Well, I just sold my Express 5:25 (1x10 combo) and my Maverick 1x12 combo.
I am down to just my Super modified DC-5. DC cleans with Stiletto style / souped up Marshall lead channel.
I was originally thinking that I wanted to find another DC to mod and keep as a back up amp.
Now I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and get a more versatile amp, which would officially make the DC my backup amp.
My band is about to start gigging and I hate only having 1 amp.
I tried a Mark V when they first came out. I really liked some things about it (cleans were great, R2 was actually usable, reverb was stellar), but just couldn't bond with it. I've always wondered if that was because I did not have my guitar with me and I wasn't really able to open it up in a busy music store.
I had a Roadster when they 1st came out. I tried the 2x12 combo in the store and loved it. I bought the head though for more versatility and never really bonded with that either.......
So, I'm down to these choices based on my needs:
Mark V combo
Roadster 2x12 combo
Express 5:50 1x12 combo
Music played:
All originals ranging in style from Steely Dan, Zappa, Incubus, Rush, mixed in with a little Santana, Black Sabbath, early Maiden etc.
Lots of clean parts ranging from jangly chords to funk to SRV type bluesy strumming.
Lots of heavy tones with jangly jazzy chords and single note arpeggios.
Lots of controlled feedback and sustained notes on distorted tones.
I am looking for:
very Fender like cleans
very Heavy distortion with tons of clarity and oommpphh!
Able to sound great at reasonable volumes for small gigs, but still able to crank it up for larger gigs and get relatively close to the same tones.
Able to feed back when needed (similar to Satriani's Flying in a Blue Dream tones)
Singing sustain and single note clarity for lead work (similar to Santana's Supernatural tones)
GAIN!!!! I'm a serious gain head! Even for my bluesy tone, I use gobs of gain. I like crunchy, ballsy tones that do not loose their clarity at any volume or level of gain.
Amps I've had in the past and why I sold them:
Express 5:25 - sounded great at bedroom volumes and high volumes without the band. Did not cut through well with the band, even when using different cabinets. Did not have enough headroom on the clean channel for band volume. I want my cleans to be clean until I add a boost to them.
Maverick 1x12 - Great cleans, but still started breaking up at band volume. Lead channel was nowhere near heavy enough for the music that I play.
DC 2, 3, 5, 10 - I've owned all of them over the years.
- DC-2 - did not like the fact that the Contour only worked on the lead channel. I could have modified it, but chose not to. Great for smaller gigs, but not enough headroom for larger ones. Sounded incredible with a Heyboer output transformer upgrade!
- DC-3 - great all around amp. Not quite enough volume and headroom for larger gigs, sounded small and boxy, even with Mercury Magnetics transformers.
- DC-5 - current amp. Decent cleans, but not as chimey and Fender like as I am looking for. Great feedback and lead tone with mods. Sounds freakishly huge with Mercury Magnetics transformers. Not very good for lower volume gigs, although it does sound pretty good for bedroom playing.
- DC-10 - My favorite out of the DC lineup for depth of tone and clarity. Great cleans and great lead tones. Not quite enough gain for what I play though.....
Lonestar Classic - Great clean tones, stellar reverb. Hated the lead channel. Hated the reverb dropout when changing channels.
Lonestar Special - Great clean tones, stellar reverb, this may be my favorite Mesa so far for clean tones. Hated the lead channel, but it did sound more aggressive than the Classic.
Roadster head - just couldn't bond with it, no matter what cabinet I played it through. Did not really like the loop. I really missed the graphic EQ that my DC-10 had!
Mark IV (A & B versions) - Sterile cleans, reverb was weak, R2 only sounded like the Stones. Lead channel was great, but so close to my DC-10 (the IV had a tiny bit more gain but the 10 had this raw sound to it that I really liked at the time) that I ended up keeping the 10 and selling the IV.
Heartbreaker 2x12 combo - Incredible range of tones. Sounds phenomenal with the right mods and Mercury transformers! Ended up being a pain in the *** to move around though.
Here are my thoughts:
Mark V has LSC cleans & reverb.
Mark V has Graphic EQ.
Mark V comes in 1x12 combo. Great for grab and go & the small stages on Maui.
Roadster has tons of options and 4 channels seems like it would be great for my band since we are always experimenting with different sounds.
No Graphic EQ though.
Not sure how it would sound at smaller gig volume.
Not sure if I want to carry a 2x12 combo around anymore.
Express 5:50 has similar cleans and reverb to both of the other amps.
Only has 2 channels.
Only has the Contour option (the knob makes it much more user friendly)
Comes in 1x12 combo format, which I like.
I'm concerned that it won't cut through the mix and will get lost like the 5:25 did.
Biggest stumbling blocks.....
I live on an island. Lots of bikinis, but no great music stores. There is nowhere on my island that I can try any of these amps out (or any high end amp out for that matter).
I'm almost tempted to pull the trigger on a used V, but don't want to ship it in only to find that I don't like it!
I do not like most of the tones that I hear out of the V on any clips or videos. In fact, I was not even considering the V until I watched the Petrucci videos on Mesa's website. That guy knows how to get a great tone out of an amp!!!!!!!!
I am also guessing that all of these amps have the dreaded reverb drop out when changing channels. I think that I can live with that since I won't really hear it when the band is playing.
