne sounds good live. When it gets up to drummer volume you really start to get more gain saturation and it seriously cuts like a welding torch. Everything about it is awesome! Setting the clean level trim is a bit annoying. I could hear myself find when we started but as the drummer got louder, the bass got louder then the singer wanted his acoustic guitar louder so that drowned me out in sheer decibels. I just nudged the master up a hair and when I hit the crunch, I blew everyone away!! Great for Bryan Adams "Summer of 69" cover which sounded more punk pop than 80s pop under my hands. The way I describe the Electra Dyne is that the enjoyment I derive from playing it is almost sexual in its intensity!! Great piece of gear!!

 

[screamingdaisy]

45w or 90w?

 

[YellowJacket]

45 watts and 'barely on', but with the master at about 8:30 it was gig volume already. I've NEVER had the master past 9:00. This amp's reputation of being on the loud side is completely appropriate and definitely well deserved. 90 watts is pretty much unnecessary in my opinion, unless you want a heavier and more aggressive tone. For heavier styles with a 4 x 12, 90watts would be great. Another note: I turned my 2 x 12 up vertically and leaned it back so I could hear myself better. The v30 was on the top and the c90 was on the bottom.

The amp definitely sounds awesome at low volume and even better as it gets louder. LOADS of fun.

The dials got bumped around but the settings I was using were Volume 1:30, Bass 9:30, Treble 1:00, Mids 1:00, Presence 1:00, and master at around 8:30, like I said earlier. You basically bump it ever so slightly and the amp just jumps in loudness.

General observations: 1) the clean tone is incredible. SO much response and headroom. When you get the volume up around 2:00 the cleans get so rich, thick, and lush.

2) Vintage Lo is amazing as a classic rock rhythm tone as well as blues mode using the neck pickup.

3) Vintage Hi is the best rock / punk rock 'happy' type midrange tone ever. I love the added hair and I could get stuck here if I wasn't careful.

Observations about my playing technique: I do best with cleans or high gain for soloing and lead playing. I'm not used to low and mid gain. It will still take some work.

Guitar thoughts: If any of you can, check out Godin guitars. I'm REALLY loving my Godin LG with the Electra Dyne now. It is so phat sounding and the neck pickup is great for blues and more vintage tones. This guitar has the snap and quack of a strat with the buttery goodness of a Les Paul. On the gain channel, the added 'bite' in the treble works well with the Electra Dyne, giving it some attitude. My Lester stays safe at home since I don't have the energy to babysit it!


It was funny. The thing that got the most comments (aside from my playing) was my homemade 2 x 12. Everyone seemed entirely fascinated by it, mostly because it is homemade and it sounds fantastic.

As for the guitar comments, people tell me I am not loud and I blend well with the band. I play 'with' the band instead of playing 'over' the other players. I'll take that compliment!

 

[jeffp]

GREAT!....I have only had mine two weeks and i can tell this baby is here to stay!I won`t be sending it back. I can`t say it`s forever but the trial period is over. About the volume adjusting we will be talking more on that for sure. I think it can be worked out ok. It`s good to hear it went well for you!....... I knew MB had something for me and the styles i`m interested in(CLASSIC ROCK) and i think this is it!......It`s still very, very early for me as for time spent w/ the ED but i can tell you i`m a happy camper! jeffp
By the way i did pull out the V30`s and put in the two Heritage 65`s. Of course it will take a while to break in and sweeten up, but i feel a definite improvement at the flick of a switch! I should have two MB V30`s about 5mo. old for sale in a couple weeks.

 

[YellowJacket]

Of course. I have two celestion G12m 20 (heritage) speakers and they definitely sound great but I just don't like them in the thiele cab. I basically got such an improvement with my tone switching to the Electra Dyne that I'm happily 'tolerating' a guitar that I really didn't play at all for quite some time. (Godin LG) It sounds fantastic with the Electra Dyne and the speakers I have sound fine. The cab annoyed me at first but once I had it dialed in, things became infinitely better. No complaints.

