What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

[No_Where_Fast]

I tried out a Mesa Rect-o-verb combo on Saturday, looking for that great sound I've almost been getting from my Sansamp GT2.

I had a good play with it and hated the 'Modern' mode, (way too smooth for my liking!), but loved the 'Raw' mode on full gain! I love the way it sounds kinda like rev'ing Harley! :burnout:

What is this mode based on? Is it a particular amp type? Or is there a name for that kind of distortion?

Any help would be good for continuing my search!

Cheers!

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

I have a rectoverb, and while I don't really use the raw setting, I'm fairly certain that it's based on a cranked to the max blackface fender. Probably a deluxe or pro reverb too (as those were popular models to crank hard). It's a good mode....definitely gets some really interesting tones

 

[sooperunkn]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

I have a 3 channel Dual Recto and I use Channel 2's "Raw" occasionally. I always associated it with the Rolling Stones. Very responsive to attack... when playing lightly it sounds like a clean channel but dig in a little and it'll snap at ya with some real nice grit. It's a very underrated mode. I also like my clean channel in "pushed" mode. It's a tad milder than raw but has the same characteristics I described. Channel 3 "Modern" is great for a nice saturated lead tone though!!

 

[No_Where_Fast]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

Cool, thanks guys!

With the Raw channel, could you try winding the gain up to full, just so you know what I'm getting at? So me it sounds like a super-heavy-sleazey bluesy sound.

I'm sure there's an amp out there that specialises more in this kinda vibe...?

 

[Rich_T]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

I'm sure there's an amp out there that specialises more in this kinda vibe...?

if you can get the sound you want from that amp, get that amp dude!

 

[sooperunkn]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

Cool, thanks guys!

...sounds like a super-heavy-sleazey bluesy sound.

I'm sure there's an amp out there that specialises more in this kinda vibe...?

I think the Marshall 18-watt (Clapton Bluesbreaker era) fits your description. I'll crank the gain to full and give it a try. But running an amp with the gain on 10 all the time may not be the greatest idea.... I think that's why EVH had to rebuild his amps after 2 or 3 shows!!!!

 

[some_dude]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

I've run my Recto on full gain in raw quite a bit. It's a nice change from the normal "Recto" sound.

 

[philthis]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

I tried out a Mesa Rect-o-verb combo on Saturday, looking for that great sound I've almost been getting from my Sansamp GT2.

I had a good play with it and hated the 'Modern' mode, (way too smooth for my liking!), but loved the 'Raw' mode on full gain! I love the way it sounds kinda like rev'ing Harley! :burnout:

What is this mode based on? Is it a particular amp type? Or is there a name for that kind of distortion?

Any help would be good for continuing my search!

Cheers!

this is by far my most favorite mesa amp becouse the cleans are good and the distortion on channel 2 with full gain is very nice. I never realy got into that modern recto channel 3 sound. its so low and muddy you have to set the EQ nobs all on 5 and let the channel just do its own thing. Still, I like channel 2 cranked so much better.
:beerchug:

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

try out a vibroverb & bassman RI

if those don't do it for you then get the mesa

i only reccomend trying them because to me, mesas sound like hot rodded to hell fenders, but what you seem to like is the not-so hot rodded mesa tones, so it'd make sense to go back to the source & try them

playing around with a TS on them also couldn't hurt

 

[No_Where_Fast]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

Thanks for all the feedback guys! I'll try out those Fenders (Bassman, vibroverb, Deluxe, pro, etc) and let you know!

 

[Grandor]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

But running an amp with the gain on 10 all the time may not be the greatest idea.... I think that's why EVH had to rebuild his amps after 2 or 3 shows!!!!

Y not? My mesa is always running the lead channel on Gain of 10, Drive of 8, Channel Volume of 6

 

[sooperunkn]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

Y not? My mesa is always running the lead channel on Gain of 10, Drive of 8, Channel Volume of 6

Sorry if this gets long-winded...

