Tremoverb vs Heartbreaker

[Monsta-Tone]

I'm looking to pickup another Boogie amp.

I am trying to decide between the Tremoverb and a Heartbreaker.

Can anyone enlighten me on the pro's and con's of each?

I live on an island and can't drive anywhere to try a Tremoverb. There is a store on the other side of the island that has an NOS Heartbreaker though. The guy won't cut me a deal, and he's had it forever, but I might still be able to leverage him a bit.



Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The types of music that I play range from Blues to Classical, to Metal. Mostly original, but some covers, so I need an amp that can cover some territory.



Favorite bands are:

Classic Rock:
Santana (older, pre-Dumble tones)
ZZ-Top
Almann Brothers
Hendrix
Dire Straits

Metal:
Faith No More (although I hate that JCM 900 tone)
Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Maiden
Priest

Rock:
Big Wreck
Widespread Panic
Freddy Jones Band
Van Halen


I have amps that I can play Metal on. What I'm looking for is an amp that has the most available tones in it.

I play mostly Strats with stacked humbuckers and Lace Hot-Gold Sensors. I also have a few guitars with dual humbuckers.

I love great cleans with tons of deep lush Reverb. I also like to let loose and crank it with lots of Gain.




I had a Mark IV, but found it to be too focused on the Lead channel, and the Rhythm 2 was not what I was looking for in an amp. The Cleans were nice.



Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know I'm asking a lot, but aren't we all?

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Surely someone out there must have tried them both.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

What about a Nomad?

How would the Reverb compare to the Tremoverb or Heartbreaker?

How would the Gain compare?

How about the Cleans?

 

[RR]

I own a Trem-o-Verb and you should have no problem covering those type of music you mentioned.

It has two channel each with two modes so basically 4 different sound.
(someone going to jump and say well the Road King has 4 channels, each with three modes ...) but were talking about the TremoVerb and the HeartBreaker.

After I got my Trem-oVerb, a friend of mine was considering getting the Heart Breaker. We must have been trying out a broken one because something was lacking. Not enough presence. Either that we just did not know how to set it or something. So I can't really speak for the HeartBreaker.

Not sure if this helps :?

 

[Boogiebabies]

The HB is just another variation on the MKI. I dont think you will get anywhere near your tone selection. It just does not have the tonal spread with that Fender tone stack. You are way better off with a TOV with the Soldano, Marshall style tonestack at the end of the preamp chain.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

The HB is just another variation on the MKI. I dont think you will get anywhere near your tone selection. It just does not have the tonal spread with that Fender tone stack. You are way better off with a TOV with the Soldano, Marshall style tonestack at the end of the preamp chain.

Yeah, I kind of thought the Tremoverb was the way to go.

I tried a Formula Preamp a long time ago. It was hailed as being a Heartbreaker in a smaller package.

It seemed pretty lifeless through a Mesa 90/90 Power Amp. I wish the store would have had a 20/20 Power Amp. I used to play in a band where the other guitarist used a couple of pedals straight into a 20/20 with a stock 80's Strat. He couldn't play, but his tone was awesome.




For what it's worth, my DC's have Fender style tone stacks. They are located closer to the end of the signal chain though, unlike the Mark I. This may be why the DC's seem to be a bit more versatile.

 

[lookslikemeband]

Tremoverb. AWESOME for the versatility.

BTW: as a side note... my band opened for Jimmie's Chicken Shack a looooong time ago.... and Jimmie was playing Soldano, so I think you'll definitely be there with a TOV.

Good luck!

 

[Monsta-Tone]

BTW: as a side note... my band opened for Jimmie's Chicken Shack a looooong time ago.... and Jimmie was playing Soldano, so I think you'll definitely be there with a TOV.

You lucky dog.

What Soldano amp was he playing?

I have a Lucky 13 that I modded to put out SLO amounts of distortion. This amp kicks ***. Fender Blackface Cleans, nice Reverb, and melt the paint off of the teapot distortion.



Since I don't play Metal all that much anymore, I am really in a quandry as to which way I should go. I am really getting into Classic Rock and Blues, but want to create something new.

That's why I was asking about the Heartbreaker or Nomad. I called the local store here who used to be a dealer, about 5 years ago. They have the following Mesa's in stock:

Rectoverb Series I 1x12 Combo $901
Heartbreaker 2x12 Combo $1,001
Nomad 100 2x12 Combo $1,001

Supposedly these are priced $1 over Dealer Cost. I don't know if that was Dealer Cost for 5 years ago, or Dealer Cost for yesterday.


Pretty good deals for brand new amps though. They have been sitting in a shop that gets almost no business.

The guy also has a US Schecter Sunset 7, 7 string Ash body guitar. He's had this thing forever, but hasn't wanted to discount it. Bummer, it's a nice guitar.

He has an ESP Horizon US Custom Shop Ash body too. No discount for the last 6 years.





What do you guys think of the prices? I could make a Rectoverb work for me and just use the Reverbs from my G-Major. I am thinking that this may be the best course of action since shipping to Hawaii is horrendous. It would cost me another $200 to get a Tremoverb combo shipped out here.

 

[Lewy]

The HB is just another variation on the MKI. I dont think you will get anywhere near your tone selection. It just does not have the tonal spread with that Fender tone stack. You are way better off with a TOV with the Soldano, Marshall style tonestack at the end of the preamp chain.

Could not disagree more.

Channel 1 on a Heartbreaker is a (massively more flexible) version of a MkI, but Channel 2 is voiced completely differently, nothing like a MkI, and opens up a shed load of Marshall and Tweed tones.