GD_NC
Well-known member
Thinking about a Blues amp. Which way should I go?
LoneStar Special vs. Maverick: Who wins?
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LPClassic
Well-known member
I think it's a matter of different way to play and taste but to me the Maverick holds better blues tones but in the 4x10 format, I feel the 2x12 too dark.
The lonestar has very good cleans but also a little dark for my taste.
The lonestar has very good cleans but also a little dark for my taste.
I had the Lonestar Classic 50/100, and the Special.
Both were 1x12 combos.
I loved the tones on my LSS clean channel, but really just did not like the tones on the lead channel.
I tried every setting that I could find on the board, and I even tried the Reeder mods, which did make a difference, but the channel was still just too muddy for me.
I play a McCarty with Duncan Alnico II's in it. They are rich and buttery sounding and never get muddy, except with the Lonestars.
It really broke my heart to sell them, they are very beautiful amps.
The Reverb was astounding, but there is a glitch when changing channels. It basically cuts out for about 1 second. Now this would not even be noticeable with a drummer, but sitting in my music room it really pissed me off!
My Classic Combo had a Celestion Gold in it.
My Special Combo had a Celestion C-90 in it.
I now have a Maverick 1x12 combo. It is a very early model with the SUS-4 mounting system.
It has a Celestion C-90 speaker.
The cleans are not quite as wonderful as the Special's are, but they are right up there with my Twin Reverb. They are slightly more mid-range sounding than the Twin because of the different power tubes. But....they are nothing short of stellar.
All of my Fender freak buddies want one!
The Reverb is very deep and lush. Not quite as nice as the Special's though. That is where the Special excelled in my eyes! But....since I have a mod for everything, I will probably mod the Reverb in my Mav to sound a little more like the Special's. The thing that I like about the Maverick's Reverb though, is that it has a much more useable range than the Special. The Special's Reverb is almost over powering at times.
The distortion channel is more useable than the Special's was for me. I can get any type of tone out of it from just barely breaking up to Mountain, to any ZZ Top tone, to Joe Walsh, to Gary Moore. I did have to use a Maxon CP-101 to get the Gary Moore sustain until I souped it up just a bit.
There is a tiny drop in volume when changing from the dirty to the clean channel, but it is nowhere near the delay that the Lonestar had on the Reverb. In fact, I don't really notice it anymore.
And...Lastly, the Maverick is set up like the DC's. It has separate tubes for most of the gain stages of the dirty channel. This allows me to pick different tubes for each channel and even further dial it in! I love this! Too bad Mesa has strayed away from this design. It is brilliant!!!!!!!!
Plus.....you can almost buy 2 Mavericks for the price of one mint condition used Lonestar Special.
Just my 5 cents, hope it helps.
Both were 1x12 combos.
I loved the tones on my LSS clean channel, but really just did not like the tones on the lead channel.
I tried every setting that I could find on the board, and I even tried the Reeder mods, which did make a difference, but the channel was still just too muddy for me.
I play a McCarty with Duncan Alnico II's in it. They are rich and buttery sounding and never get muddy, except with the Lonestars.
It really broke my heart to sell them, they are very beautiful amps.
The Reverb was astounding, but there is a glitch when changing channels. It basically cuts out for about 1 second. Now this would not even be noticeable with a drummer, but sitting in my music room it really pissed me off!
My Classic Combo had a Celestion Gold in it.
My Special Combo had a Celestion C-90 in it.
I now have a Maverick 1x12 combo. It is a very early model with the SUS-4 mounting system.
It has a Celestion C-90 speaker.
The cleans are not quite as wonderful as the Special's are, but they are right up there with my Twin Reverb. They are slightly more mid-range sounding than the Twin because of the different power tubes. But....they are nothing short of stellar.
All of my Fender freak buddies want one!
The Reverb is very deep and lush. Not quite as nice as the Special's though. That is where the Special excelled in my eyes! But....since I have a mod for everything, I will probably mod the Reverb in my Mav to sound a little more like the Special's. The thing that I like about the Maverick's Reverb though, is that it has a much more useable range than the Special. The Special's Reverb is almost over powering at times.
The distortion channel is more useable than the Special's was for me. I can get any type of tone out of it from just barely breaking up to Mountain, to any ZZ Top tone, to Joe Walsh, to Gary Moore. I did have to use a Maxon CP-101 to get the Gary Moore sustain until I souped it up just a bit.
There is a tiny drop in volume when changing from the dirty to the clean channel, but it is nowhere near the delay that the Lonestar had on the Reverb. In fact, I don't really notice it anymore.
And...Lastly, the Maverick is set up like the DC's. It has separate tubes for most of the gain stages of the dirty channel. This allows me to pick different tubes for each channel and even further dial it in! I love this! Too bad Mesa has strayed away from this design. It is brilliant!!!!!!!!
Plus.....you can almost buy 2 Mavericks for the price of one mint condition used Lonestar Special.
Just my 5 cents, hope it helps.
212Mavguy
Well-known member
Bang for the buck, separate preamp tubes for each channel, no rectifier tracking, more simple layout with less tiny switches to break, IMHO Maverick.
:lol: :lol: I forgot about that stupid "Rectifier Tracking!"
It was a good idea, but the fact that you cannot use the full power settings with a tube rectifier is fucking stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got the disclaimer that the rectifier tube cannot handle the current. So...I asked them why my Heartbreaker sounds phenomenal 10 years later with 1 GZ34 tube and they just changed the subject.
What the hell is the use of an amp with a tube rectifier if you can't use the tube rectifier on the settings you want?