Well I guess it really comes down to preference in tone. I love my Mesa and it's a very gainy beast just past 12:00 but I feel too much gain suffocates any sort of note articulation there may be, not to mention you really shorten the tube life too. Don't get me wrong... it sounds bad-a$$ and when I want to throw down some Pantera then sure I'll crank the gain to 11 in Channel 3's Modern mode and rip the paint of the walls!!! I guess I use the Dual Rectifier differently than most. What I love most about my amp is that I can get plenty of gain and balls with "12:00" settings. When I audition an amp I try to keep everything at 12:00 and tweak from there until I find my tone. The amp I chose to buy was the amp that didn't need much tweaking to satisfy my ears... it's natural voice is what I want.

By the way, I tried Channel 2 "Raw" with full gain last night with my Jazzmaster it I didn't really like it too much. Maybe it was the single coils, my Paul is getting re-fretted so I can't give a humbucker review. I admittedly didn't F around with the EQ while in full gain so maybe I could've cleared up some of the over-saturation, but I definitely got the Harley sound you mentioned but I wouldn't classify it as a "bluesy" tone at all. I run my Raw mode with the gain at 1:00 and I get the Keith Richards tone dead on... which is what I believe Mesa's "Raw" is intended for.

Rock on.

 

[No_Where_Fast]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

Not bluesy in a smooth, BB King kinda way. More of an earthy, rustic kinda way. Only much heavier!

Either way, I think a cranked Fender is the way to go!

I went to tryout a Fender Pro Reverb on my lunch break but the guy in the shop - Hickies, Reading, UK (infamous in the area for its arrogant staff!) - just said "Are you gonna buy it?". "If I like it", I replied. He looked looked me up and down, "It is very expensive! We don't want every dropout coming in here to mess about". What a d**k! :smack: Fair enough I could probably find it cheaper so wouldn't initially have bought there, but a little customer service would have gone a long way! I would have paid more if I felt like I was paying for a quality service! </rant>

 

[grams]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

that's unbelievable... They want to sell an amp a don't let you try it out??? customer service would be the opposite of this kinda behaviour...

 

[tonejam]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

i only reccomend trying them because to me, mesas sound like hot rodded to hell fenders, but what you seem to like is the not-so hot rodded mesa tones,

i may be mistaken, but I'm prety sure that's how MESA got started. Hot rodding fender amps.

 

[Morior]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

i may be mistaken, but I'm prety sure that's how MESA got started. Hot rodding fender amps.

That's right. As far as I recall the first Mesa was done as a joke. They basically just wanted to see how much gain they could get out of a Fender blackface. (I think it was a blackface, anyways.)

 

[some_dude]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

That's right. As far as I recall the first Mesa was done as a joke. They basically just wanted to see how much gain they could get out of a Fender blackface. (I think it was a blackface, anyways.)

Yes, it was a Blackface, but it was more of an accident than anything. They didn't know how much gain they'd need to drive a Crown DC300 power amp, so they linked three gain stages up in series. At first it didn't work because they hooked the speakers right into the preamp, and when they corrected their mistake the preamp was still pretty much dimed......that was the birth of cascading high gain, and when built into an a 100w combo became what would eventually be called the Mk1.

 

[Guitarist]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

Yes, it was a Blackface, but it was more of an accident than anything. They didn't know how much gain they'd need to drive a Crown DC300 power amp, so they linked three gain stages up in series. At first it didn't work because they hooked the speakers right into the preamp, and when they corrected their mistake the preamp was still pretty much dimed......that was the birth of cascading high gain, and when built into an a 100w combo became what would eventually be called the Mk1.

Word. :smoker:

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

yeah, through all my bassman modding, well, the 50 had 4 pre's instead of 3, so the tech presented me with the idea of using the extra as another gain stage, said it would sound almost identical to...yeah i think it was the mk1

 

[No_Where_Fast]

Re: What's the Mesa 'Raw' deal?

All the Fender talk got me thinking, so just now I tried cranking up the Tweed settings on the GT-2 and it got pretty close to the Mesa 'Raw' sound. Then I tried putting my Bad Bob Boost infront front of the GT-2 and cranking the gain! And there it was! The distortion I've been looking for, for years! :32:

Thanks guys!