I am down to just my Super modified DC-5. DC cleans with Stiletto style / souped up Marshall lead channel.
I was originally thinking that I wanted to find another DC to mod and keep as a back up amp.
Now I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and get a more versatile amp, which would officially make the DC my backup amp.
My band is about to start gigging and I hate only having 1 amp.
I tried a Mark V when they first came out. I really liked some things about it (cleans were great, R2 was actually usable, reverb was stellar), but just couldn't bond with it. I've always wondered if that was because I did not have my guitar with me and I wasn't really able to open it up in a busy music store.
I had a Roadster when they 1st came out. I tried the 2x12 combo in the store and loved it. I bought the head though for more versatility and never really bonded with that either.......
So, I'm down to these choices based on my needs:
Mark V combo
Roadster 2x12 combo
Express 5:50 1x12 combo
Music played:
All originals ranging in style from Steely Dan, Zappa, Incubus, Rush, mixed in with a little Santana, Black Sabbath, early Maiden etc.
Lots of clean parts ranging from jangly chords to funk to SRV type bluesy strumming.
Lots of heavy tones with jangly jazzy chords and single note arpeggios.
Lots of controlled feedback and sustained notes on distorted tones.
I am looking for:
very Fender like cleans
very Heavy distortion with tons of clarity and oommpphh!
Able to sound great at reasonable volumes for small gigs, but still able to crank it up for larger gigs and get relatively close to the same tones.
Able to feed back when needed (similar to Satriani's Flying in a Blue Dream tones)
Singing sustain and single note clarity for lead work (similar to Santana's Supernatural tones)
GAIN!!!! I'm a serious gain head! Even for my bluesy tone, I use gobs of gain. I like crunchy, ballsy tones that do not loose their clarity at any volume or level of gain.
Amps I've had in the past and why I sold them:
Express 5:25 - sounded great at bedroom volumes and high volumes without the band. Did not cut through well with the band, even when using different cabinets. Did not have enough headroom on the clean channel for band volume. I want my cleans to be clean until I add a boost to them.
Maverick 1x12 - Great cleans, but still started breaking up at band volume. Lead channel was nowhere near heavy enough for the music that I play.
DC 2, 3, 5, 10 - I've owned all of them over the years.
- DC-2 - did not like the fact that the Contour only worked on the lead channel. I could have modified it, but chose not to. Great for smaller gigs, but not enough headroom for larger ones. Sounded incredible with a Heyboer output transformer upgrade!
- DC-3 - great all around amp. Not quite enough volume and headroom for larger gigs, sounded small and boxy, even with Mercury Magnetics transformers.
- DC-5 - current amp. Decent cleans, but not as chimey and Fender like as I am looking for. Great feedback and lead tone with mods. Sounds freakishly huge with Mercury Magnetics transformers. Not very good for lower volume gigs, although it does sound pretty good for bedroom playing.
- DC-10 - My favorite out of the DC lineup for depth of tone and clarity. Great cleans and great lead tones. Not quite enough gain for what I play though.....
Lonestar Classic - Great clean tones, stellar reverb. Hated the lead channel. Hated the reverb dropout when changing channels.
Lonestar Special - Great clean tones, stellar reverb, this may be my favorite Mesa so far for clean tones. Hated the lead channel, but it did sound more aggressive than the Classic.
Roadster head - just couldn't bond with it, no matter what cabinet I played it through. Did not really like the loop. I really missed the graphic EQ that my DC-10 had!
Mark IV (A & B versions) - Sterile cleans, reverb was weak, R2 only sounded like the Stones. Lead channel was great, but so close to my DC-10 (the IV had a tiny bit more gain but the 10 had this raw sound to it that I really liked at the time) that I ended up keeping the 10 and selling the IV.
Heartbreaker 2x12 combo - Incredible range of tones. Sounds phenomenal with the right mods and Mercury transformers! Ended up being a pain in the *** to move around though.
Here are my thoughts:
Mark V has LSC cleans & reverb.
Mark V has Graphic EQ.
Mark V comes in 1x12 combo. Great for grab and go & the small stages on Maui.
Roadster has tons of options and 4 channels seems like it would be great for my band since we are always experimenting with different sounds.
No Graphic EQ though.
Not sure how it would sound at smaller gig volume.
Not sure if I want to carry a 2x12 combo around anymore.
Express 5:50 has similar cleans and reverb to both of the other amps.
Only has 2 channels.
Only has the Contour option (the knob makes it much more user friendly)
Comes in 1x12 combo format, which I like.
I'm concerned that it won't cut through the mix and will get lost like the 5:25 did.
Biggest stumbling blocks.....
I live on an island. Lots of bikinis, but no great music stores. There is nowhere on my island that I can try any of these amps out (or any high end amp out for that matter).
I'm almost tempted to pull the trigger on a used V, but don't want to ship it in only to find that I don't like it!
I do not like most of the tones that I hear out of the V on any clips or videos. In fact, I was not even considering the V until I watched the Petrucci videos on Mesa's website. That guy knows how to get a great tone out of an amp!!!!!!!!
I am also guessing that all of these amps have the dreaded reverb drop out when changing channels. I think that I can live with that since I won't really hear it when the band is playing.