The biggest shock has to be going from a 2 Channel Dual Rectifier clean to the Electra Dyne clean. I can't believe how much headroom I have and the tone is simply so lush. The Dual Rectifier clean is great, especially compared to Marshalls **cough** but it is so firm and it gets this flubby muddy breakup thing going when pushed. The Electra Dyne clean is literally worlds better and I find I actually enjoy playing clean tones now!

 

[J.J]

I've siad it before here, but it still surprises me. Before the ED I would almost never use a clean tone. Now that I have found a 1st rate clean tone I actually look forward to switching to it, rather than avoiding it.

That Vintage low is the same for me, YellowJacket, it can take a lot of work learning to use its potential, but the rewards are huge.

As for volume, I know the ED has a rep for being loud (and it is 8) ), but once you get to about 10:00 in 45 watt mode, that is it. It doesn't really get louder. The rest of the pot performs a bit like a power amp gain knob in that you can use it to set the amount of power tube overdrive you want.

At some point I want to play with iso cabs so I can really play with the power tube overdrive which really is the icing on the cake for me.

 

[YellowJacket]

I'm beginning to figure out my technical problem with low / mid gain tones now. It is basically the same thing I am working on with Cello right now: string to fret / fingerboard connection. I'm discovering that a light left hand touch can disrupt the vibration of the string in a subtle way that is not noticeable when playing clean or with high gain, but when playing low / medium gain it is crucial to maintaining a smooth sustain and legato line. The solution has been doing technique on my acoustic (scales, etc) and aiming for a full and rich tone.

Incidentally, I think the blue channel improves the most as the amp nears gig level.

 

[J.J]

If you guys are already loving the ED, there is much to be had from changing the power tubes.

Currently I have a set of SED =C= tubes as the inside pair. They are only used when in 90 watt.

I have been prefering 45watt pretty much since I got the ED, but with the =C= tubes 90watt now actually brightens up and both clarity and overtones (harmonics) are better than 45w mode. I am now loving both modes.

Just a warning though, the SED =C= tubes I have, even though they are speced for Mesa usage seem to run super hot. One of my tubes is at the onset of red plating when in the outside sockets so I had to move them to the inside. I suspect that tube may be bad as it is not running outside its rating.

 

[screamingdaisy]

I switched to EL34s awhile ago (Mesa EL34s). At first I wasn't sure if I liked them any better or not as I rather like 6L6s. I'm still not sure if I like them better, but they're staying in for now as I certainly don't dislike them.

I have a set of SED EL34s that I'd love to run in it, but I had them spec'd to run hot in a Dual Rectifier... which makes me nervous when it comes to Mesa's current lineup of amps where the fixed bias seems dialled in to run EL34s near at hot end of the scale.

 

[J.J]

I'm not sure about the other Mesa amps. Does the MKV have the simul class too ?

Anyway, the outside pair of tubes in the ED run around 50ma with the Mesa yellow grade tubes which is pretty hot, but not crazy. The inside tubes are much cooler at about 35ma for me. You could probably run your SED El34s in the inside sockets without issue, but I'd still use the bias probe to see where they sit.

My SED 6L6 were running around 57ma for one pair and one of those tubes is showing the slight red plating, but is still under its 30 watt rating by 3 watts. I even tried a variac to lower things further, but even at 22 watts that particular tube was showing its stress.

I ordered a cooler second pair, but one of the tubes was bad on arrival (measured 70ma and 34 watts) that tube really did glow red :lol: To its credit, I used it for perhaps 5 hours before I noticed and it didn't fail.

I can't wait to get another pair of SED back in the outside sockets. Knowing how good the SED 6L6 tubes are makes me want to try the SED EL34, but I really don't want to lose the great glassy Fender clean. Maybe I'll get some for fun anyway when I can afford them.

 

[screamingdaisy]

Yeah, the 6L6 to EL34 move is always a debate for me. It's nice for the crunch, but you have to sacrifice the clean channel a little.

 

[YellowJacket]

Ya, it is an easy decision if you spend lots of time on Vintage Hi / Lo. If you use both, perhaps preserving the Clean is more important...