Almost ready to purchase a Lonestar, but have some questions

[Monsta-Tone]

I sold my Heartbreaker, and am selling several other amps & guitars from my personal collection.

I'm seriously leaning toward the Lonestar, but don't know which one I want. Plus I have other questions.

I have a huge PA, so micing an amp is not a problem. I also understand the Special 1x12 is smaller, but maybe not necessarily lighter.

Here goes:
1. Which Lonestar has better cleans? Chimey, sweet, full and clear.

2. Do you guys prefer the tone (I don't really care as much about weight as I do tone) of the 1x12 or the 2x12?

3. Which Lonestar has better Crunch and Lead tones for Blues, Classic Rock (ZZ Top, etc)

4. How much overdrive is available in the Lead channel? Can it get Billy Gibbons or Dave Gilmour tones with a Strat or McCarty?

5. Does one sound better than the other with both humbuckers & single coils.

6. Is it worth the extra money to get a new one with the 5 or 10 watt setting? Or, is it worth the savings to get an older one?



I realize that all of this is subjective, but had to ask.

A customer of mine brought his Lonestar Special in for new tubes and a minor repair. The tone was absolutely fantastic. It made me want to sell my Blue Angel, DC-5 & Heartbreaker. I did not play it personally though, he is really touchy about that.

He also only plays clean, so I did not get to hear the smoking section, so to speak.

The Cleans were absolutely beautiful and full though at bedroom volumes.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Maybe a better way to ask would have simply been:

Which Lonestar is better for a Lead/Rythm Player/Singer in a 3 piece Classic Rock & Blues Band.

We play anything from the Stones to ZZ Top to Allman Bros, to Santana & Frank Zappa, with a bit of BB King and Johnny Lang thrown in there.

My style is sort of like Dave Gilmour sitting in a Hash Bar in Amsterdam with Billy Gibbons, Frank Zappa, Bob Marley, Santana & Mojo Nixon, eating a leafy green salad and talking about why I can't bring myself to play metal anymore. :lol: Now none of this makes sense. :lol:

 

[PRSKILLER]

Never tried the LSS nor a 1x12 so with that said I prefer the LSC 2x12 :lol:

Great cleans, the best in the Mesa line and can do classic rock to 80s metal no problem.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

OK.... I've not tried the 1x12 but love my 2x12. best for cleans is definetely the Classic, great headroom and lush reverb. You can get a really wide range of gain on it and I use Strats only.

If you want real brit crunch you could always put EL34 valves in the Lone Star Classic, it has a bias switch on the back for this - very slick feature.

I tried a 100/50 LSC when I was looking and decided to wait for the 10/50/100 and I am glad I did. great for practicing in the house or small gigs.

This is all subjective of course - but I play a wide range of stuff from clean to U2 etc and all sorts of others - I am one happy customer.

D

 

[SabuJSE]

LSS - The best clean channel, amazing versatility in gain tones in channel 2, and good pedals work with, not against, this amp.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

PRSKILLER: What 80's metal do you play on it?

I have a friend who had one of the 1st LSC's and he sold it because it would not get the gain tone that he was looking for. He plays a lot of Santana, and had a Rectoverb at the same time. He chose the Rectoverb over the LSC, go figure.


I was leaning toward the 2x12 LSC, but am unsure as to whether or not the extra money is justified for the newer one with the 10 watt setting.

I need to think about it more.

I have a ton of pedals, Hot Drive N Boost, Full Drive II, Maxon Compressor (soon to be full bypass), Maxon AD808 (personal favorite), & a Bad Horsie II Wah.

 

[ursinus]

I'm in love with the older LSC open back 1x12's The cleans on it are fabulous, the reverb is delicious, and it isn't a back breaker like the 2x12. The LSS does sound nice, but for you are looking for, I think the LSC is up your alley....

 

[Maury]

I bought the LSC over the LSS because I wanted to be guranteed as much clean headroom as possible for clean chording. Some LSS owners claim the LSS has plenty of headroom. If the cleans are great in both cases, what does the LSS have to offer that the LSC can't do? Just wondering what tones the EL84s do that the LSC can't cop.

 

[simonich]

There are at least the following differences I know of...

(1) The power tubes are obviously different.

(2) The LSS operates in Class A in all power modes, while the LSC operates in Class A only in 10W mode (the previous version does not operate in Class A).

(3) The LSS operates with a single power tube in 5W mode. The LSC doesn't have a single tube mode.

 

[Maury]

gotcha - good points, thanks.

 

[Pageburst]

I wanted a vintage blackface tone that I just couldn't get from current Fender production amps.

