Mesa Fans Any Thoughts On This ?

[Dave Lewis]

Spotted this used at Andertons earlier.
https://www.andertons.co.uk/second-hand-mesa-lonestar-100w-head--212-cab-royal-blue-742/

 

[spawnofthesith]

Lonestar clean circuit is legendary

 

[Dave Lewis]

Given its age is the price a deal or a steel ?

 

[laxu]

Given its age is the price a deal or a steel ?

If it's in good condition, for the whole stack I think that's a solid price. Not a steal, but not bad.
This seems to be the older Mk1 model. Afaik the main difference is that it only has 100/50W power scaling instead of 100/50/10W.

I've seen Lonestar Classic heads or combos go for about 1200€ or ~£1024 at their lowest here in Finland, with usual prices in the 1300-1500 € / £1110-1280 range.

The LSC is basically a modded Fender Twin. 1st channel is very similar as a circuit, and the 2nd channel expands from that by adding an extra gain stage. Obviously with modern master volumes, power scaling and whatnot.

It's easily one of the best clean amps I know. I've considered buying one for years but it's also pretty heavy as a combo so I ended up with the Mark V 90 instead. I have no idea how the two compare,.

 

[Dave Lewis]

If it's in good condition, for the whole stack I think that's a solid price. Not a steal, but not bad.
This seems to be the older Mk1 model. Afaik the main difference is that it only has 100/50W power scaling instead of 100/50/10W.

I've seen Lonestar Classic heads or combos go for about 1200€ or ~£1024 at their lowest here in Finland, with usual prices in the 1300-1500 € / £1110-1280 range.

The LSC is basically a modded Fender Twin. 1st channel is very similar as a circuit, and the 2nd channel expands from that by adding an extra gain stage. Obviously with modern master volumes, power scaling and whatnot.

It's easily one of the best clean amps I know. I've considered buying one for years but it's also pretty heavy as a combo so I ended up with the Mark V 90 instead. I have no idea how the two compare,.

Thanks for that info
We already have a Fender Twin so I know that sound .

 

[laxu]

Thanks for that info
We already have a Fender Twin so I know that sound .

If you go test it out, I'd try to pit it against a Fender Twin + some pedals. The Mesa Black Shadow speakers might be a bigger differentiator.

 

[Dave Lewis]

Yesterday I noticed Rob Chapman having a look at the Mesa Head & Cab in the store during this video.

 

[newholland]

ill speak against. i hate lonestars and find them to be the most mediocre sounding amps in the world. i literally cant make them sound like a rock amp. if you want the velveteen orb of the amp world, that's it. ive played mesas for thirty years and i cannot find good sounds in that thing.

 

[metropolis_4]

My unpopular opinion: I’ve never liked any of the Mesa Lonestar amps.

I always felt like I was supposed to like them, but every time I tried one I was underwhelmed and disappointed

 

[Dave Lewis]

I won’t be buying them after what I’ve heard on here.
I haven’t heard a Mesa amp in a room for donkeys years and don’t even remember what model the one being used was.
I’m going full steam ahead Bad Cat head and 3X 12” Cab hopefully

 

[newholland]

My unpopular opinion: I’ve never liked any of the Mesa Lonestar amps.

I always felt like I was supposed to like them, but every time I tried one I was underwhelmed and disappointed

removing every last edge on an amp seldom does anything desirable for sound. its like they rolled off the treble on the amp at 1k and found correspondingly bland speakers to make sure you were sonically invisible. i think the only people who like them compare notes on the ounces their 1965 telecasters weigh.

these are not my people. these are not my amps.

 

[laxu]

removing every last edge on an amp seldom does anything desirable for sound. its like they rolled off the treble on the amp at 1k and found correspondingly bland speakers to make sure you were sonically invisible. i think the only people who like them compare notes on the ounces their 1965 telecasters weigh.

these are not my people. these are not my amps.

Harsh words!

I've loved the LSC the few times I've tried it and otherwise I've used in pretty much every modeler that has one. With Fractal it was my go-to pristine clean sound, along with a Super Reverb and Morgan AC-20.

 

[newholland]

Harsh words!

I've loved the LSC the few times I've tried it and otherwise I've used in pretty much every modeler that has one. With Fractal it was my go-to pristine clean sound, along with a Super Reverb and Morgan AC-20.

i genuinely didnt like it. im being silly, mostly, but for as much stuff as they jammed into that box, it had surprisingly little to recommend it and was just bleh to me cause everything seemed to be way too round and soft-sole. i think its for adults.

 

[KingsXJJ]

My unpopular opinion: I’ve never liked any of the Mesa Lonestar amps.

I always felt like I was supposed to like them, but every time I tried one I was underwhelmed and disappointed

I tried one in a modeler and just moved on. The actual amp might be great however.

 

[AlbertA]

It was good enough for Andy Timmons

 

[Desertdweller]

It's was good enough for Andy Timmons

Exactly. There's a reason they put the Lonestar clean on the Road King II, Roadster, and MW Dual Rectifier. It's an awesome clean sound.

 

[unix-guy]

It was good enough for Andy Timmons

And still is...

 

[metropolis_4]

i genuinely didnt like it. im being silly, mostly, but for as much stuff as they jammed into that box, it had surprisingly little to recommend it and was just bleh to me cause everything seemed to be way too round and soft-sole. i think its for adults.

I didn’t like it either, i tried many of them over the years and always found them to be dull, flat, uninspiring amps. They’re sort of like a really bad blackface Fender.

I think this was a bad era for Mesa in general. When I first played a Mark V I thought the clean was 1,000x better than any Lonestar I ever played

I tried one in a modeler and just moved on. The actual amp might be great however.

It’s not

 

[spawnofthesith]

I didn’t like it either, i tried many of them over the years and always found them to be dull, flat, uninspiring amps. They’re sort of like a really bad blackface Fender.

I think this was a bad era for Mesa in general. When I first played a Mark V I thought the clean was 1,000x better than any Lonestar I ever played



It’s not

This is what has me scratching my head, as supposedly the “lonestar clean” is the circuit used in the roadster and mark V, and both have amazing clean channels, particular the mark V. Like I would say the mark V has the grail clean tone that no other amp I’ve played can surpass

 

[Funk Soul Brother]

But...Does it chug?