I do love this amp !

[Bluesman731]

Hello all. This is my first post and I must say that I love this amp. LSC. This amp has given me back that holy grail tone that I have missed for so long. I play alot of gutiars including strats and les pauls. However, my 335 1963 epiphone elitist dot is a match made in heaven with this amp. The natarul reverbaration that occours inside the semi hollowbody 335 just goes right through your gut. With the volume of the trebble about 4 and the bass volume at 8 , this is where the magic happens for me. It makes the strings feel different to me. Also , the picking dynamics just come to life. Almost as if the guitar is being choked a bit and causing the pick attack to be different. The strings feel somewhat rubbery or like elastic. This coupled with the magic of this amp is truly remarkable. I have owned my Lone Star for about 6 months now and love it more every day. I am able to repeat the tones I used to get when I was young with all the old fender tube amps that I used to buy for 5o bucks. The ones that are now priceless. Ok, there I said it !!

 

[plan-x]

You said it! Yeah the picking dynamics are fantastic. I don't have to turn down if I'm a little loud in a band situation, just pick softer and blend in, then digging in for the solo to get on top. Old school tone? You bet! I had em all, Bandmasters, Bassmans, Showmans, Dual Showmans, Twins & some others I don't recall. I fried each and every one of them. Those amps were very unreliable. Not this LSC, built to last. Welcome aboard!

 

[Octavarius]

Me too man! Glad you're enjoying your Lonestar!

 

[luth2000]

Hours I was playing per week with the marshall - maybe 2.

Hours I'm playing per week with the lonestar - minimum 14.

Kind of tells the story. I agree, awesome amp.

Luther

 

[Quetapasao]

And it loves all pedals , something that some fender amps do not do ............

 

[Bluesman731]

I agree with both of you guys. My playing time has incresed by many hours per week. The one thing I remember from back in the day , which is not much , is those Fender Showmans and Bassmans and Bandmasters sounded so good at about 15 minutes before they blew up. Then I would fix them and start all over again. I have played hard rock for years and still love it. However these days Blues has taken hold more and more. Kind of like going full circle from where I started. Cream ,Zepplen , Canned Heat etc. Like the Canned Heat studio version of "Lets Work Together" from the Best of Album. The tone of that guitar is killer. The lone Star nails it. It seems that there is nothing I cant do with this little girl. I was lucky enough to get a few great paychecks so I got mine custom finished. Still havent told the old lady how much it cost. I find myself sometimes playing just one note over and over just to hear the beauty of the sound. Just stairing at the amp letting the notes just blossum. Incredable!!! You know those times when you are gigging and everything is just gelling perfict and its like some sort of fith ellement is there allowing you to play anything thats in your brain. They dont happen often but its like you can do no wrong. This Lonestar almost makes it happan all the time. It is very inspiring for me to use this amp. LOVE IT !!!!!!!!! Back in my day we did not realize what we had for tone. We looked at the old tube amps as antiques that were more problems than they were worth. Everyone wanted the new "Transistor" amps ! Just a last note. Before I bought this amp I read every post (Lonestar) on this site. My choice of the Lonestar Classic was made based on your guys input and postings. Thanks !!!!!!!!!

 

[jonanderson23]

What kind of settings are you using? I'm using the Lonestar head and a Mark V through a 2x12 slant rectifier cab, or Avatar vintage 2x12 with 30's, for the cover band blues/classic/country rock tones. I love the Lonestar but I'm always looking for more magic. I'm thinking of putting El34's in it to offset the Mark V or the other way around. I think I'm at the amp overload stage. The mesa's get too many good sounds. I feel like I need to utilize both and not just let one sit as a backup. If so, I won't need the pedals! Should I leave the tubes alone or switch them out? Any ideas?

 

[Bluesman731]

Jon , I am at work now and cant tell you what the o-clock settings are for my sound. I will add them tonight. Remember that I am using a 335/Humbickers and I do think the sound I am getting has alot to do with the tone of the amp and guitar together. For now I can tell you that the tweed is employed with the tube rectifier switch engaged. I have a Danelectro Dan Echo and a Boss Super Chorus in the loop. My guitar is adjusted with the neck volume at 8 and the bridge volume at 3. I find that this chokeing off of the volumes to be very very pleasing in both the sound and picking dynamics. Of course, output volume on the amp is adjusted to taste. As far as amp dial settings and switch locations. I will update tonight. Now, with that said. If I were to plug in my strats with the same settings, I would need to do some serious tweeking to find the strat magic. I must say that I am finding this somewhat of a chore with the strats, so if you have some settings that you could send my way I would be very greatfull. I have a Roland VG-99, which also has a killer sound. The strats sound very nice through it. However, That true golden natural tone of the Lonestar is truly awesome.

