Ever buy a guitar and have it outclass your amp?

[Rossie]

Yo mate I am with you all the way on this one money is tight with another kid on the way. I love my vox. It does a great job, but live it needs a bit more...........valve.

Dubai is a crap town for playing music and musical instraments. You think they have it all here........sorry not a valve in the town! Decent guitars are like hens teeth!

To play in a club you need a licence and have to be approved by the Ministery!

Boll*ck$

Jonny

But you guys get great cars over there

 

[Rossie]

On this topic...
Could you guys please advise me on some MESAs?

It's impossible to get one here, so I need to get it from US.
The problem is, I've dealt with one seller before about his Road King head, after we finalized the price, we move on to the shipping costs, and it cost US$1,000 to ship it to my country. The deal fell through. I didn't dare to think of how much will the shipping cost be for a 4x12 cab...

So, I was thinking to get the Road King combo... Or the Mark IV combo... What is the difference from the head+cab version besides the smaller watts? I heard that its possible to convert the combos into a head too.

 

[hal9000]

On this topic...
Could you guys please advise me on some MESAs?

It's impossible to get one here, so I need to get it from US.
The problem is, I've dealt with one seller before about his Road King head, after we finalized the price, we move on to the shipping costs, and it cost US$1,000 to ship it to my country. The deal fell through. I didn't dare to think of how much will the shipping cost be for a 4x12 cab...

So, I was thinking to get the Road King combo... Or the Mark IV combo... What is the difference from the head+cab version besides the smaller watts? I heard that its possible to convert the combos into a head too.

Where are you located? A caveat with importing is that you'll have to either get a variac to change the voltage or you'll have to have a different power transformer installed to work with your country's voltage.

 

[Rossie]

Where are you located? A caveat with importing is that you'll have to either get a variac to change the voltage or you'll have to have a different power transformer installed to work with your country's voltage.

Yeah, I'm from Malaysia. It's 220 volts here. Maybe a different adapter will help?

What about the difference between the head+cab and combo? Am I compromising on tone if I'm going for the combo version? I have zero experience dealing with tube amps.

 

[roburado]

hal, thanks for the ideas. I'll try some of those settings. I'll investigate the EQ you're talking about.

 

[TimSz]

My two cents.

Forgive me if my idea is totally unfounded, but I figure I would attempt to provide a solution.

Mesa/Boogie amps are available in Japan and the UK, which are both 220volt power supply places... Furthermore, shipping from either would be cheaper than the U.S. and A. I believe. There's tonnes of great deals on eBay from the UK region. (I was looking into a compact version of the Lone Star and found a tonne of Mesa stuff)

One must understand that getting a product from anywhere other than the homebase is going to cost more. The compact Lone Star I speak of would have been 2200 dollars in Canada, or about 1700 in America. In the UK it ends up being around 4000 dollars Canadian, because of how much it cost to bring the amp there in the first place.

Why am I blathering so much, one may ask. I am attempting to present an alternative to a Mesa/Boogie. Don't get me wrong though... I LOVE Mesa amps for what they are. I think however, that I may have a more reasonable solution though... have you ever thought about getting a Hughes and Kettner?

http://www.hughesandkettner.com/

They are made in Germany, which means they are capable of the 220volt thing; as well as shipping would be much less I believe. The TriAmp MKII will kick your ass, trust me. It is everything a Mesa is; and will cost you less in the long run.

Look into it, my man; and otherwise just check into Japanese and UK guitar stores for Mesas.

-------------------

As far as the combo situation goes, I've owned both a Road King combo AND head/cab. I found them to be tonally alike in almost every possible way. Certainly it feels like there's more sound with a head and a 4x12 cab. I don't know why that is, as my genius isn't quite THAT refined yet. The difficulty I have found with ALL of my combos is that they're too goddamned heavy. The Road King weighed over 100 pounds, and was probably the worst amp to lift ever. I found that same difficulty with my Roadster and every other combo.

