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Topic: amp question |
Ron Shalita
From:
California, USA
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Posted 28 Dec 2016 7:35 pm |
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has anyone tried Mesa Boogie amps with the Pedal Steel.. ? if so what are your thoughts?
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Been playing all of my life, Lead Guitar, and Pedal Steel, sing Lead and Harmony.. play other Instruments also but I hate to admit to it.. |
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Edward LeVasseur
From:
Maine, USA
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Posted 28 Dec 2016 8:22 pm Amplifier
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Dr Z has the Surgical Steel amp.All Tube,Don't know if you've seen that one
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Shobud Ldg Shobud Pro 1 Carter Starter,Vegas 400, Nashville 400 Fender Deluxe Reverb Boss DD3 Holy Grail Reverb |
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Gino Cecchetto
From:
California, USA
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Posted 28 Dec 2016 11:41 pm
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| You'll get more of a response if you post your question in the Pedal Steel forum, rather than here in the Steel Guitars For Sale forum. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 29 Dec 2016 12:10 am
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This belongs in Electronics - the topic is amplifiers, not steels.
There are dozens if not hundreds of different models of Mesa amps from the 1970s to present, which run the gamut of many different types of sounds. If you search electronics for Mesa or Boogie, you'll find many previous threads on different Mesa amps.
I have tried pedal steel through a bunch of different Mesa amps. For a typical "clean pedal steel" sound, an original or reissue Mark I sounded pretty good when set on clean with a clean speaker like an EVM-12L. I liked my pedal steel through a Nomad 45 I owned on the clean settings. I also like it through the Mesa Express 5:25 1x12 that I currently own. The caveat on the latter two is that they aren't super loud before they start breaking up, but they pretty much are in line with a Deluxe Reverb to Pro Reverb volume level, which work for me if the stage volume isn't high. The Express particularly is very versatile, being good for both guitar and pedal steel at appropriate volume levels. I also like the Blue Angel and Maverick amps.
Of course, it depends on what you want to sound like. If you want some breakup, you might really like even the smaller Mesas at a higher volume.
I personally have never been able to get along with Mark II, III, IV and so on. Too much time fididdling with the knobs trying to find that thin hypersurface in an N-dimensional parameter space where they sound good to me. The classic Boogie sound has a lot of midrange bark/woof that I'm always trying to dial out of those amps. To my tastes, anyway. |
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Gino Cecchetto
From:
California, USA
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Posted 29 Dec 2016 12:27 am
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| Yes, but electronics has input from lots of folks that aren't steel players. Posted in pedal steel, he'll get steel players opinions. Either way, both more appropriate than here. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 29 Dec 2016 7:43 am
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With due respect, this belongs in Electronics, not Pedal Steel. It is about the suitability of an amplifier for pedal steel - i.e., "steel guitar amplifier". It has nothing to do with a pedal steel itself, mechanical issues, copedents, and so on. From the section descriptions:
Pedal Steel - Moderators b0b, Joey Ace
Instruments, mechanical issues, copedents, techniques, etc.
Electronics - Moderator Joey Ace
Steel guitar amplifiers, effects, etc.
One of the main reasons b0b set up so many categories was to make it easier to find topics in their appropriate places. This has been discussed many times over many years, and impacts both current discussions and the ability to search for them later. |
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Ed Boyd
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 29 Dec 2016 8:41 am
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I haven't tried the Lonestar with a steel but I think it would be good. We call it the Twin killer. It is heavy! The Lonestar combo is equipped with heavy casters. It is necessary not a nice to have option. If I had to use a Mesa for strictly steel I would look at a Lonestar head and a steel cab of your choice. The original 100 watt Lonestar with 6L6s. NOT the EL84 Lonestar Special. The Lonestar will run in 50 and 10 watt modes but for steel I like max headroom.
If you wanted to use an amp for both guitar and steel the Road King head would be my only choice. The amp will route different channel to different speaker. You can set Channel 1 to be a 6 string channel and run it through EL34 set a little dirty and route it to a 212 cab and Channel 2 could be your steel setup pristine clean through 6L6s and it could route to a 1-15 cab. There are multiple effects loops with different routing options. It's crazy. It is also Mesa's flagship amp. The head is about $2800.
Last edited by Ed Boyd on 29 Dec 2016 8:51 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 29 Dec 2016 1:09 pm
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| Ed Boyd wrote: |
| I haven't tried the Lonestar with a steel but I think it would be good. We call it the Twin killer... |
I use a Mesa Lonestar Classic (not the 'Special'). If you like the sound of a Twin it is a great amp for steel. It's like a Twin with some extra goodies. As Ed notes, they are heavy but you can often find them fairly cheap.
It uses four 6L6s in the power section, 100 watts, but it has a rear panel switch to change the bias for EL34s too if you prefer. It has the standard issue Mesa stacked double preamp on the second channel (which can be bi-passed). It is extremely loud and clean when needed, but still has a nice smooth tone. Channels can be switched separately to use only two power tubes in the output section (50 watts, likened to a Pro Reverb) or all four. Mine is the earlier version, it doesn't have the 10 watt setting. The overdrive in the second channel is nice too, and very controllable. It's not the same sort of overdrive you get from a cranked Princeton, but still very usable.
Mine has a single 12, I tried it for a while with an Eminence TT-12, but went back to the stock Black Shadow (Celestion) speaker, which sounds better to my ear. |
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Norman Evans
From:
Tennessee
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