Savin' up for a Mesa!

Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

Boogie Bill said:
What I would not buy:

Subway Series
Rocket Series
Mark I, Mark IIA, IIB
Dual or Triple Rectifier
Stiletto Deuce or Trident
Blue Angel
Maverick


On the bubble...

Nomad Series can produce great tones, but some find the gain fizzy in CH. 3.

Any of the big 212s...Tremoverb, DC-10, F-100, Heartbreaker, etc. They can be great, but are heavy and loud. The Royal Atlantic has a more British voicing, but has built-in attenuators.

I prefer the Express+ Series over the original Express amps, as the eq and extra features of the + Series are really worthwhile.

The TA-30 is a great sounding amp, but has that AC-30 tonality which may or may not be for you. I don't care for the top-mount controls.

So what does that leave? The Roadster and Road King have all the bells and whistles, but four versatile channels. Big and heavy.

The Mark II-C+ is the Mesa "holy grail" of Mesa amps. But you can find great value in the Mark III and Mark IV. These are really versatile amps...jazz, country, rock, metal...they can do it. I look for Mark III combos with reverb, eq, Simul-Class and the EV speaker . Or the EV in the Mark IV. Add the 112 Thiele EV cab to add low-end punch and projection. A lot more portable than a 1/2 stack...this is my favorite rig for gigs.

The DC-Series is great. I have a DC-3 V-30 combo and use it with the Thiele. The EL-84 amps sound and feel a bit different than their big bottle brothers. My bassist loves this amp, as did my BFF roadie of my old Seattle band.

I also have the three new Mark V amps and love them all. The V:35 is similar to the DC-3, with some updated fetures. The V:25 stack is perfect for a lot of small gigs. And the big Mark V is just amazing.

Now, I'm not a metal player and lean more to the pop, rock, country, jazz, and blues side of things, with moderate gain. Lean the other way, and you may favor the Recto-Verb or the Mini-Rec. Lean to Marshall tones and the Stiletto Ace could be the one.

I went through a dozen amps in my career before finding my tone with Mesa. I have several Mesas now and could not be happier. Play as many as you can. It is helpful to familiarize yourself with the Owner's Manuals, which can be found on the Mesa website.

I hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy the journey.

Bill
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Woo lots of info, really appreciate it. Thanks for the luck hahaha. I'll have to head down to the shop and see if they have any to try out.
 
Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

Proud owner of a Mark V 25 here! GREAT VERSATILE amp! By versatile I don't mean it's a jack of all trades, it's KING OF ALL TRADES!

The Extreme mode and even Mark IV mode can give you a lot of the grind and bark that you look for in the Rectifiers
The 2 clean modes can give you some great tweed and AC30 style tones
The Crunch mode in the clean channel is a high gain Marshall in itself

Personally I think it covers just so much ground and does everything right that maybe even years down the road and you want to switch up your sound, the amp will STILL have you covered

Also don't let the 25 watt rating fool you, it is loud as ****. For using it at home I actually needed to get a Torpedo Reload to get the tone I want at a comfortable room volume. So I guess if there's anything to look out for in this amp, it's that it functions like an old style tube amp that the master volume (controls the power section) actually does impact your tone, so turning the master down does make it sound just a bit "boxed up". Hell, even the 10 watt mode is loud as balls.
 
Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

daenius said:
Proud owner of a Mark V 25 here! GREAT VERSATILE amp! By versatile I don't mean it's a jack of all trades, it's KING OF ALL TRADES!

The Extreme mode and even Mark IV mode can give you a lot of the grind and bark that you look for in the Rectifiers
The 2 clean modes can give you some great tweed and AC30 style tones
The Crunch mode in the clean channel is a high gain Marshall in itself

Personally I think it covers just so much ground and does everything right that maybe even years down the road and you want to switch up your sound, the amp will STILL have you covered

Also don't let the 25 watt rating fool you, it is loud as ****. For using it at home I actually needed to get a Torpedo Reload to get the tone I want at a comfortable room volume. So I guess if there's anything to look out for in this amp, it's that it functions like an old style tube amp that the master volume (controls the power section) actually does impact your tone, so turning the master down does make it sound just a bit "boxed up". Hell, even the 10 watt mode is loud as balls.
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Yeah man, the Mark V seems totally kickass. 25 watts, pfft totally loud enough. I'm kind of thinking about getting a fender Blues Junior or Hot Rod Deluxe and some pedals and holding off on the Mesa for now - hehehe.
 
Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

The Mark V is one of the best amps ever made, the MARK V:25 model of it has become a huge mainstay in a few different scenes here in Toronto, the neo-soul/jazz scenes and hard rock scenes are populated with them. I only hear amazing tones coming from them, so I think it's a totally sound investment no matter what type of music you play.

Also saving up early is really wise, every time I've ever bought a cheaper version of the amp, I still ended up craving the 'real thing', and if I tallied up every time I bought a piece of gear that was an 'inexpensive ________ tone' I could have bought the real thing twice over.
 
Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

TimmyPage said:
Also saving up early is really wise, every time I've ever bought a cheaper version of the amp, I still ended up craving the 'real thing', and if I tallied up every time I bought a piece of gear that was an 'inexpensive ________ tone' I could have bought the real thing twice over.
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+1 and an Amen to this.

If you must go other routes rather than save for your ideal, I strongly advise going second-hand, you'll get where you're going to end up faster if you don't pay "as new" markup.


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Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

VinceT said:
+1 and an Amen to this.

If you must go other routes rather than save for your ideal, I strongly advise going second-hand, you'll get where you're going to end up faster if you don't pay "as new" markup.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Definitely man- I'm thinking about a Dual Caliber maybe ;)
All those tones in a sweet box
 
Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

TimmyPage said:
The Mark V is one of the best amps ever made, the MARK V:25 model of it has become a huge mainstay in a few different scenes here in Toronto, the neo-soul/jazz scenes and hard rock scenes are populated with them. I only hear amazing tones coming from them, so I think it's a totally sound investment no matter what type of music you play.

Also saving up early is really wise, every time I've ever bought a cheaper version of the amp, I still ended up craving the 'real thing', and if I tallied up every time I bought a piece of gear that was an 'inexpensive ________ tone' I could have bought the real thing twice over.
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Awesome to know. The Mark V's seem absolutely amazing.

Ah yes, that's what I try to keep in mind, very wise point, thanks alot man!
 
Re: Savin' up for a Mesa!

PFDarkside said:
Which one?

In my 20 years of playing guitar, I've found anytime I try to get the thing that's "good enough" I still end up wanting the real thing later on. If Mesa is what you want, Mesa is what you should get.

(Road King owner here ;))
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And if you get the real thing, you end up wanting a different real thing later on. That said, I'm envious of the people who have the wherewithall to get a good peice of equipment early and hang on to it. I'm not a huge recto fan, but I like the Mark series a whole lot.
 
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