I'm getting back into playing guitar. I finally had enough money saved up to buy my first tube amp. After shopping for about 2 or 3 months, and attempting to research what some of the best amps are online, I finally found the amp I liked. What I was looking for was:
I remembered there was this one store that I forgot about in a town I never really goto. It turns out they are the only Mesa dealer in New Hampshire. I tried this used Rect-O-Verb 50 combo and was blown away. I'm talking intro to Back To The Future here! It was $1,099 instead of $1,499 for a new one. It was just barely the maximum that I wanted to spend. After the sale and I'm lugging this heavy monster into the backseat of my car, it hit me... I finally own a Mesa Boogie.
So you gotta know this. I'm a young guy, just turned 23 six days ago. I got my first guitar as a christmas gift maybe 7 years ago. I've been playing off and on as a hobby since then. So for some years as I've been learning about guitars, certain amps became associated with being for a lack of better word godly. You would look at a Mesa head and think to yourself "some day when I'm good enough and have enough money" (which is a real bad mindset... when is anyone "good enough" anyways?)
But it hit me that I finally own a Mesa Boogie amp. I'm not one to really say any one brand is better than the other... but I think it's an occasion to be excited about! For the last few days after buying, I randomly remember that I own a Mesa Boogie amp and it makes me immediately happy. When I goto use it and hear the Modern setting I have said to myself "THIS is why guitar playing is fun!" which is what this is all about right?
I do actually have a question after all of that. My amp is making a "tube rattle" noise. I called up the place I got it twice. The first guy suggested that the tubes were maybe just a little loose. So by his advice I reseated them and tightened the grip that held them. That kind of helped... but the rattle is still very much there. So I called back and spoke to another guy who was very informative about tube rattle. At this point my mind wasn't as worried as before because at this point I know understand that it's not that uncommon.
I can understand hearing it a little on clean... I guess that's understandable. But I can hear it pretty well on the Vintage gain channel even. So I'm wondering if maybe the tubes should be replaced? This is my first tube amp and I really don't have enough exposure to this stuff to tell.
The guy told me I could bring it back in so they could hear it and help me decide if it is a tube rattle problem and how to deal with it.
I'm really happy with the amp but it just sounds like 2 empty beer glasses are vibrating against each other a lot when I play.
- - a combo amp so I could take to my friend's place if I wanted to.
- something with an effects loop because I eventually will splurge on "toys" for the guitar. I also thought I would absolutely need to EQ the gain inside the guitar. I was already planning on having to do that... (I was so disappointed with the amps I had seen that I figured that EQ was just necessary for good sound.)
- an amp that had a variety of sounds. I really like metal, but having a great clean sound and stuff in between is also really important.
I remembered there was this one store that I forgot about in a town I never really goto. It turns out they are the only Mesa dealer in New Hampshire. I tried this used Rect-O-Verb 50 combo and was blown away. I'm talking intro to Back To The Future here! It was $1,099 instead of $1,499 for a new one. It was just barely the maximum that I wanted to spend. After the sale and I'm lugging this heavy monster into the backseat of my car, it hit me... I finally own a Mesa Boogie.
So you gotta know this. I'm a young guy, just turned 23 six days ago. I got my first guitar as a christmas gift maybe 7 years ago. I've been playing off and on as a hobby since then. So for some years as I've been learning about guitars, certain amps became associated with being for a lack of better word godly. You would look at a Mesa head and think to yourself "some day when I'm good enough and have enough money" (which is a real bad mindset... when is anyone "good enough" anyways?)
But it hit me that I finally own a Mesa Boogie amp. I'm not one to really say any one brand is better than the other... but I think it's an occasion to be excited about! For the last few days after buying, I randomly remember that I own a Mesa Boogie amp and it makes me immediately happy. When I goto use it and hear the Modern setting I have said to myself "THIS is why guitar playing is fun!" which is what this is all about right?
I do actually have a question after all of that. My amp is making a "tube rattle" noise. I called up the place I got it twice. The first guy suggested that the tubes were maybe just a little loose. So by his advice I reseated them and tightened the grip that held them. That kind of helped... but the rattle is still very much there. So I called back and spoke to another guy who was very informative about tube rattle. At this point my mind wasn't as worried as before because at this point I know understand that it's not that uncommon.
I can understand hearing it a little on clean... I guess that's understandable. But I can hear it pretty well on the Vintage gain channel even. So I'm wondering if maybe the tubes should be replaced? This is my first tube amp and I really don't have enough exposure to this stuff to tell.
The guy told me I could bring it back in so they could hear it and help me decide if it is a tube rattle problem and how to deal with it.
I'm really happy with the amp but it just sounds like 2 empty beer glasses are vibrating against each other a lot when I play.