Pedals that get close to Mesa Boogie Studio pre/Calibre .22 combo

Bork

Hi everyone,
I've been searching for a drive pedal that gets close to the Mesa studio pre/calibre .22 combo.  They deliver a nice, thick midrange with lots of harmonic content.  I know there are lots of pedals out there claiming to do the MB thing but it tends to emulate rectifiers which I'm not interested in.

A Joyo JF14 American Sound got me close with mids and voice dimed to the right and I tried boosting with an Empress Para Eq/Boss OD1 and the California Sound but it doesn't get the harmonics quite singing in the way I want without lifting the noise floor.

I've already tried the following: 

Joyo California Sound - too dark sounding
Mesa Throttle Box - too fizzy, not enough harmonics
Mesa V Twin - probably closest of all the pedals I've tried but just way too big for my board and it needs a 1300mA 9v supply.
Mooer 008 MkIII simulation - not tight enough

I haven't tried the Mooer 017 yet.  AMT stuff seems to be heading off in the direction of a Rectifier. 

Am I missing anything at this point in time?  H&K for example?

Caffeine_Vampire

My amp tech makes a pedal that more than covers the ground you're looking for.

Bork

Awesome, if you wouldn't mind sharing some deets, I'd love to look into it.  Are there any reviews online that I could hit up?

ICBM

Mesa V1. Completely different from the V-Twin.

The V-Twin is basically a Rectifier in a box, the V1 is a Caliber in a box. I used one when my main amp was a Dual Caliber, in case I wasn’t using my own amp. It is still almost as big as the V-Twin and uses the same 12VAC supply though.

Likewise of the Mesa solid-state pedals you want the Flux Drive not the Throttle Box, although you might find it doesn’t have as much gain as you need.

Caffeine_Vampire

@Bork pm'd

Bork

The Flux Drive seems to be in the ball park so far, hard to tell how tight it is just from youtube but there definitely seems to be some interesting saturation happening in those upper frequencies

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

of the Mesa solid-state pedals, you want the Flux Drive not the Throttle Box, although you might find it doesn’t have as much gain as you need.

This information is simultaneously interesting and disappointing. (I have a Throttle Box pedal that I probably should not have bought.) 

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

This information is simultaneously interesting and disappointing. (I have a Throttle Box pedal that I probably should not have bought.) 

Damn... I had a Flux Drive. Unfortunately I've already sold it. I probably should have got a Throttle Box.

Although to be honest I don't like the switches on them anyway.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

I probably should have got a Throttle Box.

Maybe, you could trade surplus guitar parts and/or pickups against one?

Bork

ICBM said:

Mesa V1. Completely different from the V-Twin.

The V-Twin is basically a Rectifier in a box, the V1 is a Caliber in a box. I used one when my main amp was a Dual Caliber, in case I wasn’t using my own amp. It is still almost as big as the V-Twin and uses the same 12VAC supply though.

Just a thought, but did you ever boost into the V1?  It's nice sounding but not quite enough gain.  I'm wondering how it might react to a Klon style or TS pedal (which seem to boost really nicely into my other pedals).

ICBM

Bork said:

Just a thought, but did you ever boost into the V1?  It's nice sounding but not quite enough gain.  I'm wondering how it might react to a Klon style or TS pedal (which seem to boost really nicely into my other pedals).

Not boost, no - but I did use a Boss DF-2 in front of it for more gain, as well as a Fuzz factory and a Frantone Cream Puff (IC Big Muff derivative), and it worked well with all of them.

Bork

I thought I'd offer a quick update.  I gave up on pedals, none were gettting close enough from those that were readily available to me.  So I pulled the trigger on a Carvin Quad X Preamp instead to pair up with a Lexicon MPXG2.  Reviews suggested it could get within spitting distance of a Mesa Quad and then some.  

