Mesa Boogie Lonestar vs Rift PR18

GoldenEraGuitars

I was in the fortunate position last night to be in possession of a Mesa and a @RiftAmps . I was also happily equipped with my Strat and the Tele I had just finished for my brother n law. 

The Rift arrived a few weeks ago with my brother n law (David) and hes very much in love with it. He brought it to the workshop last night to test the Tele through it and it simply blew us away. Plugging in a @ThorpyFX Peacekeeper and Fall Out Cloud put extremely large grins on our faces, more so than before.

Running the Rift, even at a pushed bedroom volume, was ridiculously outstanding. At first, I went for the Tele straight into the amp (bypassing the pedals). We had the reverb on and the in built tremolo off. Instantly we were getting crystal clear cleans, dynamic response and a tone to die for. The Strat was for me, the winner. But perhaps my ear has warmed to the tones from it already and tbh I felt more at home with it. Bearing in mind I havent played a Tele in years but it was a sublime moment to play one that was created in my workshop.

Kicking in the pedals was the order of the day though and it wasnt long until we got a WIDE range of tones from the two Thorpys. David was overly impressed with both of them. And whats not to like? After constantly noodling away for quite some time I decided to plug in the Mesa and do an A/B test. Its worth noting at this point that the reverb tank on the Lonestar needs replacing so we turned the (amazing) reverb on the Rift off.

It was very very surprising. The tones were very similar. In fact, it took me a number switches to figure out that the Rift was working better for me. I have a slightly heavier handed approach with picking and I could feel the Lonestar had an almost scooped mid quality to it (if this is nonsense please correct me). Digging into the strings on the Strat brought something out in the Rift that the Mesa is close to doing but not quite. Dont get me wrong, we're talking about a tiny difference. But enough that my ear perked up when plugged back into the PR18.

My dilemma is that I love the lead channel on the Mesa. With a Rift id be without that. BUT, its the most outstanding pedal platform so id imagine adding a few more distortion boxes to the mix would soon alleviate my potential woes. I knew the Rift would be good, but to question whether or not I want to keep the Lonestar... well, I wasnt expecting that. And im in a part of the UK that doesnt have any shops with high end gear to test really so to have these two side by side was a real privilege.

Unfortunately im in the position where its one or the other. And ive also paid Zilla for a cab that I havent confirmed yet (this was to go with the Mesa). So, there are moral issues at play here too. 

Im very conflicted, but very happy. 

GoldenEraGuitars

https://i.imgur.com/mYeKJoq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/R2gfWkk.jpg

BluesyDave

Your Tele and Strat look wonderful.  They really compliment that 'road worn/relic' vibe from the Rift.

MikeB

Can you not get close to the Lonestar lead channel with the AT pedal you have? 

GoldenEraGuitars

MikeB said:

Can you not get close to the Lonestar lead channel with the AT pedal you have? 

Well, the @ hasn’t been plugged in for months. But the Thorpy Peacekeeper gets close and the Fall Out Cloud is simply outstanding into the Rift. It’s all pointing in one direction for me atm

Kalimna

On the basis that you love what you have found in the Rift, and any of the heavier gain sounds could *probably* made up by pedals/combination of pedals, plus support for UK builder, then it's a no-brainer

Adam

GoldenEraGuitars

Kalimna said:

On the basis that you love what you have found in the Rift, and any of the heavier gain sounds could *probably* made up by pedals/combination of pedals, plus support for UK builder, then it's a no-brainer

Adam

Yip totally Adam. I need to sort the reverb in the Mesa and then I guess it can go for sale. I’m so happy to have the opportunity to play the Rift first. It was a pleasure to be in possession of something finished to such a high standard by another talented UK business.

Kalimna

Indeed. Im lucky enough to be in possession of a couple of amps from the UK, from  builders of the highest standard and attention to detail (and who, unfortunately get little 'airplay' on the forums, especially compared to American boutique builders).
If I am ever in the position to add to my collection, then Rift is definitely at the forefront (I'm think the V-front amp)...

Enjoy,
Adam

GoldenEraGuitars

Kalimna said:

Indeed. Im lucky enough to be in possession of a couple of amps from the UK, from  builders of the highest standard and attention to detail (and who, unfortunately get little 'airplay' on the forums, especially compared to American boutique builders).
If I am ever in the position to add to my collection, then Rift is definitely at the forefront (I'm think the V-front amp)...

Enjoy,
Adam

It’s the same with most of UK boutique makers... all the shouting in the world doesn’t get them as recognised as the US counterparts. I’m shifting most of my rig to these companies though. We make a lot of amazing products here and it’s time we promoted it 

Kalimna

Perhaps then, it would be nice to have a sticky on the 'Made in UK' section for various UK-based companies for amps, pedals, guitars, pickups, finishers etc. Not an advert for wares, more of a 'these folk exist' thread.