Gibson bought Mesa

[SAVEStheDAY]

I've always liked Mesa, I think because I always assumed there was more to them than what I saw on TV in the early noughties.

For how stupid the Triple Rectifier looks, I always find it's the easiest amp to get a tone I want in Amplitube, if that means anything.

I used to gig with a Triple Recto way back when and still own it. You don't hear about this much, probably due to the high gain association, but there's a lot of headroom available in that amp if you want it. It isn't a one trick pony. You can get a lot of decent clean, overdrive, and crunch sounds out of it.

[shoule79]

I didn't like them for years due to the Dual rectifier association with bad post-grunge and nu-metal. Seeing mid-scoopers disappear in the mix live and the ones I tried in person being hard to dial in didn't help either.

Then about 7 or 8 years ago I was downsizing and wanted to go down to a modern channel switching amp and a Princeton Reverb. I had a hard time finding what I wanted, and one of the first amps I tried was a 5:25 with EL84's that I did not really like. Tried the Marshall DSL40, Peavey 6505, Orange Rockerverb, Fender Supersonic, nothing was really floating my boat. Then a 5:50 1X12 came up used at a price I couldn't ignore. Took it home expecting to use it as a temporary stop gap amp. I was floored by how much I liked it. the 5:25 sounded boxy, the 5:50 sounded like an actual Fender amp. I still have it.

Since then i've found a lot of Mesa's I like, like the Lonestar, Electradyne, and Fillmore. If I ever needed a big combo amp again a Lonestar or Tremoverb (Buckley/Afghan Whigs reasons) are on my short list. The simplicity and rock sound of the old Blue Angels are also tempting me.

[s_mcsleazy]

can't wait for fuckers on reverb to start using the phrase "pre-gibson mesa. RARE" actually, let me check reverb one moment. *goes to reverb and checks the first 5 pages* WOW, well done reverb users. you've not said "pre-gibson mesa" that i could be arsed to find. well done.

You KNOW it's coming though. We can all get a right good chuckle when it does.

i will buy a rubber duck for the first person who can send me a ad that will say "pre-gibson mesa. RARE"

[Veitchy]

can't wait for fuckers on reverb to start using the phrase "pre-gibson mesa. RARE" actually, let me check reverb one moment. *goes to reverb and checks the first 5 pages* WOW, well done reverb users. you've not said "pre-gibson mesa" that i could be arsed to find. well done.

You KNOW it's coming though. We can all get a right good chuckle when it does.

i will buy a rubber duck for the first person who can send me a ad that will say "pre-gibson mesa. RARE"

Boom.

Bonus snark in the description.

https://reverb.com/au/item/38139621-mes ... gibson-era

[s_mcsleazy]

You KNOW it's coming though. We can all get a right good chuckle when it does.

i will buy a rubber duck for the first person who can send me a ad that will say "pre-gibson mesa. RARE"

Boom.

Bonus snark in the description.

https://reverb.com/au/item/38139621-mes ... gibson-era

damn. now i gotta look up how much it will cost to send a rubber duck to aus

[HarlowTheFish]

"The Gibson line is for laughs. Don’t kill me. Like Gibson will Mesa."

Dammit Veitchy I laughed so hard at this I knocked a goddamn mason jar of water all over my desk.

I'm holding you personally responsible so I'll be having that duck off you for a James Veitch-style rubber-ducking of my girlfriend.

[budda12ax7]

Mesa Boogie Mark 3, can use 6l6 or EL34 or a combo of each, 3 channels, one dedicated for boost. Not high gain although you can push it, when EQ'd correctly it sounds like a Marshall JMP...with a solo channel. I have mine set to one channel clean, second channel to a JMP sound, then third channel as my solo channel... These were made to compete with Marshall JCM 800's. It's very punchy.
OH...all the knobs push pull out for some great tone shaping used with a simple foot switch....

[sessylU]

/crosspost from an old shortscale.org thread from four years ago:

Saw this post in the Matamp Owners group on Facebook and thought it was interesting. Don't know how true it is or if it's just Matamp fanboys. I was always intrigued by how crazy versatile the Mesa looked but never made a connection between the two amps.

Background is that this poster has owned the original, first 1224 mkii since 2004.

Sold it once (2006) to a guy called Mike Castle. He discovered a lot about its history. Seems that Mesa Boogie had their Hands on it and reverse engineered the valve switching in/out circuitry before 'pinching' it for the Lone Star range. They also reassembled the tone stack incorrectly. If you recall Jef, the tone stack had very little effect.

Mike took the amp back to Jeff and Dave Green at Matamp and he rebuilt it with new PCB's under Dave's guidance. It then sounded a lot bigger, and less 'dark' than it had done.

I got in touch with Mike about six months after I sold it and begged to buy it back, and as Mike had got the bug for amp building, he ordered a new one from Dave and sold me this one back.

He kept the original oxblood fronted cab so I ordered a pair of cabs in burgundy rexine with lloydloom fronts, G12H and G12M speakers combined.

Matamp also removed the 'Nick Guppy' name plate and binned it (they'd apparently got into an expensive legal dispute with boogie over this amp!)

[tammyw]

I never liked the Lone Star, but I have an Electra Dyne which has a fantastic clean channel and spring reverb. I would choose it over a Fender any day.

+1 for Triple Recto clean headroom, too. If not for everything else going on last year, I would have gotten one. Probably the only tube amp I still lust for.

I hope Gibson doesn't do anything stupid.

[Unicorn Warrior]

I’ve played a few amps in my day. I’ve lately fallen into the Vox camp. But nothing will rival the sound of my Tremoverb combo and that beautiful gain saturation. Clean and distortion were awesome

[budda12ax7]

The DC series is also a great buy.

[HarlowTheFish]

The DC series is also a great buy.

The DC and honestly any of the more budget or left-field (for Mesa) options are really great workhorse amps. Good quality, they sound great, and other than the Rectumfryer, they're super versatile.