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Mesa V-Twin opinioins... and Ibanez Tube King

3/17/2000 11:12 PM
pHiLtHy	Mesa V-Twin opinioins... and Ibanez Tube King Well, I got what I think is a pretty good deal on a used one of these. Not here yet though. Always been curious about this pedal and guess I'll find out soon enough but thought I would poll the Ampage for some opinions. I'll be test driving it with my BF and SF Fenders as usual. So, is it a Boogie in the box? :^j For tube type pedals I currently have an Ibanez Tube King which I have mixed feelings about. I'm going to try some different tubes in it but so far here are my biggest gripes. Tone controls - If I run the gain pretty high 6-10, the treble and mid controls have to be set extremely low to make it usable or it's way to much sizzle. The mid control is almost hyperactive and I'm not sure I'm too crazy about the frequency centers that they picked. Dynamics - Once you do finally get it dialed in, it'll sound pretty good as long as your guitar volume is running close to or full open. Anything less thatn 7 on the guitar goes pretty dull and you can hear the distortion starting to fizzle... doesn't transition from distortion to clean very well. In fact my opamp based distortion and OD pedals eat its lunch in this department (tubescreamer, OD-3, Bluesdriver). pHiLtHy

3/17/2000 11:12 PM

pHiLtHy

Mesa V-Twin opinioins... and Ibanez Tube King

Well, I got what I think is a pretty good deal on a used one of these. Not here yet though.

Always been curious about this pedal and guess I'll find out soon enough but thought I would poll the Ampage for some opinions. I'll be test driving it with my BF and SF Fenders as usual.

So, is it a Boogie in the box? :^j

For tube type pedals I currently have an Ibanez Tube King which I have mixed feelings about.

I'm going to try some different tubes in it but so far here are my biggest gripes.

Tone controls - If I run the gain pretty high 6-10, the treble and mid controls have to be set extremely low to make it usable or it's way to much sizzle. The mid control is almost hyperactive and I'm not sure I'm too crazy about the frequency centers that they picked.

Dynamics - Once you do finally get it dialed in, it'll sound pretty good as long as your guitar volume is running close to or full open. Anything less thatn 7 on the guitar goes pretty dull and you can hear the distortion starting to fizzle... doesn't transition from distortion to clean very well. In fact my opamp based distortion and OD pedals eat its lunch in this department (tubescreamer, OD-3, Bluesdriver).

pHiLtHy

3/18/2000 5:52 PM
Halouis	don't know about the v-twin. But I have heard a mixed bag on it. some swear by it, and others hate it. definitely a mesa-sound if that is what you like. I play 70's tele deluxe (w/2 standard fender HBs) into a tube king into a SF Deluxe Reverb. Your conclusions about the pedal's tone controls are correct. In general I keep the mid and treble down low for all settings -- hi and low gain. otherwise crazy highs/sizzle/feedback galore. My preferred setting on this baby is low gain (9 o'clock), master (12-2 o'clock), Bass (3 o'clock, and treble and mid (about 9-10 o'clock) then cranck the DR, and it's really nice sounding. basically a warm, but still biting, slightly compressed boost from the unaffected sound. Sometimes I turn the gain up to about 12 0'clock for more distorion, but rarely more than that. I think the pedal is a 1 to 2 trick pony - nothing more, but I do really like it, and it''s the only pedal I use. I have heard people changing the generic chinese tube that comes with it for a smoother sounding better quality one. THis would probably be a good solution for you, and you may be able to get more sounds out of it. Let me know if you do, I'd be interested in your findings. I am not a tube or electronics expert by any means, but I bet there are people here who could help you with some good mod ideas.

3/18/2000 5:52 PM

Halouis

don't know about the v-twin. But I have heard a mixed bag on it. some swear by it, and others hate it. definitely a mesa-sound if that is what you like.

I play 70's tele deluxe (w/2 standard fender HBs) into a tube king into a SF Deluxe Reverb. Your conclusions about the pedal's tone controls are correct. In general I keep the mid and treble down low for all settings -- hi and low gain. otherwise crazy highs/sizzle/feedback galore. My preferred setting on this baby is low gain (9 o'clock), master (12-2 o'clock), Bass (3 o'clock, and treble and mid (about 9-10 o'clock) then cranck the DR, and it's really nice sounding. basically a warm, but still biting, slightly compressed boost from the unaffected sound.

Sometimes I turn the gain up to about 12 0'clock for more distorion, but rarely more than that.

I think the pedal is a 1 to 2 trick pony - nothing more, but I do really like it, and it''s the only pedal I use.

I have heard people changing the generic chinese tube that comes with it for a smoother sounding better quality one. THis would probably be a good solution for you, and you may be able to get more sounds out of it. Let me know if you do, I'd be interested in your findings. I am not a tube or electronics expert by any means, but I bet there are people here who could help you with some good mod ideas.

