NAD: Mesa Mark 1 Re-Issue

SquireJapan

Woop. My very very heavy new (to me) Mark 1 Mesa Boogie. Really loving this thing. My requirement was for something small, simple and capable of some nice usable tones. I was guilty previously of trying to cover too many bases (I had a Mesa Mark V and a tonne of pedals / huge pedal board).

The amp (as I understand it) is basically a hotrodded bassman. The second input (the one I'm plugged into in the photo) is fairly clean. If I plug into input 1 you get an additional (cascaded) gain. As people have pointed out, it can be a bit bass-heavy/farty. Turning down the bass helps with that, as does using the Tubescreamer clone (which has some bass cut options).

I can also use the Boss FZ in "boost" mode and with the bass turned down on the pedal - then I can get some really good classic rock/singing tones.

Clean is fantastic, and with the Riot (currently set at 9 o'clock) I can get a nice range of tones. Low for some "brown sound" and up a bit for tigher metal. You can't see it in the photo, but I have a Ditto x2 into the loop. Using the loop allows me to turn down the send level (controlled on the back), which lets me get slightly lower volume. I can get some nice sounds at TV level, which I was worried about. Very reactive to picking, so really good for practicing some clean technique. I'm using an ash bodied Ibanez, which has a Mule in the neck, Oil City Blackhawk bridge and a blocked off trem. The whole "rig" all seems to fit together very very well.

I've now got a very simple set-up that covers everything I need. Now the next quest is figuring out where the good notes are on the guitar. 

The only thing I wish for is switchable reverb. I need to buy some collapsible wheels for when I move the thing - it's approx 30Kg ...

I also got the amp for £550, which is mental - it's recently been serviced, and has Ruby valves (6L6). Valves were rattling, but just reseated them.

Overall, I couldn't be happier! I need to get hold of a cheap mic for recoding - then I might post some sounds. I now have a self imposed ban on eBay and the classifieds here ... I'll be so more productive at work  

EDIT: To give some credit to @Telejester (and as a heads-up to anyone who reads this and fancies getting one), the tone and gain controls are insanely interactive, meaning you change one thing and have to adjust something else. The manual is very helpful though. Start with the treble first as it's kind of like another gain control, then work your way across. Tone controls aren't anything like I'm used to on a modern amp. Bass never needs to go past 2. Feels odd, but it's what's needed.

Telejester

Congrats on the amp, it looks very clean Indeed. If you record some clips please post links as I'd love to hear them.

professorben

Terrible pic, I can hardly make out the chair at all.

Jack_

What geetar is that?

SquireJapan

Jack_ said:

What geetar is that?

A slightly battered Ibanez J Custom. I bought it very very cheap (sub £500), and very very battered. I had @FelineGuitars to get it setup properly, fret levelled, electronics replaced and trem blocked. Now the thing is fantastic. Plays like a very very expensive guitar  

It's pretty resonant, serves as my poor-man's "Blackmachine" - the Blackbird pickup in the bridge is very versatile; the best pickup I've ever played. 

webrthomson

Congrats - they are great little amps, weigh a ton, so yes wheels are the way forward

Enjoy!

timmysoft

This is a good thing.

more Mesa on the forum please.

ThorpyFX

lovely amp. congrats on the NGD.

ThePrettyDamned

Lovely! That looks in far better nick than the one I tried. 

Terrific sounds in these, but hard to dial in apparently - the shop asked me to not touch the eq! I'm sure it was a mark 1, looked identical to yours. Super cool  

SquireJapan

ThePrettyDamned said:

Lovely! That looks in far better nick than the one I tried. 

Terrific sounds in these, but hard to dial in apparently - the shop asked me to not touch the eq! I'm sure it was a mark 1, looked identical to yours. Super cool  

Yeah, I was very guilty of not really messing with the controls on my Mark V - I kept falling back to something close to the mesa recommended settings. I couldn't predict what the amp was going to do ...

This thing, being much simpler is making more and more sense as I use it. As I've said in a previous post, the manual is invaluable. I can't be turning up at a practice/gig and not be able to tune my amp to the room etc.

It does need an EQ if you want to get a more modern sound (though it's passable with just the Suhr Riot), so I've gotten hold of an MXR 6 band for the loop. Just to remove a bit of mid-range flub and add a bit of higher end to let the percussive picking sound come out more.

The really nice surprise about the thing is how much it feels like an instrument - by that I mean it's something you have to work with to make a good sound; not just something that makes your guitar louder and adds distortion (if that makes sense). It's very re-active and lively, so it's challenging to play, but sounds great when you nail it.

I'm loving the EV speaker - supposedly quite "hifi" for a guitar speaker, so as a result is unforgiving. It's helping me really focus on getting a good sound and forcing me to listen (mainly due to the fact it throws your mistakes right in your face). 

I was inspired a bit when I saw Paul Gilbert play late last year - very little drive going on with his tone, but sounded monstrous! It made me listen more to early EVH and Zep tones; if you really listen (rather than thinking you know how it sounds) there's actually very little drive there. Makes sense ... just that I had a preconception that there was a tonne of gain. It didn't exist at the time ...

10/10 - would recommend!

welshboyo

As good as my Bogners are, I still miss my Boogie combo's and at £550 I can't help feeling a little envious...

Perhaps one of the Mesa EQ pedals in the loop would help? (I always struggled without the EQ)

If anyone knows of something like this (only MK's, not the later combo's) going somewhere unloved please let me know!!

SquireJapan

welshboyo said:

As good as my Bogners are, I still miss my Boogie combo's and at £550 I can't help feeling a little envious...

Perhaps one of the Mesa EQ pedals in the loop would help? (I always struggled without the EQ)

If anyone knows of something like this (only MK's, not the later combo's) going somewhere unloved please let me know!!

If you want a drive sound past the late 70's I think you do need an EQ. VHI/VHII is good enough for me in most cases. Anything at all more modern needs EQ to tighten it up.

The MXR one is good enough and super cheap used. Not tried the Mesa EQ pedals. Expensive though ...

... and £550 was an absolute steal  Guy I bought it off really wanted a Recto sound and thought a Mark I would do that. He was understandably "not impressed" with the Mark I, didn't like having to fanny about with the controls and wanted an EQ. Just lucky that it came up in conversation that I was on the lookout for an amp

You do see them very cheap though, as they're very non-intuitive - at least if you're used to modern amps.

EDIT - I find it quite funny that before I heard about this, I was just about to pull the trigger on a Boss Katana. I've bought a LOT more amp (in a lot of senses) for about the same amount of cash. Very different of course!