Thinking about buying something to compliment my 5150 and I think a Mesa of some sort seems like an obvious choice... Anyone able to give me the run down similar to what was done in the Marshall thread? I'm not awfully familiar with their stuff...
Anyone want to give me a Mesa run down?
- Thread starter AdamWathan
- Start date
Well I'll do my best to start this off, though I'm sure I'll be missing tons and tons of stuff:
Mark series (I through IV) - the Mark I was pretty much the original hi-gain amp, and I really don't know what was changed in each successive model. I know that lotsa people (John Petrucci, for one) cream themselves over the Mark II C+, though I don't know why; the Mark III I think might be a bit more scooped cuz I seem to remember Metallica really liking those; the Mark IV is the current model and would be the one I'd go for, cuz plenty of people (Lamb of God, Petrucci nowadays) seem to be happy with it rather than going on an ebay rampage trying to find older "vintage" models
Nomad, F-series, Express - Mesa's budget models, in that order; I remember playing a Nomad and fucking hating it, but this was a LONG time ago, when I was a retard at dialing in amps; never tried an F-series or Express, but at NAMM I saw a live show QSC was putting on (greatest live mix I've ever heard, sweet jesus) and the guitarist was using an Express combo that sounded fucking spectacular for high-gain stuff
Rectifier - Introduced in 1992 or so, gargantuan low-end, many think it's a one-trick pony but there are really quite a few options (not the least of which being a switch to go between 6L6's and EL34, Devin Townsend being a user of the latter) - the general consensus seems to be that the older discontinued 2-channel models are better sounding than the modern 3-channels, and I'm pretty certain that almost every tone-shaping option on the 3-channels are available on the 2-channels, it's just that they're organized into more separate entities (like, on the 2-channel, channel one can be either clean or amber, for example). Oh, and the Single Rectifier is two 6L6's, 50 watts, and no tube rectification (so kind of silly to call it a rectifier at all!), Dual is 4 6L6's, 100 watts, two rectifier tubes (which I fucking hated the sound of, ironically, so the single is no loss there!), and Triple is 6 6L6's, 150 watts, three rectifier tubes, and complete overkill. Oh, and on the Dual and Triple, you can choose whether you wanna use tube rectification or diode (and I always used diode when I spent a fair amount of time with a Triple!)
Caliber series - Don't quite know how these fit in; I'm not sure if they were another budget model, but I know a guy who works at my local music store whose opinion I trust loves his DC10 (100 watts, as opposed to the 50-watt DC5), and he's owned Rectifiers, Mark-series, and even an Engl Savage 120
Then there's the Triaxis, which is an absurdly expensive fucking preamp, but pretty killer, as well as the old Quad preamp, which I think was meant to be the preamp section of one of the Mark series
Alright, the ball is rolling, someone else fill in the blanks!
Mark series (I through IV) - the Mark I was pretty much the original hi-gain amp, and I really don't know what was changed in each successive model. I know that lotsa people (John Petrucci, for one) cream themselves over the Mark II C+, though I don't know why; the Mark III I think might be a bit more scooped cuz I seem to remember Metallica really liking those; the Mark IV is the current model and would be the one I'd go for, cuz plenty of people (Lamb of God, Petrucci nowadays) seem to be happy with it rather than going on an ebay rampage trying to find older "vintage" models
Nomad, F-series, Express - Mesa's budget models, in that order; I remember playing a Nomad and fucking hating it, but this was a LONG time ago, when I was a retard at dialing in amps; never tried an F-series or Express, but at NAMM I saw a live show QSC was putting on (greatest live mix I've ever heard, sweet jesus) and the guitarist was using an Express combo that sounded fucking spectacular for high-gain stuff
Rectifier - Introduced in 1992 or so, gargantuan low-end, many think it's a one-trick pony but there are really quite a few options (not the least of which being a switch to go between 6L6's and EL34, Devin Townsend being a user of the latter) - the general consensus seems to be that the older discontinued 2-channel models are better sounding than the modern 3-channels, and I'm pretty certain that almost every tone-shaping option on the 3-channels are available on the 2-channels, it's just that they're organized into more separate entities (like, on the 2-channel, channel one can be either clean or amber, for example). Oh, and the Single Rectifier is two 6L6's, 50 watts, and no tube rectification (so kind of silly to call it a rectifier at all!), Dual is 4 6L6's, 100 watts, two rectifier tubes (which I fucking hated the sound of, ironically, so the single is no loss there!), and Triple is 6 6L6's, 150 watts, three rectifier tubes, and complete overkill. Oh, and on the Dual and Triple, you can choose whether you wanna use tube rectification or diode (and I always used diode when I spent a fair amount of time with a Triple!)
