Could a Lonestar do it for me?

[Jim_Cross]

Hi guys,

I've been hunting for an amp for ages, and never seem to be able to find one that does what I need and really thrills me at the same time.

I really need 3 easily accessible sounds when gigging - a nice bright clean, a light crunch/broken up sound, and a relatively high gain lead sound with bucket-loads of sustain. I play in a band, but not too loud (my solidstate 80w Peavey only goes up to around 11 o'clock volume during rehearsals), so I'm perfectly happy to go for something lower powered if it lets me run it at a higher output.

I've tried both the Nomad and Rect-o-verb, but neither really did it for me in terms of tone - they were too dark and sounded a bit too "processed" for my liking...the Nomad especially.

So my questions really are:
1. Do the Lonestar Classic and Special sound brighter and more "natural" than the other two Boogies I tried

2. Could I get those 3 sounds set up without the use of pedals, e.g. have channel 1 set to a light crunch, then back the guitar volume off to clean it up, and channel 2 to be a lead sound?

3. Which Lonestar sounds most suitable for me? I like the idea of the classic being lower powered, but does it have enough gain to give the lead sound I'm looking for? Listening to the sound clips on the Cornford site, a flat out Hurricane sounds exactly how I want it - and that's class A...but does the LSS go that far?

If you guys think it sounds like a Lonestar is for me then I'll check one out in a shop. The reason I'm asking here first is that it is difficult to get a Boogie sounding good when you've only got an hour or so in a shop and no experience with that amp.

Cheers

Jim

 

[guitarvet]

The LSS is a great little amp that has a great clean tone. Ch 2 will give you the breakup/crunch channel you want. You will not be able to get great leads without a quality (>$150) pedal, though. I suggest getting an EQ pedal as well and run it through the effects loop- really takes the mids out of Ch2 that can be a bit muddy. I've spent a lot of time figuring all of this out (had the amp for 2 months) and I'm just now getting the tone where I want it. It does not have the headroom (volume) to play in a loud band and keep crystal clear tones. But if you mike it and play with low stage volume (which all bands should do anyway!), it is a sweet amp and capable of getting all of the sounds you want.

 

[AMG1]

The Classic has the headroom. Channel one has great cleans and light breakup. Channel two takes the concept further.

There is a way on the Classic to get a lot of gain and saturation. By setting the treble and presence at 3oclock, bass at about 11 oclock and mids at 10 oclock. Set the gain and drive at about 1 - 2 oclock. quite a rumble will result. You may have to adjust your settings slightly for the best tone. The key here is the treble and presence settings. The thing about it is theres not a lot of variety in this sound. Its like you peak and cant go much further for this type of sound. While the amp sounds great this way if you really want heavy tones and a wider selection is what you want a MKIV might be better. Most of the great dirty sounds on this amp are early MK series with a bit more gain. It depends if you want super saturation like a lot of younger guys like.

 

[Anonymous]

Post removed.

 

[Jim_Cross]

Thanks for the replies guys

I have tried an F-series as well, and found it too dark and modern-sounding, in a similar way to the Nomad and Rect-o-verb.
I haven't tried a MK IV, but I have a feeling it might be the same story there too.

Sounds like the LSC could be an option, but it would be very expensive to get an LSC, plus a decent EQ pedal, plus a good overdrive pedal :shock:

 

[Anonymous]

Post removed.

 

[Brewski]

Here's a suggestion, if you're on a budget. If you find the F-50 too dark, you could always swap out the speaker to a vintage 30 for around a $110 or so. If possible, play one through an open back 1x12 with that speaker. The sound may be a bit warmer and brighter. If it sounds better to you, you can always do a speaker swap on a combo. Otherwise, the LSC may just be the closest thing to what you're looking for. It sounds like your moving in that direction.

 

[strumminsix]

What type of guitar do you play and what are the p/ups in it?

That will greatly determine how much high-gain & sustain you'll get.

IF you have really hot p/ups than you will get more gain than passives.

You can likely dial in all 3 of the sounds but not without adjusting the amps knobs between songs.

