Re: New amp day - time to bring the thunder,
So I went to Guitar Center earlier today to test out the Mesa through a cab with the proper impedance so as to not poke the beast. I played it for an hour give or take under the guise of looking for a new pedal (although I actually was, and I found out that the Green Rhino pairs wonderfully with my amp, so I bought one from Reverb lol) and I let her rip. Which on this amp means keeping the master under 3. And I'm the guy that plays loud as ****. Anyway, here are some thoughts:
I love how easy it is to use. Now I'm one of those odd people that has never found Mesas difficult to in, even roadsters and Mark Vs - probably because I read the manuals. But this amp is one of the easiest Mesas to get a hang of. As long as you keep the bass under 5, the mids at or under 7, you're pretty much good to go. If you can't dial in a good tone with this amp, you should be ashamed.
This is the first amp I've used where the half power switch actually comes close to cutting the volume in half. It's a huge difference. At full power, gig volume is 2 to 3, depending on your style of music and how loud your drummer is. In half power, gigging volume is around 5 on the master. I personally don't like the half power setting as much as the full power, but to be fair I've not messed with it much because the full power mode is so much better. I wonder how much a new set of tubes will change my perception of the amp in general and the power modes in particular.
It should go without saying, but this thing has headroom for days. Now because of the shared gain control, you can't footswitch between a pristine clean channel and a super saturated lead channel - there's a bit of compromise on that front. But pushing the volume so that the clean channel breaks up just a bit gives the lead channel enough saturation to really sing, and they both react extremely well to backing down your guitar's volume. I found that when hitting the dirty channel with a boost (I tried out a few different ones and my favorite with this amp was the Green Rhino) you can get plenty of saturation while still having a pretty clean rhythm channel.
I haven't really explored the mid gain tones in this amp, but what I've heard so far is very impressive. This is the first mark series amp I've owned, and the first time I've played a mark earlier than the Mark IV (and I only ever played one Mark IV). This amp doesn't really lack for anything. I can play pretty much anything with it and just a few pedals.
Now, the only thing left to do is to pummel the rhythm channel with my big muff. I haven't yet, but I have no reason to expect it will do anything less than reduce my neighborhood to a steaming pile of rubble.
I honestly don't think I've ever been more happy with an amplifier. Now I feel like I've got most of my bases down - I've got the perfect Fender tones (1968 Bassman), the perfect plexi and 800 tones (Egnater SW45) and now the perfect Mesa tones. Yeah, there are a few things I'd still like to add to my arsenal - an AC30 would be a lot of fun, and I still want a Hovercraft for doom in a box... but I'm really happy with my amps right now. All that's left to do is to make a pedalboard for the Mesa and I'll be happy for a while.
Good idea on the tune up. And 6L6 sextets are easy to find; you can get a matched set of tubes from Mesa, or thetubestore.com can get you there. I have the Winged C/SED tubes in mine, and it is killer.
I have a Mark III Coliseum head, which I have written about many, many times. It is a glorious sounding amp, and it is so versatile--I could haul it to the local country line dance club on Friday night, do a screamin' hard rock/metal gig on Saturday night, and then use it on a jazz gig on lazy Sunday afternoon. I have a pair of Mesa Half-back 412 slant cabs with Mesa C-90s and EVMs, and the cabs are great too. I think the Mark IIs and IIIs are the easiest Mesa amps to use: not as many switching options as the IV, V and Rectos. When I first got mine, I basically set it in the recommended sweet spots and BAM!!!--THAT was the tone I'd been looking for. The big deal about these amps is the confidence and inspiration they give you. I really did become a better player, virtually overnight. And the confidence part? I KNOW that even if my ears are off some nights and I'm maybe not getting the EXACT tone I want, the amp is still going to deliver great tone; I can relax and just let the music flow. THAT is GREAT place to be in. After I got the Mesa, I eventually let go of all my vintage Fender and Marshall amps, and it was okay. I had never felt that confidence with them.
And yes, this amp will play very loudly. More than that, it is just SO dynamic and punchy--on the Full Power setting, notes just EXPLODE out of the amp. Most of the time I use the 1/2 Power setting (gives it just a tiny bit of compression), but even so...it is a beast. I know they did a Simul-Class version of the Mark III Coliseum and these have a very different feel--a little less power and a very liquid feel. If I ever find a good deal on one of those, I'm going to jump on it.
So congrats on the new amp. I would bet that a IIB Coliseum is a VERY RARE bird.
Bill
P.S. Oh, and the part about the naked girls...well actually, um...there were three of them. That was a fun weekend...took me about three weeks to recover. But, a story for another time....
I very much agree with your sentiments on the Coliseum, Bill. It's a tremendously versatile amp considering it has only eight knobs and four tone shaping switches. Mine doesn't have reverb, but I don't mind too much since I've got my Fender Reverb Unit that's better than any amp reverb I've ever tried.
Yeah, it's definitely a rare amp. From what I understand, they only made around 550 Coliseums between the Mark II and Mark III editions. I'm not sure how many of each model (IIB, IIC, IIC+, and III) were made but it can't be many. I think I really lucked out on this trade - the owner didn't want any cash from me! He just wanted a smaller amp that he could get more use out of.