Check out croosroads clip #3 That ProReverb JBL tone eluded me until I got the lonestar Classic. It's that nice.

http://www.crcoils.com/Sound_Clips/Crossroad_clips/crossroad_clips.html

The LSS sounds great too but it's got a much more Voxy vibe going imo and the mids are very lush and beautiful but they are ALWAYS lush and beautiful -great 84 amp but the LSC is more versatile. Load her up with 6v6s or EL34s and you almost have a completely new amp.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

That was very nice.

Can you tell me what your settings were, and what pedals/guitars you were using?

Thanks man, a picture really is worth a few words.

 

[Pageburst]

I just use my Historic 1959 LP with a set of boutique PAfs run through channel 2 with a touch of gain and reverb. At first I turn all the EQ nobs down and then add a touch of highs and mids while leaving the bass at maybe 7:00 o'clock.

Like many Mesa's You really have to work the tone nobs to find that sound but almost anything south of high gain it's in there.

 

[PRSKILLER]

PRSKILLER: What 80's metal do you play on it?

I have a friend who had one of the 1st LSC's and he sold it because it would not get the gain tone that he was looking for. He plays a lot of Santana, and had a Rectoverb at the same time. He chose the Rectoverb over the LSC, go figure.


I was leaning toward the 2x12 LSC, but am unsure as to whether or not the extra money is justified for the newer one with the 10 watt setting.

I need to think about it more.

I have a ton of pedals, Hot Drive N Boost, Full Drive II, Maxon Compressor (soon to be full bypass), Maxon AD808 (personal favorite), & a Bad Horsie II Wah.

GnR, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, bands along those lines. Also cops a good Soundgarden tone to my ears.

 

[Dreads]

I have the lcs with EL34-bstr's in it and it's a smoking amp. Great for solos and crunch. I tried the lss and I'm glad I bought the LSC (2-12's.)
Only thing is I wish that the 10 watter was coming back when I bought mine as I'd have waited. 10 watts for the house would be cool.. That said, I get the amp low enough with the master and it still kicks some serious ezz!

checky heah: el34 clip

I don't use cleans much except for small sections but they sound pretty deluxe even with the el34's.

 

[PRSKILLER]

I have the lcs with EL34-bstr's in it and it's a smoking amp. Great for solos and crunch. I tried the lss and I'm glad I bought the LSC (2-12's.)
Only thing is I wish that the 10 watter was coming back when I bought mine as I'd have waited. 10 watts for the house would be cool.. That said, I get the amp low enough with the master and it still kicks some serious ezz!

checky heah: el34 clip

I don't use cleans much except for small sections but they sound pretty deluxe even with the el34's.

Great clip. 8)

 

[Strat N My Stuff]

Contrary to lots of threads, the clips ref'd in this one actually were decent and good displays of the sound I would have put with the description.

I play all of the bands/genres that were mentioned.

I own a LSS 112, play a Fender HSS Strat and for most everything but super clean headroom, I like the character of the EL84's. In making my decision, I was told, and I suppose I agree, that the LSS works with Strats better. That being said, I wouldn't wait for the 10 watt LSC, and the 5/15/30 watt choice, made the LSS the winner at that time (Mar. 07).

I would say if crisp/clean is priority, I'd go with the 10/50/100 LSC. Note, that in moving to the rock sounds, the LSC didn't seem to respond as well to the single coils. With an LP I have heard the LSC cover classic/modern/alternative rock beautifully. It can atttain some pretty strong gain, say like Live or to the contrary, a decent contemporary country (I prefer LSS). I think a humbucker provides whats needed (bite/attack - not the right word?) to overcome an otherwise sterile sounding tone in the LSC, whereas the LSS rocks with singles/hb's, but can't quite match the headroom of the LSC cleans, though stellar with classic/modern/alternative rock, contemporary country and cleaner stuff, say praise/worship. Just my .02 Jeff

 

[Mick]

I bought the LSC over the LSS because I wanted to be guranteed as much clean headroom as possible for clean chording. Some LSS owners claim the LSS has plenty of headroom. If the cleans are great in both cases, what does the LSS have to offer that the LSC can't do? Just wondering what tones the EL84s do that the LSC can't cop.

The EL84's give you that sweet buttery chime first heard in the old Vox AC30's. Especially with single coils!

 

[jamme61]

save a ton of money and go for the 5:50 express. I had the LSC and couldn't get the right kind of crunch for classic rock and blues. i liked the clean on it a lot but i like the Express even more. I have 1x12 which is killer and if i need more volume with the band i put it on top of my 2x12 cab. I loved the cleans on a LSS too, but it got a little mussy when I pushed it with humbuckers, so I went for the LSC, NOW I HAVE THE EXPRESS and love it. save the money check it out.

 

[stash49]

Thanks for that clip. Even with el34s the LSC wont bite like a stiletto, and thats a good. The LSC has a fantistic range of sounds-I've got to try some el34s now.