Fusion Mesa players?

[123thefirst]

I vaguely remember seeing somewhere that Alan Holdsworth plays or played a Mesa. Can anyone elaborate? (What a unique violinish/Celloish lead tone he gets)

We see in the recent Mesa catalogs Lee Ritenour happily sitting in front of his Road King. Guess I need to surf for very recent video clips where he plays.

The king of sweet tone (and of exceptional and musical skill) though must be Larry Carlton who plays a combination of Dumble, Fender and Yamaha amps. But it sounds to me like one could get his tone using two channels (clean and dirty) of a Mesa amp or combination of Mesa amps.

 

[jdurso]

how about al dimeola...... he's getting some sweet tones out of that Ace on his new album

http://www.mesaboogie.com/gallery_artist/art_gall.php?id=795

 

[123thefirst]

Thanks for the heads up on that. I listened to all of the sound clips at his website for the new album. It's quite nice, especially with Chick Corea playing piano. Al's tone with the Ace is much softer and fuzzier than I've ever heard before but still very percussive which I think suits him very well.
I can almost hear a bit of Carlos influence for some reason now. Al's lines just sing like never before.

 

[Restless Rocks]

I would drive cross country to see Al and Chick get together with Lenny and Stanley for a Return to Forever reunion.

 

[jdurso]

honestly never really heard Al until a few months ago.... i was travelling for a month and my rental had xm in it.... i was flipping by the jazz station when i heard this guy tearing it up on a classical guitar.... i was blown away..... i just got his new album and while a lot of it sounds like elevator music, he is an amazing guitar player..... such an incredible tone and feel to his sound.... plus he can go from blues to jazz to flamenco to a neo-classical all in one song... glad i found him

 

[123thefirst]

Definitely check out the Return To Forever albums, especially No Mystery and Romantic Warrior. A little more jazz but much more rock than Al DiMeola's solo albums. Superb and exciting music.

 

[jdurso]

i'll definitely check them out

 

[Tweeked]

Saw AH a year ago,he had 2 MK4's running in stereo into 2 2x12
Mesa cabs.Needless to say it sounded amazing.
One guy who got me back into Mesa amps was Andy Summers.
I saw him live when he was doing his jazz stuff. He had a Tri Axis set up(albeit with a lot of cool expensive fx processors)Really nice sound in stereo with 2 2x12 Mesa cabs.Everything from clean jazz to surf music tones to his Police sounds in one great setup.

 

[eagle]

Saw AH a year ago,he had 2 MK4's running in stereo into 2 2x12
Mesa cabs.Needless to say it sounded amazing.
One guy who got me back into Mesa amps was Andy Summers.
I saw him live when he was doing his jazz stuff. He had a Tri Axis set up(albeit with a lot of cool expensive fx processors)Really nice sound in stereo with 2 2x12 Mesa cabs.Everything from clean jazz to surf music tones to his Police sounds in one great setup.

AH hasn't used mesa stuff for years details of his rig hear
http://www.therealallanholdsworth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5432
He has used early recto's ,mk3 ,and quad pre's but as I said not for years ,
his set up now is still based around Yamaha dg modeling with a rented tube amp as power. see above.

 

[Tweeked]

Yeah he mentioned the Mesa's were rented(good choice!)

 

[123thefirst]

Speaking of Return To Forever, you never know what you might find. Here's a live performance of one of their simplest and most straightforward diatonic compositions. Not an incredibly tight performance and not a complete recording but a gem in any case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3sT5Ucyw_0

There is a second section of the performance also at You Tube. The second part sounds a bit like Gentle Giant in places to my ears :^)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YShQZUMe7g

 

[Restless Rocks]

mike stern and john scofield.

i've seen both live, they straight up kick *** like no others.

frank gambale is badass too.

Frank Gambale released and album about 1997 with Chick Corea called "Thunder from down under". Seriously folks some great guitar playing.