Lets talk Heartbreaker

I think I wanna buy one of these amps. Anyone ever owned one before.
I think they're more of a clean amp than a high gain from what I know about them. I play alot more clean than heavy so this might be the amp for me :?:

Local shop had one used for a long time. I was looking for a LP at the time, and almost every one I tried was with the Heartbreaker (combo)
Seriously great amp IMHO..Great cleans, and the dirty sounds were fantastic. Warm, full sounding amp.. I liked a pushed clean/tube rectified.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy one..Really loud and clear, but sounds great at low volumes too. Relatively inexpensive now, although not often seen on ebay...
ax. 8)

Buddy of mine has one, uses it for Jazz/country/country-rock/whatever he gets hired to play. Great cleans, good overdriven tone, never heard him take it "to the limit" with gain. Switches galore, lots of adjustment room. I don't think he would trade it for much of anything.

Reading this thread and thinking back, it's a pretty great amp all the way up to hard rock tones, and, it has a different voice than any other Mesa...
Not too much like the Nomad, nothing like the Tremoverb, not Mark IV-ish at all... Very warm and vintagey sounding... Nice package all together.
ax. 8)

axwielding1 said:

Reading this thread and thinking back, it's a pretty great amp all the way up to hard rock tones, and, it has a different voice than any other Mesa...
Not too much like the Nomad, nothing like the Tremoverb, not Mark IV-ish at all... Very warm and vintagey sounding... Nice package all together.
ax. 8)

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My bud thinks of it as what would have happened if Randall Smith had started modding twins instead of Princetons.

I don't know much about other Mesas, but interesting, if not unique, features of a Heartbreaker:

"Gender" switch- seems to be a negative feedback switch.

"Vintage" voltage switch. Seems to underdrive teh tubes, like an old Fender.

Switchable rectifier. Not functional in all tube configs, but cool nonetheless.

Ability to digest 6L6, EL34, or 6V6 tubes. Not in simulclass or mixed tube configurations, I think, but I could be wrong.

If it were mine, it would probably live with 6V6s most of the time. "Super Deluxe"!

I got a head and the combo, it is a great amp.

First I was having problems to dial a tone that I love but once I read somewhere to think of it as a blues amp more than a rock (it can rocks for sure) and then I found a tone to die for in the first channel, I just use is as a crunch with my single coil sillouetthe special and wow! also I bought a bunch of different tubes but haven't had much time to test all the possibilities to find something more.

Great amps, lucky to get 2 for the price of one brand new....

I remember this being advertised as a tribute to the Mark-1 ( I guess technically the Super 60?). Anyway, I bought a 2-12 combo expecting the Love channel to sound like a Mark. To me it didn't sound like any Mark series I had owned; I wasn't too crazy about this channel..... but the Lust channel - LOOK OUT!! Great tones from very clean on up to classic rock territory. The Celestions match up real well. I also ran El-34's. To me they smoked the tones of the 6L6's.I really liked the amp and they are a steal used. The only drawback I can think of is their weight. They are at least 100 pounds.

Wolfgang. I am LHanson's friend with the Heartbreaker... I use the amp with all kinds of pickups and in all situations. Be prepared to tweek and fiddle with the controls as well as tubes. I keep a set of 6L6, El34, 6V6 and recently EL84 (with yellow jackets) to tune the amp for different situations. REMEMBER-- the Mid control is also a gain control and ALL the tone controls are interactive with the gain structure as well as each other. It is NOT a plug it in and crank it amp. I love it and have used it nearly exclusively for over 5 years now, still I discover new tones and settings often. One thing, if you are looking for a scooped mid tone (a la 5150, 6505 etc.) pass by the Heartbreaker. Not only does it not do that sound but it dosen't like being forced to make that sound. Heartbreakers are all about mid-range. Good Luck.

Thought I would revive this thread. I really would like to know about the clean tones possible on either channel. I'm looking for tonal possibilities in the clean settings only. So, lets hear about it......

El Bumpo......

Hi!

I have a head up on Ebay right now (shameless plug), and having owned both a combo (mega heavy) and a head, here's my two cents:

I agree 100% with the observation that the HB might have been the result if Randall Smith modded Fender Twins. I think the Love channel definitely has the "advertised" Blackface Fender sound (on low gain). I also think that the Love channel on high gain does capture the MKI vibe. I think that this is a good classic rock amp when cranked on the Lust Channel and a great clean amp overall. I can see where blues guys would like it too. My main reason for selling the amp (for the second time) is that I want something more "plug and play" (i.e. less options, less required tweaking), so I purchased a 5:50 Express and I'm a happy clam. I also found the Lust Channel a bit "dark sounding" if that makes any sense. However, if I could afford to just have a "strictly studio amp" around, the HB would be there.

Again, just to warn you, the HB is definitely NOT capable of "the Recto High gain Chug". Different animal and you will be disappointed. It seems that folks either love or hate the HBs. They clearly are not your generic Mesa Boogie. Definitely play one if you have the chance.


Matt

I've had mine for a year.I use it as a studio amp.4 channels x 6L6+6V6+ EL34's gets you LOTS of different tones.No Recto stuff here.Great Blackface/MK1 clean ,Tweed champ/deluxe,bassman,cool British 34,MK1 lead and two rec tube options.60/100 w gives even more tone options.
Great amp if you don't need super high gain stuff.Took me a while to find one.Couldn't be happier.It will take you months to go through all the options.

Thanks for the comments. Like I mentioned, I'm interested in having two different kinds of clean in one amp. If I got the HB, I would only use it for BF chimey cleans or dark jazzy tones. It sounds like this might be the ticket. Anymore comments?

If you want CLEAN, then you can't go wrong with this amp.

How many other amps will let you have 2 cleans, or 2 dirty channels, or 1 Mark I & clean, or Twin Reverb & Plexi?

There are lots of options, but I found that there was much less tweaking involved than my Tremoverb or DR heads.

It is really easy to get a great tone out of this amp, no matter where the knobs are set.

They are very easy to mod as well. My last one was moddified for better Reverb, adjustable bias, and some serious PLEXI tone out of the Lust channel.



Matt is a standup guy too!

I have a head & combo (Heartbreakers) great amp that are only limited by your imagination. I have'nt tried EL 34's yet but...I truly Love 6V6's in it. That's one of the reasons I bought this amp!! There are many flavors of clean & dirt available.

Use the Force Luke

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8)

In my 1st one, which was the 2x12 combo, I used 6L6 & 6V6. I loved the tones out of it.

The last one I had, which I foolishly sold to nosajwp, was a head. The original Mesa STR 420's were damaged in shipping, so I put in a quad of JJ E34L's. That amp really came alive with those tubes!


One of you guys should buy mdortona's head, and the other one of you should buy nosajwp's. Both are great guys. I bought my DC-10 from nosajwp and he really takes care of his gear.

Yes, my HB head is still available. Details are in the Classified forum.