Mesa amp make you a better guitarist

[Ibanez]

Since I got my all tube amp (I had an hybrid amp that is nothing to compare with) I found out that I had to change my playing to become more constant, as I found out that tube amp seem to reveal every small mistakes. However, after many countless practive hours, the tone, dynamics and the playing subtilities is controlable and it gives a more personal taste.

Any others had this experience ?

 

[Steve P]

Yup!

I went from a Vox DA-15 digital modelling amp to a Mesa Express -- what a difference!

I gave my Vox to a jamming buddy, so I do get to play it again on occasion for comparison. Although it misses much of my picking dynamics, it also covers up my mistakes, making me think I'm better than I actually am. :roll:

To be fair, though, I don't think my improved picking dynamics can be entirely credited to Mesa: I think the additional dynamics and detail would be present with nearly any other decent tube amp.

 

[MusicManJP6]

Even coming from an all tube Peavey XXX combo to a Mesa made me realize my playing was under scrutiny! Mesa has a way with making their amps make you a better player by enhancing your guitars articulation, feel, and dynamics. Gotta love it!

 

[thejay]

Everything just sounds better with my Mesa so I agree it pushes you to be more accurate b/c if you mess up everyone knows... well at least you hear it.

 

[kmanick]

I went from my JSX to my Rectoverb, and Initially I found the Rectoverb very stiff and unforgiving.
it really made me really focus in on my vibrato, and my legato has also gotten much better, since there is so much less compression coming from the amp. the JSX is a very easy to play amp.
I have to pay more attention towhat I'm doing when I play the Recto.

 

[Don]

My 5:50 makes me a better player because I like playing it so much that I can't leave it alone, however...

...my 5E3 clone is a much more sensitive and expressive amp and requires much more attention be paid to technique when playing it.

 

[mrd]

Definitely... I would say I've come a long way since I bought my first Mesa amp a few years ago... like you said, it reveals all and doesn't let you get away with anything. Which is good!

 

[Barry]

I know my Mesa is very inspiring . I always look forward to playing gigs with mine .

 

[Dead Moon Rising]

I agree, unless you're one the few idiots i see now and then. you know the guy who leaves his Mesa on the clean Channel and uses a Metalzone :evil:

Sacrilege!

 

[primal]

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!

I was in Guitar Center when I first plugged into a Roadster.

I had brought my guitar with me. It is an ESP made back in 1987 and one of the GC employees there wanted to try it. So I handed it to him but he asked if he could play on the Line 6. After playing on the line 6 after him it was clear why. This thing hid all his mistakes.

I would even say coming from my Carvin MTS (which is an underated amp by the way), how neet you play, where you place your palm when you palm mute, how hard you strike the strings make a huge difference when I play my roadking. In the end though, the tone is just awesome. But you have to adjust your playing and become more technically proficient.

The culprit in my mind is clipping diodes. Clipping diodes do a lot in the way of making you sound better then you really are.

From what I understand Mesa Distortion is all tube, no clipping diodes. That is why when you max out the gain the bass starts to flubb out.

I use to get that effect when I would peg some of the older tube amps that had no built in distortion. To a point it would sound good but pegged the bass would just tottally flub out.

 

[secretsoundz]

I agree, unless you're one the few idiots i see now and then. you know the guy who leaves his Mesa on the clean Channel and uses a Metalzone :evil:

Sacrilege!

I know! Why even own such a high end amp if you're going to use a crappy pedal instead of the gain channel?

 

[nomad100hd]

I totally agree distortion pedals can't even come close to the sound of tube distortion. The only pedal that should be in front of an amp for distortion purposes is a clean boost. It hits the first preamp tube hard so it distorts as well.

I love how reactive a tube amp is to a guitarist technique. It's even better with vintage to mid output pickups. I don't think i like the response of ceramic magnet pickups that well either.

Some tube amps are forgiving it's all in the power supply and the power amp. The power supply determines the stiffness of the amp. I say this because if you have a loose amp, changing one cap can make all the difference.

 

[creekhed]

Occasionally I'll use an MXR Distortion II in front of my LSC...but only in Channel 2 when I need an additional boost.