help a brother out *canadians* *pics*

[fender_212]

thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to picking this baby up once I get some pics

 

[eltrain858]

i've dealt with a lot of people who describe their gear as "used but in good condition" or "marks/scratches but no tears" but don't have any pictures.. when you ask for pictures, they say they'll get around to it but they don't.

my hunch is that they're waiting for someone to come in person before they see the condition of the gear. if you already went to the trouble of coming up with the money and driving to check it out, it's more likely they can just sell you on it right there, whereas if you saw pictures before hand it might have changed your mind about going to see it in person.

on the other hand, if it's a killer deal that won't last and it's within 50 miles or so, it's probably worth it to check out in person

 

[fender_212]

i've dealt with a lot of people who describe their gear as "used but in good condition" or "marks/scratches but no tears" but don't have any pictures.. when you ask for pictures, they say they'll get around to it but they don't.

my hunch is that they're waiting for someone to come in person before they see the condition of the gear. if you already went to the trouble of coming up with the money and driving to check it out, it's more likely they can just sell you on it right there, whereas if you saw pictures before hand it might have changed your mind about going to see it in person.

on the other hand, if it's a killer deal that won't last and it's within 50 miles or so, it's probably worth it to check out in person

my parents don't even really want to drive to pick it up so they wouldn't drive just to see it. but my parents probably would drive if I was going to buy it.

and I know exactly what you mean, I hope it's not one of those cases though

 

[CoG]

all three heads are going to be louder than you can stand to be in a room with well before their max volume. If this is your first "real" amp and you're just rehearsing and playing smaller gigs 50W should more than do ya unless you have the Hulk playing drums.

Even with the hulk on drums 50 watts is penty for rehersal and REALLY BIG shows.

it's rare that you'll ever actually need more *volume* than a 50W tube amp can kick out but you may need more headroom if you do have to play really loud. depends if you ever wanna play totally clean. my buddy's 50w JCM800 is insanely loud, but starts to break up at quite low volumes. takes a lot of volume knob management.

I've played Traynor 80W amps a bunch recently, and I couldn't believe they were 80 watts. I had the pre and master up to 7 and 9. It was loud, but I actually needed it that loud so the bass player could hear me across a 30' stage, and I could stand like 5' from it without thinking 'jesus that's loud.' The amp was driving so hard I was afraid I was going to blow a power tube. If I turned my 20/20 up to "9", it'd crush the organs of everyone on stage.

bla bla I'm waaaaaayyyyy off topic, sorry dude, good luck with the SR deal, hope it works out

 

[fender_212]

im not an expert on rectifier heads and I have a few questions.

on the single rec, is there only the solid state rectifier or the tube rectifier? I've been told the tube rectifier has a noticable sag to it and the solid state rectifier has a punch to it but I'm really confused.

can someone tell me about the single rec? I thought I knew enough about it but now I don't think I know anything besides the name and the wattage. are the single recs better then the 2 channel dual rec? whats the difference?

I don't have specific questions, I'd just like to know more about this amp

 

[fender_212]

and are you saying the 50 watt head isn't that good? I will be playing in my room and in a garage and some small shows. so I won't be playing that loud I don't think. I was about to buy a 100 watt tube B-52 AT-100 halfstack from my buddy for 700 CND and he said he has never turned his amp up past 4. I don't know where the volume knob would be on the single rec if you were going to have them at the same volume.

theres not many places for amatures around here that mic the amps except for the Chubby Pickle about 45 mins away from me.

 

[fender_212]

the guy just emailed back saying he keeps forgeting his camera and he will get pics by this weekend for sure. I'll post them on here so you guys can check it out too

 

[CoG]

and are you saying the 50 watt head isn't that good? I will be playing in my room and in a garage and some small shows. so I won't be playing that loud I don't think.

No, this will be way louder than you will ever need, dude. All Mesa amps are very, very loud and generally have lots of headroom. You can't tell how loud an amp is by its watt rating alone.

You need to chill out a bit, man. It's just an amp, if for some reason you don't get this one it'll only be a few weeks before you find something else.

 

[rainsong86]

ok let's talk headroom here.. basically if you want crystal cleans even with humbucking pickups and multiple effects it's not necessary to have 100 watts tube with silicon diodes in order to match levels with at least the acoustic volume of the drums (assuming it's a rock band.. I only have experience from being in a rock band).. BUT IT DOES HELP!.. I had a single rectifier and even with meticulous knob-dialing I wasn't at my preferred clean volume level before the amp started breaking up.. I am a heavy strummer and I do use somewhat high output humbuckers (albeit passive) so I think if you have a relatively low output neck humbucker or better yet single coils you'll be able to get to performance level cleans without overdrive using a single rectifier.. adding effects to your signal will also muddy up the cleans and cause breaking up at lower volume levels

