Mesa Dual Rectifier Maverick

[mikeller]

I have been more or less in the market for a new amp that would give me a bit more output and dispersion than my incredible sounding silverface Deluxe Reverb (which I will never part with).

Tonight I went to my local GC and they had just received a used Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Maverick in trade a few days ago. The amp is in very mint condition, with all original hang tags, booklets, cover, footswitch etc. It is cream colored and has 2-12" Celestions. I have played Fender amps most of my life and never had a MB before and really know nothing about them.

I bought it for $920 (have 30 days to return), because, spec wise it fit exactly my criteria, and it sounded great and was in mint condition. The only thing I notice is substantially more hiss the the Deluxe Reverb.

If you guys have any comments pro or con, I would appreciate it alot.

Thanks
Mike

 

[TimSz]

The Maverick is a great amp! I owned one, and it was bunk at first. I took it into the boys at the shop, and they fixed it up super nice. I ended up selling it down the road, which I do a lot because I'm a gear junkie. But, for when I played it, it was great.

I also worked at a guitar store that had a Maverick head for sale. It sounded bloody awesome. If I was on the market for a head/cab then I would have bought it! I think you made a very wise choice. It's Class A, at what... 30 watts? It's stellar.

Wise choice! All of those amps, like the Heartbreaker, and the Blue Angel by Mesa were great. I don't know why they stopped making them! The Blue Angel was a Super Reverb on steroids, and it was incredible.

 

[Red Scare]

The Maverick is a great, versitile amp as far a Mesa's go. By far the most genre friendly.
First off, realize that any Mesa (except for the Blue Angel) is high gain, so you have to expect some hiss (way more than any Fender). There is NO way to completely eliminate it.
However, being that the amp is used (and at least a few years old since the no longer make it), you can start by replacing the tubes. I would replace all of the preamp tubes first as they are the cheapest. The phase inverter tube is really crucial, but the hiss could come from any of them. You CAN use any brand of 12AX7's in the Mesa as they don't need to be biased, so if you have the money, get some nice ones. Then move on to your output tubes if that doesn't work. The EL84's can be any brand as they are very tolerant of bias, just make sure they are matched. The 6V6's should be Mesa's as they will have the right current for the amp. Don't bother with the rectifier tube as it either works, or doesn't, the chance it is causing your hiss is very remote.

 

[mikeller]

Thanks for the great comments and suggestions. I appreciate it. I did have a little time late last night to play with it some, and it is very nice....

Red Scare - you say the output tubes are bias tolerant, but is a bias adjustment suggested with tube changes?

 

[Red Scare]

EL84's are rarely biased (techs have always told me to just change them and not worry because they can handle big swings in current).

Mesa amps are fixed/non-adjustable biased. It's kind of their way of making sure you buy their tubes. So if you buy Mesa brand 6V6's, then you just plug them in. Again, that's only for 6V6, 6L6 and EL34's.

 

[mcclassic]

The mesa Maverick is my favorite amp, it has that great clean channel that can also be overdriven with the gain and the mid all the way up and then you have a very touch sensitive tone machine.

I have 2 4x10 since for my taste is the best one, since I feel the 2x12 a little more darker sounding.

Normally if a play a fender and then my maverick I tend to feel to middle sounding, I heard that some people may not like or try to get rid of the mids on these amplifiers so that may be my only negative comment, however, this the amp that I like the most for cleans.

The distortion channel is not very high gain, is a more classic sound, but for me works perfectly, however as I said if i want to play loud and distorted I preffer to override the clean channel.

Good luck and try different settings.

 

[mikeller]

I had a good opportunity to spend with the Maverick today, sounds great to say the least.

One thing that I noticed - the power transformer gets very warm - much warmer than the tranny on the Deluxe Reverb. No smells and no funky performance. Is it normal for them to run hot?

Thanks for all the replies

 

[Red Scare]

Why are you feeling the transformer?
If it doesn't smell funny, it's fine. Different amps run at different voltages and the trannys may heat up more. Nothing to worry about unless things start to smell or sound funny.