General Music Chat

Bob, I use Mesa's because so far they have been the easiest amp for me to get the tone Im after. But if you ever hear me on someone elses equipment or other amp brands if Im givin time to tweak them I will come around to the same base tone. I think Marshalls are the standard in rock n roll guitar amps and that Ampeg SVTs are the standard in rock n roll bass amps. I dont want to diss anyones choice of amps, because it is a factor but it is just a piece in the tone chain, important but I think a players tone comes from his idea of tone he or she hears in their head and the way they play their instrument.

It seems like at the time i was really getting into amps that the Marshalls I wanted were a bit overpriced, and that may have leaned me to the Mesa's, I got my first rectifier in I believe it was 91. Some guy had bought a triple rec to play steel guitar thru. He didnt like it and traded for a fender amp in a local shop. They were going to give him 750 to trade and I said I will give you $850 on the spot for the head. Ive been a constant user of Mesa products every since, Ive only bought on Mesa new and that was the little Subway Rocket, 20 wattt EL 84 tubes, it is my little tone secret for recording. These are discontinued, but I think the Express Series is the same circuit for anyone looking at these amps.

I have had 2 Marshalls, an old Plexi(wish I still had it) and one of there older solid state combos. Ive had a bunch of Peaveys, a Kustom, a couple of Ampegs, a Soldano(wish I still had it) and all sorts of preamp and distortion pedals, and oh yeah my ole Sunn Model T. Ive played on all sorts of gear thru the years, and as Ive said before I think given time and maybe a pedal or two I will sound about the same no motter what you hear me paly thru.

Yeah, you know, the one thing that'll put me off a brand of equipment instantly is reliability issues. There's a brand of bass amp I haven't seen for sale around here recently that, well, the amps sounded great until they inevitably broke (usually in the middle of a critical gig).

But ease of use and "basic" tone will cause me to lean toward one amp or another. Where I start to get picky is speaker cabinets. Well, after the bass itself.

For 3 years now and many gigs later, I've relied on my trusty ole Line 6 Spider Valve (100 watt) and my line 6 Cab (4x12 Celestions) with all effects built in and just a simple channel changing pedal and the sound is spectacular... All the soundmen love it and it's got every freakin' effect needed for whatever venue I'm doing... The only thing I don't like about it is the "clean" sound which I rarely use but found that throwing a tinge of chorus in it makes it a little better!... Ahhh.... here's a pic at one of my live gigs with one of the bands I'm in (Not Mugsy):

the story I love most is about the young player that traded in his Marshall,because he wasn't happy with his tone. He bought a ???????. Then he added a pedal,,,,then another,,,and then a bunch more untill he was truly Happy.
Funny thing , it sounded just like the Marshall ,he traded in.
Even if you don't like Mesa , the cabs they put out are awsome.

How the hell are ya Glen?? Hope all is well over in your neck-o-the woods... called you about a month ago to say "hi" ....Didn't leave a message though.... I'm funny that way with answering machines

Crip I'm still alive,Leave a message next time. You are AWESOME, will be in touch, hope all is well!!!!! Glen.

Glen, My family, especially my son, will never forget the awesome gift you dropped off at my house... You are definitely a kind soul and the type of friend I like to surround myself with!

Colors, you started this thread as a slap at Marshall users, not just the amps. There wouldn't be room on this site to list all of the Marshall users in the world. Yes Marshalls can be little bitches sometimes but I like little bitches, like I said just keep two around.

I posted an image as a joke. Jeez.

I didn't realize there were so many babies on this board. Everyone get your panties straightened out, have a laugh and move on.

I'll refrain from posting anything funny from now on. Just serious political and religious discord from now on.

Colors, you started this thread as a slap at Marshall users, not just the amps. There wouldn't be room on this site to list all of the Marshall users in the world. Yes Marshalls can be little bitches sometimes but I like little bitches, like I said just keep two around.

I posted an image as a joke. Jeez.

I didn't realize there were so many babies on this board. Everyone get your panties straightened out, have a laugh and move on.

I'll refrain from posting anything funny from now on. Just serious political and religious discord from now on.

Thats the spirit!

What ?? No MUSIC ???

What ?? No MUSIC ???

Nah. That'd just piss someone off. Religious discussions always do.

AMEN!!

I'm starting to get to the point where I can use almost anything.Hahaha..

I LOVED my Mesa DR.. But as some of you remember, I had to sell it. Had I known I would end up where I am today (about 7-months of missed mortgage payments) I would have never sold it.

But after doing that, and making a complete musical change, I'm using different amps altogether. My sound is 90% clean channel now. I bought a Fender Hot Rod DeVille.. It sounds good, but I hear they're prone to break down. Then I started running into used Fender 85 Solid State amps that really sound just as good. In fact, the clean channels on them are more responsive than the Deville.

Then I found an old Roland JC-50, and it's freaking awesome in the clean channel. It's more on the Bass and Midrange side than the Fender 85. But the coolest thing about it is it has an output that you can hook up another amp through it's Low-Z input. String them both together, and the sound is amazing. Roland JC bass tones, Fender highs, stereo sound.

Since I only do about 3 or 4 distorted leads in our set, I just use a pedal now.

It's been a trippy turn around for me. Whereas once I was all about tube amps all the time, slowly, I've been transformed into using SS for almost all of our shows. I've raised my share of eyebrows from other guitar players that hear my rig. It's payed off for me to be open minded to both types of amps. It's been a nice learning experience in this past year. Keep in mind, I can always hook up my Roland to the DeVille as well.

I've never been a big Mesa fan. Just too much going on control wise. I know someone with an ear for tone, and knowledge of the amp can dial one in, but I've heard a lot of them sound weird, because they weren't set up right. That's why I like my old Supro...One volume control, one tone control...you can't get a lot of different sounds out of it, but all the ones you can get are great.