More Mesa Talk

[VENTGtr]

Ya, the way Groove Tubes works is to buy up a bunch of tubes, match them up, etc.
slap their name on them and dump the rest. Mesa prolly does the same thing.

Guess my wonderin' is what characteristics Mesa's lookin' for.


Songsmith,

What tube(s) do you run in your H&K? Guess they come stock with Ruby and
the common practice is to swap them out with whatever works for the sound
someone's looking to get.

[bassist_25]

might consider dropping my G-K for an M-2000. But I'm talking bass stuff.

Do you know that Mesa's discontinuing the 400+?

[CMOR]

i know it wasn't the TB Raxx. It was an oddball in their line, maybe just Max. I think Metalchurch needs to come see the Bat next time you guys play in the area. If you want me on the board, I'm in.
As far as the 400+ goes, I never wanted one. I really don't like them. The tube amp sound doesn't appeal to me, tube power that is. Besides, did you ever try to pick one of those mofos up? I think the name comes from the weight, or at least how much you should be able to squat press before buying one. I'll stick to crystal clear sound and no chiropractor visits, thanks.
Boutique within my budget seems to be the way for me.

[old Skool]

Chad, about the only way I could see anyone using that much gain on that Engl would be if they had weak pickups or a low signal or something. I suppose Engl & other companies use that as a "claim to fame", you know "we have more gain than brand x". Kind of like having a street car with 400+ horsepower. You'll probably never use it but it's there. I'd take a Mesa over it but still really liked the tone and bite of the Engl. By the way what gauge of strings do you have to use to tune to "M"? Ha, ha!!! I'm going to check out that Diezel in a couple weeks that my buddy's friend just bought. I think it's the Herbert model or something. I just have to hear what $4000+ worth of amp sounds like. For that kind of coin you could pick up a Mesa & an Engl & still have change to spare!!! Also curious as far as guys that are using the Mesa Roadkings- how do you like them? They look to be very versatile but just wondering how complex they are for gigging. Looks like a killer amp for studio work.

[orangekick]

That's a long time between tube changes. It will probably be like a whole new animal now.
How long have you had it?
What kind of music do you play, and does it work pretty good for what you want it to do?

Thanks

Yeah, he had switched the power tubes to EL34's not too long ago, but I prefer 6L6's. I switched those first and that was almost night and day. I ordered a new pair of rectifier tubes that'll be here any day now because he had two different ones in it. Next I'll be picking up a set of preamp tubes, probably the Mullard reissues from Tung-Sol.

I picked this head up on August 30th, but I used to have one exactly like it, so it was almost like coming home for me.

I play um... stoner rock/metal/sludge/prog/psychedelic/something music? hahaha... It totally works for me. I like a good chunk on the bottom, but I also need a decent amount of clarity because I'm the guy in the band with the pedals. The first set that we ran after I got the Mesa was amazing. It was almost like I just remembered how to play guitar again.

[orangekick]

i know it wasn't the TB Raxx. It was an oddball in their line, maybe just Max. I think Metalchurch needs to come see the Bat next time you guys play in the area. If you want me on the board, I'm in.
As far as the 400+ goes, I never wanted one. I really don't like them. The tube amp sound doesn't appeal to me, tube power that is. Besides, did you ever try to pick one of those mofos up? I think the name comes from the weight, or at least how much you should be able to squat press before buying one. I'll stick to crystal clear sound and no chiropractor visits, thanks.
Boutique within my budget seems to be the way for me.

You know, after I typed that it didn't look right. I know that it was one of their off models though.

There have been very few tube bass amps that I have heard that I liked. I tend to like my bass sound very clear, tight and punchy. Tube bass amps have that at first and then they get warmed up and start to break up. That's not what I'm into. It's one thing to have a tube preamp for bass, but I find that solid state power is better for my applications.

[orangekick]

I think Metalchurch needs to come see the Bat next time you guys play in the area. If you want me on the board, I'm in.

I'll let you know about that. You're definitely on the board if you're willing to do it. I know that we will be back over that way soon, but I need to nail down a time frame.

[metalchurch]

I'd love to try a new Engl, I'm sure that they came a long way since the older ones like I have.

I've never played or heard a Diezel either.
Soldano is another one that I'd like to try. Those brands are so expensive though. I was looking at the Soldano SP-77.
They made a light anodized pink one (which is the better version from what I've read) and a silver anodized one.

I'm sure that the Diezel and the Soldano deliver the goods.

Kenny, was that unit a rackmount, or a head?

That's great that we have all of these product out there. The quest for tone is endless.

[old Skool]

The Diezel is a head. That friend of mine with the Triaxis also has that pink faced Soldano rack mount preamp. For leads that thing just sings and cuts like glass. He also has a Bogner Fish rack preamp. Talk about killer tone. Jerry Cantrell (sp?) used the Fish quite a bit so that should give you a rough idea what it's about. Yeah Joe the price of some of this stuff is unreal. Got to hit the powerball one of these days...