 

[jonanderson23]

I don't have any settings for a strat. I tend to keep it at home. I gig mostly with a PRS DGT and Gibson 339. The PRS has a coil tap that does pretty well as far as not having too big of a volume drop. I'll usually engage a fulltone fulldrive to make up for the volume drop at times for SRV type blues. Thanks for getting back and I look forward to the post.

 

[Bluesman731]

Jon, I got home a little bit ago. I tried to run a Boss VF-1 in the loop of the Lonestar and wow. It just killed the sound. I normaly run my Boss super chorus and a danelectro dan echo in the loop but decided to try it. I tried everything to make that sound good but it just sucked. I instantly went back to my normal setup. Those two stomp boxes dont degrade my sound hardly at all. A new ebay item Im affraid. Anyway here are the settings that I have been useing with my 335/Humbuckers. From top left to right. Dials, Gain 2:00 / Treb 3:30 / Mid 10:00 / Bass 10:00 / Pres 11:30 / Master 8:30 / Output 11:30 / Solo 8:00. From bottom left to right. Dials, Drive 10:00 / Gain 4:00 / Treb 4:00 / Mid 10:15 / Bass 10:00 / Pres 1:00 / Master 8:00 Swiches Left side,top to bottom. up/left/up , Right side, both up. Tweed setting. Warm Reverb, both dials 10:00. Tube Rectifier. Effects , Dan Echo / Boss super chorus. Effects as required. Also , I never thought about cables much in the past until I bought a Mogami cable. Wow, what a friggin diferance. Well, this works for me. Also , lots of fire and soul dude. Keep it real. Chris......

 

[jonanderson23]

Thanks. I appreciate it. Have you ever tried El 34's in the Lonestar? I've been curious as to how they sound. I thinking of picking up a set next week to see.

 

[Bluesman731]

Jon , No , I have not used those tubes. I will be very curious to know how they work out for you. Right now I am lovin life with the 6L6 Tubes. Between the last post and now I have probably played about 6 hours with my standard rig setup and all is still pure gold ! I cannot belive how bad that VF-1 made my amp sound. I need to explore my global settings to see if there is anything that I missed with it. However my Dan Echo and Boss Super Chorus are right at home in the effects loop. What do you think are the best "High End" patch cables :?: :?: :?: I really think they make so much quality with the tone now that I have tried that Mogami guitar cable.

 

[jonanderson23]

To be honest with you I think the cable is an aspect I've overlooked. I've read time and time again about the sound quality difference with better cables and I've even researched them. Through researching I've found the Fulltone cables to be good but after reading about the Mogami cables I think they may be top of the line. I think Joe Bonamassa has mentioned them before as well. It's a heavy price tag but it may be worth it. All I've been using are monster cables for a couple of years.

 

[Bluesman731]

I have used cheep G.C. cables forever. Than about a year ago I picked up this Mogami and I instantly could tell it was alot better. It is gold plated. I think it was $60 bucks. Way more than I would normaly spend. Yestarday, when I was testing that VF-1 , I used a patch cable that I have had for a long time and I did not care for that cable either. It seemed to affect the amount of furryness on my clean channel. It seemed to take alot less attack to get the bite out of the guitar. Mabey I am getting crazy but I do beleve that quality cables are an asset to your sound. I never used to , but I do now. Like you , I would also hear people swear that good cables are the only way to go. So I decided to try it and I am now sold on it. I think Monster cables are supposed to be good also. Oh !! almost forgot. I used to use very long cable runs on stage. There is not a thing wrong with that, because you have to, for the pedal board. However, I beleve anything to reduce long cable runs will be alot better for the sound. Just like that VF-1 yesyarday. That **** did not work in the loop. Sounded like garbage. The tone suckers are everyplace. The bad part is the time it takes to find them. With that said. We can drive ourselves nuts chasing this crap. One thing about guitarists , we are always testing , testing , testing. Like some sort of science project gone horably wrong. This Lonestar is spoiling the **** out of me man !!!!!!

 

[ziehmrd]

So Bluesman731, what format of Lonestar do you have? Combo, head and cab? I have an ES-335 that I'm playing through a
newly purchased Electra Dyne. When I was demoing amps, it got down to the Electra and the Lonestar. The Electra is killer for crunch chord work and I got it for the additional gain it has on tap but now I'm thinking the Lonestar gave me a more singing lead tone as well as a more sinewy connected feel to the amp. I might switch to the Lonestar because of what I consider to be a more (cliche term, for lack of better words) organic feel. Both great amps, just trying to make the best decision.

 

[Bluesman731]

ziehmrd , I have an 09 Lonestar Classic V-2 with the 10 watt setting along with 50/100. Combo version. The lonestar is my first Mesa. As far the feel goes, it is truly a great amp for this. I am going to post some pictures on the Rigs and tones area of this site tonight. Chris..