LS just for country/blues?

[timme_v]

Hey guys, I'm new to mesa's and I'm looking at maybe purchasing a lone star.

I tried out the 100w version combo and its amazing. However, from what I read 99% of the people who own this amp play primarily blues rock or country.

My band plays stuff like the killers and jimmy eat world which is why I'm not looking at something high gain. The cleans on this amp are beautiful. It's the drive channel that has got me questioning myself. I've only tried it out for about 20 minutes in a store, not with my band and I couldn't really crank it.

So should I even bother looking at this amp or would I be better looking for something else?

Also, I'm changing from an Orange RV50.

Thanks!

Edit: I just realised I asked a question about getting a dual recto back in the day :lol: . That is far too much gain for what I need now.

 

[djw]

I wouldn't say the LS is just for country and blues, not by a long shot. However, I do think the Drive channel is really good for some things, and less effective for others. YMMV.

I think it's BEST as a creamy, rich and thick LEAD tone. It manages to get really sudsy and full, but still maintain your guitar's original character. For the amount of gain on tap this way, it's amazing it isn't a bunch of slushy fuzz. It stays focused, but with lots of girth. It's really an amazing tone for solo work.

For crunchy rhythm, it's *a little* harder to get that good dry gung-gung going. The reason you see all this stuff about the Reeder mods here is that many of us felt the Drive channel lacked a certain crispness in places -- the mods really helped me get a lot of transparency, low-end edge and growl back, or at least more easily. You can also do a lot with flipping the Drive switch off, and just going with the Gain; it's easier to get that grainy Vox thing without the cascading gain. That's been established as a footswitchable mod as well, so there's some flexibility there. Also, the amp cleans up beautifully with your guitar controls, so when I want a lite gain for rhythm, I just turn down my guitar and it sounds great.

When I *really* want to get a Marshall thing going, I get out my Marshall. But I'm an ex alt-rock/punk guy, and I just totally dig the LSC. It has a lot of character and it's good enough to hang with just about anything. I'd also give the Electra Dyne a hard look.

 

[timme_v]

hmm well I'm from Australia and the 100w combo costs $5000. I don't really want to be spending that sort of money if it still requires a mod for it to sound better.

I'm going to the guitar store to see if I can borrow it for a practice 1 night.

 

[theweatherman]

I second the electra dyne...It sounds like that is the amp for you

 

[timme_v]

the electra dyne has a shared EQ doesn't it?

 

[jdurso]

the electra dyne has a shared EQ doesn't it?

Yes but with the gain trim on the back its quite easy to find a balance between a gorgeous clean, a nice boosted clean on the lo gain channel and full, singing lead in hi gain mode. I just demo'd the LSC and ED side by side and they both have their advantages, but the ED wins in terms its ability to do higher gain tones. Its actually quite versitile when you spend enough time with it and figure out how to balance the 3 channels. It also takes OD pedals very well and the right OD infront of the ED gets you easily into full blown metal territory.

 

[timme_v]

I tried an electra dyne today. I didn't like the shared eq at all. The gain was nice though.. More "crunchy" which is what I want, but I can't get past the shared EQ.

 

[timme_v]

Perhaps the stiletto ace will be more my style.

 

[SyKrash]

Stilletto is cool, but very bright. It's named that for a reason, the highs are very very cutting and the V30s it's usually paired with cut as well.

I'm sure it sounds good in the mix of a band situation but just be prepared to basically have the presence and treble nearly off to get something a little warmer.