Subway Blues... killer little amp

[groovebelly]

this has to be the lightest Mesa combo I've ever experienced! I actually picked this up as a grab and go type amp, but have been really impressed with the tone!

I'm using it with the mids maxed and really like the string definition this gives at any volume.
the Reverb is way beyond expectations and very musical.

I've got the version with bright/fat switch and half power jack in the back.
How does this 1/2 power jack work? Does it dump one output tube or does it use a power soak type mechanism at the output jack... it looks this way from the gut shots I've seen... is the ohmage still 8 at this jack?

Also,
the 10" black shadow vintage speaker WAY exceeded my expectations! This thing sounds great!

 

[MusicManJP6]

Cool! I'd like to hear one of these....

 

[eventide_awakening]

Have you tried it through a 12" or a 2x12" cab? I used a subway rocket this summer while my Roadster was being repaired and I was thoroughly surprised by the tone coming out of the little beast. Like you, I was totally blown away by how light the combo was. After all, it's still a Mesa. Though I enjoyed the time I used it, I was still ready to use my Roadster when it was finally repaired. Completely different sound when compared to the Roadster (Like I expected anything less?). The shared tone controls were a bit hard for me to adjust to. Not my cup of tea when it comes to that. Definitely easier to gig with when compared to the 2x12" combo I lug around.

Enjoy your Subway! (eat fresh)

 

[groovebelly]

this thing seems to eat my Hotplate...

I really have to crank the hotplate down to control the volume coming out of the SB!!!

noticeably different than other amps.

I didn't expect this 20watter to crank so hard?!?

 

[Analog Kid]

Ya, I have a 1*12/4*8 combo and it get's Plexi half stack loud. I should get a hotplate.

 

[LPClassic]

Cant' beat this one for practice, I never tried one, but once I have one available in a store after play it I just have to have it... very much in the Maverick zone to me. Great little amp.

 

[madryan]

Ya, I have a 1*12/4*8 combo and it get's Plexi half stack loud. I should get a hotplate.

Ever played a dimed plexi or JMP?

Nothing comes close to that kind of SPL's. Stupid loud.

 

[94Tremoverb]

+1

A friend has a '76 JMP Super Lead, and it makes my Tremoverb seem underpowered . It's truly, scary *LOUD*. No 20-watt amp ever made - or any 50 watter - even comes close, no matter what you run it through. It's not just the power, although it does meter at around 130W even clean - it's the aggression, punch and dynamic attack it has. Even other 100s don't have it the same.

The Subway Blues is a cool little amp though, and still louder than you'd think for 20 watts. It's actually very like a small Blue Angel, not a Maverick - but it's Dyna Watt, so it sounds almost as loud as the Blue Angel in 4-EL84/33W mode.

 

[rocksalt7]

+2 on SCARY loud!!!....I played a 1/2 stack Plexi years ago when I was looking to buy an SG from a guy; It was just insane loud!!! I think we could only stand it on about "4" :shock: ....I thought I was gonna be sterile after that!

But tone, OMG, nothin like it that's for sure!!

 

[Analog Kid]

Sorry for the hyperbole, but when I said Plexi loud I meant a couple EL-34's crunching out, i.e. loud enough to pummel your head in a normal room. Remember I am talking about a cab with 5 speakers, 4 of those being 8"'s so it really projects. For reference the only Plexi's I've played through were re-issues. Maybe I should have said it this way, I have 6 Boogies and the SB through that cab can hang with any of them.

 

[madryan]

Sorry for the hyperbole, but when I said Plexi loud I meant a couple EL-34's crunching out, i.e. loud enough to pummel your head in a normal room. Remember I am talking about a cab with 5 speakers, 4 of those being 8"'s so it really projects. For reference the only Plexi's I've played through were re-issues. Maybe I should have said it this way, I have 6 Boogies and the SB through that cab can hang with any of them.

I finally had my JMP modded (It's the plexi circuit) with a master vol and some other stuff so I could get usable tones out of it at lower volumes.

A "100w" Marshall superlead (Plexi or JMP) pushed clear into power tube crunch and loaded with 6550's as alot of them were is actually putting out somewhere near 200w. Before I modded mine I'd crank it up to about 3/4 of the way to get it to that "sweet spot" where it just sounds amazing and you couldn't hear my buddies Road King II dimed sitting next to it. Couldn't even tell if the RK was on or not.

I don't know if a louder amp has ever been invented. Since the mod it's much easier to live with.

 

[groovebelly]

this amp is my first "Dyna-Watt" experience... and it is louder than I expected...

that aside...the tone of the SBlues is really good... even with the 10" speaker... I think Mesa knew what they were doing with that speaker/amp combo...

I tried the amp out with my THD 2x12 w/THD vintage speakers(GH30 types with less high end) and the amp 'opened' up a lot... still for a "practice" amp, this thing has it going on......

and again, it loves strats!

 

[bryantkh]

If I ever come across a used one I am snapping it up.

 

[groovebelly]

well worth it imo

 

[bryantkh]

If I ever come across a used one I am snapping it up.

Just found one, and walked out the door with it. Just started a thread about it.

 

[lenunez]

I've got a Rocket 44 which, from what I understand is a kissing cousin to the subway series. 44 watts, single channel with 3 modes, silent record, etc. I've had it for about 12 years.

I went to Guitar Center yesterday for a while just see what else was out there. I couldn't find anything under $1400 that would make me want to part with the Rocket. For Example, I liked the cleans on the Express 5:50. It's hands down better in the clean department, but I wasn't so impressed with the gain channels so much. Maybe I needed to spend more time with it...

The Rocket's shared Eq is somewhat of a challenge to manage, but I've pretty much settled in on Treble - 2 Mids - 8.25 and Low - 3.25. Gain to taste, and after that the guitar controls are the only thing that needs to get touched. A different high gain sound I also find useful is treb:7 Mid:7-8 Low: 4 (To me though, the cleans aren't so good with the EQ set this way).

I really only use the clean and contour channels. The regular gain channel gets some decent sounds, but for me, the eq needed is to obtain those sounds are pretty radically different from the Contour channel. Combine that with the volume change between the regular gain mode and the contour mode and it is pretty much a deal breaker unless you need some honky megaphone type guitar sound as an effect

I think a built in dummy load and silent recording option on a small combo was very forward thinking for the time this amp was built and I wish it was something more amps would have.

I guess the short of it is, I think they are great, solid little amps that are pretty hard to beat. In a perfect world, the amp would have a separate EQ and Express type cleans, but this is reality. The only real limitation of getting great sound out of this little beast is my clumsy fingers

Help ever. Hurt never.