Help me pick the right Mesa for me

[Koreth]

Well Sh!t. I wish I'd seen these more recent posts before yesterday.

Yesterday I went out looking to maybe purchase some new pickups and see if there were *any* Mark IVs available in Denver (even though I'd not be able to afford one for several months), and how much they might cost and ended up putting a down payment on a Nomad 100 and a 4x12 closed back cab. Yeah, 50w is going to be too much power, but I don't care. It isn't any more power than I have now with the Peavey VK112, and I discovered a most satisfying crunch on channel 2's modern mode with the Output at noon the gain somewhere between noon and 3 and the channel master somewhere around 10. Said crunch was even more satisfying through a 4x12 cab than the 1x12 C90. Personally, I didn't find it unbearably loud at all.

Your heart isn't set on a Mesa, your heart is set on getting good tone.

You hit the nail on the head there, sir. You're right. I do want good tone. I want a tone that makes me smile and go, "oooh". What inspires me to play are those various tones and riffs I hear in music which convey some idea or evoke some emotional response or are just downright cool. That's why I want to play. I want to create beautiful sounds of my own. But if all I am to play with is something that hinders or prevents that, then what the hell is the point of picking up the **** instrument to begin with?

I'll be honest. After my original experience with modeling (Guitar Rig 2 on my laptop w/ a PC Card SB Audigy), and the bad taste it left me with, I've not considered modeling to be worth giving the time of day. Some recent experience modeling amps has caused me to question that a bit (my guitar instructor got a cool tone with a Rolland Micro Cube and a wah pedal).

So fine, I've gone and made a mistake in committing to purchase a Mesa, and from what I've gathered from doing a few searches on these boards, the black sheep of the Mesa family to boot. I don't care, and I'm not backing out. Last time I waffled on buying a used Mesa whose tone I liked, someone else bought it, and I've since not heard another Rectifier with that delicious aggressiveness that old Rect-o-Verb had. I have my doubts I'll ever find that aggressiveness again. I'm not making the mistake of passing up a tone I like when it is in my means again. As cheap as that Nomad 100 was priced, I'm surprised it was still there. What's done is done, and I have no intention of regretting my decision.

It is not like the purchase of the Nomad 100 is going to prevent me from purchasing a good modeler. January's right around the corner and that means so is my tax refund. So I'll still be able to pick up a good modeling amp. And hell, I can probably sell my 50w Peavey to help fund it.

 

[clutch71]

Congratulations on the purchase. Surprised folks on the board (me included) pointed you away from Mesa. I think some of us have just had experiences with high wattage gear and didn't want to see someone else make the same choices without hearing all the facts

Let us know how it's working out!

 

[Koreth]

Just somewhat related anecdote I though you guys might find amusing. The Nomad 100 head I put a down payment on was at a smaller mom&pop type shop. 1 of 3 in Colorado and 1 of 2 in Denver (the other being a Guitar Center). The Nomad 100 head was priced at little less than $650, was in good physical condition, was freshly re-tubed, and came with a footswitch and manual.

Well I went into Guitar center today to pick up a capo, and immediately opposite the front doors were the Mesa/Boogie amps, with a used Nomad 100 head with a wicker grill right in the front. Just for sh!ts and giggles I took a look at it. It looked slightly more worn (the handle was especially bad), had the stock Mesa tubes, and had no footswitch or manual. GC wanted almost $1300 for it, go figure. I either got an awesome steal on my Nomad or GC paid too much for theirs. Is a wicker grill really worth that much on a Nomad head?

 

[alex1fly]

For what its worth, buying the Nomad and a huge cab may inspire you to start a band! You'll want to with all that massive crunch at your disposal I'd check around for good pedals to use with the Nomad, because I've also heard that bit about it being the "black sheep." A nice overdrive/tubescreamer and a 7 or 10 band EQ to put in the loop will get you all the tones you could want, I'd bet.

I know what you mean about having bad experiences with modelling. The Vox Valvetronix that I had for a few weeks was not very satisfying. I've heard some guitar modelling software that one of my friends has, and its also just kind of so-so. But I'm impressed with Line 6's stuff, my Spider III amp is great and can be used for lots of applications, and one thing that helps with the Spider III is that Line 6 re-did the "Insane" setting for the amp, so its more useable, and its what I end up jamming on a lot. It's like a maxed out Boogie but quiet You just have to spend some time with them, but not too much. That's why I think a Spider III, Flextone III or even the newer Valvetronix would be a good fit for you, because they have lots of different settings and are more modern voiced than the Cube, for example.

I think you might find this link helpful
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19660&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
It's a thread about EQ pedals in Rectos' loops, but it will have some concepts that will be true for the Nomad too. An EQ pedal will definitely help you get the most out of your amp, and you can get one for 30 bucks if you go for the DANO or 65 if you get an MXR. The linked thread says Boss EQs are noisy, and I've read that on a number of other threads too.

I just noticed that the Nomad 100 has a built in footswitchable 5 band EQ. You may not need an EQ pedal then, or you could have one for an additional setting.