Go with a head/cab, if you're at all worried about ruining your back prematurely. It may mean an extra trip, or enlisting another band member (drummers are useful!) to help you move it around; but it's just so much easier.

That's my two cents, kiddies.

 

[Thumbtack]

I've come to the conclusion that big amps are overrated. I just bought a Budda Super Drive II 18 watt combo and it's gone way beyond my expectations. Weight is about 35 lbs and sounds WAY better then my 100 watt Mesa/ Boogie Trem-o-Verb.

 

[hal9000]

Yeah, I'm from Malaysia. It's 220 volts here. Maybe a different adapter will help?

What about the difference between the head+cab and combo? Am I compromising on tone if I'm going for the combo version? I have zero experience dealing with tube amps.

Combos generally have an open or semi-open back so they don't have as tight a bass response as a closed-back cab. If you play metal and want really tight bass, you'd probably be better off with a head and 2x12 cab config. However, if you play clean and mid-gain tones, open-back designs are better for a 3D enveloping sound that isn't as laser-beaming as a 4x12 cab. Finally, there are the tuned and ported cabs which are a bit in-between. My Mesa F-100 combo has a 3/4-tuned back, so it has tight bass but enveloping cleans which is a nice compromise. I also run it with an Avatar 2x12 V30 closed-back cab which really kicks out the tight bass.

Personally, I think the ultimate setup is a head (or combo) with an open or semi-open cab on top of a closed-back cab. That way you get deep bass from the bottom, enveloping highs from the top, and the whole rig isn't as ice-picky or directional as say a 4x12 straight closed-back cab.

 

[Sub1 Zero]

I have my Sub and my ESP, and both outclass my Crate GFX65 by a longshot. if i turn the amp up to 5 with some gain, it shakes the box

 

[Rossie]

Forgive me if my idea is totally unfounded, but I figure I would attempt to provide a solution.

Mesa/Boogie amps are available in Japan and the UK, which are both 220volt power supply places... Furthermore, shipping from either would be cheaper than the U.S. and A. I believe. There's tonnes of great deals on eBay from the UK region. (I was looking into a compact version of the Lone Star and found a tonne of Mesa stuff)

One must understand that getting a product from anywhere other than the homebase is going to cost more. The compact Lone Star I speak of would have been 2200 dollars in Canada, or about 1700 in America. In the UK it ends up being around 4000 dollars Canadian, because of how much it cost to bring the amp there in the first place.

Why am I blathering so much, one may ask. I am attempting to present an alternative to a Mesa/Boogie. Don't get me wrong though... I LOVE Mesa amps for what they are. I think however, that I may have a more reasonable solution though... have you ever thought about getting a Hughes and Kettner?

http://www.hughesandkettner.com/

They are made in Germany, which means they are capable of the 220volt thing; as well as shipping would be much less I believe. The TriAmp MKII will kick your ass, trust me. It is everything a Mesa is; and will cost you less in the long run.

Look into it, my man; and otherwise just check into Japanese and UK guitar stores for Mesas.

-------------------

As far as the combo situation goes, I've owned both a Road King combo AND head/cab. I found them to be tonally alike in almost every possible way. Certainly it feels like there's more sound with a head and a 4x12 cab. I don't know why that is, as my genius isn't quite THAT refined yet. The difficulty I have found with ALL of my combos is that they're too goddamned heavy. The Road King weighed over 100 pounds, and was probably the worst amp to lift ever. I found that same difficulty with my Roadster and every other combo.

Go with a head/cab, if you're at all worried about ruining your back prematurely. It may mean an extra trip, or enlisting another band member (drummers are useful!) to help you move it around; but it's just so much easier.

That's my two cents, kiddies.

I really like Mesas too, it's best if I can get one. But I'll take a look into a Hughes and Kettner too.
Thanks for the info!

