mesa boogie

[mikeller]

My main amp is a Mesa Electra-Dyne which IMHO sounds fantastic. It is NOT at all a typical Mesa amp however, it is unique to the line. I had an Express which I could never bond with and still have a Maverick 2x12 combo that I also can't bond with.

 

[Don Lappin]

as with the guitar i get the amp will be a blind buy as well. im looking for feedback on the best mesa combo to fit my needs witch is lots of van halen play and satriani. im a pedal guy so wouldnt i want an amp with a great clean chanel and an FX loop? also any other suggestions are welcome. with all the stuff out these days it gets overwhelming. the guitar will be an axis.

i will be an at home player so i dont need a 100 watt amp. looking for a decent combo at about 1200 or less -please. thanks.

Another suggestion may be the Axe-FX Standard. It's $300 more at $1500 but does soooo much! Especially since you will be playing at home. Of course you will need some decent speakers so this may be getting a bit complicated and expensive; but worth checking

Another really cool amp though is the Fender Super Sonic (60 Watts). It has a GREAT clean channel (vibrolux and Bassman curcuits) and a great 2nd channel with two gain stages. I played one for about a year and it's great. As mentioned, the Blackstar and Egnater are great amps and many models are available as combos.

 

[guitfiddle]

+1 for the THD Univalve. Perfect for at home and small gigs (or mic it for bigger venues). It'll take just about any tube made so you can make any flavour of amp out of it. I've had mine now for around 10 years, and still love it like the week I got it. I've mostly used EL-34s or EL-84s in it, but every once in a while I throw in a 6L6 or 6V6 and it's a brand new F style amp with super cleans. Again, this is the perfect amp for home use. Line out for recording, built in THD Hot Plate attenuator, takes any tube you can find. It's got everything, but is really simple to use and doesn't require tweaking to sound great.

 

[Dr.Strangenote]

Surprisingly, I'm reading a lot of Mesa hating Perhaps those are from the eye of the beholder, (or ears).. I've been though tons of tube amps and have been a Mesa user since I no longer can remember. Any boogie, even an Express or F series needs time for the user and amp to get acquainted. Going into the Rects and Mark series amps, you need to spend at least 6 months together, tweaking and fine tuning it to 'your' ears.

To answer your question, if you want the most versatile amp, IMO, for great cleans, 3 channels, and plenty of face melting under the hood, fx loop, and expansion possibilities, silent recording if needed, the Mark IV combo is your amp.

There are so many possibilities out there if you only need a combo just for the clean channel, since you like to use pedals. Laney for one rocks the cleans nicely, Dr. Z is superb, even something like an affordable Peavey Delta Blues, very warm natural sound. But then again, something as simple as a tube preamp pedal, blackstar dual HT pedal, or a hughes and kettner tubeman, into a totally affordable used Mesa F30 (has fx loop), enough power to fill a club, and the preamp pedals mention can direct out to a PA board if necessary.

I wouldn't say that you take your entire pedal board to a few music stores and test drive amps, I bet that would be a pain, but I don't think a store would object to that idea if you are shopping around. I'd bring a few of your favorites, and plug them in the fx loop for the one that you think sounds the best with your gear.

 

[ScreaminFloyd]

Another suggestion may be the Axe-FX Standard. It's $300 more at $1500 but does soooo much! Especially since you will be playing at home. Of course you will need some decent speakers so this may be getting a bit complicated and expensive; but worth checking

Another really cool amp though is the Fender Super Sonic (60 Watts). It has a GREAT clean channel (vibrolux and Bassman curcuits) and a great 2nd channel with two gain stages. I played one for about a year and it's great. As mentioned, the Blackstar and Egnater are great amps and many models are available as combos.

+1 The Axe-FX blew me away when I heard a demo. The tones are inspiring and paired with a Music Man is Lethal. Good Luck!

 

[mikeller]

The 40 watter sounds good at home volumes and is also very very giggable... I suppose the same could be said of the 20, but the 40 has more clean headroom for you.

I have a HT20 head I carry around as a backup and yes, I believe it is very giggable - and even for larger rooms, particuarly if you are mic'd.

I not sure about the clean headroom however - the 20 stays clean about all the way up

 

[John C]

I have a Mesa Lone Star Special 1-12; I like it for what I'm doing (70s classic rock with a P-90s equipped guitar and a couple of modulation pedals through the front, not the loop) but I don't think it's going to be fantastic for the 80s hair metal even with pedals. In Mesa you might want to look at the Stiletto Ace or maybe even the Transatlantic. The Ace is a 50-watt EL34 based amp (think Marshall-esque); the Transatlantic is Mesa's 15-watt lunchbox head. They have a 30-watt version of the Transatlantic in both head and combo format coming out at NAMM on Friday. Of course for that 80s sound there is always Marshall - Satriani recently left Peavey and went back to Marshalls for the Chickenfoot tour (after the US leg) and his new album.

I've heard good things about Blackstars; I'm going to have to try one out. I like the Lonestar, but even with wheels it's a beast to move around. I came to the Lonestar from a Princeton RI; I liked the Princeton better with my old Silo Specials (and the Axis SuperSport MM90s) than with my current guitars - probably more from the 10" speaker than the amp itself; I was using a Full-Drive II for dirt with the Princeton.

 

[KINGSFAN]

Mesa Boogie Mark IV: The greatest tube amp on the planet!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Spudmurphy]

I agree with the previous comment - it does take a while to get acquainted with the Mesa series of amps - different to when I use my Marshall. I have an F50 and I believe it will become a "classic" amp in the years to come - but at 50 watts-it's FAR tooloud for home use. The littke blackstars are great but not vesatile enough - I have used a 5 watt Blackstar live - stooopid thing to do cos it got lost, but for home use it would be just fine.

But as the thread mentions Mesas - heres a thumbs up from someone who joinned the "Mesa Gang" pretty late - and it's a keeper!!

 

[mikeller]

I agree with the previous comment - it does take a while to get acquainted with the Mesa series of amps - different to when I use my Marshall. I have an F50 and I believe it will become a "classic" amp in the years to come - but at 50 watts-it's FAR tooloud for home use. The littke blackstars are great but not vesatile enough - I have used a 5 watt Blackstar live - stooopid thing to do cos it got lost, but for home use it would be just fine.

But as the thread mentions Mesas - heres a thumbs up from someone who joinned the "Mesa Gang" pretty late - and it's a keeper!!

That is prolly my biggest complaint with the HT20 - the EQ section is for the gain channel only, the clean channel has a single tone control. It does a good job of changing tone, but you can't really dial it in like you could if it had individual bass/mid/treble etc.

I like the Electra-Dyne better than any amp I have ever owned or played thru

 

[colinboy]

Blackstar all the way my friend,check out the series one range the combo is called the S-45 2x12 combo.
Check out the link to their website
Blackstar Amplification - Series One 45

 

[Lax]

I'm fairly new to "real" amplificators, since I concentrated until now my spendings on guitars.

But I now own a Mark V, and even thought I can't play it loud at home, and I'm learning to tweak it, that's just a massive beast from clear to extreme.

But it's true that moving one knob is changing everything, it needs patience and ears ^^

Cheers in your search

 

[big_paul]

thanks alot for all the responces guys.