I remember the first time I heard Mesa amps. I was playing at my second show ever after I had just started learning guitar. The closing band both had Duals and I remember they sounded so full and chunky, completely blew our crap rigs away. (Peavey Bandit 112) I recall the guitarist from another band I had been following also got a dual and it was the same experience. Each time I heard one, it was the perfect tone.
When I started shopping for an amp, one guitar salesman swore that MESA completely owned marshall. He had me play a subway rocket which sounded awesome, but I wanted a halfstack. So I put a deposit down for a Nomad 55 head and waited freaking months for the thing. I bought a mini marshall 4x12 from them and still no amp. Well, I was getting my Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickup installed at the guitar tech's place and I noticed he had some used amps on consignment so I tried them. (The pickup swap was probably a bad idea after I decided on an amp) He had a nomad 100 and a Dual Rectifier. I plugged into the Dual and it absolutely slaughtered the Nomad. Since I was planning on financing, I had no extra cash on hand to pay for an amp outright so my dad cosigned for a student line of credit. I went to the music store, haggled to get my Nomad 55 deposit back, and then I went and picked up the dual!
I emailed Mesa later, and they actually mailed me an instruction manual for my USED HEAD!! =-o So that really started my search for tone. I think when I bought it, I didn't realize how many cabs, tubes, and guitars I'd go through to try and tweak everything until it was just so. At any rate, I like the huge chug so much that I really can't ever find another amp, even for low volume applications. I like the crunch so much that I went as far as to use yellow jackets and a thiele 2 x 12 so I can use my gear at lower than bar volumes!
List of cabs
Tested:
Marshall 1960a
Marshall 1960vintage
Fender 4 x 12
Marshall 1960ax
Peavey 4 x 12
Dr Z Z best Cab
Mesa Traditional Rectocab (stiletto)
Mesa Standard Rectocab
Rented:
Marshall 1960a
Marshall 1960ax (My personal favourite marshall)
Owned:
Peavey 1 x 12 (With a Celestion)
Marshall 1960b JCM800
Marshall 140watt Valvestate (Mini Marshall)
Standard Rectocab (with Side Armour)
Homemade Electrovoice design Thiele 2 x 12 with a G12m Heritage and Hellatone 60L V30
In the works.
Second 2 x 12 with G12m Greenback Reissue and v30. Companion for the first 2 x 12.
When all was said and done, I discovered that I simply do not like Celestion G12T - 75s. While I thought I hated marshalls at first, I discovered that it was largely a dislike due to the speakers in the 1960a cabs as well as my guitar. The Godin LG simply is too dirty of a guitar which didn't like a Marshall at all, yielding a combination of mud and scratch. The Mesas, by comparison, just got along with my guitar better. (Incidentally, my Godin sounds absolutely amazing with a Red Bear amp but the Gibson just doesn't get a long at all) Once I got my Les Paul, my opinions on Marshalls changed a lot. I'd LOVE to run one through my rectocab but I think perhaps I'd be better off to buy some proper EL-34s for my dual. I know it isn't the same thing, but I'm sure I'll like it fine.
