Hello everyone
Have been reading these forums like a madman for couple of years already, but never had a reason to write anything... Now it's time to share something about my GAS-building and stuff...
Couple of years ago I bought a used Mark III bluestripe combo and was pretty satisfied with the tones I got out of it, but still there was a some serious lacking in authority when played on-stage. Also I had (still for sale) this hardwood 1x12 Thiele which gave some authority to the sound. Still, the channel switching on Mk III is kinda cumbersome: I just cannot get the "greatest clean ever", "greatest crunch ever" and "greatest lead ever" with same settings.
I found many ways to deal with the problem, but still... I had to focus on fiddling the knobs in the guitar and it was pretty much distracting from the main point. So I built a helluva pedalboard (aka. drum raiser) to remedy this and.. well.. the weight was something about 45kg (~100lbs), so huge PIA to lug around... Sold this setup after half an year just because of the weight. I have some injuries in arms and also in back so... lugging is not the best part...
So I was thinking at getting a new amp also. My options were: Road King (too expensive), Roadster combo (too heavy), JVM 410 combo (too... not Mesa), Mark IV head (Mark-itis, fiddler on the roof), Dual rectifier (No reverb, tried 2ch single recto - not versatile enough same applies to 2ch dual), Lonestar (tried couple of times - clean excellent, lead=not-articulate smudge)
Couple of weeks ago I just bought a Roadster head and 4x12 traditional recto cab and holy smoke... This thing really beats the Mk III with versatility and also in authority. Also I was kinda afraid that the sounds would be shrill and "Black & Decker" -like, but nooo... so creamy and clear sounds that I have been playing more guitar and also more inspired just to play the guitar. I still have couple pedals but I'm too lazy to take them from closet and plug them in ^^
This set was used so the power tubes were kinda dull already - also they were installed in wrong way pairs in AABB (at least in online manual it is stated that the order should be ABBA). So I just put the Yellow Jackets in the A -positions and the not-so-dead pair in B... The brit with EL84 really shines And with "homebrew-SimulClass" poweramp - the "100W" position also has nice thump & clear ping ... I'm enjoying more and more this machine and also learning to cop with too-many-bells-n-whistles
The Brit or Tweed mode with Gain, Treble and Mid at full and others to taste will give REAALLLY biting and cutting lead sound. This kinda sound I could not found from Mk III The Vintage mode is more like classic Mesa territory and Modern... Well let's talk about huge and clear heavy rhythm Also the Clean and Fat are good to my ears. So the Mk III really was lacking versatility compared to this beast. I'm still having the honeymoon -phase But still, this was fantastic - even in stock tubes...
The cabinet sounds good only when cranked - this is the tradeoff for this setup Also I tried the amp with the Thiele cab and I could dial in great tones with lower volume... But what kind of moron buys 100W tube amp and 4x12 for home use well... Me!!.. Sorry neighbors.. I will use this also in gigs so don't worry And for smaller gigs (about 99,99% of them) I can take Palmer 1x12 (Private Jack) with the roadster and have great sounds in smaller package Most of the time my gigs are in church, playing some cleanish-half rive stuff so this setup is overkill.. but oh-boy what an overkill Still, when there's need I can always get to the heavy-land
I'm not completely sure about the english articles but try to get the message... :lol:
Peaches
Have been reading these forums like a madman for couple of years already, but never had a reason to write anything... Now it's time to share something about my GAS-building and stuff...
Couple of years ago I bought a used Mark III bluestripe combo and was pretty satisfied with the tones I got out of it, but still there was a some serious lacking in authority when played on-stage. Also I had (still for sale) this hardwood 1x12 Thiele which gave some authority to the sound. Still, the channel switching on Mk III is kinda cumbersome: I just cannot get the "greatest clean ever", "greatest crunch ever" and "greatest lead ever" with same settings.
I found many ways to deal with the problem, but still... I had to focus on fiddling the knobs in the guitar and it was pretty much distracting from the main point. So I built a helluva pedalboard (aka. drum raiser) to remedy this and.. well.. the weight was something about 45kg (~100lbs), so huge PIA to lug around... Sold this setup after half an year just because of the weight. I have some injuries in arms and also in back so... lugging is not the best part...
So I was thinking at getting a new amp also. My options were: Road King (too expensive), Roadster combo (too heavy), JVM 410 combo (too... not Mesa), Mark IV head (Mark-itis, fiddler on the roof), Dual rectifier (No reverb, tried 2ch single recto - not versatile enough same applies to 2ch dual), Lonestar (tried couple of times - clean excellent, lead=not-articulate smudge)
Couple of weeks ago I just bought a Roadster head and 4x12 traditional recto cab and holy smoke... This thing really beats the Mk III with versatility and also in authority. Also I was kinda afraid that the sounds would be shrill and "Black & Decker" -like, but nooo... so creamy and clear sounds that I have been playing more guitar and also more inspired just to play the guitar. I still have couple pedals but I'm too lazy to take them from closet and plug them in ^^
This set was used so the power tubes were kinda dull already - also they were installed in wrong way pairs in AABB (at least in online manual it is stated that the order should be ABBA). So I just put the Yellow Jackets in the A -positions and the not-so-dead pair in B... The brit with EL84 really shines And with "homebrew-SimulClass" poweramp - the "100W" position also has nice thump & clear ping ... I'm enjoying more and more this machine and also learning to cop with too-many-bells-n-whistles
The Brit or Tweed mode with Gain, Treble and Mid at full and others to taste will give REAALLLY biting and cutting lead sound. This kinda sound I could not found from Mk III The Vintage mode is more like classic Mesa territory and Modern... Well let's talk about huge and clear heavy rhythm Also the Clean and Fat are good to my ears. So the Mk III really was lacking versatility compared to this beast. I'm still having the honeymoon -phase But still, this was fantastic - even in stock tubes...
The cabinet sounds good only when cranked - this is the tradeoff for this setup Also I tried the amp with the Thiele cab and I could dial in great tones with lower volume... But what kind of moron buys 100W tube amp and 4x12 for home use well... Me!!.. Sorry neighbors.. I will use this also in gigs so don't worry And for smaller gigs (about 99,99% of them) I can take Palmer 1x12 (Private Jack) with the roadster and have great sounds in smaller package Most of the time my gigs are in church, playing some cleanish-half rive stuff so this setup is overkill.. but oh-boy what an overkill Still, when there's need I can always get to the heavy-land
I'm not completely sure about the english articles but try to get the message... :lol:
Peaches