I know some of you kinda rip Mesa's but...(my day at GC.)

[Top Jimmy]

I hit the GC for another of my two hour plug and play weekends.

Started with the JSX, maybe it sounds great cranked but still not a huge fan.

I played the Peavey Windsor again, good I like this thing, just screams rock-n-roll to me.

Then i conned the kid to get down the Petrucci Music Man with the D-Sonic and let me crank up the Rectoverb in the sound booth thing. Holy crap, I sounded like god. I have never sounded that good in my life no matter what i have played through. As long as I played technically clean it was a biting but smooth high gain sound. I will also say that D-Sonic is a nice pickup. I tried some other guitars with the Rectoverb and that was a perfect match for this amp. 100% buying a Petrucci guitar now, thing just plays incredible for me.

Finished up by trying a few Marshalls and they are worthless unless you get the volume cooking which is too bad for me and my condo.

Also tried the Valve Jr head, that through a 4 x somthing is fricken loud, holy hell. Dang cool little amp.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: I know some of you kinda rip Mesa's but...(my day at GC.)

If you mostly play in a condo, get one of Vox's best modelers, either the brand new one or a blue-grill one from a few years ago. Or, maybe a Vetta I or II.

You'll be glad you did, when you realize you can play at 1 in the morning, sounding like you're standing in Madison Square Gardens. And also, if you do any home recording, you can utlize the XLR outs or even micing it at a reasonable volume.

I love tube amps, but if they're not in a rehearsal room, they're close to worthless.

However, if you've found your dream tone in the Rectoverb, and can get it to sound good at lower levels, get one of those with a Mesa 2-12 cab and run it at half power or something.

 

[BigAlTheBird]

Re: I know some of you kinda rip Mesa's but...(my day at GC.)

Joe, that's why I love my 10 amp, 12 inch combos so much. I can have it running at 10 (cranked), and sit right in front of it. You can hear it from maybe 50-100 feet away, but I'm not a bad player and I stick to rockabilly, so the neighbors don't mind.

But in all seriousness, a little 10-20 watt combo is probably all I'll ever really use. Quiet enough, but also plenty loud enough.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: I know some of you kinda rip Mesa's but...(my day at GC.)

I've got a Mesa Single Rec -- I think this is the same as the Rect-O-Verb, sans reverb -- and one of the Vox Valvetronix modeling heads Gearjoneser's talking about.

The Vox just doesn't get the same rectifier tone you get from the real Mesa, but it can get you a very nice high-gain tone at reasonable volumes. (I play mine through a 2x12 mesa cab with V30s.) I'm particularly fond of the Soldano model on the Vox.

I'm not big on the direct-out drive sounds from the Vox using an SLR, but running through a cab at nearly any volume -- even bedroom levels -- the gain is very full and pretty darn detailed for a hybrid amp. Sounds pretty close to a full-tube amp!

Still, when I plug into that Mesa all-tube head, it's just too awesome for words.

- Keith

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: I know some of you kinda rip Mesa's but...(my day at GC.)

My experience with recto-era mesas is they often sound awesome in a one guitar setup. Further to what GJ was saying, maybe check out the new Express 5:50, as the 5w setting may be very useful for you...

 

[Top Jimmy]

Re: I know some of you kinda rip Mesa's but...(my day at GC.)

I have the Vox 30avt and I love it, perfect for condo jamming, but nothing like the real thing. I want to do the speaker upgrade at some point to help smooth out some of the tone in the 10' speaker.

I played the 5:50 or maybe it was the 5:25 same day, not quite raunchy enough with the gain cranked and contour adjusted. It has a very nice tone, but sometimes i want that little extra chug when needed.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: I know some of you kinda rip Mesa's but...(my day at GC.)

I love the sound of my Mesa... There's seriously nothing like plugging in and letting it rip. I recently busted out the old Line 6 amp and dialed in a Recto model, and it's almost laughable. To me, a Rectifier is like a Hemi, really it's completely unnecessary, but it's so much fun, and such a ruch to crank up.