Guess the Mesa amp :)

Can you guys guess it? What do you think of it?

https://soundcloud.com/allanjg/metal-mixdown

Allan.

Sounds like Mark V with the treble and presence cranked.

Sounds like Recto lineage to me.

AxeFX.

definitely sounds like a Mark. I'm going to guess MK V.

Sounds like a dual recto multiwatt through with an attenuator or power soak between the amp and the speaker.

Not my kinda calamity but I really like those high notes quietly chiming through in the first 8 bars or so. I really like how you got that sound, awesome.
Because I think your gonna surprise us with something out of left field, I'm having a guess that you're doing this on a IV.

I did listen to it again, not sure if it is a Recto, may be something similar.

It has been a while since I had my Mark IV, it is close to the tone I was able to get on RHY2 though a 412.
It does have similarity to the Mark V but not close enough. Since I only had the Stiletto for a week, it is similar to that as well as that sounded close to my Roadster in some respects... I give up... I will wait until you reveal it.

Thinking backwards, if I was trying to nail the tone in the clip, I would first try my Rev C Recto.

But trying to figure out the amp from the clip, nah, forget it. Too many variables. I couldn't even say if it was a Mesa, a Marshall, an Engl or a modeling unit.

Well... no... The amp I'm using is the Boogie Roadster. I love it to pieces but there are, as you can expect, things that I'm not a fan of (fizz/not the best for bedroom use/not enough compression for that "liquid" lead work to me anyway), but it is the fiercest amp for live use and recording due to its versatility, just amazing!

Here the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-fsu0FyBJI

I used a cheap Sony mic, cheap MI interface and a marshall 1960a Dave Mustaine Sig Cab.

Alan.

blackoutshred said:

Well... no... The amp I'm using is the Boogie Roadster. I love it to pieces but there are, as you can expect, things that I'm not a fan of (fizz/not the best for bedroom use/not enough compression for that "liquid" lead work to me anyway), but it is the fiercest amp for live use and recording due to its versatility, just amazing!

Here the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-fsu0FyBJI

I used a cheap Sony mic, cheap MI interface and a marshall 1960a Dave Mustaine Sig Cab.

Alan.

Click to expand...

that's a trip! It definitely sounded like a mark to me when I first heard it. What settings were you using? To get a more liquid sound try using an attenuator because Boogie definitely compress more when the volume is up. the difference it makes in my stiletto if I attenuate versus using the master at a lower setting is quite significant. But using the Master low is better when I want more jangle.

Thanks for that dude... Use it lots on live applications and I know what's capable of. In that, I was talking strictly on bedroom level... There are other 100/50w amps that handle better low volumes by far. Buy it for live use but still, never is enough.

Would be lying with the settings, used vintage/bold/bypassed and a hell of a lot volume.

blackoutshred said:

Well... no... The amp I'm using is the Boogie Roadster.

Click to expand...

Oh, I can easily believe that. The top end character of the sound was definitely Rectoish. It was the rest that was not...entirely. It was brighter and edgier than is the norm for Rectos, even though they can be dialed to sound something like that. Or if they are boosted, or if you are using a mic that emphasizes certain frequencies, or if you are post-eq'ing the sound. Or if it is not a Mesa to begin with. Like I said, too many variables we were not aware of. :lol:

I recently got a Strymon OB.1 compressor. So far I love it as it does not generate as much white noise (if at all). I had a Boss Compressor a while back but gave it to a friend as a birthday gift sine I felt it was not needed for the Mark V (this was before I got the Roadster). The OB.1 is more transparent than the Whampler ego (bought that one first). You will get compression with it but not as dramatic. Also the boost feature adds more to the mix. I will have to compare the Roadster to the Mark V for lead playing when using the OB.1 on the Roadster. For some reason I am not seeing why the Rectifier is not suitable for lead.

I too love the Roadster. Ch4 modern has to be my favorite, along with the tweed of CH1.

Thanks for the Guess the Mesa Amp quiz, shows how much I know about tone.

LesPaul70 said:

blackoutshred said:

Well... no... The amp I'm using is the Boogie Roadster.

Click to expand...

Or if they are boosted, or if you are using a mic that emphasizes certain frequencies, or if you are post-eq'ing the sound. Or if it is not a Mesa to begin with. Like I said, too many variables we were not aware of. :lol:

Click to expand...

