I Think I’ve Decided What My Next Amp Will Be - For Now...

smitty_p said:
Ha!

Actually......no.

At a minimum, I want a two channel amp with an effects loop. I also like that each channel on the Mesa amps has its own EQ section, unlike many Marshalls, which often share the EQ, especially on their lower wattage amps. I realize this isn’t true of all Marshalls, but it's something to think about.

To be honest, I have been able to get good sounds from my Marshall DSL-5C, especially by running to an isolation cabinet. But, the longer I have it and the more I use it, the more limiting it seems as an amplifier.

Plus, I don't get the sense that Marshall really expected this to be used as a gigging amp. Again, I have been able to get, I think, really good sounds from it, but there is a pretty narrow range of what sounds good. There is a narrow range where I can get good clean tones, and a narrow range where my overdriven tones sound good without getting fizzy. Swapping a 5751 PI tube in for the stock ECC83 helped, but I think I'm just wanting a more 'grown up' sounding amp.

Mesa, on the other hand, seem to have taken their lower wattage amps more seriously. I don't presume to understand the actual corporate thought process, but my impression is that Mesa realized their lower wattage amps would be used in live situations, so they built them to be able to do that. The lower wattage Mesa amps seem to have as much attention given to their design and build as the larger models.

It is true. The Mesa amps are expensive, and I'll have to save for a few months to get one without impacting any other family budget considerations. I give myself an allowance, so I'll just keep socking dollars away until I can get an amp on the used market. But, sometimes the adage, "You get what you pay for," holds a lot of merit.
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I see no reason to upgrade from the DSL40C....Makes same $$$$ as a Friedmann...
 
Robert Herndon said:
I see no reason to upgrade from the DSL40C....Makes same $$$$ as a Friedmann...
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That's were each musician has to make decisions that best suits individual needs and desires.

For me, I feel I have pushed the limits of the versatility I'm looking for from my rig. I do think I've done a decent job with my setup, but lately I've been feeling a little constrained. Again, that's me. I don't mean to extrapolate that to others.

My issue is that the bulk of the amps I've used always seem to sacrifice something. If the cleans are great, the overdrive is poor. If the overdrive is great, the cleans are poor. Or, the amp won't take pedals well...you get the point. I really do need to have both very good cleans and overdrive in a quality package. Though I've always been a Marshall fan, now I've sort of moved away from Marshall as a must-have. I certainly don't dislike them! But, from reading numerous posts on this forum and doing my own research off-forum, it seems that Mesa seem to have given the most attention to the total package.

I'll probably keep my Marshall as a practice amp. I'll also keep my little '73 Fender Champ. But, I'll likely sell off the other amps and some pedals to apply funding toward the Mini-Rec.
 
gball said:
50 and 100 watt monsters are anachronistic throwbacks in an age of lower stage volume and better PA systems: Much easier to get an amp cooking in the sweet spot when you have lower power.
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Exactly.

That has been the driving thought process behind my continuous preoccupation with lower-powered amplifiers.
 
smitty_p said:
That's were each musician has to make decisions that best suits individual needs and desires.

For me, I feel I have pushed the limits of the versatility I'm looking for from my rig. I do think I've done a decent job with my setup, but lately I've been feeling a little constrained. Again, that's me. I don't mean to extrapolate that to others.

My issue is that the bulk of the amps I've used always seem to sacrifice something. If the cleans are great, the overdrive is poor. If the overdrive is great, the cleans are poor. Or, the amp won't take pedals well...you get the point. I really do need to have both very good cleans and overdrive in a quality package. Though I've always been a Marshall fan, now I've sort of moved away from Marshall as a must-have. I certainly don't dislike them! But, from reading numerous posts on this forum and doing my own research off-forum, it seems that Mesa seem to have given the most attention to the total package.