Combos generally have an open or semi-open back so they don't have as tight a bass response as a closed-back cab. If you play metal and want really tight bass, you'd probably be better off with a head and 2x12 cab config. However, if you play clean and mid-gain tones, open-back designs are better for a 3D enveloping sound that isn't as laser-beaming as a 4x12 cab. Finally, there are the tuned and ported cabs which are a bit in-between. My Mesa F-100 combo has a 3/4-tuned back, so it has tight bass but enveloping cleans which is a nice compromise. I also run it with an Avatar 2x12 V30 closed-back cab which really kicks out the tight bass.

Personally, I think the ultimate setup is a head (or combo) with an open or semi-open cab on top of a closed-back cab. That way you get deep bass from the bottom, enveloping highs from the top, and the whole rig isn't as ice-picky or directional as say a 4x12 straight closed-back cab.

Thanks for the info too, I think I gotta go with the head+cab combination.

Anyway, isn't the ultimate setup two seperate rigs for clean and distortion?
A Road King + closed cab for the dirty tones, and the Lonestar + open back for the cleans...


Thanks again guys!
You've been a great help!

 

[JDouglee]

Ever buy a guitar and have it outclass your amp?

With 2 CAE 3+ preamps & Marshall heads as power amps, no. Never.

 

[slukather]

With 2 CAE 3+ preamps & Marshall heads as power amps, no. Never.

Nice, 2 CAE 3+ preamps, mine should be arriving any day now, from what l heard these are kickass preamp, l haven't heard a bad thing about them yet.

Scott.

 

[Eilif]

OK, playing has done the trick, and I am once again mesmerized by my 20th Silo.

Which is good, because I think the F-30 is a great little amp!

I'm beginning to think the same thing, especially with the clean channel. I'm going to have to play with the amp more to see if I can coax some better sounds out of it. Unfortunately, a new amp isn't in the cards for me at the moment.

Quote:
Originally Posted by roburadot
I never expected my 20th Anniversary Silhouette to sound so limited by the F-30 I have. That's the thing that bugs me. I know there's so much more the guitar has to offer, but the F-30 isn't extracting it.

 

[JDouglee]

Nice, 2 CAE 3+ preamps, mine should be arriving any day now, from what l heard these are kickass preamp, l haven't heard a bad thing about them yet.

Scott.

Congrats! You'll love it.

Nothing compares.

 

[hal9000]

I really like Mesas too, it's best if I can get one. But I'll take a look into a Hughes and Kettner too.
Thanks for the info!



Thanks for the info too, I think I gotta go with the head+cab combination.

Anyway, isn't the ultimate setup two seperate rigs for clean and distortion?
A Road King + closed cab for the dirty tones, and the Lonestar + open back for the cleans...


Thanks again guys!
You've been a great help!

Since my F-100 has the cleans of a Lone Star (LS's reverb is more lush) and Mark-series meets Recto distortion, I don't feel the need for a separate clean/dirt rig.

 

[FlyingSwordfish]

EBMM JP6 + Roland Micro Cube.

 

[roburado]

EBMM JP6 + Roland Micro Cube.

That's a great combo. I like it a lot. I'd like to get a MicroCube for travel, bedroom, etc.

I'm going to have to take back what I said about my F-30. I tried out some new settings, and I'm really digging them.

I'm loving playing my 20th through it now. It's not quite as magical an experience as it was with the F-100 I tried, but I guess maybe the extra headroom has something to do with it. Also, the room was much different. It was a hardwood floor in a tiny little room with the amp in roughly the center of the room. I'm playing on carpet at home with the amp just a couple inches from the wall. I added a little reverb to the clean, which is the channel that was bugging me. Man, I'm really happy with it now. Also taking chances with alienating my neighbors and turning up the master made a huge difference. I'm just worried I might get some noise complaints.

I also added a Maxon SD-9, which is just fantastic. I wonder about the analog man mods for it and the Keeley TS-9s/TS-808.

I don't think I'm going to be buying that ZVex SHO pedal I wanted.

 

[roburado]

OK, playing has done the trick, and I am once again mesmerized by my 20th Silo.

Which is good, because I think the F-30 is a great little amp!

Same here on both points. It did take some tweaking, though, and it took a while to come up with settings I liked.