Questions for Mesa owners/fans...

[Rossie]

Heard only great things about Orange, too bad it's close to impossible to try one over here. Heard that the Tiny Terror is good stuff! Doesn't look very heavy to me though

 

[adamrogo]

Orange are overrated. They are Marshalls for the cork-sniffers.

 

[fogman]

They are Marshalls for the cork-sniffers.

I don't even know what that's suppose to mean!!!

 

[Danserrano]

If you want Petrucci Distortion with great cleans and searing leads, go Mark IV/Roadster or Road King II. Check out forum.grailtone.com, they'll hook you up with this information...Mesa FTW.

def check out that site....it's what helped me a bit in ordering my roadster. Tons of info and clips there. Enjoy =D

no matter what just don't rush, and don't be afraid to not be Mesa/ Marshall. Get the amp that produces that inner "IT" for u lol.

danny

 

[JSX]

JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSXJSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JJSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSXSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX JSX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JSX]

No but seriously you should try one of those beasts out!

 

[fogman]

So what you're saying is go with the JSX?

 

[fsmith]

Call the Guitar Center in Towson, see if they have a Stiletto Ace head in stock, go check it out. After many years of trying to find that "tone" in my head, I found it with the first big fat chord. It made the hair on my arm stand up. I love the cleans and it has all the crunch you could want. EL-34 tubes, not 6L6's. So it has all the "Marshall-y" tones covered too...

If you can track down I believe the Guitar One CD from December it has John Petrucci giving lessons using the Ace. Fantastic tones.

I kept going between the Road King, Roadster and the Ace. The Ace just had that "something" I was looking for. I bought an Avatar 2x12, with a Hellatone 60 and a 30 and am loving it.

There are a lot of good suggestions but if you think that you "need" that Mesa sound do yourself a favor and look into the Ace...

Good Luck!
fred

 

[hal9000]

I'm still looking for a new amp, and I'm still leaning toward Mesa. What I want to know is...


What are the strengths and weaknesses of each head?
What genres are each head more comfortable in?
Where would an F-50 or F-100 come in handy?

and anything else you know that may be helpful in my decision. I'm trying to get the most out of my JP7, and my Randall is actually making it hard for me to enjoy playing it.

For the kind of sounds you're looking for the F-50 would do very well and wouldn't break the bank. The Mark IV is also a serious contender and I can help you with dialing in the beast no problem since I have a couple of really good settings I've rendered for some friends. When Harmony Central is back up, check out the Mesa F-series Lounge for a ton of clips and info: Mesa F-series Lounge

For now, IMO the best representative for the JP sound out of any Mesa is my friend Tommi Inkila from Scenery Channel. He uses a JP6 and an F-50 through an H&K 4x12 loaded with V30s.

Here are some of my clips with my F-100 and various guitars:
EBMM 20th Silo: http://www.64graphics.com/clips/hal9000_Reflective_F-100_20th.mp3
Other guitars:http://www.64graphics.com/clips/hal9000_F-100_Tuesdays_Gone.mp3
http://www.64graphics.com/clips/hal9000_Afraid_Dave_Superman_solo.mp3
http://www.64graphics.com/clips/What_the_Hell_Does_hal9000_Have.mp3
http://www.64graphics.com/clips/hal9000_Will_Rock_You.mp3
http://www.64graphics.com/clips/hal9000F-100_Heavy_USB.mp3
http://www.64graphics.com/clips/hal9000COC_ Infinite_War_F-100.mp3
http://www.64graphics.com/clips/hal9000_COC_It_is_that_way_F-100.mp3

IMO, the F-series is one of Mesa's best amplifiers because it is so versatile and sounds great doing a bunch of different things. The clean is just as good as the Lone Star sans the wet reverb. Overdrive can be just breaking up bluesy, up through AC/DC to 80's and on to metal. It's tighter than all the Rectifiers, but not so tight that it feels sterile. When you push the power section like in the two clips above (Tuesday's Gone and Superman) if gives up the goods. There is a ton of headroom since I have an F-100 2x12 combo, but the F-50's clean headroom is hard to beat.