Did nothing really... the mic was mega cheap, so the interface, everything connected to my Mac. One thing to notice, I did use a Tc Spark on "Mid" boosting.

bandit2013 said:

I recently got a Strymon OB.1 compressor. So far I love it as it does not generate as much white noise (if at all). I had a Boss Compressor a while back but gave it to a friend as a birthday gift sine I felt it was not needed for the Mark V (this was before I got the Roadster). The OB.1 is more transparent than the Whampler ego (bought that one first). You will get compression with it but not as dramatic. Also the boost feature adds more to the mix. I will have to compare the Roadster to the Mark V for lead playing when using the OB.1 on the Roadster. For some reason I am not seeing why the Rectifier is not suitable for lead.

I too love the Roadster. Ch4 modern has to be my favorite, along with the tweed of CH1.

Thanks for the Guess the Mesa Amp quiz, shows how much I know about tone.

Click to expand...

thank you for posting thought it would be fun.

Please let me know your findings on the roadster/OB compressor vs the mark v on lead. I do like my lead on the roadster, love how lead sounds on channel 3 vintage but, lacks of the "liquid" feeling at low volumes, not a fan of how it feels... on live application 0 problems 8)

Along with a few other goodies (pedals from Stymon) I also bit the bullet on an attenuator (Rivera Rock Crusher Recording). For attenuation it does a great job and now I can push the amp and not blow my ears out. I would not use it without a cab but you can. With the attenuated signal through the cab you will get the same feedback response as if you did not have an attenuator on it. That in mind, you can get to the amp sweet spot and yet be closer to bedroom level or above but not at ear shattering volume.

blackoutshred said:

bandit2013 said:

I recently got a Strymon OB.1 compressor. So far I love it as it does not generate as much white noise (if at all). I had a Boss Compressor a while back but gave it to a friend as a birthday gift sine I felt it was not needed for the Mark V (this was before I got the Roadster). The OB.1 is more transparent than the Whampler ego (bought that one first). You will get compression with it but not as dramatic. Also the boost feature adds more to the mix. I will have to compare the Roadster to the Mark V for lead playing when using the OB.1 on the Roadster. For some reason I am not seeing why the Rectifier is not suitable for lead.

I too love the Roadster. Ch4 modern has to be my favorite, along with the tweed of CH1.

Thanks for the Guess the Mesa Amp quiz, shows how much I know about tone.

Click to expand...

thank you for posting thought it would be fun.

Please let me know your findings on the roadster/OB compressor vs the mark v on lead. I do like my lead on the roadster, love how lead sounds on channel 3 vintage but, lacks of the "liquid" feeling at low volumes, not a fan of how it feels... on live application 0 problems 8)

Click to expand...

I can see what I can do with it. First off, what is your channel setting. Are you using 50W or 100W, diode or tube rectification? Does the amp have stock tubes ?, if not what do you have loaded in the preamp including the PI tube and power tubes, as I may have the same tubes in my inventory. My preference for lead on the Roadster may not be to your taste as I generally use CH4 in modern with a low gain setting.

What I have: several Carvin guitars one is very close to a Les Paul in sound and character, Two that are very close to a PRS (one with fixed bridge and the other with Floyd Rose). Two super strat type guitars both wired with humbuckers but in different formats HSS and SSS ( one is all lace sensors hot golds on alder body with maple top wood) the other is using Seymour Duncan rails that fit single coil spacing. A few others that are neck though with some active electronics but not like the EMG type. Sometimes I prefer the Roadster with the super strats as they have a different tone compared to my other guitars. The set necks (CS and CT) are all mahogany with maple caps, the neck thru guitars have maple necks, one is alder with maple top, one is koa, and two are walnut bodied. Also have one that is all maple.

Not sure what would be close to the Hell Raiser (body wood type?), I have 4 options for cab, Recto oversized with V30 2014, Recto oversized rebuilt with G12H75 2000, RA100 combo 2x12 with G12H75, or Egnator 412 16ohm with celestion Elite speakers, may change to the old V30s from the old cab).

I can also compare the Whamper EGO compressor which is more aggressive than the OB.1 but also has more noise. It is not bad but I prefer the OB.1 due to less noticeable noise.

I will set up my gear to be close to what you have and find out the results relative the to the Mark V. Not sure what that will prove as the Roadster is quite different in preamp stack, tone stack, and power amp section than the Mark V. Not sure if the Roadster is running the power tubes in pentode or triode. I can always select either with the V.

I do not what to pedal bash or flame a product so I will exclude the Whamper, it is okay and did the job, and however, it will need a noise gait or noise eliminator as most compressors tend to be noisy. I feel the OB.1 is a better choice, it is however more transparent than the Whamper, but you can get a good amount of compression out of it, the sustain is the added bonus.

