Did Somebody mention . . . . MESA

Don O said:
I’m still in kindergarten on learning how to dial this guy in. 2 channels, with 3 preamp types each and then a switchable EQ.

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I can not over stress the importance of reading and understanding the description of your tone controls in the amp manual.
They do not work like other amps. I am sure @gball will agree with me on this.
 
ChasFred said:
The trickery that Mesa pulls of with the biasing is indeed very involved.
That is why you do not see all the Tube amp manufacturers doing the same thing.

The designers at Mesa, and especially Randal Smith, . . . well they are wizards I say . . . wizards.
They sold their souls for the magic beans that they eat for the inspiration to make these wonderful contraptions.
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Do these beans make them flatulent???
 
gball said:
The haters are people who refuse to learn a new way of dialing in an amp. They are so used to Fender/Marshall/oldschool tone stacks that really don't have much sweep or interactivity that when they encounter one like Mesa uses, where even tiny changes to the knobs make enormous changes to the sound, they shut down and revert to training instead of learning. If someone can't get killer tones out of a Mesa the problem is them, not the amp.
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I really dislike the Fender tone stack where the 'mid' acts more like a volume than a EQ control. I have gotten used to how sensitive my pair of Marshall's are with the current tube load out.

I was recording through a Dirty Shirley today and it was a decent amp.
 
ChasFred said:
I can not over stress the importance of reading and understanding the description of your tone controls in the amp manual.
They do not work like other amps. I am sure @gball will agree with me on this.
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100% agree --- -- they are very different critters--
you dont just turn it on and DIME everything and expect to have anything remotely usable--and all the controls are UBER sensitive a tiny knob adjustment can produce very different results--
 
eSGEe said:
100% agree --- -- they are very different critters--
you dont just turn it on and DIME everything and expect to have anything remotely usable--and all the controls are UBER sensitive a tiny knob adjustment can produce very different results--
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I tried a few Mesa's and I do agree they are very sensitive to adjustments and seem to produce a wide range of tones.
 
Don O said:
I’m still in kindergarten on learning how to dial this guy in. 2 channels, with 3 preamp types each and then a switchable EQ.

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Even though I'd onwed a bunch of different Mesa amps over the preceding two decades, the Mark 5:25 took me a while to learn to dial in. Now that I've cracked that code I am basically ruined for any other amps. I keep trying different Marshalls and can't get any of them to come close to the sound of the Mark in Crunch mode, let alone the Mk channels. Gonna stop trying actuall, and pretty sure I want to sell my Mini Rec and buy another 5:25.
 
ChasFred said:
I can not over stress the importance of reading and understanding the description of your tone controls in the amp manual.
They do not work like other amps. I am sure @gball will agree with me on this.
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Definitely agree. Using the sample settings in the manual is an almost essential place to start, then tweak from there until you get used to how the controls interact with each other. Main thing for the Mesas (to me): as the gain goes up, the bass must go down.
 
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