FINALLY found my Amp!

Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

It has a TON of gain. Very similar to John's tones on the Whitesnake (1987) album, and the First Blue Murder album. Even with stock strat pups, I don't get much above 1 or 2 oclock on the gain control with the contour switch on. Go about 3 oclock in the normal gain mode.

Not aware of Gary ever using any Boogies..though he may have.

It doesn't really sound like a Marshall. Not as sparkly or middy. Smoother..more "singing" type quality...tighter lows...but very tweakable. You can get scoopy stuff, or razor cut stuff. I think if you had an adjustable bias put in, and then some EL34's I think you'd be able to get a very good modded marshall sound.

And the clean channel is fabulous. Super clean abnd bright, warm and jazzy, just on the edge of breakup, or cranked fender sounds. I haven't dimed the master yet, but I have the feeling with the clean master dimed, the clean gain dimed, bright switch engaged, some tweaks to the EQ, and a goose from a SOD or TS would get a good Marshallesqe tone. I'll have to try someday when no-one is around. The Amp is just super loud :D
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

JeffB said:
It has a TON of gain. Very similar to John's tones on the Whitesnake (1987) album, and the First Blue Murder album. Even with stock strat pups, I don't get much above 1 or 2 oclock on the gain control with the contour switch on. Go about 3 oclock in the normal gain mode.

Not aware of Gary ever using any Boogies..though he may have.

It doesn't really sound like a Marshall. Not as sparkly or middy. Smoother..more "singing" type quality...tighter lows...but very tweakable. You can get scoopy stuff, or razor cut stuff. I think if you had an adjustable bias put in, and then some EL34's I think you'd be able to get a very good modded marshall sound.

And the clean channel is fabulous. Super clean abnd bright, warm and jazzy, just on the edge of breakup, or cranked fender sounds. I haven't dimed the master yet, but I have the feeling with the clean master dimed, the clean gain dimed, bright switch engaged, some tweaks to the EQ, and a goose from a SOD or TS would get a good Marshallesqe tone. I'll have to try someday when no-one is around. The Amp is just super loud :D
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Sounds great Jeff,
I will have to test drive one with my Fender American Double Fat Strat. :smoker:
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

sounds cool jeff ! so you can get tones like sykes/lee/moore/lynch/thin lizzy /jabs/schenker? that would be right up my alley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

very nice, congrats on the new amp. you can't go wrong with a mesa in my book!! :headbang:

-Mike
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

I've tried one of these and I thought it was pretty good!

Congrats man, always feels good to find a piece of gear you connect with
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

shred-dog said:
sounds cool jeff ! so you can get tones like sykes/lee/moore/lynch/thin lizzy /jabs/schenker? that would be right up my alley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Sykes circa 1987 to 1990... yes...the rest...not really..depends on how you define the word "like" ;)

It's not a Marshall or it's "copies". It's not real "british" sounding. It's more modern, like a 5150 or Soldano (not in the exact tone or voicing but in the fact it's just different and a good hard rock amp).

I'm tone "anal" always have been..as I guess most of us are. And been througha ton of amps. Mostly Marshall. If I'm playing X from my fave guitar hero, I want to sound like X. But for some reason this MESA makes me feel different. It doesn't sound the same, but it sounds better to me...like I've found my own sound, instead of just emulating others. I can play something like Bark at the Moon, Can't Live Without You, Killer Without a Cause, or On & On, and it doesn't sound like Jakes, Mathias', Brian's or Michaels sound...which used to bug the livin' crap out of me, and now it doesn't because it just sounds like ME playing that stuff with all my strengths and weaknesses instead of me emulating my heroes. It's still a great 80's hard rock/metal sound, but it's not a Marshall :shrug:

I hate to get all "mystical" about something as absolutely silly as a stupid guitar amp..but thats the only way I can describe it, LOL :D

I would suggest heading over to Chris Snider's amp clips page, and check out the MKIII MESA clips he has. Here's a link to one that I feel captures it's sound pretty well, but check them all out MESA MKIII courtesy Chris Snider

The F50 is very similar. First Blue Murder Album and the Whitesnake album are also real real close. I found by switching in the contour mode which makes it sound rectifier-ish (by scooping mids, adding some bass and presence). But by backing off the bass & treble just a tad and adding some mids back, you get to that Sykes type tone with tight low end, singing quality, and some subtle bite. And I'm using a stock fender bridge single coil with the tone rolled off to about 7. With a humbucker I'm sure it will sound even better.
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

nice clip!!!!!!!! if it does a SYKES like tone i'm in!!! i couldn't agree more about what you were saying about "YOUR" i'm the same way . later scott
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

Okay ... I'm NOT a Mesa fan. But, since I like ya, I'll look into this amp. For YOU, man, not for ME!! :D
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

TwilightOdyssey said:
Okay ... I'm NOT a Mesa fan. But, since I like ya, I'll look into this amp. For YOU, man, not for ME!! :D
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LOL...I'm not tryin to convince anyone to buy, Ben...just that it really floats MY boat. :D

HERE is the link to all of Chris's amp clips....there are 3 more of the MKIII. The F50 is pretty similar. In fact, I think it's better than the last 3 clips on his page (prefer the celestion 75 in the first track).
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

Be prepared, JeffB! That silly grin is going to be on your face for a looooong time. In a year or two, you'll be asking yourself "Can it really be true that I'm still constantly inspired by this thing?! Can it really be true that I've still yet to find any problems with it?! Can it really be true that I still get excited every time I use it, no matter how often I do?!"

You're in for a great ride.
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

Maggie said:
Be prepared, JeffB! That silly grin is going to be on your face for a looooong time. In a year or two, you'll be asking yourself "Can it really be true that I'm still constantly inspired by this thing?! Can it really be true that I've still yet to find any problems with it?! Can it really be true that I still get excited every time I use it, no matter how often I do?!"

You're in for a great ride.
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Very good point! I feel the same way about my guitars + Rivera!!
 
Re: FINALLY found my Amp!

Thanx all.

I know I'm gushing on about it (it's starting to annoy ME :D), but I cannot remember owning an amp that got me this excited. My 1987X had me grinning for awhile, as I could get the sounds of my heroes. But after awhile it wore off because it just couldn't do anything besides that. I could dial it in to emulate, but I never could dial in to what I was hearing in my head.

Though it's not Marshall sounding, I can dial in a ton of things I hear in my head, and it's one of those amps that makes me play better because I "connect" with it. Extremely responsive to touch and playing dynamics. I find myself being much more agressive and much more subtle, and less sterile and going through the motions so to speak. It's not perfect, of course..no amp is. But the best I've found so far. Can't wait to get a new HB in the bridge of my strat to really see what it can do in high gain mode.
 
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