fender twin or mesa lonestar

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eeb

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The twin has always been my favourite amp.
and it looks like now i'm finally going to buy one and I was completely set on it until the other night when I went to see one of my favourite bands play. (minus the bear in case you wanna know)

The tone they had was 100% pure heaven... The singer actually has the exact same guitar as me (a good ol tele) and is playing through a mesa lonestar combo (with an extention cab which is out of the budjet for now)

now i'm torn..

I love the twin.. it's always been my dream amp... but i was so blown away by the lonestar i don't know what to do..

the lone star is a little more money but i'm debating if i should save a little more for it.. or just go with the twin..


any thoughts on either?

has anyone used the lonestar.. I know quite a few people that have a twin and they all swear by it but what about the mesa?
 
I have a Lonestar, 100/50 watt switchable single 12" combo from 2005, the blue one.

What has amazed me the most about this amp is that the clean is phenomenal! I have a Blues Jr and an Epiphone Valve Jr head through a Celestion 30 cab, and I can't even come close to the clean sound this amp can produce.

And the distortion channel... well, it's a Mesa, so...

Were they playing the newer brown Lonestar Special (switchable 5/15/30 watt, I believe) or the bigger brother like mine above? GC clearanced the Lonestar a while ago and I got mine for $950 brand new:eek:...

...but I had to get it shipped to me from another store, so a couple weeks of eager waiting, but no big deal.

In short, I love it.

Pete
 
I played the Lone Star and the Stilletto Ace. Like you, I'm a Fender fan.. and after lots of listening I wound up taking home the Fender Supersonic. I reccomend you try that before you commit to a Mesa.
 
Make sure you actually play the Lonestar before just buying it. A lot of the tone comes from the way someone plays.

Me, personally, I'd go for the Lonestar. It's not as much of a one trick pony as I feel the Twin is.
 
I haven't played the lone star, but I have a Mesa DC-3 and the clean is amazing. All of Mesa's hype is about the rectifier series distortion, but the clean sounds on a lot of their combos really impress me.
 
i have minimal playing time on these...but I love the Lonestar!
Lonestar seems versatile for low volume and hi. I don't know may be you have pedals anyway.

Twin is a classic...and loud. Always thought of it as a clean amp needing pedals?
I read the Fender design teams goal, back then was loud with no distortion. Distortion was looked as a failure back then. Louder and Cleaner was the goal I think until Hendrix came along, as I understand the history. Was it that Fender 50yrs Amp Book that mentioned that? :confused:

I think you can't really lose on either decision...:)
 
yeah I went and tried out a twin again (my town has no mesa dealer) and I absolutely love it.. I can't picture playing anything else.. it just called to me so i think my desicion is made
 
Reissue? or older? You can pick up a 68 or 69 for under a grand on the bay, I know it's a crap shoot but....... I gabbed a 68 and reconed the speakers, retubed and got a killer for around $900
 
that's the next debate


my pro's and con's list of new vs. vintage is this

new:
pro: full warranty, no fixing it up, the reissue has a distortion channel that i actually quite like
con: not the "original" vintage tone, price is much higher... hell for an extra 500$ i can get a blackface. As soon as I walk outta the store with it, it will have gone from being worth 1500$ to no more than 1000$ without even pluging it in


vintage

pro: it's the real deal.. original fender twin!! boooyahh! I can pick one up for much cheaper and it won't lose it's value when I leave with it like a new one will. vintage shit gives you automatic indie cred :P (ok i'm joking on that one hahaha)

con: no warranty, old shit sometimes is unreliable, might have to do some repairs on it, no distortion channel (i have pedals for that though)


anyone have anything to add to that list?


I love vintage gear.. my heart is telling me to go vintage.. but i've had some terrible luck with vintage shit in the past.. (some of it involves fire) so my head is telling me to be smart and get something new.. I will be working this amp extremly hard as we jam 2 or 3 times a week and play at least once or twice a month not including tour.
 
eeb said:
The twin has always been my favourite amp.
and it looks like now i'm finally going to buy one and I was completely set on it until the other night when I went to see one of my favourite bands play. (minus the bear in case you wanna know)

The tone they had was 100% pure heaven... The singer actually has the exact same guitar as me (a good ol tele) and is playing through a mesa lonestar combo (with an extention cab which is out of the budjet for now)

now i'm torn..

I love the twin.. it's always been my dream amp... but i was so blown away by the lonestar i don't know what to do..

the lone star is a little more money but i'm debating if i should save a little more for it.. or just go with the twin..


any thoughts on either?

has anyone used the lonestar.. I know quite a few people that have a twin and they all swear by it but what about the mesa?
Click to expand...

Minus the Bear is awesome..just thought i'd throw that in there. And is there anyway u can try out a lonestar at a gc or something near u? I'd assume not if u didnt throw that in there. I say go with what feels right.
 
