decided on quad

[markivChris]

so today I tried out a not so great setup. I basically ran an older than dirt boss me-30(definately nothing special)into the return on my fender blues deluxe. To my surprise although it didnt sound great, it wasn't horrible either(probably because the power amp is basically set to 10, and the me-30 acting as a channel volume-master has no effect on vol. except on 'drive channel'). Once again not spectacular, but if I had a gig opportunity tonight I'd use it. And considering I've been eying a quad/poweramp setup for weeks now anyway, I decided out of several amp choices(nomad 212, dc-5 212 or possibly f-50 212) I'm going to go with a mesa quad. Using the return of the fender I realize it won't be perfect, but more than anything it gives me a pretty usable setup for just $500 or so. I can definately get a 212 or 412 cab and dedicated tube power amp later on(preferably a mesa 50/50 or a vht loaded with kt-88s).

 

[disassembled]

I like my quad over the Triaxis but I would rather have the portability of the mark iv short head (I just bought a Mark IVB short head to replace the Quad and 290 power amp). The quad still has to compromise between clean and lead tones with the shared treb mid and bass controls on each of the channels. I also have a Mark IV widebody combo at home which is where I had my first experience with the Quad and the Mark IV.

I would say if it was a choice only between the ME30 and the Quad then you definitely made the right choice but I don't think your fender is doing the quad much justice (especially with the open back combo speaker.

Instead of going with another power amp and buying bigger speaker cabs you should try to find an ultimate goal of where you want to be with your guitar setup and just start working towards that (either saving or watching for a good price) because if you are settling on an amp that is in constant need of something then you probably will wind up spending more on that particular rig rather then getting what you want in the first place and save money in the long run. Maybe instead of a 212 or 412 a single thiele cab would be a better addition. I didn't see this for a long time so I kept buying amps, tubes, rack stuff, etc until I finally took a plunge and bought some of the stuff I wanted for a long time (Mesa Triaxis, 20/20 amp) which led me to try other things and make an educated decision based off of other's and my experiences. I sure did waste a lot of money.

Just food for thought.

Greg

 

[markivChris]

Thanks for the advice. I really only 'need' two good tones. A really good clean and a great lead. A 'solo' or boost feature for solos is a great feature for me as well. I find my dirty rhythm and lead tones are really pretty similar...any differences would be where a g.e.q would come in. I realise the eq's are shared for each side, but with the g.e.q and ability to mix channels together, I could see 8-10 usable sounds at my feet at any given time.

I completely agree with you on finding an ultimate goal of where I want to be..and the markiic+ and mark iii sounds are right on the money. I see where you were going with your response, and again thanks...I may have come off as the 'good for now' buyer, but really the only 'for now' part is the fender(hey, it was free). The price point is really just icing on the cake. As far as speaker cabs, a 412 is almost out of the question honestly, barring a 'deal of a lifetime'...as a mazda6 isnt the most practical trasportation of a 412. A 212 cab is really the right balance of 'air' and mobility. The legacy 212 I had a while back really worked well with my rivera tbr-1sl, especially with full band.