I also have a Mesa Tremoverb from 1993 that is the sweetest Recto I've ever played. Unlike the other Rectos, the clean channel is very good and it offers a lot of lower gain tones without the trademark Recto high end. It's also very smooth and civilized when called upon, but can be out right brutal if dialed in that way. It doesn't have the clean headroom of my F-100, but it is ridiculously versatile with all the modes and options. It's not as tight as my F-100 either.

 

[Jimothy JP7]

That is fantastic news there. I was looking on the Bay as saw an F50 and an F100 for less than a grand. If I can get some serious crunch with some balls and brilliant cleans out of it, I'm totally down. I love the tone on the first clip, the single notes sound huge! I wish I wasn't stuck on 56k right now, I want to hear all of them, but I'll get to them. That heavy clip alone just about made my mind up. What sucks is I could totally buy an F50 or an F100 right now, but I lent a grand to my sister a while ago and haven't gotten it back yet so unfortunately I'm going to have to pass up the ones on the bay. I'm sure there will be others...

 

[JSX]

Do you have to crank those F series mesa's to get a good tone?

 

[Norrin Radd]

Orange are overrated. They are Marshalls for the cork-sniffers.

Those are some major fighting words!

Please speak only from experience - and not in generalities. Please share your experience with each of the different models. Thanks.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Can you post a clip?
One of the dealers nearby carry them, but I've never had the chance to try one.
I've heard mixed reviews about them.

Here you go Foggy:

Orange Amps Forum - OFFICIAL ORANGE SOUND CLIP THREAD

Lots of different varieties to choose from!

 

[Norrin Radd]

Call the Guitar Center in Towson, see if they have a Stiletto Ace head in stock, go check it out. After many years of trying to find that "tone" in my head, I found it with the first big fat chord. It made the hair on my arm stand up. I love the cleans and it has all the crunch you could want. EL-34 tubes, not 6L6's. So it has all the "Marshall-y" tones covered too...


There are a lot of good suggestions but if you think that you "need" that Mesa sound do yourself a favor and look into the Ace...

Good Luck!
fred

Although I am a huge fan of Orange, I don't think they are at all what you are looking for. I have played the Stiletto and thought it was pretty darn good. No need for sound clips either - just listen to Andy Timmons CD - he uses Stiletto Aces and Lonestars for his tones - some of the nicest guitar tones I've heard recorded - and I am anything but a Mesa fan!

I also think the JSX is quite a fine amp, too - don't rule that one out either.

 

[hal9000]

Do you have to crank those F series mesa's to get a good tone?

Not at all. The F-series has a really good master volume. In addition, I've worked out a bit of a trick using the FX Mix control as a final master to get even better low volume performance. In the same vein, one could also use a line level volume pedal, EQ, FX processor and the like in the loop for an overall master as well.

 

[73h Nils]

Before I got my Roadster, I was seriously considering an F-50. Absolutely incredible amps! The Express series was a major let-down, in comparison. Still good amps, but the F-series are exceptional.

+1 to the fact that you don't need to crank them to get good tone.

 

[adamrogo]

Those are some major fighting words!

Please speak only from experience - and not in generalities. Please share your experience with each of the different models. Thanks.

I didn't say Orange amps are bad, I just don't necessarily agree with all the praise they are given. I worked at a music store for 2 years, where we stocked almost every Orange amp and several cabs. Just not my thing I guess.

I've played the AD30, AD140, and the Rockerverb 50 combo.

Maybe I'd like the Thunderverb, but I haven't tried it.

 

[Larry]

Those are some major fighting words!

Please speak only from experience - and not in generalities. Please share your experience with each of the different models. Thanks.

I agree can't knock it till you try it.

 

[roburado]

Do you have to crank those F series mesa's to get a good tone?

IIRC, when I bought my .50Cal+, an ancestor of the F-50, back in 1991, one of the sample "settings" listed in the manual was one for "bedroom metal." I assume that the F-50 can do it as well if not better.

 

[greeny]

Am I mssing something here. We are on page 4 of this thread and noone has mentioned Marshall.

I would have thought the JVM should it least be on your shortlist. It has all the gain you will ever need, seems to be getting great reviews (by users as well as mags, just check out some of the threads on TGP) and is considerably cheaper than some of the other options you have mentioned.