Caliber series - Don't quite know how these fit in; I'm not sure if they were another budget model, but I know a guy who works at my local music store whose opinion I trust loves his DC10 (100 watts, as opposed to the 50-watt DC5), and he's owned Rectifiers, Mark-series, and even an Engl Savage 120
Then there's the Triaxis, which is an absurdly expensive fucking preamp, but pretty killer, as well as the old Quad preamp, which I think was meant to be the preamp section of one of the Mark series
Alright, the ball is rolling, someone else fill in the blanks!
Exocaster
Nozzle
- Aug 29, 2005
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Stiletto- Mesa's take on "British" (read: Marshall) voicing. Brighter, with more upper mids and less bottom than the Rectifiers. EL34 (or equivalent) only power section. Nicer cleans than the Rectifiers (save for perhaps the Road King II and Roadster, which have the Lonestar's clean channel) and a better effects loop as well. Two channels, comes in 50 watt (Ace), 100 watt (Deuce) and 150 watt (Trident) heads, as well as 50 watt 1x12 and 2x12 combos. The have the same rectifier options as the Rectifier series, along with the bold/spongy poweramp voltage control, as well as switchable wattage per channel on the Deuce and Trident models.
The Blue channel has three modes, Tite Clean, Fat Clean, and Crunch, and I'll assume their sound is fairly obvious. The Red channel has three modes as well, a duplicate of the Crunch mode, along with Tite Gain and Fluid Drive. Tite Gain is very much a JCM 800-flavored sound; it's an "80's metal in a box"-type mode. Fluid Drive is noticeably darker and much thicker, and has significantly more gain on tap.
The current model Stilettos are Stiletto Stage IIs. The original run, often referred to as Stage Is, are more vintage-voiced, looser, a bit darker, and with less gain. The Stage IIs are more modern, tighter, brighter, and have much more gain in Fluid Drive mode. (Tite Gain remained unchanged.) Both have an unfortunate tendancy to display their Marshall heritage by really needing to be turned up to sound anywhere close to their best, the Stage Is especially. That being said, I love my Stage I Stiletto Deuce.
The Blue channel has three modes, Tite Clean, Fat Clean, and Crunch, and I'll assume their sound is fairly obvious. The Red channel has three modes as well, a duplicate of the Crunch mode, along with Tite Gain and Fluid Drive. Tite Gain is very much a JCM 800-flavored sound; it's an "80's metal in a box"-type mode. Fluid Drive is noticeably darker and much thicker, and has significantly more gain on tap.
The current model Stilettos are Stiletto Stage IIs. The original run, often referred to as Stage Is, are more vintage-voiced, looser, a bit darker, and with less gain. The Stage IIs are more modern, tighter, brighter, and have much more gain in Fluid Drive mode. (Tite Gain remained unchanged.) Both have an unfortunate tendancy to display their Marshall heritage by really needing to be turned up to sound anywhere close to their best, the Stage Is especially. That being said, I love my Stage I Stiletto Deuce.
Ooh right, forgot about the Stilleto, thanks Exo - and as an addendum, there are some other models in the rectifier line-up, namely the Road King, which is an absurdly fucking complex amp that I think is in entirely overkill, and the Roadster, which is a more toned-down Road King that I could definitely see myself getting if I had 2 grand lying around - built in reverb, 4 channels, and looks sweet. As for the Recto-verb, Trem-o-verb, etc., those are all variants on the Single Rectifier.
Oh, and the Lone Star is their hick music amp, but apparently has one of the greatest clean tones in the omniverse. And the second generation Road King and all Roadsters have this same clean channel.