3/21/2000 2:41 AM
AustinC	I've had a V-Twin for a couple of years now and I get along with it fine. It is a high gain beast with mucho bottom end, the clean channel is a bit sterile though. The lead channel does fat, saturated grind without raising a sweat. Even with the gain on 5 it has heaps of sustain and a goodly amount of chunk. It cleans up fairly well when you back off the guitar's volume, not completely but enough to go from chunky rhythm to screaming lead. Keep in mind that the 12AX7's are there primarily as foot warmers as the distortion comes from an op-amp clipping circuit with the triodes just kind of smoothing things out a bit. 2 cents AustinC

3/21/2000 2:41 AM

AustinC

I've had a V-Twin for a couple of years now and I get along with it fine. It is a high gain beast with mucho bottom end, the clean channel is a bit sterile though.

The lead channel does fat, saturated grind without raising a sweat. Even with the gain on 5 it has heaps of sustain and a goodly amount of chunk.

It cleans up fairly well when you back off the guitar's volume, not completely but enough to go from chunky rhythm to screaming lead.

Keep in mind that the 12AX7's are there primarily as foot warmers as the distortion comes from an op-amp clipping circuit with the triodes just kind of smoothing things out a bit.

2 cents
AustinC

3/28/2000 9:06 PM
pHiLtHy	Rec'd the V-Twin and... First impression is that it has a lot of potential once it's dialed in. I it probably has a lot of good sounds to be found in it. I got the unit for a good price because two of the four LEDs were knocked inside the casing. Ten minutes after receiving the unit I had them secured back in their proper place and working fine. I got to play through it for about a half hour at lunch today but plan to spend some more time with it tonight. I can see that this pedal, like many channel switching amps, must be setup to "compromise" one sound over the other if it is to be used for multiple settings. Initially, I would probably find myself using the solo mode the most with the gain set to a medium 4-5 range. I found that the distortion cleans up in a way that would allow one to get a good crunchy blues/rhythm sound and saturated lead tone with using the volume and tone controls on the guitar. I've read some of the reviews on this pedal and agree that there seems to be a significant boost in output going from the blues mode to solo. I wonder if Mesa has a mod to remedy this. I noticed that the pedal also has a "trap door" on the bottom to access a switch to change the clean/blues to solo switch to just clean blues. And then there's a miniature adjustment pot for the clean mode gain. Haven't messed with those yet... more possibilities. I don't know if it's a keeper yet or not. I'm thinking it might come in handy for direct recording even if I don't use it on my pedal board. I'm not totally convinced that it does blues overdrive better than some of my SS stompboxes or high gain distortion either. pHiLtHy

3/28/2000 9:06 PM

pHiLtHy

Rec'd the V-Twin and...

First impression is that it has a lot of potential once it's dialed in. I it probably has a lot of good sounds to be found in it.

I got the unit for a good price because two of the four LEDs were knocked inside the casing. Ten minutes after receiving the unit I had them secured back in their proper place and working fine.

I got to play through it for about a half hour at lunch today but plan to spend some more time with it tonight.

I can see that this pedal, like many channel switching amps, must be setup to "compromise" one sound over the other if it is to be used for multiple settings.

Initially, I would probably find myself using the solo mode the most with the gain set to a medium 4-5 range. I found that the distortion cleans up in a way that would allow one to get a good crunchy blues/rhythm sound and saturated lead tone with using the volume and tone controls on the guitar.

I've read some of the reviews on this pedal and agree that there seems to be a significant boost in output going from the blues mode to solo. I wonder if Mesa has a mod to remedy this.

I noticed that the pedal also has a "trap door" on the bottom to access a switch to change the clean/blues to solo switch to just clean blues. And then there's a miniature adjustment pot for the clean mode gain. Haven't messed with those yet... more possibilities.

I don't know if it's a keeper yet or not. I'm thinking it might come in handy for direct recording even if I don't use it on my pedal board.

I'm not totally convinced that it does blues overdrive better than some of my SS stompboxes or high gain distortion either.

pHiLtHy

3/29/2000 9:20 PM
pHiLtHy	Do ya think BAD TUBES might have something to do with it? :^J Tried swapping tubes in the V-Twin today and found out that one of them was dead and the other worked but was extremely noisy when I tried it in the Tube King (Sovtek 12AX7WA). However, I did notice that even the noisy Sovtek made a noticeable improvement in the overall response and feel of the Tube King. I put in an order for some JJ Tesla 12AX7s and will test drive both pedals with those and post the results. Later, pHiLtHy

3/29/2000 9:20 PM

pHiLtHy

Do ya think BAD TUBES might have something to do with it? :^J

Tried swapping tubes in the V-Twin today and found out that one of them was dead and the other worked but was extremely noisy when I tried it in the Tube King (Sovtek 12AX7WA). However, I did notice that even the noisy Sovtek made a noticeable improvement in the overall response and feel of the Tube King.

I put in an order for some JJ Tesla 12AX7s and will test drive both pedals with those and post the results.

Later,

pHiLtHy

3/29/2000 9:58 PM
Halouis	pHiLtHy, have you ever tried a NOS 12AU7 in the tube king?? I've heard it's a warmer, mellower, and fatter sounding. I haven't tried it yet, but was thinking about it.

3/29/2000 10:09 PM
Mike Burgundy	I know this works for a TubeDriver - AU is warmer, mellower and, well, flatter, as in more compressed, while an AX has teeth and dynamics. This will differ per circuit, but they all are essentially SS clippers with tubes to warm it all up.

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