fdesalvo
Well-known member
So after my second rehearsal I have to say that I'm very, very inmpressed with this rig (on top of a 4x12 with G12K-100s). Intially, I found it to be thin and bright (I play a 2007 SG-GT with a Rio BBQ in the bridge) to the point where I thought I might have made a mistake. At this time, I had my board going through the input.
Last night after rehearsal, I rewired my board (MPS Pedal Pad II) and split it into two chains:
1: Input bound: Tuner > Hot British > Input
2: Loop: Delay > Chorus > EQ (Boss GE7 - MXR 10 band on way)
I had to turn up the FX Return to nearly max to get my signal strength back, but no love lost here; wow. What an excellent sounding and transparent loop- I'm impressed. I also was able to use the global output and solo functions now that the loop is switched in. Cranking the global up to about 12:00 produces a significant warming effect on the amp overall. Even without the EQ, the amp sounds amazing.
I have no idea how Mesa managed to get such a sparkling, chimey, and dynamic clean tone from these EL34s; it's stunning. I've owned several Fenders and this thing actually hangs. My humbuckers actually sound gorgeous when split through this amp. I can cop excellent blues tones with this channel- sort of a Voxy/Fendery blend to my ears. I don't find tight clean to be useable- too flat and midrangey through my rig; too immediate in response to pick attack- thin.
If this amp only had the crunch mode, I'd have paid the same amount. This channel is hard to describe, but it gets and incredible Texas blues tone- very rich with harmonics- a little tight at the recto/power setting I had selected at the time, but very nice tone. Excellent in humbucker or split modes- not muddy at all.
The lead channel was the real initial disappointment, but after rerouting things, it's very impressive- think saturated, but not overly compressed if that makes any sense. Tons of clarity and great harmonics. I wanted to say earlier that even in clean modes, the amp breaks up into sweet harmonic overtones as the notes ring out.
Anyway, this channel sounds great with the tube rectifiers and doesn't turn into mush even in spongy/tube recto mode at volume. What happens is the feel changes into a more syrupy/chewy feel and get's *slightly* less defined and a bit fatter/ more dynamic. Our music demands tightness and clarity and it still delivers in this mode- I haven't played this channel on 50w by the way, so I can't comment to that end.
Kick on the EQ with the 200/400 bumped up slightly and this sucker get fat quickly. It can easily hang with a recto with a bit of EQ in the loop. It sounds huge- and it's not too noisy with modest gain levels.
As far as the tone controls go, yes, the treble and presence seem to have the most effect on the overall tone of the amp. I can see why people would complain it's bright, but having tweaked it mildly, it's easily overcome and can hang with any other amp in the Mesa line. It should go without saying that the amp warms up considerabley at stage volumes- and that's where this thing shines, sweet mercy. I'd consider ignoring complaints of brightness due to bedroom volumes, poor speaker matching, or poor effect placement. I'm telling you- I'm playing a bright *** SG and it sounds amazing.
Another thing to consider is this- people have forgotten the art and science of good lead tone. People are now growing up hearing boosted and studio processed rectos stepping all over the bass player's slice of the frequency pie. You can't go in with that mindset and hold this amp against that measure.
Personally, I've never found an inherently bass heavy amp that could satisfy my ear for my own personal lead tone. I like a brighter, more midrangy tone for this, as I like to cut through the mix on my own by occupying my own part of the frequency band. While this amp may seem purpose built as a lead amp, it can certainly handle rythym tones as well as any DR or DC series amp can. It's a great amp in my honest opinion.
Last night after rehearsal, I rewired my board (MPS Pedal Pad II) and split it into two chains:
1: Input bound: Tuner > Hot British > Input
2: Loop: Delay > Chorus > EQ (Boss GE7 - MXR 10 band on way)
I had to turn up the FX Return to nearly max to get my signal strength back, but no love lost here; wow. What an excellent sounding and transparent loop- I'm impressed. I also was able to use the global output and solo functions now that the loop is switched in. Cranking the global up to about 12:00 produces a significant warming effect on the amp overall. Even without the EQ, the amp sounds amazing.
I have no idea how Mesa managed to get such a sparkling, chimey, and dynamic clean tone from these EL34s; it's stunning. I've owned several Fenders and this thing actually hangs. My humbuckers actually sound gorgeous when split through this amp. I can cop excellent blues tones with this channel- sort of a Voxy/Fendery blend to my ears. I don't find tight clean to be useable- too flat and midrangey through my rig; too immediate in response to pick attack- thin.
If this amp only had the crunch mode, I'd have paid the same amount. This channel is hard to describe, but it gets and incredible Texas blues tone- very rich with harmonics- a little tight at the recto/power setting I had selected at the time, but very nice tone. Excellent in humbucker or split modes- not muddy at all.
The lead channel was the real initial disappointment, but after rerouting things, it's very impressive- think saturated, but not overly compressed if that makes any sense. Tons of clarity and great harmonics. I wanted to say earlier that even in clean modes, the amp breaks up into sweet harmonic overtones as the notes ring out.
Anyway, this channel sounds great with the tube rectifiers and doesn't turn into mush even in spongy/tube recto mode at volume. What happens is the feel changes into a more syrupy/chewy feel and get's *slightly* less defined and a bit fatter/ more dynamic. Our music demands tightness and clarity and it still delivers in this mode- I haven't played this channel on 50w by the way, so I can't comment to that end.
Kick on the EQ with the 200/400 bumped up slightly and this sucker get fat quickly. It can easily hang with a recto with a bit of EQ in the loop. It sounds huge- and it's not too noisy with modest gain levels.
As far as the tone controls go, yes, the treble and presence seem to have the most effect on the overall tone of the amp. I can see why people would complain it's bright, but having tweaked it mildly, it's easily overcome and can hang with any other amp in the Mesa line. It should go without saying that the amp warms up considerabley at stage volumes- and that's where this thing shines, sweet mercy. I'd consider ignoring complaints of brightness due to bedroom volumes, poor speaker matching, or poor effect placement. I'm telling you- I'm playing a bright *** SG and it sounds amazing.
Another thing to consider is this- people have forgotten the art and science of good lead tone. People are now growing up hearing boosted and studio processed rectos stepping all over the bass player's slice of the frequency pie. You can't go in with that mindset and hold this amp against that measure.
Personally, I've never found an inherently bass heavy amp that could satisfy my ear for my own personal lead tone. I like a brighter, more midrangy tone for this, as I like to cut through the mix on my own by occupying my own part of the frequency band. While this amp may seem purpose built as a lead amp, it can certainly handle rythym tones as well as any DR or DC series amp can. It's a great amp in my honest opinion.