Oh, and the Lone Star is their hick music amp, but apparently has one of the greatest clean tones in the omniverse. And the second generation Road King and all Roadsters have this same clean channel.
aramism
Member
by the way, i think single recs are ONLY diode rectified and just don't give you the option to choose tube rectification. i'm not 100 sure.
i am a huge mesa fan and i have a mark iv, road king, and rectoverb combo (which i've been actually trying to sell). but i mean i've played through a lot of mesa heads and had them from time to time in my studio for prolonged periods. i have to say, when i die, i want to be buried with my mark iv. all kidding aside, the mark series amps are amazing. they have the smoothest gain structure i've ever heard. and i am being totally unbiased here. they probably also have the most amount of gain in the front-end of an amp i can think of. the mark iic+ - mark iv have more pre amp gain than the rectifiers but they are voiced totally differently as the marks are much smoother and the rectos much toothier so i guess the rectos work better for metal. actually, the rectifier amps don't have as much gain as most people think they do. they just have a very "cutting" voicing and have plenty of power and headroom. however i've been able to get some nasty tones out of the mark iv and a mark iii blue stripe one of my buddies has. oh yeah, the mark iiis have a few different "stripes" to identify them. there are a few i believe like red, blue, green, and purple. not sure if there are more or not. the differences are not major but mesa released them with several tonal varieties through the late 80's. the mark iv was supposed to be the big daddy of the marks. it features every sound from marks I through III. and let me tell you, it does a hell of a job.
i am a huge mesa fan and i have a mark iv, road king, and rectoverb combo (which i've been actually trying to sell). but i mean i've played through a lot of mesa heads and had them from time to time in my studio for prolonged periods. i have to say, when i die, i want to be buried with my mark iv. all kidding aside, the mark series amps are amazing. they have the smoothest gain structure i've ever heard. and i am being totally unbiased here. they probably also have the most amount of gain in the front-end of an amp i can think of. the mark iic+ - mark iv have more pre amp gain than the rectifiers but they are voiced totally differently as the marks are much smoother and the rectos much toothier so i guess the rectos work better for metal. actually, the rectifier amps don't have as much gain as most people think they do. they just have a very "cutting" voicing and have plenty of power and headroom. however i've been able to get some nasty tones out of the mark iv and a mark iii blue stripe one of my buddies has. oh yeah, the mark iiis have a few different "stripes" to identify them. there are a few i believe like red, blue, green, and purple. not sure if there are more or not. the differences are not major but mesa released them with several tonal varieties through the late 80's. the mark iv was supposed to be the big daddy of the marks. it features every sound from marks I through III. and let me tell you, it does a hell of a job.
Exocaster
Nozzle
- Aug 29, 2005
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That's correct; the Singles are diode only.
As for the Mark IV- the lead channel of the early version, what some call the "A" version, is based on the IIC+ preamp. The current version is the "B" version, with a slightly differently-voiced lead channel. I think the output transformers are different as well, but I don't recall whether that's accurate or not. I want to say the Mark IV A has the Mark III OT... The A also has two effects loops and a slave out for a Mesa Simul-Satellite poweramp. Oh, and my Mark IV A (mine was from 1990, serial in the low 1000s.) is one of the loudest things I've ever played through. Just stupid, pummeling volume. Oddly enough, they sound fantastic at low levels- the best low-volume amps I've ever used. The poweramp options are a lot of fun, too. Tweed/Class A sounds great for solo tones, but it's too loose for heavy rhythms at band levels. And yes, they have an assload of gain. The lead channel has a gain control, a lead drive control (which adds- you guessed it: more gain!) and the treble effects the gain as well. The Mark IV is voiced really dark, so you can crank up the treble without getting icepick-to-the-ears tone.
Speaking of which: a few words about the Mark series controls. They work like no other amp's controls. They're pre-gain, and have a ton of control, but a surprisingly small usable range. You can dime the treble and be fine, but crank up the mids and bass and you're in sludge city. I love mids; I used to play with the mids on my Marshall JMP cranked up all the way. The mids on my Mark IV didn't go past 5. It can throw down useless amounts of mids and bottom end. The trick to getting tight metal tone from the Marks- and they get very tight, to the point a boost pedal is wasted on them- is to keep the bass knob fairly low, and add in your bottom end with the graphic EQ.
Then there's the push-pull knobs- fat, bright, presence (pushing or pulling the presence knob changes the voicing noticeably!) and the mid gain/harmonics switch (which doesn't do what it sounds like; it's more like a master thick/bright switch). And the power amp options- Tweed power/Full power, Triode/Pentode, Simul-Class/Class A (you can mix EL34s or equivalent and 6L6s or equivalent)... There's a shit tonne of features and controls- I'd argue it's actually more complex than the Road King, which is just a four-channel Rectifier with selectable wattage, outputs and an extra effects loop. It's certainly less straightforward than the Road King, whose complexity comes primarily from having a lot of controls. The Mark IV has controls that do weird and mysterious things.