[Killjingle]

I am using D Addario 12-54's currently since I have the floyd;

sometimes they feel way too soft for me and other times they fantastic for the key of M

[Bloodsong]

i know a couple guys that had a road king, and they all had problems with them (tubes frequently going out, transformer problems...). i heard there's a new Traynor head that is wired like a Mesa with comprable gain. a Peavey 6505+ sounds as an Engl with a little more finesse...

[metalchurch]

12-54's damn that's thick. I used to play 12-58's a long time ago when I tuned to C#. But my god the low end and sustain that you get from them is unreal.

[metalchurch]

Orange,
I wanted to change my 6L6's out for reissue Mullard EL34's, but I'm not so sure that I'm able to, because it doesn't have a bias switch, so I gave up on that idea.

What did the EL34's sound like compared to the 6L6's?

[orangekick]

Orange,
I wanted to change my 6L6's out for reissue Mullard EL34's, but I'm not so sure that I'm able to, because it doesn't have a bias switch, so I gave up on that idea.

What did the EL34's sound like compared to the 6L6's?

If there's no bias switch, you'd have to get the amp modded and then biased every time that you changed tubes from here on out.

As for tonal differences from EL34's to 6L6's, the 6L6's have a bigger bottom end and they stay cleaner longer. By that I mean that they seem to have more clarity further up on the volume knob. I tend to run my Mesa at about noon, so keep that in mind. The EL34's have a great sound in a DR, but I thought that the low end was lacking a bit and the midrange was better suited to playing leads in that the tone seemed to pop through the mix better. I decided to go with the 6L6's simply because I use both channels a lot and I like the response better. The EL34's felt a little stiffer as well.

I'd suggest trying them if anyone has a Dual Rectifier and you just want a little change.

[orangekick]

I had a Soldano Hot Rod 100 for a while and it was a cool amp. I do have to say that it was fatiguing to listen to though. It's hard to explain, but it really just started to wear on me the more I played it. There's also something odd in the bottom end of Soldano amps. It's hard to put my finger on, but it was just odd.

[Bloodsong]

they do sound weird, like the ass end is collapsing in on itself or slightly out of phase or something. Orangekick (or anyone else)- have you ever tried a Krank? whatdidyathnk??

[Banned]

Soldanos seem to be lousy bedroom amps - they sound blah when you play one by itself. They're great in a full band situation, though.

[orangekick]

they do sound weird, like the ass end is collapsing in on itself or slightly out of phase or something. Orangekick (or anyone else)- have you ever tried a Krank? whatdidyathnk??

I have to be honest and say that the Krank that I heard sounded like a Metal Zone pedal. It was all kinds of buzzy and just sounded bad in general.

[orangekick]

Soldanos seem to be lousy bedroom amps - they sound blah when you play one by itself. They're great in a full band situation, though.

Yeah, they are much better when they're cranked and there's a full band, but I thought that something was still missing when I had mine.

[old Skool]

Damn Chad 12s? I've never tried anything beyond 10s ha, ha! It's funny, I've tried 10s in standard tuning and just could never feel comfortable but 10s tuned a half or full step down and they feel about the same as 9s to me. Just that little difference in tension I guess. I used to use Ernie Ball strings until Terry talked me into trying D'Addarios. That was the last pack of Ernie Balls that I ever bought. The D'Addarios last much longer, don't "funk up" as quick and hold tune better. I'm using 10-52s for the drop tuned stuff and even tried the 9.5 set for standard tuning. Still not sure if I like the 9.5s. Not as heavy as 10s but still don't bend as easy as regular 9s. They do sound a little fatter though. Joe I tried 8s before but they felt like spiderwebs! Seemed to break easy to (I use Dunlop 1mm picks). I played that Engl again last night. Still impressed. Terry is now an Engl dealer. Can't wait til he gets some more in. Guess he has a Powerball on order. Got to hear that one.

[Bloodsong]

lay off Chad, Kenny. he's not nearly the man i am; i use a 58 on my bottom. i'm commited to playing in the key of "m".

[Bloodsong]

i also checked out a Peavey JSX model. it sounded like a 6505+ that was a lot brighter (and alot less raw) and had an almost solid state vibe to the distortion, but glassy enough to hear the tubes. probably a really nice amp for the right situation.

[old Skool]

*** Moment of silence as old sKool salutes Jason as new pack leader! ***
Wow thems some big strings you boys are playin' with. I'm afraid I'm not quite man enough to venture down to the key of "M" ha, ha! I've heard some good things about that Peavey JSX too.

[Killjingle]

maybe I will break out the Zakk Wylde .70 low string

[orangekick]

I thought that the JSX was real boxy sounding. It sounds like a tube amp with a distortion pedal in the preamp. It's just an odd sounding amp. I'm sure that it'll work for someone.