Mesa f series

timmysofttimmysoft Frets: 1962
Any tips for making the drive channel a bit brighter? I love the standard F30 drive channel but it's just a touch dark, with the contour on its ok but then it becomes too aggressive for rhythm tones. I don't want to go the route of boosting or eq in the loop, I want something that's a hard wired fix! The clean channel has the pull bright on it, is there any way to add something like that to the drive side too.
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  • Have you checked out the manual? http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/F-Series.pdf

    Mesa manuals are usually pretty good, from a quick flick through it suggests the higher you set the gain the darker the amp becomes, check the manual for other descriptions on the rest of the tone stack.  If you've not already read it there might be some suggestions in there you've not tried yet. 

    "GAIN:

    This is by far the most powerful control in each of the three different Modes that are activated by the Mode switch. It not only
    determines the overall gain amount, shape and sensitivity of the Mode selected...but it is also a powerful Tone control. Generally
    speaking, whatever is dialed up here ultimately determines the Modes’ personality. Set low, it allows cleaner and brighter sounds with
    enhanced dynamic response, especially in the higher frequencies. Set high, the whole personality of the Mode becomes darker,
    fatter and more overdriven."
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    The un-Countoured Lead channel on these is quite dark even if you tweak the gain and EQ as well as you can.

    Oddly enough the schematic I have shows the Pull Bright switch affecting the Lead channel as well, so either the schematic is wrong or they changed it...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • timmysofttimmysoft Frets: 1962
    I'm not a gain monster its set at half way, which is the lowest i can before i start losing the ability to get pinches and keep my mutes nice and tight.

    Will different EL84's make the amp any brighter? Or maybe there is something i can do valve wise in the preamp?

    The pull bright doesnt seem to do anything on my drive channel at all, its only active on the clean side.

    My current settings are :
    Gain - half
    Treble - full
    Mid - half
    Bass -half

    Running at band volumes (with a loud drummer) and through a V30 loaded Mesa Vertical 2x12.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    timmysoft said:
    Will different EL84's make the amp any brighter? Or maybe there is something i can do valve wise in the preamp?
    What preamp valves does it have? If they're either Sovteks or JJs, you will be able to brighten it considerably with either something like Electro-Harmonix, Tung-Sols or even plain cheap Chinese 12AX7s. EH EL84s are brighter than JJs as well, although less reliable.

    timmysoft said:
    My current settings are :
    Gain - half
    Treble - full
    Mid - half
    Bass -half
    Try reducing the mid - that will open out the tone stack more. Mesa use an excessively large mid control value, and if you turn it up above (or even to) halfway it starts to take over the whole thing and makes the treble less effective.

    timmysoft said:
    Running at band volumes (with a loud drummer) and through a V30 loaded Mesa Vertical 2x12.
    Replacing one speaker with something with less mid and more top-end will help - although the V30 is often said to be a 'harsh' or 'cutting' speaker, all that is in the upper-mid, not the top-end… the true top-end is actually quite rolled-off and dark.

    The classic mixed pair for it is the G12H-30 - which has the disadvantage of reducing the overall cab rating to only 60W, but that doesn't matter since your amp is only 30 (cough… 22 actually) watts.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • timmysofttimmysoft Frets: 1962
    ICBM said:
    timmysoft said:
    Will different EL84's make the amp any brighter? Or maybe there is something i can do valve wise in the preamp?
    What preamp valves does it have? If they're either Sovteks or JJs, you will be able to brighten it considerably with either something like Electro-Harmonix, Tung-Sols or even plain cheap Chinese 12AX7s. EH EL84s are brighter than JJs as well, although less reliable.

    timmysoft said:
    My current settings are :
    Gain - half
    Treble - full
    Mid - half
    Bass -half
    Try reducing the mid - that will open out the tone stack more. Mesa use an excessively large mid control value, and if you turn it up above (or even to) halfway it starts to take over the whole thing and makes the treble less effective.

    timmysoft said:
    Running at band volumes (with a loud drummer) and through a V30 loaded Mesa Vertical 2x12.
    Replacing one speaker with something with less mid and more top-end will help - although the V30 is often said to be a 'harsh' or 'cutting' speaker, all that is in the upper-mid, not the top-end… the true top-end is actually quite rolled-off and dark.

    The classic mixed pair for it is the G12H-30 - which has the disadvantage of reducing the overall cab rating to only 60W, but that doesn't matter since your amp is only 30 (cough… 22 actually) watts.
    22 watts is enough for me, i tend to play decent sized stages and i'm always mic'ed up! ;) I gigged for a year with a Laney L20h and Marshall 1936 and never struggled!

    I love the response of the amp at the moment so i'm unsure about changing the speakers, I'm going to try dropping the mids a little further at the next rehearsal and drop in a new set of JJ EL84s. 

    I wish mesa had put a global presence control on the amp, i think with something like that i could really nail the high end!
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    just employ a pedal that induces a treble boost - is what I do to any darker sounding amp setting.
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
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  • timmysofttimmysoft Frets: 1962
    57Deluxe said:
    just employ a pedal that induces a treble boost - is what I do to any darker sounding amp setting.
    i dont want to go the route of external pedals, tap dancing annoys me!
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