 

[Jim_Cross]

The guitar is an Organic Classic - hand made in England. It's got a Paduak body and neck, with a maple top and rosewood fingerboard. The paduak gives it quite an open sound, and the maple adds a nice bright top end. And it really does sustain for days - you can hear that even when it's unplugged

Pickups are Seymour Duncan Jazz and JB, which both coil-split individually...which is particularly nice for bright single-coil neck sounds switching to high output humbucker leads sounds on the bridge.

I haven't tried any of the Mesas with EL34s - because they ship with 6L6s it's very hard to find one.

 

[Guitar55]

My take is that the LS Special won't give you the clean headroom you want.

The LS Classic has four sounds:

1. Very clean to the slightest crunch in Channel 1
2. #1 with a boost
3. Channel 2 with a good amount of crunch ,but not the high-gain you expect from meost Mesa's.
4. #3 with a boost

The addition of an Overdrive pedal wil give you a lot more versatility.
The LCS has the best clean tone of any Mesa.

 

[strumminsix]

Don't forget the sweet Tweed sounds!

I honestly see the amp having more range than the 2 w/ boost:

Crystal clean - Twinish
Clean w/breakup - HiWattish
Light drive - Plexi-ish
Fair drive - old JCM on low

Tweed - Bassman on Ch 1
Driven Tween - any Tweed cranked to 10 on Ch 2

It's so versatile. The only problem is you have to make changes quicker than the amp would like you to. IE - waiting between ON & TWEED.


BTW - Has anyone ever forced the switch from ON to TWEED or vice-versa and skipped the OFF position all together? I did this the other day and still let it sit for a half-minute before playing and it seemed like it was okay.

 

[Guitar55]

I guess I meant four accessible sounds at a time. It seems impracticle to me to switch between Tweed and Normal in a live situation.

 

[stuartwink]

The LSS is a great little amp that has a great clean tone. Ch 2 will give you the breakup/crunch channel you want. You will not be able to get great leads without a quality (>$150) pedal, though. I suggest getting an EQ pedal as well and run it through the effects loop- really takes the mids out of Ch2 that can be a bit muddy. I've spent a lot of time figuring all of this out.

guitarvet, just curious what pedal you ended up with for your great tone? And are you simply putting a rough smile shape on your EQ thru the loop? Thanks...

 

[guitarvet]

It's just a standard Boss effects pedal run through the loop. I tend to have a little more low end and less high end as my Semour Duncan pickup can be bright and cut through the mix a little too much. The EQ made a world of difference in the clean tone. For me, pedals (good pedals- if they are cheaper than $180, they probably aren't good enough- I've been burned a lot) are needed to get the drive I need. I play alot of ch 1 and a clean Ch 2, using distortion pedals over Ch 2 when needed- seems to have a bit more moxy that way. It works for me.

 

[stuartwink]

guitarvet

Yeah, I am finding that little mud you speak of, and it bugs me enough to want to try the EQ. I am always resistant to more pedals, but...

I'm also not super crazy about my Tube Zone overdrive pedal going thru the front end, so tell me what drive pedal you found more effective...thanks!

Stuie

 

[guitarvet]

Two very good pedals: Menatone Fish Factory- this is what I play on stage. Emma ReezaFratzitz- this is what I play for fun, since we don't play much high gain stuff in the band. Both give you great distortion, the FF has a bit more versatility. The thing that I really like about the FF is that the guitar still comes through in the sound. Most other distortion pedals do not. The Emma gives me the visceral distortion tone that I love, although I really only use it for 1-2 songs on stage. Pedals are largely personal preference, but I've been through a few, and I'm happy with these.

 

[guitarvet]

I am currently playing a Menatone Fish Factory and an EMMA Reezafratzitz. The FF is a combo OD and lead pedal. Lets the guitar's natural tone through, which I like. The EMMA has the over the top distortion that I love, while not sounding "tinny" or saturated with gain. Both are great pedals, but I use the FF in the band, as we play mostly clean with some mild OD- it also covers leads well. I play the EMMA at home for fun.

 

[guitarvet]

Sorry for the double post- didn't think my first one "took"...