Mesa quad

[Neemo]

So this guy from netherlands is offering me a dead mint quad for 600€ (that's like $770). The price is a bit steep but there isn't that many quads out for sale (especially 230V). The footswitch isn't included.

I think I can probably talk him down to like 550€ or something. Basically, is it worth it? I'm new to mesas overall and I would like your opinion on the quad. Does it deliver a crushing rhythm sound and liquid leads?

Oh, and I would be using the quad thru VHT 2/90/2 and Bogner Uberkab.

 

[blues57]

i bought a quad 500€ with the footswitch and 230v in june(in France). in excellent condition. That's for the good price to pay for it.

600€ seems too much because it's impossible to find a footswich and a midi switcher will be around 250€ so....

sound is amazing for a preamp that has nearly 20 years

 

[Aart]

550-600 is a fair price out here.

Don't think you're gonna find one that will be cheaper.

A friend of mine ownes one.
The lead 1 is really good for rythm, tight and IIC like, but lacks some of the attack my Mark IV has(also a little less gain). Lead 2 has a really liquid sustaining lead sound, but dont turn in too much gain.
Rhy 1 will give you a good clean sound and rhy 2 will give you some bluesy/crunchy sounds, but dont expect marshall crunch.

 

[Neemo]

There was actually this swedish guy who was selling one for 430e, too bad he had already sold it when I contacted him. I have to think about this one but I'm pretty confident I'm gonna buy it. All the raving reviews ain't helping my GAS much

 

[Aart]

Haha, good choice.
Mark series amps rules.
I think i will never leave the Mark IV.
If I needed a preamp it would definately be a studio or quad.
But my rack mount Mark IV has some mojo to the lead channel, dont know how to say it, but its really cool.

 

[Neemo]

Very exciting!

So I bought the quad from Netherlands and the guy said he'll ship it to me on 2nd of febuary. €550 + €20 shipping.

Can't wait!!!

 

[ytse_jam]

Very exciting!

So I bought the quad from Netherlands and the guy said he'll ship it to me on 2nd of febuary. €550 + €20 shipping.

Can't wait!!!

good luck with your quad! i own a studio pre and i'm in love with it! these old preamps are still the best in my opinion

 

[pigno]

I 've bought a quad two month ago and it's the best sound I have never heard or play...simply fantastic!

 

[Friedmett]

I still got my Quad and the sound of it? To good for words.

It sounds like a Boogie and my old Marshalls sounds like Marshalls. The best of two worlds.

Its a 220 voltage non midi version.

 

[Neemo]

Thanks for the input guys. My quad should be arriving tomorrow or atleast on thursday. I didn't have a pedal for it so I made one myself. I posted it in the footswitches & misc section.

 

[ytse_jam]

Let us know how do you like it! good luck

 

[Ed Pitman]

Hi Guys,

I was very surprised that someone thinks that the Quad's lead 2 lacks gain. I've personally found that too much gain can take away from the tight focused lead sound.

Have fun with your Quads !

Ed

 

[Neemo]

IT'S HERE ! ! !

http://community.webshots.com/album/557627520sGhcrP

All I need now is to fetch the rest of my rack from the rehearsal place so I can try it full blast.

 

[Ed Pitman]

Congratulations ! - Let us know how you get on. Particularly interested in your comments on Rhythm 2. Cheers !

Ed

 

[Neemo]

Here's a clip that I threw together. I haven't adjusted the tone exactly the way I want it, just used some examples from the manual. There's just so many knobs that the possibilities are endless. Anyways, here you go...

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/download.php?id=1680

 

[Neemo]

I was playing with the Rhythm 1 channel on and adjusting the eq. Whilst I found some fantastic sounds, I found the reverb a bit noisy. There was this static hum present when I turned up the reverb, it's clearly audible around 3 but doensn't get that much louder even when turned all the way up.

So, the quad has an awesome spring reverb that I'd like to use but the hum is just too prominent. Would a tube change help? The V14 is the reverb mixer tube and the V24 is the reverb driver tube. My quad has some mesa/boogie tubes that look quite old.

Perhaps changing them to something like tung-sol would help?

 

[4nkam]

New tubes should help, but if not, you might wanna do some searching on here. For some reason I do recall something about noisy reverb and some possible solutions.

 

[Ed Pitman]

Hi All,

The reason that the Reverb is noisy on some versions of the Quad is that one of the reverb tanks is too close to one of the transformers. Its a design flaw on earlier Quads.

The only solution is to mount the reverb tray somewhere outside of the Quad chassis and connect it to the Quad itself via longer leads.

As you say its an incredible Reverb sound - too bad about the hum !

Cheers

Ed

 

[His Emissary]

Hey guys, my Quad will be arriving Friday and I must admit, I'm quite the dunce when it comes to dialing in that perfect sound.

I play metal of the most crushing variety and would be very grateful if any fellow hessians would share some settings with me.

Also, I am curious if it would be to my advantage to put either a Tube Screamer or Maxon pedal in front of the Quad.

Here are links to both of my bands, to give you an idea of what I play, if that helps:

CATALYST (technical death metal - 7strings tuned down to ADADGBE)
http://myspace.com/unholycatalyst

IPSISSIMUS (orthodox black metal - 6 strings, tuned up to F)
http://myspace.com/barbeloh

and this is what the Quad will be teaming up with to help me achieve sonic devastation:

 

[Russ]

I was playing with the Rhythm 1 channel on and adjusting the eq. Whilst I found some fantastic sounds, I found the reverb a bit noisy. There was this static hum present when I turned up the reverb, it's clearly audible around 3 but doensn't get that much louder even when turned all the way up.

So, the quad has an awesome spring reverb that I'd like to use but the hum is just too prominent. Would a tube change help? The V14 is the reverb mixer tube and the V24 is the reverb driver tube. My quad has some mesa/boogie tubes that look quite old.

Perhaps changing them to something like tung-sol would help?

And I thought the Mark IV looked congested inside... :shock: