tweed vs. full?

[billyg121]

could someone explain to me the tonal differance in using tweed vs full power on the mark 4.

 

[dmt]

tweed drops the input signal by 25% or so.

 

[phyrexia]

tweed drops the input signal by 25% or so.

Again, this is wrong. Tweed power drops the voltage coming into the amp from the wall from ~117v to ~95v.

 

[Buddy]

On the tweed setting the attack of the notes is 'looser" sounding .
Not as "in your face" . 'Specially at higher settings .
Get's mooshy , loses definition .

 

[billyg121]

what are the settings that cater to pinch harmonics easily flying out of the amp?

 

[MesaDCLP]

less power, more compressed
more power, more dynamics

compression will help the harmonics, but it depends on your guitar and pickups.

 

[Shep]

Droping your wall voltage to 95v makes your plate voltage drop which mean's your headroom will be much lower,your tone will be more compressed and squashy..it also means your power tubes will live longer..

Sounds good to me!

 

[boogietone]

I like Tweed for leads. Sounds great to my ears!

 

[dmt]

Mike B told me that the function of the tweed was to drop the input signal by 20% or so, not drop the voltage of the transformer.

 

[phyrexia]

Mike B told me that the function of the tweed was to drop the input signal by 20% or so, not drop the voltage of the transformer.

You must have misunderstood him. Or he was mistaken.

Cutting the input signal by 20% or so can be accomplished by lowering the "gain" knob. Or your guitar's volume knob.

 

[Shep]

mike may have said input voltage by 20%.. That sounds right..????

 

[MesaDCLP]

I would think that he was referring to the AC input voltage coming from the wall, as the fan speed is lower on tweed. If the voltage affected the pre only, the fan speed would not change. The switch is definately a global power switch.

 

[dmt]

mike may have said input voltage by 20%.. That sounds right..????

yeah.. whoops... meh. I have a real variac and I've used that before to tame a hot voltage line...

 

[Buddy]

When the mk IV first came out , I called Mike and we had a classic phone discussion about the amp and it's features .
When I asked about the tweed power switch and incorparating(sp?) it's function into the mk III he said something like :"nah , different pt . , Its got a lower voltage tap, just buy a 4 ...." :lol:
Then said the judicious use of a variac would approximate it's effect .
There were many other topics discussed , it was years ago , but I remember upon hanging up (after nearly an hour !), thinking how amazing it was and how it was like talking to my brother as opposed to some "Amp company rep ".

I compare all customer service to Mesa Boogie , Those folks are top of the heap .

 

[boola]

Mike B told me that the function of the tweed was to drop the input signal by 20% or so, not drop the voltage of the transformer.

You must have misunderstood him. Or he was mistaken.

Cutting the input signal by 20% or so can be accomplished by lowering the "gain" knob. Or your guitar's volume knob.

Well the preamp tubes are also affected by tweed mode and 117->95 is a 20% drop so I think you're both right!