Would you prefer a tube rectifier?

[talltxguy]

I'm looking at getting a Mesa head next year. I've narrowed it down to the Lone Star or the ED. The head will be used for achieving SRV & ZZ Top stuff.

Would you prefer the ability to switch between a tube rectifier or a diode?

If Mesa put simul-class on the Lone Stars, would you most likely sell your ED & get an LS?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[marzzz]

More important would be the sound of the Lonestar vs the Electra Dyne. To me, the cleans are extremely close, with the LSC holding a very slight edge over the ED, but the higher gain modes of the ED completely blow away the 2nd channel of the LSC. I have already voted with my wallet, selling off my LSC and getting an ED. Six months later, I am still in the honeymoon phase....!

 

[Laskyman]

I have already voted with my wallet, selling off my

Stiletto (thats what funded my Dyne).....great line Marzzz...yeah- the clean are close, but I actually prefer the Dynes clean and reverb, but I could live with LSC cleans...the gain however, isnt even close. The Dyne crushes the LSC.
I dont care if I dyne has a recifier or not-...

 

[primal]

I used a Road King plus 200$ to fund mine. I got the better end of that deal. Had a Mark IV as well. Decided to keep one amp and get an Axe FX.

As you can see the ED is what stayed and is going no where anytime soon.


I like the LS, primarily the cleans, but like others have said, the overdrive channel vs the hi\lo on the ED isn't a fair fight. For me anyway the LS dirt isn't in the same league as the ED's

 

[Bullseye]

The head will be used for achieving SRV & ZZ Top stuff.

Vintage low will get you some nice ZZ Top sounds and clean with the volume dimed and the pre amp clipping will SRV you to tonal bliss.. 8)

Unless you are playing death metal this amp will get you there.. And for SRV and ZZ kind of stuff this amp excels.
If you want the no tone super gain over compressed supper scooped thing; your gonna’ have to look elsewhere

Bill

 

[talltxguy]

Thanks for the responses so far. Any other insight is certainly welcome.

Bullseye, thanks for the detail. One of the reasons I keep my Digitech 1101 around is for times when I'm having a metal moment. I'll be 40 next year and plan on rewarding myself with a nice amp. I'm looking to the future more than looking to the past: while a Dual Rectifier or a 6505 would be fun as hell to jam on, I just don't get into that kind of thing anymore. But hey, for those who still do at 40 and 50, more power to ya!

Back to the ED / LS discussion...it's beginning to sound like the tube rectifier doesn't affect tone as much as I thought it would.

My birthday is not until next July, so I still have plenty of time to make up my mind.

 

[primal]

Thanks for the responses so far. Any other insight is certainly welcome.

Bullseye, thanks for the detail. One of the reasons I keep my Digitech 1101 around is for times when I'm having a metal moment. I'll be 40 next year and plan on rewarding myself with a nice amp. I'm looking to the future more than looking to the past: while a Dual Rectifier or a 6505 would be fun as hell to jam on, I just don't get into that kind of thing anymore. But hey, for those who still do at 40 and 50, more power to ya!

Back to the ED / LS discussion...it's beginning to sound like the tube rectifier doesn't affect tone as much as I thought it would.

My birthday is not until next July, so I still have plenty of time to make up my mind.

Turning 40 next year myself.

Yeah, I find my tastes have changed a bit since my younger days as well.

Find yourself a guitar center with both amps. Hopefully they will be in good working order. The guitar center in Raleigh has an ED with something wrong with it. If you had never played an ED before you would have just thought it didn't sound that great, but there is definately something wrong with that one. Gain is just sloppy, doesn't sound right. Think a preamp tube may be bad or something. No idea.

Personally, I think the ED will definately get closer to ZZ and SRV style style tones then the Lonestar. But spend some time with both.

Remember, on the back of an ED there is a gain trim switch. If you set it to Hi/lo, it will trim the gain. So you will have less gain on tap. I have seen many people think that if you set the gain trim knob to hi/lo it will give you the most gain on your dirt channels. The oposite is true.

Remember the volume knob is actually gain on hi/lo. It actually behaves like volume on clean.

There is a clean level knob on the back that you can use to adjust the volume of the clean channel to foot switch nicely with the hi/lo modes.

The ED is not a metal monster. It is a kick *** amp that will take will do Jazz, blues, country, classic rock, rock and modern hard rock. Will also do 80's metal. With a pedal it can do modern metal, but that is not what this amp was made for.

It is also the loudest Mesa I have ever owned. I have no idea why, but it is just louder then the Mark IV I had and even the Road King. Where my other mesa's would stop getting louder early on the taper of the volume knob, the ED just keeps getting louder. But at 45 watts with the volume at the 2 o'clock position, it gets some really nice power amp overdrive. You do risk structural damage to your house at that volume though. I have a hotplate I use with it.

Check out the demo Marcus does on the Mesa website. It does a great job. The amp is really plug and play. Sounds great.

But in the end, let your ears decide, not us. If you decide to pickup a lonestar you will be getting yourself one killer amp.

 

[Analog Kid]

I'd like a tube rectifier, bold/spongy switch, 10 watt option, ect. But even without the goodies Randall likes to put on his designs I think the ED is perfect. Randy can't be the man forever at Boogie so it's nice to see new designers hitting home runs like this that compliment the Mesa lineup.

 

[screamingdaisy]

I think the issue with the Lonestars is that it's primarily a clean/clean or a clean/lead amp. Channel 1 and 2 both do clean into overdrive in a rocked up Fender sort of way, but once you turn channel 2's boost on you'll find it isn't really all that good as a rhythm channel. It is an outstanding lead channel however.

So, if you're the kind of guy that wants clean/overdrive as your main tone, then to be able to kick a switch and go straight into a classic Boogie lead sound then you'll probably like the Lonestar. However, if you're the kind of guy who's looking for a similar clean, but wants to be able to kick a switch and go into a crunchy Marshall kind of sound then you'll probably be happier with the ED.

 

[marzzz]

if you're the kind of guy who's looking for a similar clean, but wants to be able to kick a switch and go into a crunchy Marshall kind of sound then you'll probably be happier with the ED.

I actually much prefer the lead tones of the ED over the LSC; Right now I am using a BB Preamp (leftover from the LSC) to experiment with more lead tones, but will consider all of the usual suspects.