compare a ace to an el34 lonestar and ...

[MONGO]

Okay I have both and put beam blockers on my c90's I installed on my ace and ite a very good amp but I put winged el34's in my LS classic today and by farrrrrrrrr it smoked the ace for me. Now I plugged it into a 4x12 marshall cab with g12H 30'S and that helped but even with the combo lonestar it smoked for me.

Anyone ever try this ? I am interested in what your conclusions were.

The fact I had reverb on a el34 was cool as well. I did set up the amp different. I set the clean channel to a lot of gain and made it crucnh like a monster. The dirty channel I used the extra gain with the drive which I dont normally do with 6l6ls in it. It really really smoked the ace for me. See the ace on its own is to bright especially with v30s and anything but a les paul like axe.


I really like this el34 classic sound but it doesnt replace my lonestar 6l6 classic setup. I will now sell the ace and get another lonestar classic 2-12 and dial it in for el34 tonal bliss.


I will try differnt high gain preamp tubes as well for this setup.

chime in anyone ?

 

[inkwachemis]

Okay I have both and put beam blockers on my c90's I installed on my ace and ite a very good amp but I put winged el34's in my LS classic today and by farrrrrrrrr it smoked the ace for me. Now I plugged it into a 4x12 marshall cab with g12H 30'S and that helped but even with the combo lonestar it smoked for me.

Anyone ever try this ? I am interested in what your conclusions were.

The fact I had reverb on a el34 was cool as well. I did set up the amp different. I set the clean channel to a lot of gain and made it crucnh like a monster. The dirty channel I used the extra gain with the drive which I dont normally do with 6l6ls in it. It really really smoked the ace for me. See the ace on its own is to bright especially with v30s and anything but a les paul like axe.


I really like this el34 classic sound but it doesnt replace my lonestar 6l6 classic setup. I will now sell the ace and get another lonestar classic 2-12 and dial it in for el34 tonal bliss.


I will try differnt high gain preamp tubes as well for this setup.

chime in anyone ?

did u retube your ace too? or still have stock mesas?

 

[123thefirst]

I put winged el34's in my LS classic today and by farrrrrrrrr it smoked the ace for me.

That's quite interesting. So you get all the gain you need with the LSC? What types of music do you play? Is it basically 'classic' sounds rather than 90's and later metal spinoffs?

That's very inspiring because I have a custom Road King on order which won't arrive until April or May most likely. That should be able to get pretty much what you got from the LSC with both 6L6's and EL34's and be switchable between the two I hope.

At the moment I use a Recto Pre which is basically the Road King I preamp with a hardware emulation of the power amp/speaker combination. Yes, besides the high gain sounds in vintage mode, any of the clean channel modes sounds very, very nice with a moderate to maximum amount of gain. And raw mode can sound really nice too if you remove most of the bass and a reasonable amount of mids. Exquisite classic, progressive and hard rock sounds are there for the taking...

 

[jbird]

I just can't see comparing the amps side by side. I think they were intended for two different styles. :?

 

[MONGO]

I play everything from blues to hard rock not metal.

I can compare the two since they are two el 34 tones and I have them both. The ace is great but the lonestar is a warmer better sounding amp to me with verb etc....

It has that extra gain stage in channel two to make it hard rock gain wise.


The 34's are mesa's and the preamp tubes. The 34's rule on channel two. Less bass more crucnh. I believe the classic is just that. I own 12 old vintage amps and this thing lonestar just rules for me. It can do clean to sirty but is made like a classic. It handles everything I throw at it pedal wise.

I am going to get a closed back 2-12 cab for the lonstar with 34s. G12H 30'S for a fatter warmer fuller v30 like tone without the harsh high end


Also I had a road king two and even though it is lonestar close on channel one it is not a lonestar trust me. It isnt as magical. But if you like metal tones then its cool since you have so many sounds. I was going to run the ace and ab between the classic but now its two classics one 6l6 set for clean tones and mid tones and the other 34 tone for crucnh and heavy crucnchhhhhhh

 

[JAZZGEAR]

Also I had a road king two and even though it is lonestar close on channel one it is not a lonestar trust me. It isnt as magical

I have a different take on that.....I owned 2 versions of the LSC (1x12 and 2x12) along with the RK II, I too wanted to make sure the RK II cleans were up to the LSC standards....and after a few months of side by side comparison and gigging, I sold the LSCs.

I found the cleans on the RK II to be more versatile than the LSC as I can get that EL34 sound on the fly w/o having to switch out tubes. I even went as far as replacing two of the 6L6s with THD YEllow Jackets EL84...and can now get LSS like tones as well.

To me, at least, the RK II has the magic of the LSC and then some.....perhaps you did not EQ the RK II properly, or maybe it was just to much amp for you to handle (not meant in a disparaging way) -- alot of players just prefer a simple layout (like that of the LSC).

Just my .02 :wink:

 

[123thefirst]

I suppose one telling difference between a LSC and a RK would be the speakers. According to the 2005/6/7 Mesa catalog the LSC comes with "Filmore" speakers which seem to be a variant of the Celestion 90. That and cabinet geometry - maybe that's what endears the amp to you more than the RK.

One thing I don't quite understand is why most everyone here prefers a one 12" or two 12" cabinet or combo. With the kind of power Mesa amps belt out, the sound coming from one or two speakers seems very incoherent and spotty to me - too pushed. The point source just feels strident and rattly. The four 12's give you a homogeneous wall of sound rather than a point source that seems full and right to me. They fill a room rather than fight with it if you know what I mean.

 

[jbird]

One is Mesa's take on British Rock Tones (Marshall), and one is Mesa's take on let's say Texas Blues, SRV, Fender! Your comparing Apples & Oranges?

 

[FPFL]

Yeah, I think calling the Lone Star better is a bit much, but color me biased. Its certainly built for different things.. In my own amp quest I spent some quality time with a LS combo though it was the 2006 edition.

To me the LS can rock but to use an Internet cliche it can't touch the Ace for RAWK or drop D rage. The Ace is less polite and has more bark. This could also be flipped to say the LS is smoother - no argument there. Personally I wish I had an LS for the sounds it does best, but if it was the Ace or the LS, the Ace would stay.

I'm hoping the other guitar player in my band gets a Recto of some sort so we have the Recto / Ace thing going.