Just got a used ToV

[xkalibur38]

Hello everyone, just got my first Mesa which happens to be 2x12 ToV. I was just wondering how old it was as the person I bought it from mentioned something about "the first 500" It has the large Mesa Engineering badge in the center of the grill, and he said it had a suspended chassis. Haven't really gotten to play on it too much, but I didn't notice any problems with the tremolo or reverb. It's at my practice space or else I would be able to provide pics and possibly a serial number. Also, anyone know about how much this is worth? I traded a good bit of my equipment to get it and may be considering trying to trade it for a dual rec half stack. Thanks for your time and consideration.

I was also wondering, should I have the amp on bypass when switching from vacuum tubes to ss high gain? I noticed it popped when switching it either way and the tubes would light up, but when it was on bypass it didn't do that.

 

[Elpelotero]

You can read about the first 500 here: theboogiearchives.com

The tremoverb is not one of those 500, but I assure you the tremoverb is one of the best amps Mesa ever put out, period. I would keep it over a regular rectifier any day of the year.

You can switch back and forth between all the switches in the back while the amp is turned on and you will not harm it.

 

[UltraGary]

CONGRATs on getting my #1 favorite Mesa amp!!!

Get to know your amp before trading for ANYthing! I'd advise downloading the manual and spending some time getting to know it. I have high confidence you'll never part with a T-Verb once you've got total control of it.

ENJOY!!

 

[xkalibur38]

Thanks for the responses! I have the manual, and have read it a couple times (great read btw) I love the amp and I'm sure it only gets better the more I get to know it. It's just that it's the combo, compared to the other guitarist in my band it just doesnt seem to have the low end and over all hugeness that his 4x12 gets. But either way I've only had it a couple days so it's too soon to be making any rash decisions. We have a show next week that will be recorded so that will be a good experience with it. No one knows about the large mesa badge in the center of the grill? I can't seem to even find a pic with one, they're all the smaller badges in the top left corner of the grill.

 

[UltraGary]

I have the combo too. (mine's a '94) I'm in a trio, so I don't have another guitar tone to play against.....but the combo stands up A-OK most of the time.

That said....when we play bigger show or record.....a 4x12 with the 2x12 combo absolutely KILLS!(& I'm not just talking big tones, but lush stereo clean stuff as well)

Now if it wasn't all so **** heavy...............

 

[xkalibur38]

Awesome pic there! We just practiced earlier and I gotta say, even though I haven't had much time to get acquainted with the eq'ing and modes, I'm quickly falling for the amp! I'd love to get my hands on a 4x12 mesa cab too. I really need to get a 4 button foot switch so I can utilize the verb and trem. The serial number is R-002305.
Also I have no idea how old the tubes are and was wondering if anyone new about how much it runs to re-tube one of these bad boys. And if anyone has any suggestions for preamp tubes, or if I should just keep it stock. Here's a pic of her that I got from the person I bought it from. Oh yeah, I was gonna tell ya Gary, I'm diggin your tunes man, awesome tone, great recordings all together! I'll be sending a friend request so I can turn my friends onto you guys! You can look us up if ya want, there aren't much electric guitars on our recordings as we do everything from home and don't have good equipment for it.
http://www.myspace.com/projectoryon

 

[xkalibur38]

I've also heard about taking a pair of the 6l6's and a rectifier tube out to run it at 50 watts..... is this advisable? I wasn't sure if it could hurt the amp as I've heard you can do this with some amps and not others.

 

[UltraGary]

I've always been too scared to pull the pair of 6L6s to go to 50watts. Everyone I've talked to about it says that there's no real difference in volume (the main thing I'd want to reduce), but just in the feel/attack of the tubes, which I didn't notice much of a difference on when I tried it.

And hey...Thanx for the nice words about my band!! (I'm going to check out your page when I log off here.........)

PS> I like the logo in the middle on your T-Verb.

 

[Elpelotero]

On a DUAL Rectifier it's OK to pull out either tubes (1 and 4) or (2 and 3), plus either of the rectifier tubes. You also drop the impedance down to 4ohm instead of the usual 8ohm on the back of the amp.

