2101 to a Studio.

[TOOLGUY]

Hello all.
I had my 2101 die on me after years of abuse. I thought it might be the transformer (common problem with the 21xx series) but after swapping it out, is not..I am tight on $$ so I can't replace it right now. I was using the 2101 with a bbe sonic maximizer,Fender 4x12 and a Peavey 8.5c power amp.

A good friend of mine GAVE me a good used studio preamp (super nice gift!) but I can't get the sound I am after. I play in a cover band and we go from Metallica to the Chili Peppers. I can get a near perfect older RHCP tone but am struggling to find a good metal sound. The studio distortion is "fuzzy" to my ears and I can't get a tight punchy distortion. I have not opened up the Mesa to see what tubes are in it (but I can). I have a few old stomp boxes stored away if I need to use them but I would rather not.
What settings/routing/gear can I try to tighten up the gain? Sorry,I was never a gear guru.

Gear I have "working".
Mesa Studio preamp.
Boss delay box (had to add that in)
BBE Sonic Maximizer
Peavey 8.5c power amp

Stuff I have stored away.
Digitech gsp-21 ( Distortion is broken, compressor and all other effects work)
Ibanez compressor box and chorus box.
Boss super feedbacker distortion.
Dod American metal box.

Thanks in advance for any help.
Jd

 

[snave]

The studio preamp should be as good as just about any preamp for metal if you use it with a quality tube poweramp.

Expecting a tube pre-/transistor poweramp to sound as good as an all-tube head isn't very realistic.

 

[TOOLGUY]

Expecting a tube pre-/transistor poweramp to sound as good as an all-tube head isn't very realistic
Actually the Digitech 2101 with the transistor peavey power amp sounds better than my band mates 5150 head. I will get the occasional person coming up to check out my gear after a gig and not believe I am using such a "chepo" power amp. I definitely don't want to get into a tubes vrs transistor thing. If I could afford a nice tube power amp I would have one.

I am just trying to get the gear I have now dialed in. Who knows maybe I will never go back to a multi-effect processor. I am sure after a few nights of messing around with settings/gear I can get a decent metal sound from the mesa. I was just looking for some sure fire things to try.
Thanks
Jd

 

[sixtonoize]

To tighten up the distortion, turn the treble all the way up and the bass and mids all the way down. This should make your tone more thin than you'd like, so add a little bit of mids and bass until your tone is where you'd like it to be. The important thing to know about the Studio Pre (and ALL mark-series Mesas) is that the tone stack is pre-gain, so it doesn't react like "normal" tone stacks.

To get a decent metal tone, it's important to pull the bass out in the tone stack and add it back in with the graphic EQ.

 

[kiff]

Expecting a tube pre-/transistor poweramp to sound as good as an all-tube head isn't very realistic
Actually the Digitech 2101 with the transistor peavey power amp sounds better than my band mates 5150 head.

most likely he's doing something wrong w/ the 5150, or it has some issues..

 

[JT_Marshmallow]

I made a video about how to configure the Studio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiYIkO7kCxs

And another demonstrating some different sounds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpCc7_0Cmuc&feature=related


These were recorded direct through a direct inject box. All I have in my Studio Pre are (who knows how old) Sovtek 12ax7's. I wouldn't describe the tone as fuzzy. Maybe if you set up the tone stack wrong it will sound like ****, but I mainly keep my Treble knob between 8-10, Bass between 0-2, and Middle...doesn't do much of anything. I explain all these in the video. Also try using the Recording Out jacks into your power amp instead of the Main Outs. The Recording Out jacks have a smoother EQ scheme about them and the Treble knob is usable from 0-10, unlike the Main Outs.

Hope it helps.

 

[TOOLGUY]

To tighten up the distortion, turn the treble all the way up and the bass and mids all the way down. This should make your tone more thin than you'd like, so add a little bit of mids and bass until your tone is where you'd like it to be. The important thing to know about the Studio Pre (and ALL mark-series Mesas) is that the tone stack is pre-gain, so it doesn't react like "normal" tone stacks.

This worked like a charm! I had the bass set at 8 and the mid at 5. I reset the bass to 2 and the mid to 1 and used the sliders to dial it back in. It is much tighter. I would still like a bit more punch.I will try the recording outs today.
Thanks for the help.

 

[TOOLGUY]

I noticed today that if I pull the input cable out of the mesa,it will squeal and hiss when on the lead channel (with lead gain set to 6 or higher). It does not do this on the rhythm channel. I swapped out the v3 and v4 tubes for a new set of Groove tubes I had in my 2101 but it did not fix the problem. Is this normal?
I also want to try and use some sort of gate and effects but when I tried using the loop it killed the tone of the pre. What is the best way to chain in a processor (I forgot I had an old art sgx 2000 stored away) and/or my bbe?

I am really starting to like this preamp.
Thanks again

 

[JT_Marshmallow]

Just chain them in series: Preamp > FX unit and BBE > Power amp

When it comes to rack gear, the beauty of separate pre and power amps is that you can chain up all kinds of **** in between without having to deal with mediocre fx loops.

 

[TOOLGUY]

After a week or so if tweaking I have decided I like the sound of the MESA pre (lead channel) with no effects chained in. I have tried using the loop and chaining in both the sgx2000 and a borrowed 2120 but it just mucks up the tone of the pre.
What I would like to do is use my sgx2000 for clean and needed effects (distorted or clean) on a separate channel and the pre for my crunch/rhythm/lead. Sort of like a A/B amp switcher box. I also would like to switch the channels of the mesa pre via midi. So basically I need something that can switch inputs in on either unit, midi control the mesa and the sgx,and switch a set (r&l) of outputs to my power amp.


I looked at the gcx but it looks like I need to use a y cable for the inputs to do this (unless I am not understanding how it works). In the past using a y splitter on the input has always taken away from my tone. I also am not sure on the correct way to hook up the four outputs from the two preamps to the two inputs of the power amp. I would think Y-ing them in would cause hum/interference unless the gcx takes care of this? I know if I don’t have a cable going into the pre input I get a lot of hiss/noise from the pre on high gain settings.

Btw I got to try the pre with a mesa 50/50 WOW! I wish I could afford one
Is the Carvin ts100 any good? I can get one for around $300.00 (used) local.

Hope everyone could understand that mess of a post.
Thanks in advance.
Jd