Mesa pedal to replace my TS9

[Dino.]

The TS9 works "okay" but not as tight and/or as quite as I'd like.
Which of the Mesa pedals would you recommend using in place of the TS9?
I keep the TS9 on at all times for my overall "sound".

I'm looking for a new pedal that will just push the gain of my DR over the edge and give me a lot of sustain for lead work.
Do any of the Mesa pedals fit the bill? In reading the descriptions of each pedal, they all seem to do the same thing.
Am I missing something?

 

[KiwiJoe]

The Grid Slammer. It's quite TS-ish. I use it with my Mini Rec as a boost to goose a crunchy setting, and as an alternate voiced "3rd channel" so I can have the green channel clean, the red dirty, and hit the GS on the clean channel to offer something in between. It has a nice but not obnoxious mid-hump that just sits really nicely in a mix, and the hump can be adjusted with the tone knob which is a simple high cut so you can tailor lower or upper mids to taste. With an already crunchy amp on the edge, the GS will deliver. The bonus is that in terms of noise floor/hiss it's one of the quietest pedals I've ever used. Like all things Mesa, it's also built like a tank.

They're not all really the same, the Mesa pedals. The Tone Burst is like a clean boost with the benefits of adding some "sparkle" like you hear a lot of guys going on about with the Xotic EP Boost so a lot of players use it as an "always on" pedal. The Grid Slammer offers the lowest gain of the other three pedals; it's a low-medium gain pedal. The Flux Drive is a medium to high gain pedal; basically steps it up a notch from the Grid Slammer with added separate bass and treble tone controls. The Throttle Box is the balls-to-the-wall high gain pedal.

 

[Dino.]

The Throttle Box is the balls-to-the-wall high gain pedal.

That sounds like what I'm looking for.
The TS9 is "okay" but it's definitely not "balls-to-the-wall". :wink:

 

[KiwiJoe]

The Throttle Box is the balls-to-the-wall high gain pedal.

That sounds like what I'm looking for.
The TS9 is "okay" but it's definitely not "balls-to-the-wall". :wink:

OK, I'm a bit confused. From your first post you said:

I keep the TS9 on at all times for my overall "sound".

Then you said:

I'm looking for a new pedal that will just push the gain of my DR over the edge and give me a lot of sustain for lead work.

So is it an "always on" pedal you're looking for, or a pedal to goose the front end of the amp for a bit more gain during leads and such? For an always on pedal with a lot of gain, the Throttle Box is probably the way to go if you want high gain. I'm not trying to sell you on the GS because I have one, but for a boost/goose the Grid Slammer is probably a better choice. If the amp is already pretty gritty the GS with the gain backed all the way off (or close to it) and the level cranked (or close to it) will goose it nicely. The Throttle Box may actually be too much even with the gain backed all the way off which means you may have to lower the amp gain...which means you probably won't have the level of gain you desire with the pedal off. See what I mean? I think for goosing the amp you'll have a bit more flexibility with the GS because you'll be able to take advantage of a greater range available, whereas with the TR you'll be more limited with what you want to dial in before it becomes too much.

Of course, this is all just speculation and food for thought because I haven't heard an example of what you're trying to do. Probably the best thing to do is demo the pedals for yourself at your Mesa dealer.

 

[Dino.]

The Throttle Box is the balls-to-the-wall high gain pedal.

That sounds like what I'm looking for.
The TS9 is "okay" but it's definitely not "balls-to-the-wall". :wink:

OK, I'm a bit confused. From your first post you said:

I keep the TS9 on at all times for my overall "sound".

Then you said:

I'm looking for a new pedal that will just push the gain of my DR over the edge and give me a lot of sustain for lead work.

So is it an "always on" pedal you're looking for, or a pedal to goose the front end of the amp for a bit more gain during leads and such? For an always on pedal with a lot of gain, the Throttle Box is probably the way to go if you want high gain. I'm not trying to sell you on the GS because I have one, but for a boost/goose the Grid Slammer is probably a better choice. If the amp is already pretty gritty the GS with the gain backed all the way off (or close to it) and the level cranked (or close to it) will goose it nicely. The Throttle Box may actually be too much even with the gain backed all the way off which means you may have to lower the amp gain...which means you probably won't have the level of gain you desire with the pedal off. See what I mean? I think for goosing the amp you'll have a bit more flexibility with the GS because you'll be able to take advantage of a greater range available, whereas with the TR you'll be more limited with what you want to dial in before it becomes too much.

Of course, this is all just speculation and food for thought because I haven't heard an example of what you're trying to do. Probably the best thing to do is demo the pedals for yourself at your Mesa dealer.

Sorry for the confusion ...
Ideally, I would want to replace the TS9 (which stays on all the time) and use a different pedal all together. The TS9 sounds good and "crunchy" for rhythm stuff but it just doesn't provide enough compression and harmonic overtones for lagato style leads. Others have suggested replacing the TS9 with an "xotic bb preamp" and a maxon 808 but if there is ONE pedal that I can just keep on at all times (and replace the TS9), I would definately opt for that.

 

[SixVeeSix]

Try a Tech 21 pedal. I have the Tri-AC and love it. I want to try the Double Drive 3x.

All the Character pedals sound great for what they are, you probably wouldn't care for the Fender model but the Mesa models (US Steel is one) are really nice.

 

[Dino.]

All the Character pedals sound great for what they are, you probably wouldn't care for the Fender model but the Mesa models (US Steel is one) are really nice.

Would the Throttle Box be a good option to replace the TS9 that's on my board and give me more saturation and "liquid" gain?
The TS9 helps but it's just too loose for lagato runs and solos.