Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

[eaeolian]

...since you seem to know a lot about these amps, I thought I'd ask you:

I'm using a Mesa 50 Caliber Plus through a Laney 4-12 at our rehearsal space. (I'm dealing with it so I son't have to carry my Triple Rec back and forth, which isn't good for the back. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Any suggestions for settings for getting a good, aggressive metal tone out of the amp? Tone/gain controls and EQ? Obviously, I'm not changing tubes, since it ain't mine. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mike

[eaeolian]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

Thanks, Pete - it's the 6L6 version, and the tubes are about in the condition you'd expect from an amp in a "shared time" rehearsal space.

I've noticed that getting the distortion to sound good can be an adventure. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I never could get the Marks to sound good, and this isn't going much better, which is why I didn't own a Mesa before my Recto.

Mike

[ November 03, 2003, 01:32 PM: Message edited by: Michael ]

[Twisteramps]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

Mark series mesa's can sound good, but without the eq, they have this nasal thing going on. Another option would be if you had a 7 band EQ pedal you could toss in the fx loop - that would help more than anything, as the 5 band on the mesa isn't really at the right frequencies to get a 'metal' tone, imho.

The other bummer is that to get a good saturated lead/rhythm tone, your clean tone gets pretty gritchy sounding...

Just get a spider II head [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Pete

[Twisteramps]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

You didn't ask me, but I'm going to answer anyways. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Is the plus a 6L6 or EL84 model? I had an EL84 one, but the following is pretty typical of boogie mark series amps.

The EQ on those is fender style - it's early in the gain stages. This makes em work differently than say a Marshall or a recto head. You will find that cranking the bass control just makes the amp woofy sounding. Try cutting the bass, and leave the other eq settings around 5 if you can.

Use the graphic to add low end, high end, etc... - those amps really need a graphic eq!

Pete

Originally posted by Michael:
...since you seem to know a lot about these amps, I thought I'd ask you:

I'm using a Mesa 50 Caliber Plus through a Laney 4-12 at our rehearsal space. (I'm dealing with it so I son't have to carry my Triple Rec back and forth, which isn't good for the back. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Any suggestions for settings for getting a good, aggressive metal tone out of the amp? Tone/gain controls and EQ? Obviously, I'm not changing tubes, since it ain't mine. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mike

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[eaeolian]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

Pete -

Thanks for the help. A Spider would be easier to carry... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mike

[Matt Crooks]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

....or get a POD and a pedal and plug that into the Mesa...

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

- i actually know a lot of people who do that.
if you plug a (pre) or pod or wahtever into the fx return of your older boogie, it will bypass everything but the power section - which is controlled by the master volume.

- the .50 cal + is ok, but it is a chore to get a good sound. i could never get a sound i loved with that head. - but the el84 ver. is my favorite.

- i had a mark III and i didn't use the eq on it. and it sounded great! but you had to play way too loud to sound decent.

- try this (worked for mkIII) treb 0, mid 10, bass 10, pres 0, gain 10, volume 7-10, channel vol 10, master very loud! - oh and cut the eq off till you find the right vol for your sound. (bassically if it sounds too bassy or not enough highs - you're not loud enough)

since the first volume is the clean as well as the initial signal for the dist channel, run it as hot as you want (unless you need a clean sound then get another amp and a/b it.) anyway, the dist channel volume you can run full and it will never be as loud as the clean. keep your treb and presence off and use the air pumping trough your cab to produce the highs lost from these settings. this is how the great 80's distortions were done. (granted with jcm 800's) but volume is how it was done. bass gets cut by the mids being cranked, but still holds it tight, so you can keep these 2 knobs cranked. any amound of presence and treb will totally cut the sound and vol and act as suck knobs. you might not beleive me when first trying this when playing by yourself. 2 rules: don't set yoursound with out the rest of the band playing. and never set your sound with dead strings. use brand new ones. your highs are in your strings themselves. and playing by yourself will never sound the same as with the band. the white noise of treb and presence make you sound bigger when alone, but become nothing but noise that cover up notes when with the band causing volume wars and basically drowning your sound out with itself.

this is hard for me to explain - pete can do it better. he knows what i'm talking about here.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

A Spider would be easier to carry...

....or get a POD and a pedal and plug that into the Mesa...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And to think I respected you guys... [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[eaeolian]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

Hey, it's not like I OWN the damn thing, so anything that makes it sound decent that's easy to carry is cool. [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Besides, it's just rehearsal. Live, in front of real people, I wouldn't be caught dead with one.

Mike

[ November 04, 2003, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: Michael ]

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

hehheh, yeah i hate the "+" models. love the originals though.

if you use the pod, plug your guitar directly into the pod, then take the output and make sure the A.I.R. switch is off (if facing pod head on, switch should be pushed to the right) and plug the output from the pod, directly into the FX return of the .50cal+. then use the controls on the pod for your sound and the master volume on the .50cal+ for overall volume.

[Matt Crooks]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

Cleve -

It's truely sad to say, but a POD would sound better than what we have at the rehearsal space... it does make you appreciate your live rig more however.

Since we get a set start and end time, we have to be able to setup and tear down fast, or we lose rehearsal time... plus our live rigs are heavy and we're getting old [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[eaeolian]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

Some of us are more than others. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

hehheh, i hope you guys come up to the depot sat night. we'll have cd's for sale... finally.

[eaeolian]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

I've got to haul ass up there after a wedding, but I'll be there. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mike

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Hey, Dreamland Rebel...

awesome! we'll probably be on right before TTD but i don't know what time things stat at up there.