Zoner
Well-known member
Greetings fellow Boogie Believers! I should have suspected this forum existed but happened across it quite by accident (a rare happy one) and am glad to have found a place to bask in all things Boogie. I had to recently come to terms with the fact that I am now favoring my Mesa amp(s) above all others and have begun culling the herd to save only the bare essentials in fine amplified tone. The last, best Marshall must go. Not even a Champ shall remain. The little Gibby and the oddball tiny tubers must all hit the road too, but now it is getting serious. I need to pare it down to one rig and one only. So, dragging my newest contender, a 4x10 Maverick to the gig has its rewards tonally, but it hurts beyond most I have ever encountered without casters installed. There are some issues with the switching (delay) and the volume pots(they get "pushed in" on occasion and cut out - a simple tug usually restores them to full function) as well so quality is still a question mark for this one. It is very easy to use and sounds very nice with all my guitars and pedals, I just hate lugging it around. I am still trying to get a reading on my newly retubed red stripe Mk3 head (Simul-Class), introducing it to several different cabs and realizing I need to get the master volume mod for rhthmn 2 done to work it live. It really has promise and likes a Marshall 4x10 cab the best, but the tone still isn't there with my pedals and the fine EQing that will need to be done. It seems like a lot of work will need to be done but I know from past experience that patience reall pays off with these beasts. At least I'm pretty confident it wont die on me prematurely like a few of the newer Mesa rigs I have owned (Subway Blues and Rocket, Nomad 45). My last option has been my "quick and dirty" grab-and-go setup for just jamming (since both my subways went up in smoke) and consists of either a Studio Pre and Korg A2 or my pedalboard (coupla Tube Screamers, a Guv'nor and some stuff for the loop) into a Simul Sat 1x12 combo. I am almost able to do all I need with the pedals and the Simul Sat, but need to retube it and finally figure out how to use the footswitcable boost and get the switching stuff adapted for my board to make it viable. Same with the Studio Pre where the switching goes for live use, and it doesn't seem to like the pedals as much. I'm liking the sound of the Studio pre the least of all the above, but have spent the least amount of time "dialing 'er in" so who knows. It is a bit of a hassle to carry a rack box and separate cab, plus trying to deal with all those volume controls can be touchy. I can only really keep one of these rigs and have a few questions for those who may be here and able to shed some light:
First, has anyone here done the RHY2 master mod on a Mk3 themselves? Mine is the long chassis version and has a hole just waiting on the back panel for me to move the reverb pot, so I guess I just need to swap a resistor for a variable one? Does it allow you then to get a good overall volume balance between the modes?
#2
My Maverick has the above mentioned issues with it. What is the consensus on the QC and overall reliability of this model? I dig the way it sounds, especially the clean side with pedals, but have been down this road before with other amps only to be let down by catastrophic failure when reall pushing it hard. Are they good or evil to keep long-term?
#3
MY Simul-Sat has some sort of rubber mounting system for the chassis. I have a spare box from a Mk series head that appears to be the same size but has no such system. Will the Simul-Sat chassit fit the Mk box without the rubber dealies?
#4
When using the Studio Pre into the Simul Sat, I have settled on running the Pre into the loop return but am wondering the best way to get the Pre/power amp volumes balanced. Is the theory to run as much signal into the power section as possible, or do I want to push the master up on the power section and feed it signal from the pre to taste? I usually run the master up on my other amps and keep the gain lower but thave found that I often get a real thin, crappy tone that lacks dynamics when using low output level settings on the SP. Any suggestions how to balance this chain? SPre Vol1 - SPMaster/Lead Master - SPre out level - SSat master.
#5
Anyone else using a Simul Sat as a stand alone rig? If so, what's up with the boost? Is is variable in any way? It seems way too insane a jump in level to be useful in any way, so why make it footswitchable? Any clue what the pull shift on the presence is all about?
These are the things that keep me up at night and as always, the opinions and experience of others is greatly valuable to me. I love these forums and have become a much more informed individual due tot he kindness of others and hope to be able to contribute back as much as I get. Thanks in advance for your input on these matters. Peace.
Z
First, has anyone here done the RHY2 master mod on a Mk3 themselves? Mine is the long chassis version and has a hole just waiting on the back panel for me to move the reverb pot, so I guess I just need to swap a resistor for a variable one? Does it allow you then to get a good overall volume balance between the modes?
#2
My Maverick has the above mentioned issues with it. What is the consensus on the QC and overall reliability of this model? I dig the way it sounds, especially the clean side with pedals, but have been down this road before with other amps only to be let down by catastrophic failure when reall pushing it hard. Are they good or evil to keep long-term?
#3
MY Simul-Sat has some sort of rubber mounting system for the chassis. I have a spare box from a Mk series head that appears to be the same size but has no such system. Will the Simul-Sat chassit fit the Mk box without the rubber dealies?
#4
When using the Studio Pre into the Simul Sat, I have settled on running the Pre into the loop return but am wondering the best way to get the Pre/power amp volumes balanced. Is the theory to run as much signal into the power section as possible, or do I want to push the master up on the power section and feed it signal from the pre to taste? I usually run the master up on my other amps and keep the gain lower but thave found that I often get a real thin, crappy tone that lacks dynamics when using low output level settings on the SP. Any suggestions how to balance this chain? SPre Vol1 - SPMaster/Lead Master - SPre out level - SSat master.
#5
Anyone else using a Simul Sat as a stand alone rig? If so, what's up with the boost? Is is variable in any way? It seems way too insane a jump in level to be useful in any way, so why make it footswitchable? Any clue what the pull shift on the presence is all about?
These are the things that keep me up at night and as always, the opinions and experience of others is greatly valuable to me. I love these forums and have become a much more informed individual due tot he kindness of others and hope to be able to contribute back as much as I get. Thanks in advance for your input on these matters. Peace.
Z
