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Topic: Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier 150W head - $800 |
Jon Mettrick
From:
California, USA
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Posted 3 Apr 2020 3:44 pm |
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| Is this a good practice amp? |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 3 Apr 2020 7:05 pm
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| it would be great for practicing speed metal inside a 10,000 seat arena |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 3 Apr 2020 7:11 pm
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| It'd be good if you practice on Catalina Island and your speaker cabinet's in Huntington Beach. |
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Jacek Jakubek
From:
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 3 Apr 2020 9:14 pm
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Come on guys...You don't have to crank it to arena levels to enjoy the amp, just put it on low volume.
It's a very nice looking amp so if you have the space for it...why not? |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 4 Apr 2020 3:12 am
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Sure, you can use it. But the question is whether or not this is a good practice amp, I assume for steel guitar. This amp is indeed designed to play metal at arena volumes. Output section is 6x6L6 or 6xEL-34. Full power is a loud 150 tube Watts - there is a mode switch to go down to 50 Watts. The "clean" sound is just one of the 6 basic modes of the amp - each channel has a lower-gain and higher-gain mode.
I've played guitar through them. They're very good amps for what they were designed for - shredding metal. I know guys who use 'em. But to me, it wasn't a very inspiring clean sound - I would never buy it for its clean sound. I suppose it might have sounded better if I was to crank it up, but the lower-volume clean sound didn't motivate me to check that channel/mode out further.
I do think $800 is a pretty decent price for one if it's in real nice shape. |
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Gene Tani
From:
Pac NW
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Jon Mettrick
From:
California, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2020 7:26 am
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| Guffawed at last. Thanks. No interest now. |
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Tal Herbsman
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2020 7:27 am
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It's all relative. Here's yangwies bedroom practice setup:
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2020 7:38 am
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Seriously, no.
When I was working at Mesa, we built an amp with six 6L6 tubes and a 15" speaker. About 150 watts. To test it, I took it to a club gig. It sounded spectacular once it reached a volume that nobody in the room could stand. At lower volumes it was basically lifeless.
Those amps are designed to play loud. They don't sound good until they reach a certain threshold, a point that would cause hearing damage in a small room.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2020 10:48 am
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| listen to b0b..... |
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Rick Abbott
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2020 1:39 pm
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WHAT!!!?
Couldn't resist 
_________________
RICK ABBOTT
Sho~Bud D-10 Professional #7962
Remington T-8, Sehy #112
1975 Peavey Pacer 1963 Gibson Falcon |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 4 Apr 2020 1:51 pm
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| Tal Herbsman wrote: |
| It's all relative. Here's yangwies bedroom practice setup: |
nice pajamas too |
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Steve Sycamore
From:
Sweden
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Posted 14 Apr 2020 1:51 am
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| Dave Mudgett wrote: |
I've played guitar through them. They're very good amps for what they were designed for - shredding metal. |
Actually it was kind of a fluke in the process (from what have heard). The designer wanted a very much vintage tone and added tube rectifiers to be switched on or off as desired. Tube rectifiers were never used in modern high gain amps until then because they increase the expense, decrease the output and give a softer, smoother sound.
The generally darker voicing of the amp plus high gain (pretty much all Mesas offer this) coupled to the ferociously brash custom Vintage 30 Celestion speakers gave an unexpected sound that soon became a hit with many up and coming 90's metal bands. So it became a metal amp through reputation rather than design.
P.S. Higher power Mesa amps are known for needing *lots* of volume to start sounding decent. (Oh yes, Bob already mentioned this). |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 14 Apr 2020 4:29 am Re: Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier 150W head - $800
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| Jon Mettrick wrote: |
| Is this a good practice amp? |
Have you ever seen anyone else using one as such? (That's usually a fairly good indicator.) Note that "practice amps", if we use them at all, are generally small and light.
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 14 Apr 2020 7:01 am
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| Quote: |
| Actually it was kind of a fluke in the process (from what have heard). The designer wanted a very much vintage tone and added tube rectifiers to be switched on or off as desired. |
The Triple Rectifier came along well after the intial "Dual Rectifier" series started. The first series included the Blue Angel, Maverick, Heartbreaker, and Solo. The only one of those that had two tube rectifiers was the Solo, which ultimately, after many revisions, became the one associated with hard rock and heavy metal. The Maverick and Heartbreaker could switch between a 5AR4 tube rectifier and a silicone diode rectifier. I have always assumed that the germ of the idea for using two tube rectifiers came from the 4x10" tweed Bassman and 2x12" Low-Power tweed Twin amps that Fender made between 1955 and 1957. I have a '57 dual 5U4 tweed Bassman, sonically the best damn guitar amp I have ever owned. It even works great for pedal steel if the stage volume isn't stupid.
But anyway - the dual 5U4 Solo head went through a bunch of revisions and ultimately became the "Dual Rectifier" head that we now know to be the heavy metal standard. The Triple Rec added two extra power tubes for extra headroom and tightness - a lot of metal players really wanna shove it down your throat.
I think one could use the Triple Rec as a pedal steel amplifier, but not as a bedroom amp. Well, I suppose if you have a big bedroom out in the country somewhere and you live alone and like to practice loud. But I believe it really was designed as a hard rock / heavy metal amp. I imagine b0b could enlighten us further since he worked for Mesa building amps. |
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Steve Sycamore
From:
Sweden
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Posted 14 Apr 2020 12:00 pm
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| Dave Mudgett wrote: |
| I have a '57 dual 5U4 tweed Bassman, sonically the best damn guitar amp I have ever owned. |
I've heard a lot of players say similar things about the Bassman but that amp was a little before my time. I'm guessing the modern low power replacement might be something like the Tone King Imperial:
https://www.toneking.com/products/amps/imperial-mk-ii/#brownfront
I play a Mesa Road King II which incorporates the Triple Rec circuit except that the 3rd pair of 6L6's is an EL34 pair. The best sound of the amp by far IMO is the "Tweed" circuit that apparently emulates a Bassman type sound. I needed to replace the Vintage 30 speakers with another set to keep the amp from sounding outrageously grungy and harsh. Ironically the "Vintage" 30's are anything but... |
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Josh Yenne
From:
Sonoma California
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Posted 24 Apr 2020 12:34 am
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| What bob said. Beyond the fact that most steel players do not want that many gain stages. This is a literally the opposite of a practice amp |
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