I'll probably keep my Marshall as a practice amp. I'll also keep my little '73 Fender Champ. But, I'll likely sell off the other amps and some pedals to apply funding toward the Mini-Rec.
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My bottom line is that I make a living with the DSL40C. I love music and I love playing, but that is also my only means of support. I also like the tone I get from it, it is relatively lightweight and with the 75watt Electro-Harmonix speaker, it can provide extremely high stage volumes with absolute clarity.

I have played through the high dollar boutique amps, and they don't give me anything that my DSL40C doesn't, and, to that end, they don't earn me any more money, so I just avoid the gear acquisition approach and instead try to book more paying performances.
 
Robert Herndon said:
My bottom line is that I make a living with the DSL40C. I love music and I love playing, but that is also my only means of support. I also like the tone I get from it, it is relatively lightweight and with the 75watt Electro-Harmonix speaker, it can provide extremely high stage volumes with absolute clarity.

I have played through the high dollar boutique amps, and they don't give me anything that my DSL40C doesn't, and, to that end, they don't earn me any more money, so I just avoid the gear acquisition approach and instead try to book more paying performances.
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All I needed when I was gigging was a Les Paul, a Tube Screamer and a loud Marshall. Never thought much past that or needed much more. It's only now that I spend all my time in a room playing alone that I have started to become a tone weenie and worry about all that. I literally went out the other day and bought a damn Rockett Archer solely because I thought it would be, oh, I don't know, imperceptibly better-sounding than the Ehx Soul Food I was messing with. It is a bit better...but is worth $200? I don't know but my GAS seems to think so.
 
smitty_p said:
My issue is that the bulk of the amps I've used always seem to sacrifice something. If the cleans are great, the overdrive is poor. If the overdrive is great, the cleans are poor. Or, the amp won't take pedals well...you get the point. I really do need to have both very good cleans and overdrive in a quality package.
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Here's an example of the clean channel on my DSL40C. It's a decent clean i think...maybe you need a cleaner-clean...???


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I had a Mini Recto for a few years.
I really liked the 2 different power settings for each channel. It got quite loud especially on 25 watts on channel 2 in extreme mode. Well made amp.

The reason I let it go was I wanted a fairly saturated channel 1 without having to resort to pedals. Even in Push mode, it didnt quite have enough gain for this metal head. Channel 2 has it in abundance but then no channel switching. For a practice etc I dont want to have to haul pedals around. A 2 channel, 2 modes per channel amp should be able to work without pedals.

So I sold it. But if ypu want clean and dirty it would work great. I also wish the modes were footswitchable as per the new Marshall CR series but they are not. Mesas are also very expensive in Canada so I need it to do what I want. Not a huge fan of overdriven EL84s either.

YMMV.
 
Robert Herndon said:
I don't see it like that at all...I'm just curious, how clean are you talking???
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I’m looking for completely undistorted cleans with a bit of bloom, that I can air out with a bit of delay and chorus - nearly acoustic-like. But, it’s more than that. I also like the rather diminutive size of the Mini-Rec head. I really don’t want a big combo amp blowing a lot of volume on stage. My practice is to run to an iso-cab and mic to the PA.
 
smitty_p said:
I’m looking for completely undistorted cleans with a bit of bloom, that I can air out with a bit of delay and chorus - nearly acoustic-like. But, it’s more than that. I also like the rather diminutive size of the Mini-Rec head. I really don’t want a big combo amp blowing a lot of volume on stage. My practice is to run to an iso-cab and mic to the PA.
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The Mini Rec will get you there but it may be slightly speaker-dependent. On the Green Channel/Clean Mode, set at 25 watts, you can get a big, bouncy dry clean with no hint of saturation at a gigging volume through a 4x12. The amp won't even break a sweat. Through a 2x12 you may need to up the volume a bit and the power tubes might just start to get a little angry. Through a 1x12 you'll be in Vox-like overdrive when you dig in if you are at that volume level.
 
gball said:
The Mini Rec will get you there but it may be slightly speaker-dependent. On the Green Channel/Clean Mode, set at 25 watts, you can get a big, bouncy dry clean with no hint of saturation at a gigging volume through a 4x12. The amp won't even break a sweat. Through a 2x12 you may need to up the volume a bit and the power tubes might just start to get a little angry. Through a 1x12 you'll be in Vox-like overdrive when you dig in if you are at that volume level.
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What is your speaker recommendation for a good tonal match?

