TheRazMeister
Well-known member
Hey guys....just want to chime in with my experiences regarding Mesa amps over the past year. As most of the regulars probably know, I have a Rectoverb series II combo and really like the versatility of the amp. I've tried the F-series (new and used) and find that overall they're great amps but don't have the type of gain I'm looking for (except the F-30). The other problem I have is that most all of my other experiences with Mesa's are at the local GC and are always used gear (my GC cannot carry Mesa). In almost every case, the amps sound like crap and getting a good tone out of them is a chore.
I've now tried the following..
F-100 - decent clean, crappy everything else
Blue Angel - no comment
Nomad 45 - decent sounds but certainly not purchase worthy
Studio 22 - pedestrian
Maverick 2x12 - you can have it. :roll:
Mark IV widebody - total crap
Lonestar Special - decent but noisy
Nomad 4x10 - crappy gain
ROV series 1 - best of the bunch (which I bought before selling for a series 2)
After plugging into these amps, I'll walk over to the Crate V32 and get wonderfully, normal, good tube tones.
My question is this....obviously the above list includes some alleged great amps....what the heck are people doing to these poor things before they trade them in?
BTW - the 2 best sounding used tube amps for gain tones (not versatility) were a Groove Tubes Soul-0 50 and a Bedrock 1x12 combo. Absolutely delicious medium to high gain sounds. Both were in great gigging condition with new tubes etc.
I've now tried the following..
F-100 - decent clean, crappy everything else
Blue Angel - no comment
Nomad 45 - decent sounds but certainly not purchase worthy
Studio 22 - pedestrian
Maverick 2x12 - you can have it. :roll:
Mark IV widebody - total crap
Lonestar Special - decent but noisy
Nomad 4x10 - crappy gain
ROV series 1 - best of the bunch (which I bought before selling for a series 2)
After plugging into these amps, I'll walk over to the Crate V32 and get wonderfully, normal, good tube tones.
My question is this....obviously the above list includes some alleged great amps....what the heck are people doing to these poor things before they trade them in?
BTW - the 2 best sounding used tube amps for gain tones (not versatility) were a Groove Tubes Soul-0 50 and a Bedrock 1x12 combo. Absolutely delicious medium to high gain sounds. Both were in great gigging condition with new tubes etc.