A Mesa so easy to dial in even Light might like it!

Light said:
Because by the time I get back home, it will have completely slipped my mind.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...

Give me a date and I'll add it to my Outlook calendar at work, then drop you a PM. We'd all like to see that awesome rig!
 
Let's be completely honest here. The type of preference that Light describes---i.e., for non-master volume amps---is pretty much the the way I feel.

However, the truth is that there is a good deal of listening with the eyes that goes into this preference.

I can gaurantee you that, given a blind test, Light wouldn't always be able to pick out the non-master volume vs. the master volume amp--- and neither would I for that matter.

I'm not trying to pick on Light or anything, but I'm just being honest here, and he's one that I see most often dissing master volume amps, so I used him as the example.

I've had two Mesas and was not particularly fond of them, but that's not just because they had master volumes. I just didn't care for the character. But I have a Bogner now (with a MV), along with a few other NMV amps, and I really enjoy playing through it, even though it has the dreaded MV.

I think it's mostly a purist thing that develops when you learn about how amps are built and how to do it yourself. You see how complicated things can get in some designs, and hear so much from nostalgic builders about how the "purest, most direct path results in the best tone," etc. And that idea gets into your head so much that you convince yourself that you won't like an amp that breaks that rule.

If you don't like an amp because you don't like its sound, that's fine. But to say you won't like it just because it has a master volume is, IMO, listening with the eyes.
 
famous beagle said:
I'm not trying to pick on Light or anything, but I'm just being honest here.
Click to expand...

No, me neither, I'm just afraid that if he doesn't post a pic of that amp, certain people will begin to think that he's completely full of shit, and I'd hate to see that happen. Really, I would. Just hate it.
 
famous beagle said:
Let's be completely honest here. The type of preference that Light describes---i.e., for non-master volume amps---is pretty much the the way I feel.

However, the truth is that there is a good deal of listening with the eyes that goes into this preference.
Click to expand...
That's so true.

I'm a bit of an audiophool ..... expensive-ass turntable .... good cartridge ..... good cables ...... a nice phono-preamp.
But a lot of the silly stuff that audiophiles buy and argue over make differences so slight or non-existant that they can't be heard in a blind test.
They'll say that they are too subtle to pick up on unless you know to listen for them but I call bullshit. They're influenced by what they see and their brain knows about what is happening and that influence actually affects how they hear it.

As a piano tuner, I can confidently say that your hearing varies from day to day and by your mood or how good you feel.
It all takes place in the brain and the brain is a pretty bizarre device.
 
Lt. Bob said:
But a lot of the silly stuff that audiophiles buy and argue over make differences so slight or non-existant that they can't be heard in a blind test.
They'll say that they are too subtle to pick up on unless you know to listen for them but I call bullshit. They're influenced by what they see and their brain knows about what is happening and that influence actually affects how they hear it.
Click to expand...
I saw a thread on an audiophile forum a while back, by a guy who set up a blind listening test for speaker cables for two of his audiophile friends who were having a pissing contest over which overpriced brand of cables sounded best.

They did the test through the tester's high-dollar, high-end home audio system (with which the listerners were familiar) and used mutually-agreed-upon reference listening material of various genres.

They ran the test and discussed the results. I can't remember now whether the two agreed on which brand was best, but they did agree that both were excellent.

Unbenownst to them, their friend had not been using either of the two high-end brands of speaker cable. In fact, he had not been using speaker cable at all. He had rigged coat hanger wire with the appropriate connections and used that in both listening tests. :eek:

This is a perfect example of hearing what you want to hear, and how subjective all this stuff can be.
 
Zaphod B said:
I saw a thread on an audiophile forum a while back, by a guy who set up a blind listening test for speaker cables for two of his audiophile friends who were having a pissing contest over which overpriced brand of cables sounded best.

They did the test through the tester's high-dollar, high-end home audio system (with which the listerners were familiar) and used mutually-agreed-upon reference listening material of various genres.

They ran the test and discussed the results. I can't remember now whether the two agreed on which brand was best, but they did agree that both were excellent.

Unbenownst to them, their friend had not been using either of the two high-end brands of speaker cable. In fact, he had not been using speaker cable at all. He had rigged coat hanger wire with the appropriate connections and used that in both listening tests. :eek:

This is a perfect example of hearing what you want to hear, and how subjective all this stuff can be.
Click to expand...

And I think that some of that is going on when home-recordists argue over this mic sounds like shit while that one's awesome and Mackie mic pres suck while an Allen and Heath blows it away.
I'm not saying there's no difference ..... I'm just saying it's often not as night and day as people try to make it out.
And everyone exaggerates stuff anyway ..... anytime something sounds good it's always "Awesome" ....."best treble I ever heard!" ....... "Now that I have my (Insert amp name here)_ I realize every other amp is horrible" .... that sort of hyperbole.

Sometime in the near future I'm gonna do a recording with a total crap chain. I'll use a Xavier git and an all Behringer chain including the mic pres and an Alesis 3630 for a comp and I'll use my AKG 3000B mic.
I'm betting no one says a word about ..."Man .... that sounds like a cheap pre".
It's mostly in how you use it.
 
Screw it.

I bought the combo and love it! It's the tone I want! Killer crunch. Awesome cleans. Great reverb. I fits me and my style prefectly.

I think for those of you who hate Mesa because of the Rectifier series, you should to take one of these for a spin. Totally different animal.

My only complaint. It is heavy as hell. Thank God it has casters.

To be fair, Guitar Center gave me an insane trade in value on my RoadKing.

I see used Road Kings on Ebay and even in on the Guitar Center Online used gear gonig for 1400$ (Road King 1's, not 2's).

For some reason unknown to me, they called and offered me 1650$ for it. I couldn't get it to the store fast enough.

Now it was in excellent shape and has been almost completely re-tubed. I retolexed it myself. And I even told the store I retolexed. It looked even better then the one in the store with the original tolex (it had been a little beat on) But I myself had only paid 1000 for it used before the retolex job.

Either way, I love the Electra Dyne! Fits nicely with my Mark IV!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top