As for the gigging volume issue, don’t forget, I use an iso-cab. This gives me the luxury of not having to push the amp too hard. I can let the PA do the heavy lifting for house volume and I use in-ear monitors for my own mix.
 
smitty_p said:
What is your speaker recommendation for a good tonal match?

As for the gigging volume issue, don’t forget, I use an iso-cab. This gives me the luxury of not having to push the amp too hard. I can let the PA do the heavy lifting for house volume and I use in-ear monitors for my own mix.
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That's a win/win then.

Best overall tone I got with mine was through an open-back 1x12 with a Mesa C-90 in it. I know an open-back cab is not the obvious choice for a lot of people using a Recto, but I have found those speakers to be magic with both cleans and high gain (which, I suppose, is why Mesa uses that speaker in the Mark 5 combo) and they sound great at any volume.

I also used it at various times with my Recto 1x12 with the Mesa V-30, a Mojo 2x12 with Warehouse Retro 30's and my old Mesa 4x12 with Eminence Private Jacks in it. Worked great with all of them but I think the WGS' were the least impressive of the lot. Through the 4x12 the thing was as skull-crushing as any high-gain amp needs to be. Surprising thump from a pair of '84's.
 
smitty_p said:
I’m looking for completely undistorted cleans with a bit of bloom, that I can air out with a bit of delay and chorus - nearly acoustic-like. But, it’s more than that. I also like the rather diminutive size of the Mini-Rec head. I really don’t want a big combo amp blowing a lot of volume on stage. My practice is to run to an iso-cab and mic to the PA.
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We don't live in the word of mic'd amps and PA's for live work. It's straight stage volume. When I look around us at local events, that's pretty much how it goes.

Serious question - How many of you have gigged where you can look over at the other guitarist - just on the other side of the drum kit - and see him soloing all over the neck and not hear him????

Or, stand beside your amplifier, with the volume halfway up, and not hear it until you walk out in front of it????

Marshall @ Work.jpgrICK rAYVEN.jpg
 
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eSGEe said:
not me --- i suck
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Don't sell yourself short....

I was playing in a bar band at 15 for $125/week and the first time i saw the other guitar player soloing and couldn't hear him, i thought i had gone deaf.

Guitar amps are very directional in their sonic behavior and it took me a while to get used to those anomalies.

I have performed with Aviom (in ear) monitoring and hate the false representation it gives you of your sound.

Guess I'll just stay in the Jurassic period.
 
Robert Herndon said:
Serious question - How many of you have gigged where you can look over at the other guitarist - just on the other side of the drum kit - and see him soloing all over the neck and not hear him????

Or, stand beside your amplifier, with the volume halfway up, and not hear it until you walk out in front of it????
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Oh yeah!! When we'd play places that had no or weak monitors we (the two guitar players) could barely hear each other. I'd have to walk up to the front of the drum riser and kind of lean over toward his way and vice-versa. And even with a slant-front 4x12 I wasn't always able to hear myself without leaning down a little. It was definitely easier when I played in a 3-piece (the bass player was the singer).

Obviously, if the place had any kind of decent monitors this wasn't a problem.
 
Robert Herndon said:
Don't sell yourself short....

I was playing in a bar band at 15 for $125/week and the first time i saw the other guitar player soloing and couldn't hear him, i thought i had gone deaf.

Guitar amps are very directional in their sonic behavior and it took me a while to get used to those anomalies.

I have performed with Aviom (in ear) monitoring and hate the false representation it gives you of your sound.

Guess I'll just stay in the Jurassic period.
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I am with you on that brother.
We had rather large stages, and we both played thru full stacks, and I would have to go out by the singer in center stage to hear him, pretty sure he had to do the same when I solo’d , but we got by in that time period!!
 
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