JPXTom said:
Minus the Bear is awesome..just thought i'd throw that in there. And is there anyway u can try out a lonestar at a gc or something near u? I'd assume not if u didnt throw that in there. I say go with what feels right.
Click to expand...

hells yeah they are!! been my favourite band for a long time.. i was a big fan of snider's last band sharks keep moving too.. but man I THOUGHT i had lots of respect for them until i saw them live.. it was the most incredible thing i've ever seen.. you can't fully understand how good they are until you see them live man.. fucking 4 line 6 dl4 pedals sometimes running 3 loops at once.. sometimes he combos them up to make new guitar riffs by playing the line 6 pedals like a keyboard.. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears.. fuck .. it was just too good..

anyways back on track here.. I like in a smallish city and we don't have any decent music stores really.. there's a place that deals with fender and they have a twin there.. but there's no mesa dealer in sudbury ontario haha
 
My guitarist just picked up a "twin", it's got the 15" speaker though. Fantastic amp, I certainly wouldn't feel any buyers remorse after that purchase. I caught Minus the Bear last weekend, they played a great set. Subtle opened up, fuckin made the night. Too bad the crowd sucked something fierce, they were being total ass holes when Subtle was performing.
 
I have an old Mesa Subway Rocket (22 watt) and a Red knob Twin.

I love both, and I'm surprised cuz I'm not generally a Fender fan. I like them, and respect them, but I dont play blues (never learned how) so I never got into Fender sound. But I love this Twin, because it is soooo versatile.

This Subway Rocket is about the smallest Mesa you can get and still sound like a Mesa (as far as I know). I tried the Lonestar in the store a few times, great amp, but for some reason I could not get it to sound like my Subway or like the 5.50 Express.

However, if someone robbed me at gunpoint and said "Give me one of your amps or else!"........ I would give him the Twin and keep the Mesa. I may be able to copy the Fender sound on a few other amps, but nothing sounds like a Mesa.
 
heroics321 said:
My guitarist just picked up a "twin", it's got the 15" speaker though. Fantastic amp, I certainly wouldn't feel any buyers remorse after that purchase. I caught Minus the Bear last weekend, they played a great set. Subtle opened up, fuckin made the night. Too bad the crowd sucked something fierce, they were being total ass holes when Subtle was performing.
Click to expand...


yeah subtle was something else.. thought they were pretty rad at first but they kinda dragged on their set a little long and by the end i won't lie.. i was irratated with them.. the crowd in toronto seemed to dig it though..

that guy is FUCKING fast at rapping.. it was nuts..

did ela play too? they were alright too.. but when the bear came on.. made me forget everything I just saw before them.. haha kinda almost made me wanna quit music forever..

I'm thinking that the mesa is out of the race.. I won't really get a chance to try one and besides fender twin + american telecaster = orgasmns!
 
eeb said:
yeah subtle was something else.. thought they were pretty rad at first but they kinda dragged on their set a little long and by the end i won't lie.. i was irratated with them.. the crowd in toronto seemed to dig it though..

that guy is FUCKING fast at rapping.. it was nuts..

did ela play too? they were alright too.. but when the bear came on.. made me forget everything I just saw before them.. haha kinda almost made me wanna quit music forever..

I'm thinking that the mesa is out of the race.. I won't really get a chance to try one and besides fender twin + american telecaster = orgasmns!
Click to expand...

Can't beat the a Tele and a Twin, it's my all time favorite setup. The Twin responds great to pedals, too. Ela opened up the early show here, and Subtle played a later show. Would have gone to both, but I'm broke. Subtle was much better on their last tour with TV On The Radio, their set carried so much momentum, and the crowd was much more responsive. It's a different cup of tea and a bit surprising if you're there to see MTB.
 
heroics321 said:
Can't beat the a Tele and a Twin, it's my all time favorite setup. The Twin responds great to pedals, too. Ela opened up the early show here, and Subtle played a later show. Would have gone to both, but I'm broke. Subtle was much better on their last tour with TV On The Radio, their set carried so much momentum, and the crowd was much more responsive. It's a different cup of tea and a bit surprising if you're there to see MTB.
Click to expand...


this is true. Kinda an odd combo and if the "indie" kids all come out they probably won't be expecting a band like subtle. I kinda thought it was a good variety of music.. none of the bands sounded the same at all.. it's the worst when you go to a show to see a band only to see 2 clones of that band opening.. (mind you mtb is one of a kind too)

but as far as the amp goes.. i'm probably gonna take another trip to toronto either this weekend or the next weekend to grab a twin..(this is all depending on if a guy we have coming to try out for drums works out.. i'm currently the drummer but not by choice) there's actually a guy selling a twin reverb in mint shape only 5 months old for 850$ so i might snag that one.. is there a big difference between the 65 twin and the twin reverb other than swapping the distortion for vibroto? (i LOVE vibroto)
 
No# 1: I have to take issue that a twin works great with pedals. No#2 the Mesa will give good tube distortion without damaging your hearing. Twin amps are great and sound great but if you want power-stage overdrive you and your audience will be deaf after the first song using a twin. Please note: Got one, it sounds great but it is F***ing LOUD. The Mesa (got one too) may allow a little more flexibility. My .02

Best advice, play both hear what you like best. But warn me if you are gigging in my city with the twin, I will wear Muffs and Plugs. HeHe. Ears silly. Further, a warranty is a good thing but the fenders are pretty bullet proof.

:D
 
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