ada & Mesa 20/20

[Outlander]

Hi every one. I need some input here. I'm considering getting a Mesa 20/20. I have an ADA MP1 will this preamp drive the mesa fairly well? I play with another guitarist who's using a 5150 1/2 stack usually run at about 1/3 to 1/2 of its power, and a drummer who's kind of a beater if you know what I mean! We're set up in a master bedroom so we really can't crank it too much.(all though you have to every once in a while!) I'm thinking of the 20/20 because I would like to get that overdriven saturated sound. Will it cut through the mix all right? Will I get a good sound for recording? What do you think? [img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[Lev]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

hey the mesa 20/20 is a great preamp.. I've been trying to buy one for almost a year now but always end up broke or buying something else lol. It'll drive your mp-1 great, you'll be more than happy with it [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Its good for bedroom volumes and it can also get really really loud.. so you won't have any problems there.

[rodrigo_echeverri]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

Dude,

I was in the hunt for a 20/20 but at the end I noticed that the difference in price with the 50/50 was not much and ended up getting one of these for US$400. I dont know about no bedroom levels but for the price I am happy with the 50/50.

[Lev]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

The thing is, you probably only have 1 cab (i'm assuming that since you're playing in a bedroom and not that loud).. so a 50/50 in mono is actually 100w, thats way louder than you need it to be, you'll probably keep it below 1 most of the time.. a 20/20 in mono would be close to 40watts, which is also very loud, but can also be overdriven to achieve quality tone at low volume levels. With the 50/50 be prepared to take the house down with you to overdrive the tubes lol. I have a 100watt amp in an apartment, trust me, its not a good idea... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[ March 31, 2003, 02:48 AM: Message edited by: Lev ]

[11miles]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

I agree eith LEV's post about the loudness of 50/50!
I own one and am trying out ada. Since it is all tube rig, you can really fell the power. But unfortunatelly not somewhere you can't crank up the volume!
One the other hand, i dont jnow where are you gonig with you rband.
If you are only enjoying playing and practicing at home, you dont need nothing more than a good combo if you ask me!
See where i am getting at?

Mesa is a great thig to buy, you won't be dissapointed!
And the juice of its power will get you really hyped up, when you crank it up a little bit.
MAybe not in your bedroom, prefferably in gig, small venue like...
Good thing aobur 50/50 is that you can run it on low power, which will give you only half of it's power, 15 watts to be more exact.2x15Watts equals 30, right?
I reccomend saving some more money and get 50!
Afterall what will you do with a 20/20 on a stadium?
[img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[petedz]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

The 50/50 has 6L6s, the 20/20 has EL-84s. Aside from how deaf they can make you (and both can do that just fine), they're gonna be a little bit different. [img]graemlins/eyes.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

Thanks to some info from jem777az, I re-EQed my preamp patches and I'm getting close to having my 20/20 dialed in. [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[ March 31, 2003, 06:25 AM: Message edited by: ElectricPhase ]

[Outlander]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

Thanx everyone let me clarify this a little more. This bedroom were in is actually quite large.There is nothing in this room except music gear including 2 half stacks 2 bass amps organ (wurlitzer)and electronic keyboard 13 pc. set gretch concert drums 24 channell board and recording gear misc. PA amps etc and a desk(my home office).We do actually get quite loud in here at times---Many times when we played out at clubs and such we had to play at lower volume than we rehearse at in this room. You know how management can be in some of these bars out there.
Any how once more do you think the 20/20 will be heard over the 5150 1/2 stack run at about 40% of its power? thanx again ...charlie [img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[rodrigo_echeverri]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

Dude, catch this if you can get it for less than $400.

Mesa 50/50

[11miles]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

Loudness and mesa should not be used in the same sentence, if you ask me, because they mean exactly the same thing.

I've tried a lot of amps at different volumes but mesa absolutely takes the cake!

Buying 20/20 you shouldn't worry about not be able to out volume 5150 if you ask me?
It depends however what cab you had in mind to play it from?

I again agree with rodrigo!
Spend some more money and buy mesa 50/50!
You will not regret it.
You can play it in
-high 50w per channel
(Mesa term of 50W is something else than MArshall for that matter, Mesa's 50W is really 50w, where yome other manufacturers only wish for that, wont you agree, all of you mesa fans?)
-or low 15 and get close to what you're interested in buying, right?

You have my opinion!
BUy the 50, you want regret it!

[11miles]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

I practice with my group in a 20 sq studio room. Till recently i' ve practiced in lo mode(15Wper channel) and got ada to extreme output level! Now i've treid the other way around.High on mesa and low on ada!

I'am always the loudest. And the good part is that i still have a lot of spare power, my buddies dont even know about.

Convinced?

[Outlander]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

Thanks everyone for all the helpfull info. I tested out the 20/20 night before last at the phoenix guitar center. It sounded fantastic, they had it preamped with the mesa tri-axis which kicked some serious butt. I have found that most tube amps operate most efficiently between 4 and 6, a very sweet round sound on 4 and saturation occurs around 6. The 50/50 has more crunch but the 20/20 sounded warmer and more musical. I kept telling myself I wasn't going to spend any money just test things out but by the time I got out to my truck I had the 20/20 under my arm. I know, I know, you can get them off e-bay for around $350 to $400. I was watching e-bay and they all dissapeared for a couple of weeks. I got Impatient! The next day one shows up on e-bay from Tucson,80 miles or so away. Oh Well! I hooked it up at home through my ADA and it sounded nothing like the triaxe (of course). after turning the denoiser off and tweaking the ADA it started getting a little closer to the tone in the store.This thing rocks it has a very sweet sound and plenty of power.I'm only running one side for now through my Randall 4x12. If I need more volume I'll hook up another cab to the other side. Electricphase if you're out there I would be curious to know how you adjusted your pre-amp and what kind you're using. I'm using a sl2-H mostly with this at the current time. Now I'm looking for a good parametric EQ, any suggestions? Would a graphic be better......thanks again for all your help
KEEP ON ROCKIN' [img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[petedz]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

Hey, congrats on the 20/20.

I'm running mine from a Rocktron Voodu Valve into a Mesa 4x12 half back. At first I made the mistake of thinking that the patches I used with my Mosvalve would work with the 20/20, but the combination of the 20/20 and the cab really pushes the upper mids. It sounds ok by itself, but sounds really thin in a band context. [img]graemlins/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I didn't have the time to figure it out, so I just kept using the Mosvalve.

Recently, a forum member pointed out that the upper mid emphasis was characteristic of the 20/20 (QED: there's nothing wrong with mine), so I went back to the drawing board. The Voodu has tons of parametric EQs built into it and anything's possible. It's a bit daunting trying to dial in all those options, but now I'm just following my ears and gradually getting closer. I love EL-84s. The 20/20 rocks.

[Outlander]

Re: ada & Mesa 20/20

thanx again every one. I thought I would just do a little follow up. The guys bailed on me on rehearsal night(chumps)so I spent some time dialing in my tone.I have my ADA MP1 running through a second pre-amp effects unit ART SGX 2000 (not express) on a blank program with no effects in order to access the second stage parametric EQ . I boosted every thing a little except the midrange this I turned all the way down. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I could not believe it when I popped the standby off . I had the Mesa sound coming out of the randall speakers. I then tried hooking up to another cabinet a Peavey black widow bass cab with an 18 inch woofer and 2 10's. this had a great sound as well, more definition and better harmonics. so now I'm going to use both cabinets and somebody will have to hold me down. once again thanx for all your help it is greatly appreciated ......KEEP ON ROCKIN [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]