Mesa Amp Advice?

[fdesalvo]

I need help deciding on my next amp purchase...here is the skinny:

I play rythym in a modern rock/pop band and need a huge, tight, and saturated tone with plenty of mids to cut through my band.

Many of my rythms involve fast, palm-muted, alternate picking for certain parts of our songs (ala Anberlin) and need these noted to be tight and percussive! I use this techinique on the high strings, as well.

What am I looking for? I am led to believe the DRs and TRs cannot cope with this style without being boosting the input and I refuse to do that. I am also led to beleive they suffer on higher strings by exhibiting that nasaly "Metal Zone" attack.

What's the truth?

 

[richt]

I guess I'll get it started this time...

Mark IV


Cheers,

Richt

 

[Mountain Fever]

I think most would say if they could have one Mesa Amp that could cover a range of sounds, it would be either the Mark IV or the Road King.

After I got my LoneStar Special I looked at the rest of the line and chose the Mark IV.

Very happy with that decision.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I play a similar style in one of my bands and the DR does it perfectly. The reason a lot of recto's get the reputation they have, is that the controls go to extremes. I also use JJ E34L's in mine and cut through all the bands I've played in without a problem. I also use a 1x12 open back with 200 watt EV in it, I don't really like how the DR sounds through the Recto cabs. The Mark IV will also do this style well, but doesn't have the extremes in the controls if needed, but there are plenty of tonal variations available in it. I also don't use any boosts on my amps at all, the most I'll use is my wah and a delay in the loop.

 

[Barry]

Try a Stiletto

 

[domct203]

From what you describe you would probably like the Mark IV or Stilleto.

You should try a RK or Roadster if you can also. I'm loving mine and believe I have a great rhythm and lead tone for what I do, although it is not quite what you describe. You may be surprised at what the RK or Roadster has to offer. I find mine quite tight for palm muted rhythm patterns and the thing really punches!

For super tight most agree that you can't beat a Mark IV.

Dom

 

[clutch71]

Try a 2ch DR with EL34's or a Tremoverb w/ EL34's. Neither are the best for cleans but I think their both solid rhytmn machines. Their as long as you've got different tube combonations to tinker with.

A Seymour Duncan JB, DiMarzio Supro Pro, or EMG 81 in the bridge tightens them up too.

Of course like the other follks said Mark IV's and Stiletto's are tighter yet. Takes some tweaking (alot of tweaking IMO) but still nice amps as well.

 

[fdesalvo]

Thanks for the opinions, guys. Sadly, I don' t have tons of time to research things, as work keeps me so busy during the day and the band at night...I will definitely look into the amps you all mentioned.

My lead player bought that new Marshall Vintage/Modern and it's actually a very nice sounding amp- which is shocking to say the least. Ideally, my new tone will help bring up the bottom end without competing with the bass guitar.

I had aDC10 head that I regrettably sold and ran it through a 1960a with gt75s. The cleans were in Twin territory and the distortion was TIGHT and saturated, but I sold it becasue the lead channel just couldn't be heard in the mix.

Thinking about things now, I reckon that **** Marshall cab with those GTs were the problem; great spanky cleans, but sucked mids- by the time you eq'ed more mids in there, it was just mud and ugly sounding...and the **** things couldn't handle palm-muting without crapping all over themselves.

Maybe I sold her too fast and should've tried out some other cabinets. Bah!!

 

[Botch]

I've played music like Anberlin with my Dual Rec and it will be more than good enough for that kind of music. Don't be afraid to cut back on the gain and bass and crank the mid's up to 2:00 or 3:00.

 

[alex1fly]

I keep finding that the key to good tone on a rectifier (I have a roadster) is to just turn the gain down. Also to get the mids to be more prominent, you can't just turn the mids up, you have to also turn the treble down. So far my best, most articulate and punchy mids have come with the treble set at almost a quarter turn down from the midpoint.

 

[fdesalvo]

Thanks for the info so far, guys. Is is true that all Rectos exhibit a popping sound along with a delay between switching channels?

 

[Refixer]

Definitely check out the Roadsters/RoadKing and Stilletos as mentioned above.

Also, Rectos popping isn't a major issue. Just cycle through the channels while on standby a few times.

Weird story to share: I've always had popping issues. But now that I have a midi system (external controls on channels), I rarely get popping issues. :shock:

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I had popping on my 3 channel DR until I got a different 7 pin midi cable to run the footswitch on, now it never pops.

 

[tobytheplatypus]

yea, mine will pop the first time it switches to the other channels, but if i cycle the channels while in standby i get no popping
and theres no delay either (least now that i can percieve)