lonestar question

i am seriously considering make a lonestar purchase this year.....i am not opposed to getting a used amp....however, i know the newer verison have 100/50/10 watt options and older ones 100/50....are there any other major differences and do any of you gusy feel strongly towards any particualr version? any advice will be appreciated.

If you'll be playing it a lot in your bedroom the 10 watt option could be the way to go. I play a fair amount at really low volume, and it sounds like a junky practice amp at that level. It would have been nice to have that option cuz i just got a used 50/100 one.

This has been asked many times before. (search?) As far as I know there's no difference.

I spent hours demo'ing a 100/50 LSC to familiarize myself with the amp.
I then spent an hour or so comparing the 10/50/100 against the 50/100.
No difference I could find in 50 or 100 mode.
Identical settings yielded pretty much the same tones.
Only difference would have been the speakers on the 50/100 LSC were probably a bit more broken in.
Although al my testing was done on combo's I got the 10/50/100 LSC head.
10w is a cool and very useful option.

thanks guys for the input!

polishcomedy said:

If you'll be playing it a lot in your bedroom the 10 watt option could be the way to go. I play a fair amount at really low volume, and it sounds like a junky practice amp at that level. It would have been nice to have that option cuz i just got a used 50/100 one.

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I have found that the 10 watt mode (full power) and the 50 watt mode (tweed power, tube rectifier) are the best sounds for the clean channel with my setup. There is definately something sweet about the "single ended" 10 watt mode, if you like your cleans with a little "juice" or "hair". 8) Remember that 10 watts is half as loud as 100 watts, so it's not just for the bedroom.

The amp's going to be very loud even at 10 Watts.

I have an LSC 50/100 and I can't say it sounds bad at low volumes even at the 100 Watt setting. It still kills many other great amps out there at this setting. I think the main thing you are going to notice is the feel, not so much the volume. Between 50 and 100 watts, what I mainly notice is that there is more sponginess in the 50 Watt setting.

man, played Jb's today-10 watt/full power...good gawd!!!!!THE DYNAMICS, IN TERMS OF HOW HARD YOU HIT IT VS. WHAT IT GAV E BACK, WAS INCREDIBLE...the ..secret sauce???evm 12L/Thiele...hair thats not there with the celestion 85's......theres voodoo in her eyes

lesterpaul said:

man, played Jb's today-10 watt/full power...good gawd!!!!!THE DYNAMICS, IN TERMS OF HOW HARD YOU HIT IT VS. WHAT IT GAV E BACK, WAS INCREDIBLE...the ..secret sauce???evm 12L/Thiele...hair thats not there with the celestion 85's......theres voodoo in her eyes

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The EVM-12L has a much more clear tone in the midrange frequencies. This allows you to hear much more of the guitars' true tone when playing in channel 1. If your axe is good sounding, it will be a monster. If you are playing a cheap guitar with shitty pickups, well then.........

Kiteboarder said:

The amp's going to be very loud even at 10 Watts. there is more sponginess in the 50 Watt setting.

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Can you define "sponginess"? is this a bad thing or a good thing? I've heard the term used quite a lot around here, but not sure what it means...

If you can get a good price for a 2nd hand I would get it . At low volumes it sounds way much better than other expensive amps , and with a good OD in front the clean channel it sounds great . I was in the same situation a couple of months ago and bought and old 50/100 , and could not be happier . With the extra money you can get other stuff.And as other post said the difference it's in feeling , not that much in volume . I've got a silverface deluxe reverb (22 watts ) , and the LSC sounds way much better at low volume ( both clean and with OD).

Mork said:

Kiteboarder said:

The amp's going to be very loud even at 10 Watts. there is more sponginess in the 50 Watt setting.

Click to expand...

Can you define "sponginess"? is this a bad thing or a good thing? I've heard the term used quite a lot around here, but not sure what it means...

Click to expand...

Sponginess is that sort of bubbly feel that can be felt while playing. The listener might not necessarily notice it, but an experienced guitarist will. Think of it as sort of a "growth" out of each note, were when you hit the note is sort of feels like it springs out at you and spring back out as it fades away. This opposed to a note that slams out very quickly and fast. This is more of feel thing and varies depending on your guitar, playing style, etc.etc. That's my definition of sponginess in an amp. This is a good thing, or a not-so-good thing depending on what you are playing. I certainly like it for bluesy stuff, but I don't for other styles.

If you look at the recently released Andy Timmons video by Mesa, he actually says he always plays his amps at 100W, as he prefers a more direct, impacting note.

The LSC 50/100 actually can run at approx 40 watts if you use the "tweed" setting. According to the guys at Mesa,
from personal converstion, that setting reduces the wattage a bit to achieve the tweed effect. From owning a LSC for
4 years and using it in a variety of gigs from clubs to festival mainstages I always leave mine on 50 watts. I just prefer the
tones I get at that setting. Andy Timmons, a local guitarist here and Mesa endorser, always keeps his on 100 watts. It's a personal preference thing. 50 or 100 watts will give you all the juice you need for anything. It comes down to the quest for tone.

Kiteboarder said:

The amp's going to be very loud even at 10 Watts.

I have an LSC 50/100 and I can't say it sounds bad at low volumes even at the 100 Watt setting. It still kills many other great amps out there at this setting. I think the main thing you are going to notice is the feel, not so much the volume. Between 50 and 100 watts, what I mainly notice is that there is more sponginess in the 50 Watt setting.

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I like the slight difference between my clean channel on 100 watts and the drive channel on 50. The 100 watts feels a bit more glassy and fenderish. I also always use the Tweed setting for power. I just like the sound better then full and supposedly it saves tube life (not sure about this though). I seem to able to push the tubes a bit more at this setting too while still staying within usable volumes.

Mark