LSC normal->Thick->Thicker switch question.

[Dreads]

Hi All,

Can someone telll me what is technically going on when you
use this switch? I am wondering if it's something that can be
emulated in my other amps with an eq or something 'cause
I love it. Thanks..

Dreads.

 

[Barry]

Hi All,

Can someone telll me what is technically going on when you
use this switch? I am wondering if it's something that can be
emulated in my other amps with an eq or something 'cause
I love it. Thanks..

Dreads.

Its just the three modes of the drive stage . Most mesa amps have three modes per channel these days . So its three different voicings if you will . Thats about as technical as i can get but who cares, just enjoy it . Thats what they intended

 

[Maury]

From what I can gather from the manual ... normal is just that: normal. Thick "smears the high midrange and the treble together for a fatter top-end. Thicker takes 'thick" and adds gain in the top end.

Not sure "how" its done though.

 

[medwards1969]

Honestly, I like the LSC amp, but I am not comfortable with the drive channel on it. I set mine up to be close to channel 1 setup. When I got it, however, I was hoping to be able to switch to the sound of a Mark I. But I don't know what the hell I am doing with it. I never had a Mark I, and a Wolf Marshall CD I've got says early Santana was actually played on a Fender amp cranked instead of a Boogie, which came later and formed the more icy sound. I have not played enough Boogies to form an opinion on whether a LSC can get an early Santana tone. Maybe it can, but I guess it has got to be cranked big time, I dunno. A LSC cranked is a sound I can't do where I live, It's too loud.

 

[ylo]

According to the schematic, the "Thick" and "Thicker" switch works very much like the Bright switch on the old Black Face Fenders. The tone stack, which is after the drive stage, is pretty much identical to a BF Fender tone stack.

The "Thick" setting adds a 250 pF capacitor in series with a 10 meg resistor (if I am reading this correctly) to pass some of the treble around the treble control. The "Thicker" setting uses a 500 pF capacitor, so the bypassing extends down more into the mids. The "Normal" setting has no treble bypass.

 

[boogiemon]

Honestly, I like the LSC amp, but I am not comfortable with the drive channel on it. I set mine up to be close to channel 1 setup. When I got it, however, I was hoping to be able to switch to the sound of a Mark I. But I don't know what the hell I am doing with it. I never had a Mark I, and a Wolf Marshall CD I've got says early Santana was actually played on a Fender amp cranked instead of a Boogie, which came later and formed the more icy sound. I have not played enough Boogies to form an opinion on whether a LSC can get an early Santana tone. Maybe it can, but I guess it has got to be cranked big time, I dunno. A LSC cranked is a sound I can't do where I live, It's too loud.

try this: thicker, drive, gain & treble up, presence down

 

[Mountain Fever]

Also, if it works anything like my LSS (which I imagine it would) the owners manual says to use more gain than drive, which I did and found it more pleasing.

Typically I use 50-75% of the setting. So if gain is at 12:00 the drive is around 9:00.

Like anything...sometimes less is more and sometimes too much of a good thing is a mess.

I have found my amp (my first Mesa) to be very reactive to changes. It often requires resetting tone controls as you flip between modes and wattage settings to dial it in just right.

Just my $.02

 

[phillyred79]

Honestly, I like the LSC amp, but I am not comfortable with the drive channel on it. I set mine up to be close to channel 1 setup. When I got it, however, I was hoping to be able to switch to the sound of a Mark I. But I don't know what the hell I am doing with it. I never had a Mark I, and a Wolf Marshall CD I've got says early Santana was actually played on a Fender amp cranked instead of a Boogie, which came later and formed the more icy sound. I have not played enough Boogies to form an opinion on whether a LSC can get an early Santana tone. Maybe it can, but I guess it has got to be cranked big time, I dunno. A LSC cranked is a sound I can't do where I live, It's too loud.

+1 Which is why I went with a Mk IV. The LSC is one sweet lady for blues and spanky-clean rhythms, but in order to get saturated crunches the master needs to be pretty high and even then it isn't super gainy. But, the LSC wasn't designed for that obviously. Pedals will help, but I like to use my amps for their inherent distortion.

 

[Joel]

I may be high or something, but to me, the LSC drive channel is an entirely different beast at live volumes sitting in a band mix than it is just noodling around. I have found the drive channel to have plenty of saturation and sustain in that context. Santana-esque lead tone is no problem at all.

 

[boogiemon]

I may be high or something, but to me, the LSC drive channel is an entirely different beast at live volumes sitting in a band mix than it is just noodling around. I have found the drive channel to have plenty of saturation and sustain in that context. Santana-esque lead tone is no problem at all.

