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I'm thinking about getting a Mesa combo and wanted some advice really. I play rhythm in the covers band I'm currently covering ZZ Top to Bob Marley to Huey Lewis to ACDC, I think that gives you an idea of variety we play. So I really play with two sounds, nice clean and an OD tone for the ZZ Top/ACDC.
I currently play thorugh a Blackstar ID60H into a Marshall 212 G12H30/V30 which sounds OK, I heard the combo version and I think it sounds better through it's stock speaker. I also have a Maz18 which was great when I played in a Blues band, I've tried setting it clean and using pedals for dirt, but to when it sounds good to me the rest of the band are telling me to turn it down
So I was thinking about a Mesa combo, two channels, something like a rectoverb maybe. I know they're heavy, but they seem to be built for gigging.
Cheers
Matt
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The other guitarist in the band at the time was using a Mesa DC3 combo, that did absolutely nothing for me whatsoever. He eventually sold it and replaced it with a little cheap Traynor and some pedals.
I think the amps I've tried for gigging, playing similar stuff to you have included:
Randall RH50
Orange Tiny Terror
Vox AC30
Framus Dragon
Mesa Express
70s Marshall JMP
Dumble clone
Soldano HR50
Hughes & Kettner Switchblade
and probably various others I've forgotten about. All the others are gone apart from the Dumble which I'll use in a similar environment to your Maz18, the Soldano for bigger gigs and I'm very happy with the Switchblade for pub gigs etc. It's got usable midi-effects, very good cleans and a variety of overdriven tones, was significantly cheaper than anything else around and I don't need to take a pedalboard. Have a look at some of the Thomas Blug demos and you'll get an idea of what they can do.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It's wired for 8 Ohms, both my G12H30 & V30 are 16 Ohm versions.
I use a Dr Z brakelite, I found the first two settings reduce the overall volume very little,
but importantly keep the tone intact, where as the third and fourth reduce the volume allowing the amp to be turned up but it seems zap the life out of the tone, which i know is what an attenuator does when reducing this much volume.
As an aside after trying these speakers with my Maz18 G12H30, V30, Greenback, Creamback, WGS ET65 & Emminence Delta Pro 12A my favorite is the Emminence Delta Pro 12A in an open back cab (to bassy in closed back) followed by the ET65 in my DIY Forte 3D style 112 cab and then G12H30/V30 in my Marshall 1936.
A Tremoverb is very tempting, but very heavy.
I tried speakers of different Ohms I only noticed that when running at 16 Ohms it wasn't as loud as at 8 Ohms, I dont think I ran it it at 4 Ohms. I may well be over simplifying things by saying it was just quieter
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
If I needed a amp for playing a wide range of covers it would be on my radar too.