Where to go after Tremoverb?

I have happily owned a Tremoverb for many years. I love my amp like no other I've ever owned or heard, the tone and versatility are simply amazing. My tone is more blues/rock/alternative and I stick with the clean/vintage/blues channels all of the time. High gain is not my thing, so is not a consideration.

The only thing going through my mind is that 100W is complete overkill for what I need now as I grow older. My gigging days are long gone, and turning the master knob past 9 o'clock is likely to be met with complaints from the wife and maybe even the neighbors. I've considered a few other brands, but every time I play them I just miss my Mesa more and know that I'm going to stick with something from Petaluma.

So what's the logical step for me? The Mark V seems absolutely wonderful, but it is also very expensive and I'd never use the 90W mode. The Mini Rectifier seems perfect, but how much flexiblility would I really be losing?

Would appreciate some input and feedback from anyone else that is in my position and wants to take a step down in power but not lose the depth or variety of tones.

Thanks!

Maverick!

The 'architect design' of the Maverick and Trem-o-Verb are similar. Both have dual channel, independent controls, two modes each. Both have switchable rectifier: silicon or tube.

Where they differ is their modes. Maverick's top channel is Clean, and the modes are 'BRIGHT' (headroom) and 'FAT', clean but thick some oomph in the midrange region.

The bottom channel is 'drive' and the modes are 'RHYTHM' (misnomer) : medium gain and "LEAD" moderate gain. There's no ultra-high gain channel like the Trem-o-verb.

Note that Maverick is a discontinue model. The Lonestar Special is the closest MESA currently to the Maverick.

Take a look at the mini or a TA-15, it's different for sure but so far away.

Very interesting, the Maverick seems to be quite a rare piece. I'll start looking more into that.

I'm starting to think that I want to stick with 6L6 designs, there's a meatiness in those amps that the EL84 doesn't seem to be able to reach. Anyone care to disagree?

ghunter, didn't you mentioned in the other Tremoverb thread trying obtain a Vox Tone? :lol:

Yeah, I see your point of 6L6s. The EL84s do have this upper harmonic that I like, while the 6L6s are dynamic and hi fidelity.

I too would like a lower power version of TremoVerb. What about using a pair of 6L6s and using one 5UB4[?] rectifier tube. That lower the TremoVerb to 50 watt. But the Output xformer impedance is doubled. The 8 ohms jack is expecting a 16 ohms load.

Uh, I tried that with a pair of EL34s, pair of 5881s with my TremoVerb since it has an EL34 and 6L6 switch. I didn't really like it. Not sure, but on another forum, someone mentioned that because I was expecting a 50 watt amp tone (pushing the power stage tubes), I still have a "100 watt" 'clean' output transformer.

But worth a try I suppose. Make sure if you tried that that the power stage tube switch (EL34 or 6L6) are switch to the proper section.

Tell me if you do find a lower power guitar amps that has switchable channels, independent controls. Maverick suits me fine except I don't like the tone controls. I wish they're more like Fender's. Someone mentioned that the tone control is after the preamp (British style) not before preamp like Fender's.

You are correct, I have tried to get Vox-y and I don't really miss it

I don't really want to get into tweaking the amp into territories that would start burning out components, I'd rather just spend some money and get something that is built for what I need.

The Express:50 seems to deserve more research. I thought at first glance it was a dumbed-down entry-level Mesa but it seems to be more. The Stiletto family is also something I'm looking into. I'll definitely update this thread whenever I get more info.

The Mark V still looms large, though. The more I read and hear, the more I want one :twisted:

Electra Dyne 1 x 12.
It is smoother and much more chimey than a Tremoverb. It switches from 90 watts to 45. It is still a really loud amp though =-(

Why not get an attenuator and keep the amp you love?

There's a little bit of GAS in there, admittedly.

I'm looking into the THD Hot Plate now, anyone else using one of these they like?

ghunter said:

I have happily owned a Tremoverb for many years. I love my amp like no other I've ever owned or heard, the tone and versatility are simply amazing. My tone is more blues/rock/alternative and I stick with the clean/vintage/blues channels all of the time. High gain is not my thing, so is not a consideration.

The only thing going through my mind is that 100W is complete overkill for what I need now as I grow older.

Click to expand...

Yes, 100W is overkill for playing at home. So is 10W!

Ua the Destroyer said:

Why not get an attenuator and keep the amp you love?

Click to expand...

Beat me to it .

Use the amp you love the tone of, and if you can't get it up to the 'sweet spot' at the volume you need, buy an attenuator. You'll actually be able to dial in *better* tones at *lower* volumes that way than with a smaller amp and no attenuator.

I'm not gigging at the moment either, not sure if I will again - not in a full-on rock band, anyway - and I'm still keeping my Tremoverb. This does have the advantage that I no longer have to get it into the car, too .

The Hotplate is good with the Tremoverb. So is the Marshall Powerbrake, the Alex and the Sequis Motherload, of the ones I've tried.

I'm finding the Mini Rec to be stunningly versatile. And no attenuator needed for sleeping-baby volumes. You just have to learn to eq it differently than at normal/band volume. It doesn't chime like the TA-15 but it does a million other tones...

Have you tried an Express 5:50? You can switch down to 5 watts. While I don't own one of these and do own its little brother.

I really like both channels-Fender clean to (near) Voxy hairy clean for channel one. ZZ-Top to darn near metal on channel two.

JMHO,

TW

I second the mini-recto. It sounds fantastic.

I'm now looking for a THD Hot Plate, but the more I look at the Mark V the more I want one :mrgreen:

I've got a Mark V, a TA-30 and a Heartbreaker, that I run with 6V6's for 40 watts. That is actually a great option- the HB, running with 6V6's in tweed and half power mode is fairly low volume.

I do also have an 8ohm and 4ohm Hotplate, and have used them extensively. They are a great solution for knocking the volume down on your favorite amp, and don't rule them out. People say they "suck" tone. The reality is that our hearing is not linear across the tonal spectrum. As volume drops we hear less bass and less high end (hence the Loudness switch on most stereos). Anyway, the whole point is that you find the overall volume you like and then re-EQ your amp settings to get the tone you want at that volume. If you leave your tone settings the same and knock the volume way down, of course it won't sound the same. Anyway, for a couple hundred dollars, you can keep your favorite amp.

(then, if you really GAS for a Mark V, you can still have one).