+1

 

[AriBoiangiu]

I've had a LSC for 3 months and I have TOO MUCH saturation! I don't even use the gain past 12 o'clock! In order to really get it, though, I need to do 3 things:
1. Use a small boost ( I use the booster from my boss gt-8)
2. Turn the effects loop on, and put the send level at 1 o'clock. I couldn't believe the difference that made in thickening the amp.
3. Have the DRIVE at 3 o'clock.

Hope this helps...ari

 

[dannymusic]

and don't forget the "loop level" on the back. That has a large effect.

 

[Zen Guitar]

I agree with Joel here... I think that you'll find with some time that the LS has plenty of gain for that classic, throaty, Boogie lead sound. For nailing a high gain, bluesy lead tone ala Santana, Robben Ford, Robin Trower (use EL-34's), or others, you should have plenty of gain, even at low volume. I prefer the 100W setting and use the Thicker mode. Try drive at 75% and gain at 100%. The treble control is critical here and higher settings will yeild higher gain. Mids are going to be most dependent on your guitar/pick-ups, but try setting them a bit higher than you might on other, non-Boogie amps. This will add in some additional gain and thickness. As you know, this amp has plenty of bass, so don't be surprised if you're setting that below 30%.

If you're into pedals, one pedal that I find works really well is the Fulltone OCD. Try running it at 18V rather than 9V. Set LS ch 2 to clean, but dime the gain. Push the front end with the OCD.

Best of luck!

 

[Barry]

I bought a BB preamp by Xotic . Its absolutley bliss in front of the Lone Star . I also have a keeley moded TS9 which is also very cool but the BB is definately warmer .

 

[cant play pool with a rop]

^^ I too find the BB great with the LS, it tightens it up and makes for an excellent lead sound.

 

[Barry]

^^ I too find the BB great with the LS, it tightens it up and makes for an excellent lead sound.

Works great on both channels as well . I dont even have to tweak per channel . I also find that in channel two with the BB and a Les paul you can get into some pretty radical gainy sounds . I made the mistake of lulling myself into beleiving that the Lone Star was more of a single coil amp . It does sound amazing with single coils but it can acheive some pretty over the top stuff with the BB . Its an amazing amp IMHO . Kudos to the BB as well .

 

[medwards1969]

What does the exotic BB preamp do? Does it boost the treble, or is it a flat response booster or what?

 

[Barry]

What does the exotic BB preamp do? Does it boost the treble, or is it a flat response booster or what?

your tone natural tone stays pretty much intact . It doesnt get real high endy like alot of boost pedals . Its very warm sounding . I'm really impressed with that little pedal .

 

[medwards1969]

I played my LSC this evening into my two Bogner Cubes with C-90s and resurrected my 80's TC Booster Pedal into it (hand me some of that contact cleaner I also tried out this effect loop idea to get control of the lead channel. Engaging the effect loop with a jumper and setting at 1:00 does give you some additional volume control, but ****, you lose the reverb! I guess you need the shorting switches for that. So I took that effect loop jumper off. I prefer the darker reverb. I tried these thicker switch settings like you guys suggested on the lead channel and I agree that can work. Now, my old TC BLD pedal does give you some great Marshall style drive. The TC pedal basically will take a Fender amp tone and distort it and EQ it to sound somewhat like a Marshall. I think that was its original function, so you could get on a plane with it, show up at a gig, plug into a Fender, and play it like a Marshall. It is more like an amp converter than like an effect. It is propably not good for metal. But you can also throw a switch on it to run it as a clean booster pedal, which is another whole way to use the pedal. So, when you engage the TC pedal with the Lonestar drive channel, the Lonestar drive channel is trying to convert it to more of a Boogie Lead, you know, darker. So the TC BLD is usable here to brighten up your guitar with the Lonestar if you need that, and maybe boost it a bit if you have weak pickups. The vintage TC BLD is a classic.

But, I also have a Foxrox ZIM! I tried the Vintage Tube card into the Lonestar and that sounded great! Very straty sounding and usable!

I think the Lonestar is a great buy as a used amp right now. Mine is a early "short head" model, it sits perfect on the vertically-stacked Bogner cubes and I don't have to bend over to reach it! The Bogners are worth every penny and it makes a unique setup. I bought mine used on E-Bay. I put C-90's in them after trying G12H30s and Vintage 30s. The C-90s work better with the Lonestar. With two Cubes plugged in, it makes a 4 Ohm setup.