Question:
I saw abunch of these on ebay the otherday when I was looking at mesa gear.
They are only 100 bucks (about), and I was wondering if they were any good?
Answer:
It dependes on what you're using it for but IMO they're pretty awsome! I used one for a long time in my rig. It's basically the mesa sound in a compact tube preamp. The tone is very similar to what you'd get out of a dual rec. Big fat distortion, and a nice fat clean tone.
My only gripe with the pedal was that it has three channels, but you can only switch between two at a time. and, if you adjust the clean channels gain too much (to get a nice growling texas blues sort of tone) it's volume jumps over the other channels.
The reason they are so cheap now is because Mesa introduced the Rectifier preamp and didn't want their own product to produce competition for this new preamp.
What are you planning on using it for? They have a lot of different applications that yield different results.
Answer:
Well, my music minister would have me using it for P&W, and I would use it mostly for metal tones.
Mainly I need a resonably warm clean channel (think triple-recto on channel 1 with the mode switch in the "up" position, and gain turned to about 6 or 7), and a gain channel that bassically copies the rectifier sound so that I could do metal with it (tho I know an exact copy wont be possible, but it would be nice to have something that is close).
Answer:
What amp will you be putting it through?
Answer:
Originally Posted by demon_hunter Well, my music minister would have me using it for P&W, and I would use it mostly for metal tones.
Mainly I need a resonably warm clean channel (think triple-recto on channel 1 with the mode switch in the "up" position, and gain turned to about 6 or 7), and a gain channel that bassically copies the rectifier sound so that I could do metal with it (tho I know an exact copy wont be possible, but it would be nice to have something that is close). it looks good to me...
Answer:
I'd say this is what you're looking for!
How are you planning on running it?
Direct to the board, to a power amp/speaker cab, or into the front of an amp?
Answer:
Originally Posted by metropolis4 I'd say this is what you're looking for!
How are you planning on running it?
Direct to the board, to a power amp/speaker cab, or into the front of an amp?
Depends on where Im playing.
For some upcomming events at my church I would use it straight into a mixing board, and anything else I would run it into the front of a KB amp on its vocal channel (which I discovered recently makes for an awsome guitar channel when my own amp is absent).
And plus, this thing would be able to replace the pedal Im using now, which is a piece of Digitech junk (tho, when I bought it I thot it was the absolute best distortion ever, lol).
Answer:
Originally Posted by demon_hunter Depends on where Im playing.
For some upcomming events at my church I would use it straight into a mixing board, and anything else I would run it into the front of a KB amp on its vocal channel (which I discovered recently makes for an awsome guitar channel when my own amp is absent).
And plus, this thing would be able to replace the pedal Im using now, which is a piece of Digitech junk (tho, when I bought it I thot it was the absolute best distortion ever, lol).
hmm... It will work direct, but you might find the sound to be a little dry, and kinda "off" sounding because of the lack of the effect of power amp and speakers in the signal chain...
I would really recommend running it to an amp or power amp of some sort, or using some type of cab simulator.
Have you considered any type of amp modeler, like a tonelab, or POD? If you are just going direct that is a great way to go!
Answer:
I havnt really considered either of those.
I suppose I could run it thru my amps clean channel.
I have like a million cabels lying around, so Im sure that I could hook it up without a problem.
Answer:
Originally Posted by demon_hunter I havnt really considered either of those.
I suppose I could run it thru my amps clean channel.
I have like a million cabels lying around, so Im sure that I could hook it up without a problem. does your amp have an effects loop?
Answer:
Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq does your amp have an effects loop?
I own a mg15dfx, marshall aparantly didnt think that us cheap people needed fx loops, lol
Answer:
Originally Posted by demon_hunter I own a mg15dfx, marshall aparantly didnt think that us cheap people needed fx loops, lol A valve Junior would probably sound killer with this. I have yet to try my hughes and Kettner tubeman, (same general thing) with one.
Answer:
Yeah, the ideal way to run it would be either to a separate power amp, or to an effects return on an amp.
I would still recomend at least trying out a modeler. Expecially if you want to run direct!
I am using a POD XT Live right now and I can get killer Mesa tones out of it!
I actually sold my Dual Rectifier to fund this purchase, and haven't regreted it one bit! (I also once owned a Mk IV)
Answer:
Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq A valve Junior would probably sound killer with this. I have yet to try my hughes and Kettner tubeman, (same general thing) with one.
Hmm, that is an idea. Plus there is no eq on a Junior, so I wouldnt have to worry about adjusting twin eq's and crap like that.
Originally Posted by metropolis4 Yeah, the ideal way to run it would be either to a separate power amp, or to an effects return on an amp.
I would still recomend at least trying out a modeler. Expecially if you want to run direct!
Modelers are gennerally expensive (tho I havnt priced a PODxt recently). Im trying to put together a reasonably cheap rig that wont totally kill the wallet.
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Tho I just remembered that the KB amp has a "Power-amp In" on it, so I could use it like that (it would still count out home use tho).