Not Much Traffic for the TA-30

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twally

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Jan 24, 2005
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Russellville, AR
I'm just wondering if there isn't much love for this amp or what? I haven't got to try it yet-and I am going to. But all the clips I have heard sound great and are the sound I am looking for.
I currently own a LSS Head with a 4/10 cabinet and am looking to down grade in size. This amp just seems to fit the bill for me.
Thanks,
 
Personally, I love my TA-30 112 combo!! It offers many fantastic vintage sounds in both channels. I love experimenting with all modes in both channels, but if I were to choose 1 mode in each channel it would be Top Boost in Ch1 (with single coils) and HI 1 in Ch2. :D

I used to own a LSS and it was a nice sounding amp. However, I much prefer the TA-30....especially for high gain sounds (HI 1 mode), and the awesome "clean" crunch tones offered in the Top Boost mode of Ch1 while playing through single coil pickups!! :mrgreen:

The TA-30 is an awesome amp as far as I am concerned!

Definitely audition one if you get a chance.....
 
Thanks for your response.

I knew there were those out there that just had to love this amp. And I haven't even played one yet.
 
I'm all the way with MBJunkie on this. I just love this amp for its versatility and the quality of the tones you get.

Up to now, I also prefered the Top Boost voicing on channel 1 and... I'm not yet decided between H1 or H2 on channel 2 !! But I just started experimenting with the Tweed voicing on ch.2 and I have to say that it's getting more and more interesting.

So, I guess that it's the sign of a good amp when you can get all those quality tones. And don't forget that it is a very easily portable amp.
 
Yeah, if you think the TA-30 is totally underwhelming, check out the traffic for the RA-100. I think I am one of the few users of the amp currently. I know there is another guy on here named UCNICK that is using it, but I think we are the only two out there at the moment. I am pretty positive I am the first custom combo owner as well! That isn't saying a lot -- the RA-100 is just not that popular at the moment.
 
BostonRedSox said:
Yeah, if you think the TA-30 is totally underwhelming, check out the traffic for the RA-100. I think I am one of the few users of the amp currently. I know there is another guy on here named UCNICK that is using it, but I think we are the only two out there at the moment. I am pretty positive I am the first custom combo owner as well! That isn't saying a lot -- the RA-100 is just not that popular at the moment.

Man, you're not kidding. After I first read this post I went out and looked for RA posts and I believe there are fewer than for the TA 30.

Go figure.
 
twally said:
BostonRedSox said:
Yeah, if you think the TA-30 is totally underwhelming, check out the traffic for the RA-100. I think I am one of the few users of the amp currently. I know there is another guy on here named UCNICK that is using it, but I think we are the only two out there at the moment. I am pretty positive I am the first custom combo owner as well! That isn't saying a lot -- the RA-100 is just not that popular at the moment.

Man, you're not kidding. After I first read this post I went out and looked for RA posts and I believe there are fewer than for the TA 30.

Go figure.

It's all about to change for the RA though. Lamb of God just messaged through Mesa's Facebook that they are using the Royal Atlantic heavily while recording their new record. I can already feel the amps popularity rising ...
 
I own the first one in Canada, apparently. The thing with Mesa is it's probably more expensive for them to promote new amps than to design and build a few hundred, given how their line works.

LoG using RAs doesn't surprise me... you can cop a lot of current less extreme metal bands' tones with this amp, it would be an awesome fit for Mastodon or Baroness.
 
Played a combo in the store. Dialed in an amazing lead tone in the Hi 1 mode. Almost made me want one instead of my Express, but the Express has ridiculously good note separation with chording.
 
CoG said:
I own the first one in Canada, apparently. The thing with Mesa is it's probably more expensive for them to promote new amps than to design and build a few hundred, given how their line works.

LoG using RAs doesn't surprise me... you can cop a lot of current less extreme metal bands' tones with this amp, it would be an awesome fit for Mastodon or Baroness.

True, but Mesa did a lot of advertising for their Rectos in the '90s, BEFORE they were becoming mainstream. I really think they should apply those same ethos to this amp because of how successful I believe they would be. A good amp is a good amp. All the boutique snobs in the world can't argue that point.

I do like though having an amp that sounds good and is also unpopular. Adds some more interest in your sound and band at gigs when all is said and done and members begin talking gear.

Congrats on being the first Canadian with the RA.
 
I've played one, dig it, and will eventually buy the head version to add to my Mesa collection... :mrgreen:
 
I think it's cost, just to much money. There are a lot of good amps out there (made in china) that have a lot of features and sound great, for a lot less. I love all these mesa amps but the cost is to much, I have to go the egnater route. I went with the Tweaker over the TA-15, $300(on sale with 15% discount, mesa dosen't discount) vs $800 made the difference for me. I wish boogie could find a way to be competive on price. money is very tight for most, right now IMHO.
 
BostonRedSox said:
CoG said:
I own the first one in Canada, apparently. The thing with Mesa is it's probably more expensive for them to promote new amps than to design and build a few hundred, given how their line works.

LoG using RAs doesn't surprise me... you can cop a lot of current less extreme metal bands' tones with this amp, it would be an awesome fit for Mastodon or Baroness.

True, but Mesa did a lot of advertising for their Rectos in the '90s, BEFORE they were becoming mainstream. I really think they should apply those same ethos to this amp because of how successful I believe they would be. A good amp is a good amp. All the boutique snobs in the world can't argue that point.

