Question: Toob Doods, Mesa 22? Experience? Thoughts?

OGG

Master of the Meh
The other guitar player in the band is on a mission to acquire the tools and gizmos to properly achieve some of the distinctly "80s" tones that our catalog of songs requires. He finally ditched his pedal board with the tuube screamer and a few other limited effects in favor of an M13.

He's actually doing a remarkable job with the M13 so far, considering he has never owned a multi FX unit.

Anyway, he has two different Marshall amps that he bounces between. I don't have a problem with either of them really, but he has a serious hard on for a Mesa 22.

He asked me what I thought, and I really struggled to offer any helpful advice.

My limited experiences with Mesa left me with the understanding that they are at their best when br00tality is the goal. I know they have a legendary gain stage.

Most of what we do is either clean tones smothered in chorus, delay, flanger etc, or relatively low gain, heavily effected tones.

For me, using the HD 500 for all of my tone shaping, love playing it through a JC because it is about as transparent of an amp as you'll ever hear (without the chorus circuit engaged of course). It doesn't really impart any of its own coloration to the sound.

I figure if he is going to stick with the M13, a fairly pricey Mesa is not the best choice. I think he's better off with something that has an abundance of clean headroom and doesn't add too much extra flavor to the sound.

A 22 watt tube amp, to me seems right on the edge of the headroom threshold for larger venues.

I don't know, I told him I'd ask you guys what your thoughts are.

I think if he's dead set on tubes, aan AC 30 is the obvious choice.

Educate me!
 
The 22 Caliber is the big brother to my Subway Rocket. Honestly, he'll have no issue with a low watt Mesa. You could play Petco Park and he'd still be too loud.
 
The 22 Caliber is the big brother to my Subway Rocket. Honestly, he'll have no issue with a low watt Mesa. You could play Petco Park and he'd still be too loud.
Ahh, so it makes good use of those 22 watts. Good to know, thanks. How's the transparency factor? Will it take well to a multi FX unit?
 
Ahh, so it makes good use of those 22 watts. Good to know, thanks. How's the transparency factor? Will it take well to a multi FX unit?

I can only speak for my amp, which apparently is unlike other Mesa amps. Mine hates all dirt pedals other than boost pedals. And it's very particular about what goes out front and what goes in the loop. But get that combo right, and it's spectacular.
 
Hmmm, ok. So it may or may not like the M13. I should see if he can take his with him to try it out. I'm sure the seller won't mind. Thanks for the info.
 
I have owned a few Mesas but not a 22. I can say for sure that a Mark I is not an amp for brootality. The Mark I when cranked can get some good crunchy tones but it is 60/90 watts so to get it crunchy would pop sme ear drums. That amp also takes pedals very well.
 
I have a first year Studio 22. Sounds good (not great, IMO), but I'm not a huge EL84 fan. I gotta tell ya, mine does not take pedals well AT ALL, especially dirt. It doesn't do the br00tZ terribly well, but does have plenty of distorto on tap. The clean sound -- while not super clean -- is decent. As far as stage volume, I've never had a problem making this thing quite loud, definitely loud enough for nearly any gig. You will lose some clean headroom with that, though.
 
Hmmm, this is all good info.

So far the consensus seems to indicate that it has plenty of volume on tap, but may be an exceptionally bad choice for putting a multi FX unit in front of. That clean channel critique sounds like a deal breaker.
 
No experience with the 22, but I will say that the clean channel on my express 5:25 is the best clean channel on pretty much any combo I've ever played.
 
Well, that complicates things. Looks like he's just going to have to try it out.
 
Well, that complicates things. Looks like he's just going to have to try it out.

I think this is the key. One local player I heard live played a Mesa and had a killer clean tone. But I think he played a Lone Star model. I'm not sure how different that would be.
 
I had a 50 caliber +. With the right cab it was terrific... It really like greenback speakers v30s not so much. I used it mostly with a 2x12 setup
 
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