I have tried the following with and without compression (I had the Whampter in series with the OB.1 just to compare the two with the Roadster) as well as turning on and off the FXloop that had the Mesa 5Band EQ active with matching settings that were set on the Mark V amp. When you take out the 5BEQ, you will not get there, or if you eliminate the compression on the input, same applies. If you want the same or similar character out of your Roadster for leads you will need both compressor on the front end and 5Band EQ in the FXloop as it works best post preamp.

What I have done thus far, I used the same guitar for both amps but did not record anything yet. Perhaps I will record something on Sunday since I need to get ready for my jam session with my friends tonight. I wanted to see if I could get close enough to the Mark V in Mark IV voice with pentode as well as the Extreme voice with the same settings. I could have swapped speakers but did not at this time. Mark V combo is loaded with a Celestion Crème ALNICO 90W (best single 12 inch speaker for the V combo in my opinion). Roadster was channeled through an oversized Recto 412 loaded with Celestion G12H75's Cremebacks which has a different mid range peak than the V30, the bottom end is a bit tighter in some respects. I chose to use this cab as it is closer to the Crème ALNICO speaker but not quite as forward in pick response. Comparing the 12 to the 412 is about the same in tonal character.
How to get very close to the Mark V if not better:
Here is what you need: 5band EQ pedal in the FX loop set to a traditional V pattern. I have the Mesa 5 band EQ pedal and it works quite well with the Roadster and RA100.
Compressor on the front end of the amp: my preference is the Strymon OB.1 with the boost and compressor active. Compression set to 4:00, Boost level set to 1:00, and output set to noon.

To get the Mark V (MKIV pentode power) use the CH3 Modern, 50W or 100W, silicon rectifier. If you opt to use the tube rectifier it may be too spongy, Power switch set to bold.
Master volume set to 10:30
Channel master set to the same 10:30
Presence set to 1:30
Bass set to 12:30
Mid set to 11:00
Treble set to 1:00
And gain set to 10:30
Chanel mode switch set to modern.
End result is practically identical to the Mark V in Mark IV mode.

Mark V settings on CH3, voice set to MkIV, pentode
Mark V using FX loop active with master volume set to 10:00 (just a little less but close enough)
Gain at 10:30
CH master at 10:30
Presence at 11:00
Treble at 1:00
Mid at noon
Bass at 10:00
Bright switch turned on.

To get the same effect as the extreme setting of the Mark V ch3 voice, use the same setup as above but switch the Roadster CH3 to Vintage and adjust the channel master volume accordingly. With the Mark V, only change made was the voice, channel settings left the same.

5Band EQ for both the Pedal and Mark V amp:
80Hz max
240Hz center
750Hz midway between center and lowest position
2200Hz 1 quarter above the center (bottom of slider button on center line)
6600Hz max.

Roadster is equipped with stock tubes except for V1 of which I decided to try out a Tung Sol. As for the Mark V, does not all have stock tubes. V1-V3 I have Mullard RI 12AX7 long plates, Mesa tubes in V4-V6 and a JJ ECC803s long plate in V7. Reason for the Mullards is to get better tone in CH2 Crunch as I felt the stock tubes did not satisfy me. As for power, the Mark V has a quad of NOS SED =C= 6L6GC tubes with the Groove Tubes Logo: GT6L6R-2 gold series, #4 rating. mfg date was in the 90's. These have been put through a few years of abuse in the Mark V and they sound even better after I adjusted the fixed bias as I was burning Mesa brand tubes up in less than a week, now I can use Mesa tubes but recently installed the old SED tubes I used in a recording and never took them out. Bought them through Doug’s tubes. As for the Roadster: Using stock STR440 Mesa 6L6GC power tubes and Mesa 5U4GB rectifiers.

bandit2013 said:

I can see what I can do with it. First off, what is your channel setting. Are you using 50W or 100W, diode or tube rectification? Does the amp have stock tubes ?, if not what do you have loaded in the preamp including the PI tube and power tubes, as I may have the same tubes in my inventory. My preference for lead on the Roadster may not be to your taste as I generally use CH4 in modern with a low gain setting.

Click to expand...

Right now I'm using ch 3 Vintage (50w/Tube Rec) for leads and ch 4 Modern (100w/Diode) for rhythm, no pedals in front. Tubes are stock, Mesa 6L6-Rec Tubes-Mesa JJ 12ax7 (Except v1 Mullard and v3 Shuguang). For cab I use the Marshall 1960a Dave Mustaine Sig with V30 (maybe sig too?).

Today I was at rehearsal and record (iPhone clip) how the amp actually sounds "live" without adjusting it for recording to give you a reference point of what I usually gravitate to... pretend metal... :lol:

https://soundcloud.com/allanjg/mesa-roadster-h-volume-test

And for settings...



Alan.