mesa transatlantic!

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I agree with cvansickle. Nice cleans; could use more gain on H1 and H2. I've been running a clean boost through the front of mine when I want to push more gain.
 
I'm surprised there's been so little talk about this amp here and on The Gear Page and other places. I like it.
 
well, it's got a couple of strikes against it in a publicity sense-- it's the most expensive player in a crowded and widely misunderstood market segment, it's not widely available, it's not part of an established legacy for Mesa, and it's a kinda funny-looking little guy.

I say the lunchbox segment is widely misunderstood because while in theory there's a market for lunchboxes among serious players who are either playing lower-volume or non-guitar-centric gigs or doing a lot of recording, it's not really that big and you still don't see that many guys actually using them. I think that's because a lot of those guys are pretty conservative about their rigs and their gear, and a lot of them prefer combos anyway -- ditto for a lot of modern 'indie' players who are almost always much more interested in guitars and pedals than amps.

The biggest market for lunchbox amps, and I don't think it was intentional on the part of the vendors, is kids who want a tube amp to play metal but also only have 500 bucks to spend and are not playing at band volumes. That's why the #1 question about any lunchbox is 'can it do metal'.

that's why I think making a high-end lunchbox is probably kind of an iffy proposition.
 
I've been using mine a bit and gigged with it. Still love it. Today I spent time testing it with different speaker cabinets as I wasn't quite satisfied with it through my Mesa Recto 2x12 with Hellatone V30s. Sounded better through a Matchless open back 1x12, not quite as good through a Matchless 2x12, but absolutely killed through a 65 Amps 2x12 (one speaker a celestion gold). I used a Weber Impedance matcher to use the 16 ohm cab with the 8 ohm output. Didn't try plugging in directly with a mismatch. Yet. Sounded awesome in all modes and all power settings, though HI2 doesn't do "it" for me. This cabinet was a match made in heaven for this head.
 
I gave one another try today. I still say it has the best cleans I've ever heard from a Mesa, and still better than a lot of Fender and Vox cleans I've heard over the years.

I tried it first with one of my Strats, one that has Fralin Blues Special pickups. Clean side = bliss. 'Nuff said.

Dirty side with the Strat was very good. I was starting to change my mindset about this amp. Then I plugged in a stock Les Paul. Nope, same response. Not enough gain for humbuckers.

How could this be? I thought it had a great hard rock sound with single coils, but not with humbuckers? Usually it's the other way around.
 
I got mine a couple of weeks ago; the cabinet was not available so I ordered a 1X12 widebody open back cab.
While I waited for it I used the amp on a 4X12 Hughes and Kettner Triamp cabinet: 4X Celestion Grennbacks.
Sounds great, not cristal clear like a fender amp but great crunch sound.
I used it with a 63 strat, a 66 335, a 68 tele thinline and a guitar I made myself that has 2 twin blade Bill Lawrence L500 (from wylde pickups). Needless to say that the most powerful sounds came from this last guitar but all the others sounded really great.
Two days ago I got the cab and the sound is totally different: cristal clear clean sounds; a real competitor to the twin.
I compensated the lack of reverb by doing some research and finding a great pedal, built by a US company called Neunaber, and the sounds are stunning in all positions. Obviously each guitar requires it's own amp settings to get the most out of it.
I haven't tried it at a gig yet
 
I tried the Trans Atlantic yesterday. I thought it was very versatile and had all kinds of nice tones. I especially liked the size. That said, they had a 5:25 head right next to it for $200 more. My money goes for the 5:25. Just my opinion.
 
this has always been my query with this - why would you go for the transatlantic over a 5:25 head..??
 

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