Mesa .50 caliber plus....Assistence please

[luke978]

Hi

 

I just got a Mesa .50+ yesterday, and I'm having a bitch of a time getting it dialed in. It seems to be a bit anemic on the low end and a bit ice picky and harsh.

 

I'm playing through a particle board Randall slanted 2X12 loaded with Veteran 30's. (probably the majority of the problem)

 

 

 

Here's my settings:

 

Gain: 4

Master Volume:4

Lead Volume:3

Bass:9.5

Mid:6

Treb:5

Presence:5

EQ: Soft V

 

 

I've tried all sorts of different settings from the manual but those are incredibly Trebily. Am I doing something wrong?

[TU BE]

 

Hi I just got a Mesa .50+ yesterday, and I'm having a bitch of a time getting it dialed in. It seems to be a bit anemic on the low end and a bit ice picky and harsh. I'm playing through a particle board Randall slanted 2X12 loaded with Veteran 30's. (probably the majority of the problem) Here's my settings: Gain: 4 Master Volume:4 Lead Volume:3 Bass:9.5 Mid:6 Treb:5 Presence:5 EQ: Soft V I've tried all sorts of different settings from the manual but those are incredibly Trebily. Am I doing something wrong?

 

 

 

Set the EQ flat (centered). Dial in a nice tone you like using the knobs. Tweak that tone with the EQ. That onboard EQ is very important when dialing these amps in.

 

Do you have the EL84 or the 6l6 version?

[Clinically Deaf]

http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/user_manuals.htm

[luke978]

6L6.

 

 

Its been a while since the tubes were changed...Maybe that too.

[luke978]

 

http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/user_manuals.htm

 

 

I have it already. The settings in the manual are horribly harsh.

[TU BE]

 

6L6. Its been a while since the tubes were changed...Maybe that too.

 

 

 

Well, then you should definitely change out the tubes. Is this your first Mesa? They are tweakers dude and may take some dial time to get what you want from it.

[luke978]

 

Well, then you should definitely change out the tubes. Is this your first Mesa? They are tweakers dude and may take some dial time to get what you want from it.

 

 

 

Yep, my first.

[TU BE]

 

Yep, my first.

 

 

 

Even the slightest movement of the knobs can make a big difference. Take your time and turn them a little at a time.

[Clinically Deaf]

Even the slightest movement of the knobs can make a big difference. Take your time and turn them a little at a time.

 

[Timmott]

Which EQ do you have it set on? I always had it on the bottom setting that uses the Knobs and the Sliders to get the tone I liked out of it. Keep the Sliders on the left relatively high and then go from there until you find what you like.

[Mrmot]

treble around 7 or more

bass and mids around 5, presence to taste.

V on the graphic

 

 

you welcome.

the treble is the most powerful control on these amps

[tele62]

Keep the graphic EQ off and make sure you get a good tone using just the standard EQ dials. The cab might not be helping though, and fresh tubes can make a massive difference, did the seller say when they were last replaced?

 

Older Boogies take a lot of patience at first, it seems the tone dials need to be lower than they usually would on a cut/boost type control - instead of turning the bass up, maybe try keeping all the values in the first half of of the pots' travel.

[newholland]

 

Hi I just got a Mesa .50+ yesterday, and I'm having a bitch of a time getting it dialed in. It seems to be a bit anemic on the low end and a bit ice picky and harsh. I'm playing through a particle board Randall slanted 2X12 loaded with Veteran 30's. (probably the majority of the problem) Here's my settings: Gain: 4 Master Volume:4 Lead Volume:3 Bass:9.5 Mid:6 Treb:5 Presence:5 EQ: Soft V I've tried all sorts of different settings from the manual but those are incredibly Trebily. Am I doing something wrong?

 

 

turn your eq's closer to center-- i use the eq to bump up ONLY the lows-- juice 80 and below-- only half the 'V'-- flat otherwise. use the eq ONLY on the gain channel. otherwise- you're ok. i've got a .22 and owned a .50 for a LOONG time..

 

v30s are the absolute wrong speaker for that amp-- you will have a hell of a time getting a good sound with them. hate them. you could mix in a g12t75 and control your mids-- but 2 v 30's... too much. i'd say that's 75% of your problem. otherwise-- i know it's probably not what you WANT to do-- but you need to drop your mids to like 3 to even get in the ballpark with that configuration!

[newholland]

when i got my .22- i had the SAME problem, and 15 years ago-- i had the same problem with my .50.. it's not you.. it really does take a while to learn that amp.. i thought i hated it for probably 3 years.. but as i learned that the eq was SUPER sensitive.. it started making sense.. they really shoulda labeled the eq's with 5 as '0', and pluses to one side, and minuses to the other!

 

in all seriousness-- it's a great amp-- don't give up on it-- try putting in a g12t75 with one v30.. that amp is FULL of mids 'cause it's of a very different era than now... so you kinda need to tailor your expectations to what it gives out, versus expecting it to be much like a 'modern' amp.. if you give it what would've been around at the time (e.g. a lotta 1960 cabs...)-- it'll give back in spades!

 

also-- that amp does MUCH better with smooth preamp tubes in the 1 and 2 positions (i like an RCA in v1, a 7025 or a 5751 in v2), and MOST IMPORTANT-- a very nice 12ax in the v5 position. it'll utterly change that amp... the phase inverter can totally change that thing... depends what you want-- but if that one's shot-- it'll KILL the sound of that amp- no {censored}.

 

swap those 3 out with good tubes, and you'll have a way better shot of dialin' in too!

[potaetoes]

for one - that's waaaaaay too much bass. that'll make everything muddy and raspy. two - these amps generally sound like dry crusty butthole through V30s (and, i'd have to assume, V30 clones). much better with speakers like H30s, greenbacks, CL80s, GB12s, even G12T-75s... basically anything but a V30.

 

start with the treble around 6.5-7 (very sensitive), bass and mids around 4-5, and presence around 5 (also sensitive). don't worry too much about where the gain is set, as it doesn't make a huge difference. anywhere from 5-7 will give you 90% of what the amp is capable of. turning it up above that kills any chance of getting a good clean tone.

 

add bass back in with the graphic, drop the middle slider a decent amount, and fine-tune the treble sliders... should be sounding at least decent, even with a V30. if not, something's wrong with the tubes or the amp.

[jeid2000]

I have the very same amp running through a 4x12 with V30's. I highly recommend changing the tubes. It made a huge difference to the sound. I have mine setup like so

 

gain 3.5-4

master 3-4

lead master 5

treble 6

bass 7

middle 7

pres 2-3

reverb 2

 

I have a V sort of EQ.

 

It's a nice amp... I love it.

[luke978]

Thanks alot guys. I have no doubt that its my piss poor inability to tweek a Mesa, and not the amp itself. I'll try the changes tomorrow, when the wife and kids are not asleep.

 

I'm gonna do a tube change, and probably pick up a new cab with the GT's soon.

[Numb Sensitive]

First, bring the presence down to about 2, takes out the high end sizzle/spike. Bring the bass WAY down on the regular EQ (it just adds flub), have it no higher than 3, and then bring back the bass frequencies with the graphic EQ. I go with a pretty sharp V (higher on the bass side) on my .50 cal +

 

Here's my lead channel settings:

 

Gain: 7

Master: 5 or 6

Lead Master: 3 or 4

Mid: 5

Treble: 7.5

Presence: 2

EQ: sharp V

 

Hope that helps.