Mesa V-Twin

[Lasse Lammert]

...just bought one...
not really impressed so far.

The headphone mode sounded promising, not bad at all (for a box sim etc).
in front of an amp I really didn't like the V-Twin at all, into the poweramp of an amp it's much better already, still not awesome...a bit too mushy for my high gain taste, very dark (you have to have the presence cranked on the poweramp)
definitely usable if you just wanna carry around something small for the odd gig, but not really a replacement for a great amp or dedicated preamp into a poweramp.
hard to describe, although I'm runing it through a tube poweramp and a mic'd cab, it still sounds a bit like a recto-modeller.
Actually, in direct mode it sounds almost exactly like the recto pre going direct to me


but who knows, I've just been fucking with it for 8 mins...it might grow on me

 

[RichS]

I tried one years ago and felt the clean sound was better than the gain.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

yes, the clean is pretty cool

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

I tried to like it a back in the day, but it just didn't do what I wanted. The amptweaker tight metal is much better, still not great, but kicks the mesa. Although I must say, the Mesa looks tough.

 

[TRUIE]

Are you talking about the stompbox or rack version ?
I'm gonna buy a used rack version, many people told me it's different, way better than the pedal (not the same schematic) and with the right poweramp, very close to a Recto.

Rack versions are harder to find too.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

the pedal

 

[TRUIE]

Get the rack

 

[Lasse Lammert]

It actually sounds very close to the M-Pulse Big-Block....might try using it as bass recording device

 

[Lasse Lammert]

it actually sound spretty good plugged into the clean channel of the JVM410!

 

[Djunn]

Lasse can you post some hi-gain riffage? It's not possible to find a good hi-gain clip of v-twin. At least I couldn't find one for years. I'm curious about this little fella.

 

[Robert W]

I tried to like it a back in the day, but it just didn't do what I wanted. The amptweaker tight metal is much better, still not great, but kicks the mesa. Although I must say, the Mesa looks tough.

You can use this pedal as preamp, can't you?

 

[TRUIE]

If it can help, a French dude posted a quick reamp with his V-Twin (rack) here :
http://www.guitariste.com/forums/amplification,mesa-boogie-v-twin-rack-preamp,359017.html
Direct link : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13985881/V-Twin_PI-101_Tiode_MP3.mp3

He used a cheap boost in front of it, and the preamp is recorded direct to his DAW + IR.

 

[pfapin05]

That sounds pretty good for a vtwin. I used to have the rack version, and now I kind of regret letting it go!

 

[TRUIE]

Yeah, I think with a decent boost in front of it and if you take the time to tweak it correctly (he told me he did that very quickly, and used a preset in the Torpedo PI-101 with 6L6 + Mesa Cab + SM57, and just moved a bit the mic), you can achieve great tones out of it.
I'm buying one to record direct, and also to use on bass.
You can find them around 350-400€ used, but they're a bit hard to find.

 

[Eduardo Apolonia]

I had a V-Twin about 15 years ago and sold it shortly after, didn't like it much.
I've heard not so long ago that it works very good on bass...

 

[Lasse Lammert]

not really interested in the Rack Version tbh...
for that money I could almost buy a used Recto Recording Pre and have the "real deal".
I actually used to have the RecordingPre...twas nice, but I moved away from the whole preamp+poweramp setup

 

[TRUIE]

My rack version arrived yesterday.
I played a few minutes with to check everything was OK, and it sounds great !
The cleans are amazing, and the distortion channel is very versatile with the 3 different voicings.

I will post some clips soon, if someone interested.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Hmm, was always interested in hearing one of these. A buddy of mine had one back in the day but it needed new tube(s) and a power supply so I never got to hear it.

Pretty nifty!

 

[Fortinamps]

...just bought one...
not really impressed so far.

The headphone mode sounded promising, not bad at all (for a box sim etc).
in front of an amp I really didn't like the V-Twin at all, into the poweramp of an amp it's much better already, still not awesome...a bit too mushy for my high gain taste, very dark (you have to have the presence cranked on the poweramp)
definitely usable if you just wanna carry around something small for the odd gig, but not really a replacement for a great amp or dedicated preamp into a poweramp.
hard to describe, although I'm runing it through a tube poweramp and a mic'd cab, it still sounds a bit like a recto-modeller.
Actually, in direct mode it sounds almost exactly like the recto pre going direct to me


but who knows, I've just been fucking with it for 8 mins...it might grow on me

Hey Lasse,
I felt the same way. When Ola asked me to do something with his that he recently acquired since he found it un-usable for his needs....I had a go at it.

Even though it has 2 tubes in it, the OD channel is largely solid state based. Oddly enough, the clean channel has the most tube action going on. Since it is a tight compact design inside the chassis, it didn't make sense to re-route all the tube stages into the OD channel as that would have been a major under taking.

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/55005_480793881951513_771052259_o.jpg

Ola needed a quick fix for a backup and something for a fly date. Something to hold him over until Randall could get him something we've been working on. I re-voiced all the channels on it......

Here is a quick clip of what it sounds like into a ss power amp.
http://youtu.be/5Vl4PPN7Rok

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Lasse Lammert]

Hey Lasse,
I felt the same way. When Ola asked me to do something with his that he recently acquired since he found it un-usable for his needs....I had a go at it.

Even though it has 2 tubes in it, the OD channel is largely solid state based. Oddly enough, the clean channel has the most tube action going on. Since it is a tight compact design inside the chassis, it didn't make sense to re-route all the tube stages into the OD channel as that would have been a major under taking.

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/55005_480793881951513_771052259_o.jpg

Ola needed a quick fix for a backup and something for a fly date. Something to hold him over until Randall could get him something we've been working on. I re-voiced all the channels on it......

Here is a quick clip of what it sounds like into a ss power amp.
http://youtu.be/5Vl4PPN7Rok

Cheers,
Mike

sounds cool...didn't expect anything else from you though

Ola needed a quick fix for a backup and something for a fly date. Something to hold him over until Randall could get him something we've been working on.e

They've just mentioned that thing to me (well, at least I assume we're talking about the same thing)...I'm really looking forward to trying that out, could really come in handy for practicing etc as well.