Pop Punk! Mesa?

James Rock

Active member
By no means am I actually looking at purchasing an amp like this just wanted opinions.
I like the distortion sound of bands like the offspring and blink 182.
I know tom delonge plays Triple Rectifiers and that Noodles form the offspring plays Mesa/Boogie Mark IV. Would something like the roadstar cover these bases. I hear that alot of people don't like the tone of triple rectifiers compared to other mesa's?
Just want the lowdown on punk distortion amps. Sum 41 is another band that i think of. All above bands use humbuckers (i presume high output at least i know tom delonge uses Invader's!)
I'm not after opinions of the bands just there tones.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

Another thing! How much affect does double tracking have to these tones? Do people find recording with mesa's is alot different then playing them live?
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

I think you would be fine with a Roadster. As far as recorded tones, I would be weary about what some bands and producers do to guitar tracks. Sometimes a band will do the quick and dirty, and most things would be single or double tracked amps with little production, and sometimes it gets pretty wild.

When I tracked the guitar parts for my band, I was under the impression that I would track my usual tones and do some double tracking and layering here and there like a demo but... I got schooled real quick about things that I had no idea about. The producer had me using all kinds of stock and modded Marshalls, Boogies, Vox's, Bogner's, Hiwatt's, Soldano's, Engle's... it was crazy. Then they did something like re-amp a bunch of tracks and stacked them into all these tube compressors, had my signal turned into midi and then into a synth... wild stuff. The end result was huge sounding guitar tracks that I would never come close to replicating live. For the tour, I used Triple Rec's and it was close enough I guess.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

You can get a perfectly good and useable punk rock tone out of an Epiphone Valve Junior or an old Peavey VTM...so I'm pretty sure you could do the same with a nice expensive Mesa too.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

What kinda punker plays through a high end tube rig?
Find some old cheezy solid state amp from the 70's or 80's, put a distortion pedal in front, crank it up loud, and start banging out power chords!
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

Kosh,

Punk players have great tone sometimes, and as far as I've noticed there is no generic punk gear.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

Kosh,

Punk players have great tone sometimes, and as far as I've noticed there is no generic punk gear.

True!! I would play through a Mesa Triple Rec, or a Nomad, or a 5:50 or a '68 Bassman, or a JCM 800 etc...

You want proof that punks can have great tone? Listen to some Billy Talent, NOFX, Green Day or Dead Kennedys.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

To me Punk's best tones are Lagwagon, NoFx, Pennywise (though in a more modern, in your face way) and the Bouncing Souls.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

Yeh the threads point wasn't on what tone was punk, more bands classified as 'punk's tone. The thing is i hear tones in nu metal and similar genres that I think sound awful then hear 'punk' tones that are using the same amps that sound alot better! Limb Bizkit vs Blink 182 tone wise very different IMHO.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

Also Justin Hawkins from The Darkness plays a triple rectifier (or a dual can't remember exactly but it is a rectifier) and his tone is a lot more classic. Would this be the vintage channel vs the modern channel (orange and red i think)? Or are these changes in tone due to guitars?
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

Everything effects everything bro...Mesa amps are known to be capable of a ton of different tones so a lot of people use them across a wide spectrum of music. The fact of the matter is a good amp will sound good and let YOU put IT into a genre with the music you play.

Case in point: My vintage Fender Bassman does a great job of punk rock, heavy metal, blues and ska tones without me doing anything besides adjusting the volume on my guitar.

The trick is to find an amp you like that does what you want in an amp. If you want something with a loud clean channel and a couple other channels for distortion, there are Mesa / Boogies and Marshall's JCM2000 series and a ton of other ones. If you want an amp that gets great distortion when cranked or goosed with an OD, there are plenty of options...

That was the point of my first post in this thread. You can get really good tone with a variety of gear. Just because Tom Delonge and Wes Boreland use Triple Rectifier doesn't mean you have to in order to sound good.

You even mention Noodles from Offspring and his Mark IV...well he used a JCM900 to record 'Smash' and got a pretty good tone on that album too y'know?
 
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Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

You even mention Noodles from Offspring and his Mark IV...well he used a JCM900 to record 'Smash' and got a pretty good tone on that album too y'know?
Yeh and live I've seen The Offspring with a Line 6 rig and Marshall JMP-1. I'm not trying to sound like these guys at all just wanted opinions and have got lots of useful ones so thanks to all you guys for commented. I find myself more of a single coil/el84 guy although I've never had a chance to REALLY rock out infront of a stack with a les paul or anything so I can't say I dislike that tone because I don't know it. The closest I came to playing that was about a 5 minute play on a les paul std through an orange rockerverb at a guitar show. I then went and played a 62 tele reissue through a Fender Twin Custom 15 reissue. Both totally different tones, I loved both of them (found the 15" a little too i don't know wide sounding I guess) although they are opposite sides of the field. One thing I do know is that a variax through a pod is not the sound I like no matter what it is emulatin and that I hate the way some people tried to play/set up the fender metalhead stacks (sounded like a fuzzbox through a cheap $20 amp!). I wish I had closer music stores that I could just rock out at all day but I dont thats why I everyday at least once more often multiple times visit this forum full of knowledgable guitarists from all background.
 
Re: Pop Punk! Mesa?

Oh and just listening to Smash and I like that tone alot better then later stuff so I guess Marshall is more my thing. I think if I was to ever get a high gain amp (not that I'll have the money or a guitar to suit that for AGES) I'd look into Splawn amps (probably the competition)!
 
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