Does mesa use diodes in their amps, for distortion?
- Thread starter jamme61
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screamingdaisy
Well-known member
No...hence the reason they brag about being 'All Tube'.
Boogiebabies
Well-known member
Garrrhhh !!!!
Mesa and Marshal comparisons. The worst thing ever did tha was solid state on the MK I and IIB with the Fetron. Other than that and the Triaxis is all tube. Now, being a Mesa purist and fanatic, I will admit to the fact that I have recently had 2 2555 Silve Jubilees. For using diode clipping, in this amp Marshall did an amazing job. They string a few 1N4007's and two red LED's. Not only do the sound good, but when the chassis is out the LED,s light up with your signal. The 2555 is by no means a gain monster and they do sound different from early production to late. I sold the early version as it was too bright for $ 1900 and kept the full stack I bought. It is a sight to see a full Jubilee Full Stack and one I have only seen once before by a local guy with a 2553 full stack. It has a voice all it's own and diode clippinf or not, it is a special amp. For my hot rodded Marshall tones I never hesitate to bring out the most audiophile grade Marhsall copy there is. The Soldano SLO 100. That is one wicked Marshall knock off and I have run it with EL34, bit prefer GT KT 66HP's. They also mix well with a Dual Rec and MK series. So for a real Marshall crunch, I can break out the real deal. In my setting, I can tell you thay the MK III and MK IV R2 dont have the Jubilee vibe, but in most cases, The R2's in Mesa's have much more girth at reasonable to high volumes. Then again, they are totally different amp. The Marshall is a higher gain Bassman type circuit, but with the tone controls after the preamp whereas the Mesa uses the EQ right after the first gain stage. They are not voiced to sound like a Marshall and do not have many similarities in overall design and gain stage component values. I have a sweet spot for the Jubiilee 2555 with a Boss GE-7 in the loop. I dont sound like Slash, but it's **** close. I attibute this to the simple fact that I am not runnign KT88's, but more obvious, I am not Slash.
Mesa and Marshal comparisons. The worst thing ever did tha was solid state on the MK I and IIB with the Fetron. Other than that and the Triaxis is all tube. Now, being a Mesa purist and fanatic, I will admit to the fact that I have recently had 2 2555 Silve Jubilees. For using diode clipping, in this amp Marshall did an amazing job. They string a few 1N4007's and two red LED's. Not only do the sound good, but when the chassis is out the LED,s light up with your signal. The 2555 is by no means a gain monster and they do sound different from early production to late. I sold the early version as it was too bright for $ 1900 and kept the full stack I bought. It is a sight to see a full Jubilee Full Stack and one I have only seen once before by a local guy with a 2553 full stack. It has a voice all it's own and diode clippinf or not, it is a special amp. For my hot rodded Marshall tones I never hesitate to bring out the most audiophile grade Marhsall copy there is. The Soldano SLO 100. That is one wicked Marshall knock off and I have run it with EL34, bit prefer GT KT 66HP's. They also mix well with a Dual Rec and MK series. So for a real Marshall crunch, I can break out the real deal. In my setting, I can tell you thay the MK III and MK IV R2 dont have the Jubilee vibe, but in most cases, The R2's in Mesa's have much more girth at reasonable to high volumes. Then again, they are totally different amp. The Marshall is a higher gain Bassman type circuit, but with the tone controls after the preamp whereas the Mesa uses the EQ right after the first gain stage. They are not voiced to sound like a Marshall and do not have many similarities in overall design and gain stage component values. I have a sweet spot for the Jubiilee 2555 with a Boss GE-7 in the loop. I dont sound like Slash, but it's **** close. I attibute this to the simple fact that I am not runnign KT88's, but more obvious, I am not Slash.
Boogiebabies
Well-known member
One final note on the Mesa MK III and IV R2. I have not problem getting a huge fat cruch running them through a good 4X12 with Vinatge 30's.
My best desription of what Mesa was tring to to do was capture a Plexi like tone at lower volumes. I have played many real Plexi's and I would personally use the R2 as it is close enough to a Plexi type tone at much lower volume. Now, dont take this wrong as I have grown up plaing 72 to 70
SLP's with a boost pedal. They were great sounding amp, bit required a good boost pedal to put them over the edge. The only real regrets I have with the Marshall's was they volume and my eventual loss of hearing in the
6000 HZ range due to the volume. With my last band, many years ago we were both playing early 70's non master volume Marhsall. We had a good thing going, but playing most of the rythyms in unison, the sound pressure was ungodly loud and generally I would lose my hearing after about 30 minutes of playing. The revelation in life was the MK IIC+ and Mesa's ability to pull serious gain at reasonable levels.
My best desription of what Mesa was tring to to do was capture a Plexi like tone at lower volumes. I have played many real Plexi's and I would personally use the R2 as it is close enough to a Plexi type tone at much lower volume. Now, dont take this wrong as I have grown up plaing 72 to 70
SLP's with a boost pedal. They were great sounding amp, bit required a good boost pedal to put them over the edge. The only real regrets I have with the Marshall's was they volume and my eventual loss of hearing in the
6000 HZ range due to the volume. With my last band, many years ago we were both playing early 70's non master volume Marhsall. We had a good thing going, but playing most of the rythyms in unison, the sound pressure was ungodly loud and generally I would lose my hearing after about 30 minutes of playing. The revelation in life was the MK IIC+ and Mesa's ability to pull serious gain at reasonable levels.
Thanks boogiebaby, I'm coming from the Marshall Plexi, jubilee amps. I love my marshalls, and have put many hours into my Plexi RI (PTP, mustard caps, OT) it's been a lot of fun. I will always die for the Marshall tone (Boys are back in town, first power chord sound, fantastic! Marshall Karang!). With that said I have always been searching for more flexibility. The MKIV, I just p/u seems to promise that, in spades. If I can dial in this MKIV, i'll be very happy. My band mates are still a little iffy, about the Mesa right now. I love channel 1 and 3, but, still working on channel 2 and my volume. Thanks for getting back.
