I know the forum doesn't get used much anymore, but I wanted to share this with those of you that like and own the amp, but wish it was a bit 'more' feature rich, for live playing.
I like Reverb. I think the ED has a nice Reverb. A while back I wanted to use this amp in my cover band situation and unlike a Lot of newer Mesa amps, this one doesn't have the Solo Boost feature. I've tried a few different solutions to make this work for me, with the first one just putting an Ernie Ball Volume pedal in the loop. This does work, but the Reverb is AFTER the signal chain and with the Volume Pedal all the way down, there is this remnant of a Nasty Ugly Reverb that comes through that just didn't work for me. I have also used a MXR GEQ pedal for my Lead Boost - that works great, FYI.
I was recently reading about a different topic and looking for a solution when I stumbled across a Post that Jeff Bober, (*of Budda Amps Fame), that said if you have inboard Reverb on your amp you can bypass the reverb pan and have a Solo boost function instead, if you have a foot switchable option with that. This sounded like a Great idea to me, because I typically use a stomp box reverb that I don't tend to turn off. For those that don't realize, Mesa uses a preamp tube for the Reverb Circuit, so this is Almost a Solo Boost From the factory.
Here's what you need to do, if you want to try this. You need a cable with 2 male RCA plugs, a 1/2 watt 470k ohm resistor and a mono footswitch/cable. In my house we have a ton of these laying around from old video games, VCR connection, etc., so I grabbed one of those.
Cut the cable in half. Strip the outside jacket for the ground, and the inside wire for the Hot. Solder the resistor between the Hot wires, solder the grounds together. Be careful not to allow the connections to touch, grounding out the Reverb Send.
The Reverb Switch needs to be ON, on the back of the amp.
Unplug the Reverb pan connections at the amp,(*noting where the white and back leads go, incase you want to reconnect your Reverb), and replace those connections with the RCA/Resistor cable you've just made. It doesn't matter which end goes where in the amp.
Plug in your 1/4? Mono(*guitar cable), to your footswitch, set the Reverb volume to 50% or higher, and give it a try.
The footswitch I used is one I made mimicking a regular Mesa Footswitch, that I included an LED/resistor to show when it is on. With my Electra Dyne, this footswitch lights the LED when it is engaged, SO I know when I have my Ghetto solo boost On.
This is very easy to do, easy to reverse, and sounds GREAT!!!!!
I am considering wiring this to a toggle switch to be able to have the onboard reverb(*if I don't want to bring my pedal board), or the Solo Boost function, (*if I bring my pedalboard with my digital reverb available).
Hope some of you find this useful.
Steve
I like Reverb. I think the ED has a nice Reverb. A while back I wanted to use this amp in my cover band situation and unlike a Lot of newer Mesa amps, this one doesn't have the Solo Boost feature. I've tried a few different solutions to make this work for me, with the first one just putting an Ernie Ball Volume pedal in the loop. This does work, but the Reverb is AFTER the signal chain and with the Volume Pedal all the way down, there is this remnant of a Nasty Ugly Reverb that comes through that just didn't work for me. I have also used a MXR GEQ pedal for my Lead Boost - that works great, FYI.
I was recently reading about a different topic and looking for a solution when I stumbled across a Post that Jeff Bober, (*of Budda Amps Fame), that said if you have inboard Reverb on your amp you can bypass the reverb pan and have a Solo boost function instead, if you have a foot switchable option with that. This sounded like a Great idea to me, because I typically use a stomp box reverb that I don't tend to turn off. For those that don't realize, Mesa uses a preamp tube for the Reverb Circuit, so this is Almost a Solo Boost From the factory.
Here's what you need to do, if you want to try this. You need a cable with 2 male RCA plugs, a 1/2 watt 470k ohm resistor and a mono footswitch/cable. In my house we have a ton of these laying around from old video games, VCR connection, etc., so I grabbed one of those.
Cut the cable in half. Strip the outside jacket for the ground, and the inside wire for the Hot. Solder the resistor between the Hot wires, solder the grounds together. Be careful not to allow the connections to touch, grounding out the Reverb Send.
The Reverb Switch needs to be ON, on the back of the amp.
Unplug the Reverb pan connections at the amp,(*noting where the white and back leads go, incase you want to reconnect your Reverb), and replace those connections with the RCA/Resistor cable you've just made. It doesn't matter which end goes where in the amp.
Plug in your 1/4? Mono(*guitar cable), to your footswitch, set the Reverb volume to 50% or higher, and give it a try.
The footswitch I used is one I made mimicking a regular Mesa Footswitch, that I included an LED/resistor to show when it is on. With my Electra Dyne, this footswitch lights the LED when it is engaged, SO I know when I have my Ghetto solo boost On.
This is very easy to do, easy to reverse, and sounds GREAT!!!!!
I am considering wiring this to a toggle switch to be able to have the onboard reverb(*if I don't want to bring my pedal board), or the Solo Boost function, (*if I bring my pedalboard with my digital reverb available).
Hope some of you find this useful.
Steve
