LSS and General Questions

[stu-LSS]

hello BB. i just got a LSS 1x12 and its excellent. like alot of people i have to keep the volume down and was suprised to discover that the most useful thing for doing that was the pre amp, not the 5w setting. this thing sounds as good as your average cranked amp with the master volume barely up at all. this is my first mesa so forgive me if i'm surprised by this.

the only complaint is it does get muddy with these settings when set as described above. does this go when the dials are set correctly? i cant play it loud right now due to my circumstances to find out for myself.

also, can anyone tell me how much louder the 2x12 is over the 1x12? (or how much louder any 2x12 is over a 1x12) has anyone tried a 2x12 closed extension cab with the LSS? are there any speakers that improve the LSS?

is it worth switching the el84's about as i run it in 5w mode alot? is it worth getting some 3rd party tubes for the LSS?

some advice would be good. thanks.

 

[ylo]

Hello Stu-LSS

A 5 watt amp is almost as loud as a 50 watt amp due to the relationship of power to actual decibels. I have played the 2 x 12 and 1 x 12 LSS, and they sound about the same to me. The 2 x 12 moves about twice the air, but loudness is logarithmic and I suspect that you only gain a few decibels with the 2 x 12, not a doubling in perceived loudness (6 dB).

Personally, I like the LSS with an open back cabinet. I have a Nomad with a closed back cabinet that I use for modern sounds. I like the LSS with the open 1 x 12 for clean and vintage blues sounds.

I don't think the LSS is muddy at low volumes, although some have said that they consider it a bit muddy in the 5 watt mode. Just compensate with the treble and presence controls.

Rotating the power tubes every 6 months or so probably would not hurt if you put lots of hours in the 15 W and 5 W modes. If you have the spare change and plan to gig, buy at least a couple of spare tubes. Otherwise, you can probably wait until a year goes by to replace the tubes, or until you notice microphonics or loss of tone.

Can't comment on alternatives to MB tubes in this amp, but you will find lots of suggestions with some searches of this site and the web.

Enjoy your new LSS.

 

[Kyle]

Hi stu-LSS and welcome to the board. I totally agree with ylo on all points made. I own a LSS 1x12 and you just have to take the time to tweak it to suit your guitar and taste. Before playing out with mine, I bought a whole set of JJ tubes from Bob at Eurotubes. If you email him and tell him what amp you own and what style you play he will email you back very quickly with his reccommendation. I use the Mesa tubes as my backups. I personally like the JJ's better. They sound more alive to me.

As for cabinets, I use a Avatar 1x12 open back with a Hellatone 30 in it. I didn't add it for volume but just to enhance the overall sound. I've also ran the LSS into a 4x12 closed back cabinet with celestion v30's in it. I like it for some applications... very tight and focused, but I'm with ylo and prefer the open back sound for most of my applications.

As far as muddiness: don't set the mids and bass to high (mine never go above 9:00) . And like ylo said, play with the treble and presence. The treble sets the stage for everything after it. I have found the presence is the "sweet" knob on this amp. I like to hear picking dynamics and touch so mine stays over 12:00 on both channels.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your new amp!

 

[timmerel]

The drive channel is the most challenging, but there are many threads on different people's experience with it. You need to do a lot of tweaking to get it right, but when you do it sounds amazing.

If you haven't done so already, do a search on LSS, Lonestar Special etc on the board and read through all the different bits and pieces - hopefully they will cover most ground for you.

 

[SabuJSE]

Welcome to LSS land!

You will find that less is more with this little gem - I run the 1x12 with a 1x12 ext cab.Gives the sound a bit more seperation and fullness, imo.

Here's what I use for Channel 2 settings - nice Allman Brothers/Warren Haynes type crunch:

15 watt - "Thickest" (with Humbuckers or Single Coils)
Drive - 10:30
Gain - 2:30
Treble - 2:00
Mid - 11:00
Bass - 9:00
Presence - 1:30
Volume to taste.

Also, if you have anything in the Effects Loop, make sure that setting is at 50% and adjust your volume appropriately - Enjoy!

 

[Bloozman]

Sorry to rain on everyones parade, but Ive had too much trouble with my LSS..Ive also had a heck of a time with the store, Mesa rep, and tech support...Today I went out and bought an Epiphone DSP 100 head and 4x12 cabinet...it playes better than my LSS did, and has better headroom...Its a solid state amp, and puts the Mesa sound to shame...all for a fraction of what I paid for my LSS...Mesa should be hung by the fingernails for what they are getting away with...call me PISSED OFF!!

 

[ol4t]

Sorry to rain on everyones parade, but Ive had too much trouble with my LSS..Ive also had a heck of a time with the store, Mesa rep, and tech support...Today I went out and bought an Epiphone DSP 100 head and 4x12 cabinet...it playes better than my LSS did, and has better headroom...Its a solid state amp, and puts the Mesa sound to shame...all for a fraction of what I paid for my LSS...Mesa should be hung by the fingernails for what they are getting away with...call me PISSED OFF!!

Ok. :roll:

 

[stu-LSS]

bloozman, thats a shame. it sounds like you got a duffer.

ylo, your right. i'd say that 5 watts is nearly as loud as 30 at the levels i've been able to play. its interesting that speaker cone area to percieved volume has a similar relationship. i guess the travel of 2 speakers isnt double that of one speaker from the same input.

kyle/sabu, have you tried some more unorthodox setings like the treble and bass right down and the mid right up or the exact opposite? awesome.

thanks for all your help.

 

[SabuJSE]

I've briefly played around with "non-standard" settings and found them quite distasteful. But that may be just me