I believe people who bring their 30 watt tube amps to gigs are lucky enough to be playing a good venue which mics the amps and has a solid PA.. I would have trouble getting a loud enough CLEAN signal with a 30 watt tube amp UNLESS the amp were specifically designed for clean tones (aka NOT a fire-breathing mesa rectifier).. there is a benefit to using lower wattage amps for your distortion sounds though.. I currently own a dual rectifier roadster which allows me to have my clean tone on 100 watts (channel 2 clean) and my dirty channels on 50 watts (channel 1 tweed, channel 3 vintage, and channel 4 modern) so that I get that great power tube saturation without busting ear drums at 50 watts and crystal cleans with 100 watts.. btw don't let anyone tell you a 100 watt amp is twice as loud as a 50 watt amp.. it takes quite a large wattage hike to make a good jump in dB's

 

[Rocky]

A lot of the 'I need 100 watts' mindset comes out of another one that is also not true 'it is better to be loud than good'

Anyplace that doesnt run the entire band through a PA is a dump that doesnt know what they are doing. If you look at the lists of guys that get amazing cleans out of low wattage amps you will be blown away, Brad Paisley comes to mind here...so does Brent Mason. 100 watts is fine, but when people say that a 50 watt amp or 30 watt won't do the job in a proper and professional setting they are flat out wrong.

 

[fender_212]

yeah, I don't worry about it not being loud enough.

And on the clean channel, do you mean by breakup that the cleans kind of get distorted?

I'm not huge on clean sounds because I mostly play with distortion. do you guys know at roughly what volume it starts to breakup? my buddy with the 100watt amp usually plays his at shows at around volume 4 I think. no higher though.

And yeah the places that most local amature bands play at are like empty rooms. these places aren't meant for having bands play, it's just the local bands borrow the room for the night and get a bunch of bands to play it's really not any club or anything. but theres only one place around here that puts a mic infront of the amps and it's mostly more experienced bands

I play a tom delonge strat (1 seymour suncan invader humbucker in bridge) rat on me all you want about that guitar I love it

 

[fender_212]

ok the guy finally sent me pics. I'm going to upload them to photobucket and post them on here.

i guess he couldn't clean the amp before taking pics.. and there are some marks on the top of the head. but I'll see what you guys think and I'll try to talk him down

 

[fender_212]

and he wants about $1,500 CND but I'm sure I could talk him down to $1,300 or even lower maybe.

canadian opinions only because these amps cost mroe in Canada

and I just realized this in the pics, the guy took the handle off but he still has it and he will put it back on

 

[zakkfaerum]

That actually sounds like a pretty good deal. I mean, no shipping or anything involved and you can play it first. Even if you could get it for 1400, you would be doing well.

 

[CoG]

Looks like average condition. I mean, if you think you can talk him down, great, but otherwise I don't think $1500 is a bad deal, especially outside of Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver.

PLAY IT FIRST!

Don't worry about how you sound, just play scales and the "Iron Man" riff or something. If you're worrying about what you're playing you're not listening to the amp. Don't worry about tone so much as just making sure all the knobs and settings work and there's no crackles, pops, etc. It'll take you a few days (at least, ) to find "your" tone anyway.

If you're REALLY hung up about playing, get him to play it while you twiddle knobs, or bring a buddy with you to play it.

 

[fender_212]

thanks guys!!

yeah, I'm not a great guitarist but I don't care what he thinks, It will only be a one time thing seeing that guy. and I still haven't talked about it seriously with my parents yet. and my dad has a friend who knows a lot about stuff and maybe the guy will even deliver it and my dads friend can help me look it over.

but I'm going to offer him $1,300 and tell him I could buy it from him right away but if not, it will be a little bit before I get the cash.

but thanks again for helping me out, I've asked around on other forums and got no responses

 

[fender_212]

and btw, how many tubes are in this head?

 

[CoG]

go here and check out the manual!

http://mesaboogie.com/manuals/user_manuals.htm

http://mesaboogie.com/manuals/singleRec_v1.pdf

 

[fender_212]

just thought I'd let you guys know whats going on about this amp. I've been really trying to sell my amps and other stuff to get the cash but so far not good. The guy got an offer for $1,800 from another guy and he will buy it on Thursday if I don't buy it. Now, if I get the money I will be paying him $1,500 and you guys said that was a pretty good deal. I'm going to ask my parents If I can borrow some cash and pay them back as soon as I sell my stuff and get the money just so this deal won't pass me by.

I got some more info on it. The guy has the amp covers and he threw the red jewl thing away, the light that comes on when you turn the amp on, and he said it was just to light up the amp a little bit more.

I've been waiting to buy this amp for a long time now

so, wish me luck and hopefully I can bring this bad boy home

 

[fender_212]

OMFG!!! my dad says no because he doesn't think I have a band even though we have practiced before and were practicing again tomarrow... I told him you can't expect me to play a show with my 30 watt line 6!!!! and he says I have to get a job ( i know ) but I told him I'd pay him back and he shakes his head............... dammit, I don't know how this one is going to work out.. the guy is selling it to someone else thursday and if my parents won't let me borrow a little bit of money, I'm saying good-bye to that amp............