Mesa amps

[adamcbest]

Just curious what Mesas you guys like and what kind of music you play?? Post your thoughts

[Dylan7620]

i play a blue angel. its aimed for blues players and such being a class A amp. but i run my rg7620 through it instead . my band plays alot of progressive metal i guess u could call it. not technical like dream theater stuff but it gives me all the tone i need. its really thick and warm, and have yet to meet anyone who can match or surpass my clean tone. i use a boss metal zone for the dirty, i overdrive my amp just a bit to get a nice thick crunch and its one of the best dirty sounds ive ever heard. my main sound is really really beefy, some might say muddy, similar to korn's guitars but a little more defined. i can back off the clean gain and get a nice classic rock sound (marshall esq) to grab all the screaming false harmonics. my only complaint is that its only 38 watts so i have to mic it.

my other guitarist uses the f-50 model which is i guess one of the most acclaimed amps to come out in the last decade. its only 50 watts runnin through a 1x12 at the moment but man is it f$^&ing loud (supposed to play a crowd of up to 500)!!! you have to crank this baby to get to the "sweet spot" in tone (class a/b). and it does take a little tweaking (as with most mesas) to get the right sound you want.

a friend in another band has the all mighty triple rectifier. this thing is a beast. gobs of thick tone and a truckload of gain. a monster really. every time im done after about half an hour of just myself and i get a happy/exhausted afterglow like i had a night full of great sex.

[musicdr]

I use a triaxis into a 395simulclass.My band plays everything from metal-prog to classic rock.With a bit of tweaking I've gotten any tone I desire,in fact its hard to get a bad sound out of it.My bedroom amp is a subway rocket,though its loud enough to gig with.Its the loudest 20 watt amp I've ever played.In my room,I rarely have it above 1.I'm going to run through my 4-12 and see what it can do.I've gotten some great cleans out of both.Though the guitars frequently change,the amps will not.

[tafie]

I use a dual rectifier 2 channel model. Its run through an alesis midiverb 4 and an art 351 eq. I play metal (new and old) and rock. the clean channel is cool nice and twangy if you want it and big and full sounding as well. The dirty channel is over the top. tons of gain and the harmonics really jump. It can get seriously loud in a hurry. It sound great with the detuned 7 string and 6 string baritone and sound awesome at standard tuning as well. A little tweaking here and there and you can go from Stevie Ray Vaughn to Steve Vai to Dimebag Darrell.

[Carlo]

The nomads are great sounding amps....I don't own one but I've used one a lot of times and it sounds great....very versatile and dynamic. You can get a great Mesa crunch sound and also get a nice warm...vintage twang out of it too with a strat...very nice. Oh yeah with a good pedal or without sometimes...u can get a good lead tone as well. Sounds good at low volumes too. I definately wanna pick one up if I have the money.

[VanWyck]

I just picked up a rect-o-verb 50w head and a 2x12 recto cab. I have a digitech RP-12, and a JEM7VWH. I tried the Mark IV, Road King, Nomad, F-50, and Went with the Single recto. I play classic rock, some attempts at prog, Mostly SRV meets Gilmour, with some Vai/satch thrown in. The recto has two clean and three distorted modes, all quite useful.

[bduersch]

I play a little bit of everything... I'm in a hard rock/funk hybrid band, also in a 25-piece jazz band, and I've been known to record some progressive instrumental stuff when the time permits... I need versatile amps!

That said, Mesa has never me down. My main rig is a Triaxis and a 2:90. I honestly believe that it is the best mix of tone and flexibility available anywhere. Loud, heavy, expensive to retube, but worth it in every way!

I also have a Mark IV (was my main amp for a while, now my backup). For a combo, it's got a good tone/flexibility thing going. Took me forever to find my tone using it... I think it took me 3 months to find it. Then I wrote my settings down everywhere, so I wouldn't lose them. To me, it's not a good amp for beginners, because it's got so many controls and they all interact with each other in strange ways. But, it is a great combo--I like it because it always sounds great with a guitar plugged straight into it (no FX).

I've also used a Nomad 45 for a while... another killer amp. Not quite as flexible as the Mk IV, but a lot simpler to use. I always thought the Nomad was voiced a little darker, maybe a little dryer (less liquidy gain) than the Mk IV. It had a little more of a vintage tone to it. Coolest feature: the built-in solo boost!

I'm looking for a new amp now...a Mesa Subway Rocket to use for impromptu jamming--I played one at GC the other day, and aside from the fact that it was beat to hell and completely microphonic, still managed to kick ass.

Well, what can I say... I'm a Mesa fan!
--B

[track7]

Hey,

NOMAD fan/user here. Definatley the nicest tone i've ever played first hand. They kind of designed it to cover every base you could need. The cleans/blues/ and classic rock in the first channel. The Mark Series type of sounds in the second, and the bone crunching recto thing on the third.

It may not be identical to those daddies, but I dont think that I'd be happy without it. In my opinion its either a nomad or carry around both a Mark IV and a Recto, and aside from a hernia i'm not that rich yet!

I've tried and played many mesa's, and have to say that although some are very very nice sounding, none beat the nomad for tone + versitality. I reckon the Triaxis or maybe the new Road King would - but thats CRAZY money.

Cant wait though until I can further my amp collection. But next on the list is a 2x12 extention cab for it

David

[trouble311]

I am also a recent Nomad convert, waiting for mine to get here from the Boys In Brown. Unbelievable tone, cheap as dirt (value for money-wise), versatile, and lighter than my Marshall TSL602, believe it or not!

[swatguitar85]

I've got a Rect-O-Verb and a Standard Rectifier 4x12. I love both of them. I play a bit of everything, but mostly rock music.

[bammbamm]

Triaxis and 20:20 rack and a Studio .22 1x12 combo with EQ.

Both setups are rock solid and sound great.
I'm a Mesa fan.

I would like to check out some VHT stuff, but at the same time, why shop around when you're already happy?!

Bamm