Mesa Studio

[LSD-Studio]

What do you guys think about the Mesa Studio Preamp?
I concider trading my 3.666 MP-1 for one, just because my recto pre and signature pre do pretty much everything the MP-1 does....
I thought the studio could add another flavor, what do you think?
is the studio able to do "modern metal"?
anyone used it?

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

It's excellent, but not for Direct Recording IMHO. I plug mine into a Mesa 2ne hundred and mic the Mesa Cab.

 

[aramism]

i believe it is the preamp found on the mark iic+ i'm not too sure. there is also the quad preamp check that out.


if you're looking for an alternative preamp with non-recto tones look into the always popular triaxis. however i can vouch that my friend in the studio next door had a studio preamp and we ran it through a strategy 400 power amp for leads and it sounded very good. sounded very similar to the "thin yet colorful" lead tone that was on master of puppets. i prefer the lead tone on the mark iv myself but the studio preamp is a great preamp for a very focused lead tone.

 

[s34nsm411]

i used to own one, it sounds great but i would not use it for modern metal stuff. stick to a recto/5150 for that

 

[Mr. Brokenamp]

I've owned several of them over the years. If you use it straight into the old mesa 50/50 power amps you can do the ride the lighting sound to a tee. If you put a BBE maximizer in the loop you can get some modern sounds out of it. Lastly it is virtually identical electrically to a IIC+ preamp. I sat down once with schematics to both and there are on ly 2 or 3 differences I can remember and they weren't that big of a deal like the push pull the IIC+ has the studio doesn't, but you could easily add it if you wanted it's just an added cathode bypass cap.

 

[LSD-Studio]

Thank you guys, I'm gonna pick it up next week...

 

[aramism]

i'd like to add something also, i've spoken to several people who have the studio preamp/ quad preamp -> 2:90/ 50/50 or other "vintage" mesa poweramps and you can get very close to the fabled lead tone that was found in the ORIGINAL iic+'s however keep in mind that the main ingredient that really distinguishes a true iic+ is the power transformer that was ONLY on the original heads/combos from the mid 80's.


i know for a fact that after the late 80's they were not made anymore and on the mark iii's (the next production model after the iic) they did not have those transformers. and that's why mesa has stated they will never make a reissue of the iic+ because no replicate of modern version of that original transformer can do the original justice. i believe john petrucci modded his road kings a couple years ago with the power transformer from one of his iic+ heads so that he can get a more "sweet" lead tone. i'm not sure if the transformer was from a iic+ head or just a custom tranny. either way i have a mark iv head and i get a very pleasant lead tone out of it with no pedals no eq nothing. john petrucci used the mark iv a lot on leads especially on his g3 tour. now he switched to a green "nunya" (nunya business nickname) which is the preamp section of a iic+ modded for more girth on the tone and he runs it into a 2:100 power amp. that tone can be found on the "score" DVD and sounds absolutely out of this world. easily the best lead tone i've ever heard in my life. it is weird because in the world of mesa's the player base is divided equally into people who prefer the mark series tones and people who prefer the modern rectifier series tones. the setup john petrucci uses currently really is a true hybrid of both.

 

[greyskull]

oh john petruccci.
great
yaaaaaaaaaaaaawn

 

[LSD-Studio]

It just arrived, and it can be as BROOTAL as the recto pre!
pairing 2 tracks of the studio with 2 tracks of the recto should give a KILLER wall of sound.
this amp is great for leads, but can deliver amazing rhythm-tones as well (not only vintage ones).

...
I just put an TS in front of it and it definitely can do those brutal modern metalcore-sounds VERY good!
I recommend you guys testing this thing.

 

[aramism]

once i get some more mics and mic pres and a new computer


im going to get a quad pre.