Educate me on the Mesa Lineup

[domsch1988]

Hey folks,

Mesa has always been a brand i didn't look at. Mainly because in Europe prices are insane. Since i'm now really saving up and getting more serious, plus mesa throwing out smaller wattage, slightly cheaper amps, its getting into my range.

With most other Amp Brands i'm quiet familiar what model produces which kind of Tone. Not so with Mesa. I find their lineup a bit confusing.

So, the Dual Rec is the only one i've heard live until now. Other than that, there are the Mark V, Transatlantics, Roadster, Recto-Verb, Express and Road King. What do they share and where do they differ? What can i expect from them? It's sadly near impossible to play them in the area i'm in. Music store has them, but they are really anal about letting someone play these amps. Much more so, just to test them. You'd need to make really sure you are wanting one to get your hands on one...

Main question: How do the obvious metal choices (Dual Rec, Single Rec and Mark) differ? Which other of there lineup offer medium high to high gain with maybe a mor "classic" approach? What Artist may i listen to, to get a good idea of their sound?
JP for the Mark tone. If i remember correctly Andy Timmons uses transatlantics or lone-stars?
I'm really lost here

 

[Marchpip]

It's sadly near impossible to play them in the area i'm in. Music store has them, but they are really anal about letting someone play these amps.

YES! And I know which of the employes you are talking about

I can only speak about Single and Dual Rectifiers but in my opinion, the Single Recto is a bit more vintage sounding in comparison with the Dual Recto. If you're looking for a Recto and fine with 2 channels instead of three, a Single is a good choice.

 

[4Eyes]

speaking in general
Recto - most used for modern rock/metal tones (DT - Train of thought, Metallica Load/Reload era, Alterbridge/Mark Tremonti, Rammstein...)
Mark - Early Metallica, Dream Theater both old and recent era for more modern tones..Lamb of God

 

[Hiphopotamus]

I own a roadster head and have tried single, dual and triple recs, lonestar (not sure exactly which model and the old stilettos, never really tried a mark series. I really love my roadster since it is so versatile and is less harsh, fizzy and grindy than the standard rectifiers I have played. I didn't really mesh with the lonestar since I found it far to round sounding for my style but clean and lower gain bluesy tones were to die for. The stilettos I tried were similar to a
rectifier but less boomy in the bass, more mid centric and smoother in the highs. For the roadster and I'm assuming the rest of the rectifier line you need to remember that these amps a very finicky about speakers and tubes, I swapped the tubes to a high gain set from Dougs tubes and it really tightened up the tone. Originally I was running into a Marshall 4x12 with g12t-75's and the low end was far too prominent so I traded the cab for a Mesa traditional 4x12 with v30's and now it is absolutely perfect. They also love to be pushed with a tube screamer which also tightens up the tone. This is by far the best amp I have owned and gives me a very tight, smooth and articulate prog/metal tone. I recommend running your gain pretty low on the amp and using the tube screamer to push it otherwise I find it a little to fuzzy for my taste. Definitely try to go out and test one first since it seems like people either love them or hate them.

 

[laxu]

Lonestars have a fair amount of gain on tap despite being known for great clean and lower gain tones. Two identical channels with one that has an extra adjustable overdrive mode that makes for some really sweet lead tones. The EL84 LS Special sounds a bit more balanced overall, I found the regular 6L6 Lonestar a bit boomy on the bottom end.

The Stiletto was essentially Mesa's answer to Marshall. I can't really think anything nice to say about them, I don't like them much.

Since you're in Europe like me, I would not buy Mesa. The "Europe markup" is just plain insane and not explainable with taxes and shipping. Maybe if you can find one used.

 

[domsch1988]

Lonestars have a fair amount of gain on tap despite being known for great clean and lower gain tones. Two identical channels with one that has an extra adjustable overdrive mode that makes for some really sweet lead tones. The EL84 LS Special sounds a bit more balanced overall, I found the regular 6L6 Lonestar a bit boomy on the bottom end.

The Stiletto was essentially Mesa's answer to Marshall. I can't really think anything nice to say about them, I don't like them much.

Since you're in Europe like me, I would not buy Mesa. The "Europe markup" is just plain insane and not explainable with taxes and shipping. Maybe if you can find one used.

True concerning prices but tbh, the mesa sound is not really replicated by any other amp... And i find many other brands have that as well. I regularly read on hear of used 6505's going for around 500 On the other hand Engl and diezel are rather "affordable" by comparison

 

[shredfreak]

1300 for dual rec + flightcase isn't exactly what i'd call insane prices tbh. second hand market has some pretty cool scores

 

[Thanatopsis]

That's absurd that they won't let you play them. I've never had that issue. A couple years ago I even had someone bring a VH4 from out back and let me try it out knowing full well I had no intention of buying it(not that I wouldn't like one, just not in the budget).

 

[Given To Fly]

I've attached a .pdf that is slightly outdated, but still useful, which briefly describes each amp that was in the Mesa/Boogie lineup at the time.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I think you are better off going to youtube and listening to videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j34U7k6mWzI

here is one that compares the recto vs the mark 5.

There are 3 series of rectos, two channel, 3 channel and the revision G.
Then there is the road king, the roadster(road king without all the extra stuff on the back panel) and the Roadking II( this one has the lonstar clean and the "two channel" ODs)
that should get you started.

side note petrucci is coming out with his own sig mark, it's basically a 2c+ with two or three graphic eqs.