It is a great idea to be able to choose tube for your dirty sounds and not for your cleans though. Wish they would fix this!
OK....rant over.....Maverick all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was a good idea, but the fact that you cannot use the full power settings with a tube rectifier is fucking stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got the disclaimer that the rectifier tube cannot handle the current. So...I asked them why my Heartbreaker sounds phenomenal 10 years later with 1 GZ34 tube and they just changed the subject.
What the hell is the use of an amp with a tube rectifier if you can't use the tube rectifier on the settings you want?
It is a great idea to be able to choose tube for your dirty sounds and not for your cleans though. Wish they would fix this!
OK....rant over.....Maverick all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mdortona said:
:lol: :lol: Your amp will be there real soon! I promise!
GD_NC
Well-known member
Thanks for the input. Looks like a landslide for the Mav. Now where did those G.A.S. pills go????
I don't know if it's still like this, but every older Guitar Center I've ever been in has had at least 1 used Maverick!
I know that doesn't help the GAS, but I'm not here to cure you, just to feed the addiction! :mrgreen:
I know that doesn't help the GAS, but I'm not here to cure you, just to feed the addiction! :mrgreen:
GD_NC
Well-known member
Monsta-Tone said:
Availability is NOT the issue. I know where to look.
Rounding up the $$ for a completely unnecessary expense - that part is difficult. With 2 amps, 3 cabs, 9 guitars, etc... it's become increasingly difficult to convince my wife I NEED another amp.
I guess if I really want one I'm going to have to let go of my DC.
Could always sell a guitar! Yeah, I know it's like selling your kidney, but.....
Could be worse, you could have only 5 guitars, but 8 amps like me! :mrgreen:
212Mavguy
Well-known member
Just remember the words that Mick sang...
You can't always get what you want,
You can't always get what you want,
You can't always get what you want,
But if you try some time....
You just might find...
You get what you neeeeeeeeed!
oooooooooohhh yeah!
da Mav!
:shock: 8)
You can't always get what you want,
You can't always get what you want,
You can't always get what you want,
But if you try some time....
You just might find...
You get what you neeeeeeeeed!
oooooooooohhh yeah!
da Mav!
:shock:
8)GD_NC
Well-known member
I found a good but slightly road worn Maverick 2X12 with reasonably new tubes. Any idea what that might be worth. No major damage just a number of tolex nicks and scuffs.
Would a Mint DC-2 + $200 be a fair trade?
Would a Mint DC-2 + $200 be a fair trade?
212Mavguy
Well-known member
See if you can plug into that Mav first...but I don't see anything hugely out of line. The 2/12's tend to go 700-850 on fleabay.
It's gonna be at least twice the weight of the DC-2 though. Better lift it 1st and see if you like it.I have a 1x12 that I love because it is so small, but one of these days I will get a 2x12 also! I just like the sound of a 2x12 better!
94Tremoverb
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I had one of the early 1x12" Mavericks too, and selling it was one of my more stupid decisions... but I never felt it sounded quite right with the C90. I tried it with a V30 as well, and it was just different, rather than better - but I've never liked V30s in small front-loaded open back single 12s, so it wasn't really a surprise. The Gold wasn't available at the time or I'd have definitely tried it - I bet it would have been perfect, it sounds fantastic in the Blue Angel.
I prefered the tone of the Maverick to the LSS too, but I only played the Lone Star for about an hour once so I can't be sure (but I did notice the annoying reverb drop-out). On the other hand the Maverick 1-12 was a sweet-looking amp and the LSS is plain ugly... and it doesn't say Dual Rectifier on the front, which is important.
For Monsta-Tone - yes, a single GZ34 will just about handle a 100W amp. I measured the draw on my Tremoverb, fully cranked (actually above the point where it really sounds great and goes into over-saturation) and it was pulling just under 350mA in Vacuum Tube/Bold. Which is good, because I'm currently running two NOS 5V4s in it instead of 5U4s! - they're rated at 175mA each so that's fine, even under those conditions. In normal use it doesn't reach 300mA even on peaks, so a GZ34 at 250mA rating should be just enough. Maybe the junk modern rectifiers won't handle it though... I see a lot of blown Sovtek ones.
I prefered the tone of the Maverick to the LSS too, but I only played the Lone Star for about an hour once so I can't be sure (but I did notice the annoying reverb drop-out). On the other hand the Maverick 1-12 was a sweet-looking amp and the LSS is plain ugly... and it doesn't say Dual Rectifier on the front, which is important
.For Monsta-Tone - yes, a single GZ34 will just about handle a 100W amp. I measured the draw on my Tremoverb, fully cranked (actually above the point where it really sounds great and goes into over-saturation) and it was pulling just under 350mA in Vacuum Tube/Bold. Which is good, because I'm currently running two NOS 5V4s in it instead of 5U4s! - they're rated at 175mA each so that's fine, even under those conditions. In normal use it doesn't reach 300mA even on peaks, so a GZ34 at 250mA rating should be just enough. Maybe the junk modern rectifiers won't handle it though... I see a lot of blown Sovtek ones.
GD_NC
Well-known member
Trade fell through Bummed
I was out of town for work and the guy got cash for it before I returned.
If anyone is interested in a Mav for DC-2+cash swap drop me a note.
BummedI was out of town for work and the guy got cash for it before I returned.
If anyone is interested in a Mav for DC-2+cash swap drop me a note.
212Mavguy
Well-known member
They do come up on eBay fairly often, 2/12 is most common. Pay the extra for 3 day insured shipping!!!! NEVER have an amp shipped the long slow cheaper way, the less times it is handled the safer!