I do like though having an amp that sounds good and is also unpopular. Adds some more interest in your sound and band at gigs when all is said and done and members begin talking gear.

the Rectos in the early 90s is not a good comparison... at the time there weren't many manufacturers in the amp market, and Mesa was known exclusively for the Mark series at the time. Now Mesa's got a whole ****-ton of amps at the "high end" and they are probably trying to get more of the vintage/corksniffer/classic crowd (who are not buying new Mesas lately) with the Atlantics and the ED... without cutting into their sales of any of their other lines.

Other thing is, every new "big" amp Mesa has put out lately has gone back for a major early revision-- the Road King I was not out very long before the II, the Roadster had some service issues in its first thousand or so, the ED had that level knob added... and the Mark V kinda got a big "meh" from a lot of people. They may not want, like, 5000 RAs out the door in the first year if either it turns out that the multisoak kills transformers, or if channel volume balance turns out to be a pain, or if reviews are not that good. Mesa doesn't want RAs on the used market for $1300 next year because a) it looks bad and b) at least some of those will get bought instead of new Mesas.
 
CoG said:
BostonRedSox said:
CoG said:
I own the first one in Canada, apparently. The thing with Mesa is it's probably more expensive for them to promote new amps than to design and build a few hundred, given how their line works.

LoG using RAs doesn't surprise me... you can cop a lot of current less extreme metal bands' tones with this amp, it would be an awesome fit for Mastodon or Baroness.

True, but Mesa did a lot of advertising for their Rectos in the '90s, BEFORE they were becoming mainstream. I really think they should apply those same ethos to this amp because of how successful I believe they would be. A good amp is a good amp. All the boutique snobs in the world can't argue that point.

I do like though having an amp that sounds good and is also unpopular. Adds some more interest in your sound and band at gigs when all is said and done and members begin talking gear.

the Rectos in the early 90s is not a good comparison... at the time there weren't many manufacturers in the amp market, and Mesa was known exclusively for the Mark series at the time. Now Mesa's got a whole sh!t-ton of amps at the "high end" and they are probably trying to get more of the vintage/corksniffer/classic crowd (who are not buying new Mesas lately) with the Atlantics and the ED... without cutting into their sales of any of their other lines.

Other thing is, every new "big" amp Mesa has put out lately has gone back for a major early revision-- the Road King I was not out very long before the II, the Roadster had some service issues in its first thousand or so, the ED had that level knob added... and the Mark V kinda got a big "meh" from a lot of people. They may not want, like, 5000 RAs out the door in the first year if either it turns out that the multisoak kills transformers, or if channel volume balance turns out to be a pain, or if reviews are not that good. Mesa doesn't want RAs on the used market for $1300 next year because a) it looks bad and b) at least some of those will get bought instead of new Mesas.

The Roadster didn't have service issues, the tubes Mesa was using at the time weren't all compatible (Russian) in two of the preamp tube slots. Hence, them moving over to JJs for their preamp tubes, which allegedly provide all preamp slots in Mesa's better stability and performance. I wouldn't say that "every" new Mesa has gone back for revisions Either. Some do, some don't. The Lonestars didn't. They released a new Lonestar model with the 10 watts mode, but Randall has said in interviews that he did this because he felt that their lowest model shouldn't be the only ones that have the dyna class mode as a feature (Express line amps). So he put it on the Lonestar and created the Lonestar Special. There was nothing wrong with the Lonestar Classic at the time. Same thing with the three channel Dual Rectifier (not multi-watt). And the Mark V. They haven't revised the Mark V at all I thought.
 
CoG said:
Now Mesa's got a whole sh!t-ton of amps at the "high end" and they are probably trying to get more of the vintage/corksniffer/classic crowd (who are not buying new Mesas lately) with the Atlantics and the ED... without cutting into their sales of any of their other lines.

Would it really matter if a new Mesa line cut into the sales of another line? If a player went from buying a Dual Rectifier or a Lonestar to buying a ED or RA, I don't see the logic in how that would be something Mesa, or any other business, would or should be concerned with. It seems that Mesa has a versatile line of amps because they appear to want versatility in their arsenal. Mesa is a business, so naturally this would seem to be a good business model to invest in to get MORE business. If someone buys an RA or ED over another Mesa amp, two things happen: 1) Mesa's still keeps the customer. 2) Mesa's versatile business model is paying off.


Not to mention the fact that Mesa can now use these new sales figures as information as to why one amp is outselling another amp.
 
I know this thread is a bit old, but I figured I'd chime in with my own person thoughts on the TA-30. I was intrigued by it until I saw how large it was, much more so than the TA-15. I liked the idea of the FX Loop, but I wanted something that was compact, which the TA-30 certainly is not. Take that for what it's worth.
 
Im not interested so much if its too hard to carry,or one weighs more than the other, or if I can fit one in the backseat of a car better than the other,lol.....lets talk tone and how the TA 30 and TA 15 differ in gain,feel,complexity of notes,tightness, and authentic clean/dirt/gain sounds and what and where we use these amps for.I think both of these are excellent amps by mesa.. :D
 
Hey! Back to the RA...I picked up the head in September...play it thru a 2x12 rec cab...WOW! I sold my dual rec head to get it and glad I did!!! :D
 

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