quad,dc-5,nomad oh the options!

[markivChris]

Hey guys, I'm a noob around here, but been over at jemsite (texshred777) for the last five years. I just discovered this forum about 4 or 5 days ago. I'm definately here more than at jemsite as of late.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I've been playing for a while and a couple years ago I made the mistake of 'putting music aside' for a time. So I sold all my gear and have been in the rebuilding process the last few months. For now, I have a schecter hellraiser c1fr(emg 81/85, original floyd, mahogany body set neck, quilt maple top w/ black cherry finish-I love this guitar) and the only amp I have at the moment is a fender blues deluxe amp. It's a good amp, but definately doesn't do what I need it to. The two best amps I've owned would have to be a Rivera tbr-1SL and a mesa mark iv. I can't find another tbr-1sl to save my life, and of course mark iv's are available but pricey(yet worth it).
now, I still have a 10 space rack I'm not using anymore and is in storage, so I'm really considering the quad preamp, as it doesn't seem to be too pricey(which is shocking). A couple other amps I'm looking at are the mesa nomad (either 55-100 watt 212 or 45 watt 410) or the mesa dc-5(head or 212 combo) I really don't have a use for a 412 at the moment, and in my experience a solid 212 is suffice. I was really just curious from some of you guys who've owned more mesas than I, what you thought about these three. I have experience with the nomad and really like it, but have heard the quad and dc-5 have marginally better sound quality. As far as tones I like, I'd say jp is a good indicator, as is timmos.

 

[tommyhawk13]

I can't say if the DC-5 is anything like my 50 cal or not, but my Quad & 50/50 are making me walk funny!

I've got about $1,100.00 in the Quad, 50/50, and 1/2 back. A couple of EV's are about all I could think of to improve it.

You could do like I did, and pick up the Quad first. You could run it into the Fender for now, but it will sound much better through a power amp like the 50/50 or a 290/295.

 

[markivChris]

Thanks, I was thinking of running it into the fender for now, and getting a 50/50 later on(I guess free fender amps come in handy) I know I've seen quads go regularly in the $500 range. My first instinct is to just get the dc-5 or a nomad 212, but I like all the options the dc-5 has, such as mixing r1 w/ l1 etc. I don't know how often I'd use this feature but hey its there. Any nomad owners who have experience with a dc-5 as well? I'm really curious how the 3 compare but I'm pretty sold on the quad/poweramp combo w/ a good 212 cab.

 

[tommyhawk13]

You can mix the channels on the Quad, too. Either connect a speaker cable betweeen the footswitch jacks in the rear, or use some fancy footwork. Download the user manual, & it will explain.
I'm pretty sure you can get Nomad, Dc tones out of the Quad, but not vice versa. Keep in mind that it's 2 preamp sections, a Mark IIC (+), and a Mark III.
Oh, and make user you get the footswitch and the cable. They're hard to come by.