JeffB Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 but without the cool factor. I took the day off work today because its healthy not to work too hard. Inarguable. Also, I want to start my new job as I mean to continue. I havnt been to a guitar shop for 19 days so I figured it was high time I went and stood on the other side of the counter. On the way I spotted a pawn shop I hadnt visited for about 8yrs and I felt drawn to it. I walked straight to the guitar racks and skimmed the head stocks looking for the meaningful ones, there were none, and then did the rapid scan of the amps on the floor. Only one hit me, and it was wrong! but wrong in a way that it was eye-catching. I pulled it away from the wall to check behind and saw this So I plugged it in and played the five licks and few chords I have that sound alright in public. Clean is the only thing it does. I turned it up a lot louder than they are probably use to in the store but I figured Im the customer and Im always right. Quite a liberating way to think. Totally incorrect but liberating. I had it really loud, even I was amazed at how loud it was. There was no real break up, just a little flubby in the bottom end. Huge bass for such a little amp. I could see it being a problem in some situations. Also quite a mid honk that could probably irritate at home but be perfect in a band. 100w made in Japan in the 70's, some kind of EV speaker, I think? Big clean sound with a deep bottom end and a mid range honk that could be bad or good. Probably a great clean amp for using stomps. I tried it with a fuzz and had some noisy fun. The mesa Mk1 influence that you can see in the design carries through to the sound, mainly as far as the mids are concerned. There is no od, so they missed that part of the design when they were copying it!!! Quite a big part to miss when you think about it Maybe this one I have is broken Anyway, you could spend a lot more and get a lot less for your dollar. I just have to figure out the reason why I bought it. There is no reason that immediately comes to mind. As soon as I got it in the back of the car I couldnt figure out why I had bought it.
DetroitBlues Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 Ah! Thought it was a real Mesa Boogie amp! It is not. Very, Very Clever... Its a MESIA engineering amp....
schundog Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 All Right!! Why ask Why?! Mesia Boogers are very well respected, I hear..... Just have fun with it, dude; rattle some windows! Nice snatch.
FredZepp Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 Ha... interesting. Mesia.. wow. With a volume and a Master volume this has to have been designed to do some overdrive once upon a time. It's likely a righteous amp with the right pedal in front of it.. Congrats.
Gitfiddler Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 That's a crazy copy! Back in the '70's the Japanese guitar makers were getting sued for their often superior instruments. How's the quality of this MESIA amp?? Also, I bet you could get that thing to overdrive/distort with a less efficient speaker and some tube rolling. Enjoy!
JeffB Posted October 30, 2015 Author Posted October 30, 2015 Ive turned the volume and master every which way and at very loud volume. Ive pulled out every dial that can be pulled out. Ive taken out the tubes and put in good new ones(snicker) and some good old ones and Ive run different speakers. It wont break up. Also the reverb doesnt work. I will open it up tomorrow and poke around inside.
tulk1 Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 Is it heavy like a Mesa? Just wondering if they got that part right.
JeffB Posted October 31, 2015 Author Posted October 31, 2015 So anyway, I sold it. Took it out for a Saturday afternoon jam and another guy there used to have one of these and told me all about them. Way more than my attention span could handle. It went along the lines of: oh wow! >blah blah blah< Mk1 >blah blah blah< transformer >something something< Japan100v, under spec for Au market but shipped anyway>stuff< 240v > obsessive detail< heat and unreliability > tech speak < good platform for mods > blah blah< dumble/mk1/twin/blah Eventually I reeled him in and asked him if he would like it. He was all fired up and jumped at it. Yes it was a heavy amp, heavier than my ConcertII by quite a bit I was correct about the mids, the amp played at fairly low volume sat in the mix easily. The bottom end had to be dialed back quite a bit. Any stomp I stood on sounded alright. It was/is a good sounding amp, surprisingly so. I feel good about selling it. I couldnt figure out why I had bought it. I think part of it was just the humour and novelty in it. I dont think its a record, I think Ive owned gear for shorter periods of time.
HANGAR18 Posted October 31, 2015 Posted October 31, 2015 I was wondering if it was actually supposed to be a bass amp.
kidsmoke Posted October 31, 2015 Posted October 31, 2015 cool, clearly you bought it cuz this other dude was supposed to have it and you were the conduit.
schundog Posted October 31, 2015 Posted October 31, 2015 cool, clearly you bought it cuz this other dude was supposed to have it and you were the conduit. +1. Sometimes the universe works this way! Based on your long relationship with your Fender Concert, I'll bet it's safe to say that you are primarily a Fender amp guy. Nothing wrong with that. I try different flavors once in a while, but the ones that seem to stick around are the Fenders. Glad it worked out for both of you.
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