I've been nursing an obsession with Def Leppard this week and very nearly bought a Marshall JMP-1 as well as scouted for a 9004 pre.  But I decided to try my existing pedals first and discovered the plex-eq on my Amptweaker Tight Rock gets me close with only some wide, shallow chorus and 500m/s delay needed from a Zoom G3X I have kicking around (not part of my main board).  So moral of the story, make the most of what y'got before jonesing for something you might not need!

NelsonP

Can someone explain how this works. You get a pedal that is supposed to make you amp sound like a mesa studio/caliber.....

But what do you plug it into?

And why not just buy a mesa?

ICBM

NelsonP said:

Can someone explain how this works. You get a pedal that is supposed to make you amp sound like a mesa studio/caliber.....

But what do you plug it into?

And why not just buy a mesa?

For me, very simple - I did have a Mesa DC-5, but I played a lot of short-set, multi-band gigs where taking your own amp was a nuisance and there was always some sort of amp available, so I would take the V-1, and be able to get a decent approximation of my normal sound. When I was taking my own amp the pedal was then a backup which meant I didn’t need a spare amp (I never needed it, in the event). I’ve never been that fussy about my amp, but if the provided amp is something like a solid-state Fender and you need a Mesa drive sound, you will really struggle without a pedal that’s at least close...

Interestingly I got one of the best sounds I’ve ever had with it into a Fender Princeton Chorus.

Bork

NelsonP said:

Can someone explain how this works. You get a pedal that is supposed to make you amp sound like a mesa studio/caliber.....

But what do you plug it into?

And why not just buy a mesa?

I have five amps.  Two 6v6 5w practice amps that are tweedy pedal platforms,  a 5w handwired Princeton 5F2 clone,  a Burman Pro501 and a Fender Princeton Reverb.  I got the power section of a Mesa already covered. Selling isn't feasible where I am currently and I don't need another amp.  I'm also looking for a very specific gain tone with thick, saturated mids and a tight low end. 

Have to be honest though,  if I was located somewhere I could sell the Burman and Princeton Reverb easily,  I would probably get a Calibre .22.

LastMantra

NelsonP said:

Can someone explain how this works. You get a pedal that is supposed to make you amp sound like a mesa studio/caliber.....

But what do you plug it into?

And why not just buy a mesa?






I always kind of think the same when people talk about amp in a box type pedals.

Surely it must sound totally different depending on what you're plugging it into? 

Must just be a rough estimate? 

sweepy

Revv Red pedal does the trick or get the Purple and select the Red setting 

ICBM

LastMantra said:

Surely it must sound totally different depending on what you're plugging it into?

Must just be a rough estimate? 

If the amp has a good full clean sound you can usually dial it in pretty close. You just need enough clean headroom so it doesn’t impose its own sound, and EQ to set the base tone. It won’t work well if the amp is too underpowered or has a narrow frequency range you can’t EQ out, but most amps aren’t like that at least at low volume.

LastMantra

ICBM said:

LastMantra said:

Surely it must sound totally different depending on what you're plugging it into?

Must just be a rough estimate? 

If the amp has a good full clean sound you can usually dial it in pretty close. You just need enough clean headroom so it doesn’t impose its own sound, and EQ to set the base tone. It won’t work well if the amp is too underpowered or has a narrow frequency range you can’t EQ out, but most amps aren’t like that at least at low volume.

Interesting not something I've ever tried. 

ICBM

I suppose it might be a bit easier for me because I’m so used to playing different amps as part of my repair work, but I’ve never felt as dependent on a specific amp as a lot of guitarists seem to be. I’ve always treated them as something that can be added to with pedals if they don’t do exactly what I want, and although I’m quite fussy about what I actually like, I’m happy enough to find different ways of achieving it.

I’m also lazy and hate carrying spare equipment I don’t need, or even any if there’s an amp available, so I’ve always been willing to compromise slightly if it means I can get out of carrying another heavy box... I’ve literally never taken a spare amp to a gig, ever - but always had something (usually a pedal) I can use through anything else if I have to.

NelsonP

Interesting stuff thanks folks and ICBM in particular.

FWIW I've never found a pedal (or modeller) that sounds anything like my mesa .50 caliber