Seeking info on the Black Shadow standard in the LSS

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wrxplayer

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I just got an LSS. Second time I've owned one. Been a Mesa fan for a while and a former Blue Angel owner (liked it a lot) and former Express 5:25 owner (not so much).

I think the LSS can be "the" amp for all occasions. I got it b/c at my last gig in a big room my Louis Electric Buster was borderline too loud and we'll play a lot of smaller rooms in in the near future.

ONLY issue I have with the LSS is weight and I'm wondering whether a speaker swap will relieve any. Specifically,

1. Does anyone know how much the Black Shadow weighs?
2. Anyone tried a Neo speaker in their LSS with success? If so, I'd appreciate details and comparison w/ the Black Shadow.

Last, and related/unrelated, I have a Scumback M75 LD "in stock." I'm not going to upgrade just to do so but do wonder whether anyone has experience w/ an M75 in an LSS.

Thanks.
 
I've been at odds with the weight myself. Absolutely killer tone for all occasions in my world.
I've entertained the prospect of splitting the combo up into a head and speaker cab...but the
cost is prohibitive. I'm also curious what others have done......aside from spending more time
at the gym...
 
Doing a little research indicates that I'd lose a drop over 7 lbs by swapping in a Celestion G12 Century Vintage, bringing the who shebang in under 50 lbs.

Anyone try one?
 
this a a late reply to an old post, but I did this mod about three months ago. Back problems made me look for ways to reduce the weight of the LSS and one of the things I did was to replace my Black Shadow with a Celestion Century Vintage 12. It does cut about 7 pounds off the weight. Removing the casters (and mounts), and carrying the footpedal, and the footpedal cable in a separate gig bag took off several more pounds.

As far as sound, using the same amp settings, the neo speaker is brighter and tighter than the Black Shadow. So my old EQ settings did not work. After the speaker broke in, and some experimentation, I found EQ settings that give me a similar sound to what I was used to from the Black Shadow. It took a bit of tweaking, but I'm pretty happy with it now.

Cleans are comparable, but the distortion feels slightly different to me while I'm playing--like there's less "speaker" distortion and more power tube distortion. The Black Shadow takes less power to produce the same volume, but the Celestion is easier to get a good low volume sound (which is becoming a more frequent requirement).

With the weight reductions, the amp is much more manageable for my aging frame. With the neo speaker, the amp is also easier to get good tone at lower volumes. I wouldn't say one speaker is better or worse sounding than the other, just a little different. I'd probably use the black shadow (I've had my amp since 2004) if it was as light as the neo, but the Celestion neo definitely works in the LSS.
 
Or you guys could just man-up and do some deadlifiting during the work week lol.


Just kidding.
I was actually just wondering the other day,,,,,,,which mesa head is the heaviest ever?
Roadking would be an obvious first guess, but these days things are lighter in general then they used to be.
My 98 tremoverb is a beast for sure, maybe close to 55LBS just guessing, or maybe I'm the one who needs to train harder lol.
 
I couldn't take it myself. I decided to split them apart and make life more bearable. Best thing I ever did. I made a custom head shell from maple and just use the 2x12 cab with the guts missing.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59571

Making an extra trip to the car doesn't bother me as much as throwing out my back these days.
 
Actually, I have been going to the gym more to make it easier to carfry up a flight of stairs. Not too bad out to the gig, but at 3am after the gig...miserable
 

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