However, if you have no low end now, you'll have even less. The difference isn't very noticeable. I'd only advise to do it if you want to save some of the tube's lifespans when playing at home.

 

[JSutter]

I have the combo too. (mine's a '94) I'm in a trio, so I don't have another guitar tone to play against.....but the combo stands up A-OK most of the time.

That said....when we play bigger show or record.....a 4x12 with the 2x12 combo absolutely KILLS!(& I'm not just talking big tones, but lush stereo clean stuff as well)

Now if it wasn't all so **** heavy...............

Thats a great pic! Yeah Mesa combos are tanks. RoV's are over 70 lbs, and there awkward as hell to move around. I cant imagine toting around a ToV.

 

[HIgh Gain Junkie]

Killer amps for sure! I used to have one like the OP, with the big Mesa logo in the center, and I'd love to get another one some day. I see them for sale quite often so as soon as I can save up some cash I might try to get another one, especially since you can pick one for a pretty good price. For now I'll be enjoying the hell out of my new Electra Dyne.

 

[vitor gracie]

Congrats! I have owned, and own curently a ton of Mesa gear and the TOV is by far the best amp I have ever owned. I used a TOV combo from '96 up until last year and had a 4X12 with it for the low end. I liked having the combo... It worked well for smaller gigs but when I played heavier stuff I just put the combo on top of my recto 4x12. Hang on to that amp. It took me many years to mature as a player and fully appreciate all of the other things the amp does besides the crazy red channel. You'll fing a ton of guys here that never use that high gain modern channel at all. Good luck and enjoy it bro!

 

[Cleekster]

The only reason i would go to 50 watts is if you need the amp to sound brighter or you want a little more power tube distortion(assuming you turn it up that loud) otherwise i would leave it and enjoy the extra lowend thump that 100W will give you.

 

[UltraGary]

Thats a great pic! Yeah Mesa combos are tanks. RoV's are over 70 lbs, and there awkward as hell to move around. I cant imagine toting around a ToV.[/quote]


It's not that it's the heaviest amp I've ever owned........ It's the heaviest ANYTHING I've ever owned!!! It's funny what we go through to get our tones, isn't it?

 

[xkalibur38]

Yeah it's a real task carrying it around, especially if there's stairs involved! I can tell I may have back and shoulder problems eventually
Well, show tonight!!! And we're getting it recorded too, HD video and there's a 24 track digital recorder at the sound booth, so really looking forward to some great quality sounds

 

[fishyfishfish]

Excellent rig my man! The T-Verb is one that was done right. Having a split rig is good as well. Combo for the small stuff and bring out the 4X12 for the meat.

 

[UltraGary]

Yeah it's a real task carrying it around, especially if there's stairs involved! I can tell I may have back and shoulder problems eventually
Well, show tonight!!! And we're getting it recorded too, HD video and there's a 24 track digital recorder at the sound booth, so really looking forward to some great quality sounds

Well how'd the T-Verb do?

 

[xkalibur38]

It did well under the circumstance. The guy running sound had me turn my volume down to about 3/4 or 1 so he could get more of my sound in the recording mix. I guess so he could turn my track up louder on the PA. He only did a line out from the board to the recorder though, because he said we had more inputs than the recorder could handle. I think he doesn't quite know what he's doing yet, but it turned out alright. I did notice that my rhythms were more in the background but all of my solos jumped out in the mix really well. Even at that volume I think I still sounded better than my counterpart with his half stack and my old rack rig.

 

[gambit]

hey, I just got my first ToV also, having some problems with the effects loop... anyone else run into this problem?

Im running pedals through the loop though, not rack effects and the volume seems way too low on the front of the amp and the back control are responding oddly. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[xkalibur38]

Grats on one very awesome amp!! I wish I could help ya but I don't have anymore effects or my rack, so needless to say, I haven't had a chance to use my effects loop yet. Although I'm sure there are plenty of knowledgeable people that can help ya out. Good luck, and let me know what you think of the amp aside from the loop.