Best Clean Tone, Which mesa/Boogie?

[JAZZGEAR]

Of the three Mesa's I have owned
Road King series 1
Mark IV
Electra Dyne

The Electra Dyne had the best cleans to my ears by a wide margin.

:shock: Just goes to show tone is subjective....cause the RK I IMO has the worst Mesa cleans -- right there with the other rectifiers :shock:

 

[dbsens03]

Well, I think I have them all covered with the Mesa amps in my sig. :mrgreen:

agreed!

 

[YellowJacket]

:shock: Just goes to show tone is subjective....cause the RK I IMO has the worst Mesa cleans -- right there with the other rectifiers :shock:

=-/ 2 channel duals (Rev F and later) really don't have a bad clean. It simply sounds far better through a cab that specializes in clean tones. A metal axe and a 4 x 12 is really not a fair test of a good clean tone.

As for the best *I* have heard from Mesa, DEFINITELY the Electra Dyne or the Lonestar Special. Interestingly, my Dual WITH a pair of YellowJackets and a pair of 6L6s comes very close but that isn't a fair comparison since this is not how the amp was designed to run.

The Recto Reborn heads definitely have a good clean on them too.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

I'm quite happy with the cleans on my Roadster to be honest. Hell, even the cleans on the Stiletto makes me happy too... :mrgreen:

 

[cremona]

My simul sat 85, in class A mode sounds at least as good as the eclean channel in my former mark IIc+ wich says alot

just my two cents

 

[Monsta-Tone]

My Maverick with upgraded transformers and NOS tubes!
It's everything my LSS tried to be but couldn't!

Nice and fat with lots of sustain. Plus, it will get you some sweet mild breakup if you dig in hard enough!
Now I just have to find the time to play it.

 

[94Tremoverb]

For myself, my favourite is actually the clean mode on the old Dual Rectifier. It's relatively dark and has a cool, sorta spongy thing going on with it... yet is also loud enough to throw it's weight around. Most people who're into traditional clean tones would probably hate it, but I like it because it has some character to it.

That's exactly why I like them too, and the Tremoverb even more so - it's nearly the same, but can be a bit brighter and more open, depending on how you set it. But then I prefer Marshall cleans (which is where the DR circuit originally evolved from, and on the 2-channels the clean mode uses the same signal path) over Fender Blackface cleans.

I do miss the clean tone on the Blue Angel I had though... also not a traditional Fender clean, it was darker, fatter and more 'bouncy'. I know what Monsta-Tone means about the Maverick cleans too - I had one of those (though not modified, it was an early 1x12" combo) and loved the clean sound, but in a straight fight with the Blue Angel, the Angel won.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

but in a straight fight with the Blue Angel, the Angel won.

I had both of them at the same time as well. Both had the original Chinese Mesa tubes. I really liked both but felt that the Maverick was more versatile. I could almost nail the BA's tone, but the Mav had many more inside it. So, in the end, the Mav won for me.

 

[94Tremoverb]

I agree that the Maverick could nearly get the Blue Angel's tone - when the Angel was in EL84 mode. But that was my least favorite mode on it, I much prefered that squashier tone of the 6V6s alone or the chunkier Simul setting. Those ones just sounded much nicer than the Maverick, to me - and since I had another amp for overdriven tones, I sold the Mav and kept the Angel. But in hindsight it may have been a mistake - while the Angel did definitely have a better clean to light breakup sound, I agree that that was all it did, whereas the Maverick did much more. In the end, I sold the Angel too. I miss them both, but in truth neither was quite the right amp for me when I couldn't afford to keep specialist amps and I have a Tremoverb... which also doesn't match the Angel for cleans, but it can do everything else including tones the Maverick couldn't come close to either.

There is no one perfect amp, of course... if only I could have them all . (And even the DC-5 I had before any of them, that could still do sounds the Tremoverb can't!)

 

[Monsta-Tone]

if only I could have them all

It does help to have an amp shop! I usually end up buying broken amps that guys have given up on and repairing them, or taking them in on trade! Keeps the wife from blowing a gasket!


My other favorite Mesa amp for cleans is the Heartbreaker. Love channel, low gain, 12AY7 in V1 with Reverb modified to sound like a Twin!