Dream Recording Rig?

[MC3DPCS]

My son plays in a rock band and he's struggling to get the sound he wants. After playing through a few Mesa models at the local Guitar Center, he's beginning to think about making the switch. First he wants to put together a rig for recording. I thought I'd ask you guys what you'd put together for a dream recording rig using Mesa rack pieces. We record in the familty room which is 14 x 25' and has a variety of good quality absorption and diffusion panels. His current recording rig uses a Peavey Valveking, a Fender Blues Jr and a variety of pedals like the Line 6 compression, chorus and delay, a Rocktron Zombie and a BBE Crusher. We've got good home made amp isolation boxes and put the muffled amps in the laundry room next door. Their band plays classic rock and some metal. I'm telling him to learn to set up with minimal effects and learn to get a variety of tones from the pre and amp but any effects advice you have would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Guitarzan]

If he gets a Mesa he won't need many effects.

 

[Russ]

Mark IV rackmounted with a Racktifier and a G-System. Eventide Harmonizer would be nice but very costly.

 

[Guitarzan]

I was thinking jut a delay and some reverb and that's it!

 

[Russ]

He said dream recording rig...

A realistic rack recording rig? Mark IV and a Racktifier, an EQ with a few odd pedals (Wah, OD, Chorus, Reverb, Delay).

Then the array of cabinets open back, sealed, and ported. Speaker choices of various Celestions (GBs, 65's, V30's, 75's and 80's), Jensens, JBLs, and some EVM-12L's.

 

[MC3DPCS]

He said dream recording rig...

A realistic rack recording rig? Mark IV and a Racktifier, an EQ with a few odd pedals (Wah, OD, Chorus, Reverb, Delay).

Then the array of cabinets open back, sealed, and ported. Speaker choices of various Celestions (GBs, 65's, V30's, 75's and 80's), Jensens, JBLs, and some EVM-12L's.

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't realized that the Mark IV was available as a rack mount but after seeing your reply did manage to find it mentioned on the Mesa website. I have not yet found a photo of the rack version. Do you know what the wattage is in the Tweed setting? I need to go search out what a G System is... Ignorance abounds at my keyboard!

Edit: Found the G-Sys. Wow, dreams get expensive... Time to go find another source of income.

 

[Russ]

With a Mark IV, you should be able to get down to 30 watts in Class A triode mode. Tweed power will drop you a little further.

G-system is TC Electronic's new flagship. It is actually a floor unit but you can rack the processor and keep the foot control out where you use it. http://www.tcelectronic.com/G-System

 

[Russ]

He said dream recording rig...

A realistic rack recording rig? Mark IV and a Racktifier, an EQ with a few odd pedals (Wah, OD, Chorus, Reverb, Delay).

Then the array of cabinets open back, sealed, and ported. Speaker choices of various Celestions (GBs, 65's, V30's, 75's and 80's), Jensens, JBLs, and some EVM-12L's.

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't realized that the Mark IV was available as a rack mount but after seeing your reply did manage to find it mentioned on the Mesa website. I have not yet found a photo of the rack version. Do you know what the wattage is in the Tweed setting? I need to go search out what a G System is... Ignorance abounds at my keyboard!

Edit: Found the G-Sys. Wow, dreams get expensive... Time to go find another source of income.

Some guys use them live...

 

[masque]

i use a triaxis with a 20/20 power amp......i am able to control the volume and get any sound i want with the triaxis...i use a lexicon mpx-1 for effects...you can hear various samples of different sounds i've gotten out of this rig by clicking on the links in my signature below.

 

[liquidtension]

What about the new Roadster combo? The Mark IV is definitely a great amp, one of Mesa's best, but the Roadster is another good option. The four channels gives a lot of flexibility for both recording and live without having to change many settings.

The G System is definitely an awesome system. I have the G Major, and the quality of the effects as well as the depth of editing is just flat out awesome for the price range.

There's something beautiful about the raw sound of the vintage Mesa channel unadulterated by a lot of effects. I use to shoot for a very Vai-ish wet sound, but now I use just a subtle hint of delay and a touch of reverb. Anything more than that and you really start to pull away from the Recto sound. Just my opinion, though.

 

[soundpurist]

If he gets a Mesa he won't need many effects.

+1

He could buy a second hand mesa, depend on his taste and remaster the sound (if you're not direct recording with a preamp) with an eventide eclipse harmonizer bought used on ebay (expensive but it worth the price for the quality and free technical support/updates you can have on Yahoo.com whit an eventide's engineer!). :wink:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/eventidehelps/

 

[MC3DPCS]

If he gets a Mesa he won't need many effects.

+1

He could buy a second hand mesa, depend on his taste and remaster the sound (if you're not direct recording with a preamp) with an eventide eclipse harmonizer bought used on ebay (expensive but it worth the price for the quality and free technical support/updates you can have on Yahoo.com whit an eventide's engineer!). :wink:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/eventidehelps/

The more I get into this, the more options I see cropping up. There are two stores in the area that sell Mesa, so another trip is in order to play and listen. I know of a nearly new Road King 2 that is for sale in the area but even used it is way pricey. I need to go hear it in a small room because I've read that the King has to be cranked to sound right. But I'd like to fiddle with the knobs and see for myself. Thanks again to all for the advice. Right now I need to find a way to make more money.

 

[Telelee]

This may be too simple but worth repeating. Be sure to use high quality cables (guitar cords) (speaker cords) this will have a LOT to do with the overall sound no matter what dream rig you may be chasing.

If its just for recording, there are some good Mesa Pre Amps you can get. I've only owned the Mesa Studio Pre Amp and have ran it direct into the board and got an amazing tube tone sound. It was good for the clean and overdrives too. Everything in-between as well.

Best of luck on your quest for tone...

 

[MC3DPCS]

This may be too simple but worth repeating. Be sure to use high quality cables (guitar cords) (speaker cords) this will have a LOT to do with the overall sound no matter what dream rig you may be chasing.

If its just for recording, there are some good Mesa Pre Amps you can get. I've only owned the Mesa Studio Pre Amp and have ran it direct into the board and got an amazing tube tone sound. It was good for the clean and overdrives too. Everything in-between as well.

Best of luck on your quest for tone...

I hear you about cables. I've been accused of being a cable snob but so be it. I like Mogamis and some of the Monters, etc. And I can get a bit anal about cleaning sockets, pots, etc., on older gear. I'd like to play around with the Studio Pre. Back in the analog days, I piddled with ancient DI mixed with a mic'ed cab. That worked great for some tunes but I haven't been as happy with DI/cab mic mixes in my current digital rig. Maybe I'm too much of an analog dinosaur. I'm really hoping that using a Mesa and simpler, more minimal effects will get rid of that non-musical noisy crap that's bothering me.