Mesa OS dislike?

[RevoltStudios]

I might be on crack here, but I've been doing much more tracking using my own gear at the studio lately (clients usually have good stuff we use) which includes my 2008 Splawn Quickrod with new tubes and a Mesa OS in great shape. Every time I use it I get a nice growl but good lord is it honky. Wayy honky and never has enough high end. Hindsite, I used to have a Marshall cab with Splawn SB speakers that at that time I thought was REAL bright. Anybody used the OS with a Splawn type amp/Marshall and can elaborate? Cab sounded like it should with my old Dual Recto but not the Splawn which is now my only high gain amp.

This is a clip of it, good as I could get it with a forumite's tracks for reamping. Notice that honk and unclear high end

https://copy.com/2Ib4adFHlCJxYJ76

 

[bryan_kilco]

For one, different cabs/speakers work better/worse with different amps.

Can you dial any more highs/presence in on the amp to brighten it up?

I've been rocking a Mesa Mark IV for probably about 10 years now and for about 8 of those years I used an old beat up Peavey 5150 cab. So once I got the Mesa cab it really made a difference for the better.

 

[acalaf]

Your clip sounds great to me. I don't notice anything unclear about the high end. The mesa OS cab works great with the recto series and peavey 5150's. Other than those heads, you are probably better off going with a regular size cab.

From my observations, Mesa Os cabs add low mid grind and extend the highs. The low mids become less compressed and the their frequency spectrum (Q curve) widens on these cabs. The sound can be described as throaty. With a recto head it sounds as if a hole opened in the ground below the cab and part of the sound is resonating there. The highs feel as if they are coming from the ceiling. These cabs also have less presence than a Marshall size cab, so you probably have to dial in more presence than you are used to in order for you to make it sound normal. They also work really well with 6l6 tubes, not so much with el 34's. Hope this helps.

 

[JeffTD]

I hear what you mean but I also know I've had a Mesa OS give me the exact opposite problem on more than one occasion.

Only way to rule the cab out is to try another head, and ideally another cab.

 

[Ermz]

You need to take into account that sound varies substantially between cabs, and especially between speakers. One V30 can sound almost entirely different to another.

That said, there are certain undesirable characteristics inherent to that box. What it tends to create is a pleasing sound in isolation, but much of the low-end push is useless insofar as mix purposes go. My most pain-free experiences mixing guitar tones have usually been with 2x12 boxes, or even the ol 4x12 Mesa Stiletto (then called Traditional) cab. The OS can create an array of issues with multi-mic setups, where low-end can get out of control quickly, so I generally find it takes best to single (or at most, dual) micing with a 57 in your golden speaker's 'sweet spot'. YMMV.

 

[RevoltStudios]

That clip is running the presence and high end well into crazy territory aka 7+ or more. I currently have a couple high end Marshall's here that also give me this tone I dislike. The dual I used to have rocked on it though. Guess my tastes just switched to something different. Who wants a cab?? Erms, I've wanted a great 2x12 for years. Now that I'm not playing shows, it may be time!

 

[Mago]

The OS just doesn't work with all heads. If it does it's hard to top, but if it doesn't it's hard to get past that honk. Especially with a mid heavy and dark amp.
It's a mid heavy and dark cab, so that just ads up a bit much in the end.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Another thing to keep in mind is that, in my experience, the output sections of Marshall-style amps kinda prefer 16 ohm cabs, or at least that's what I'd say my experience has been. 16 ohms on tose kind of amps sound slighty grindier and nastier on top, I feel.