My Never-Ending Gigging Amp Journey Is Over

. Here's what I'm looking for:
  • 30-50 tube watts, preferably not EL84.
  • 2 channels: A clean that stays clean for funk and a British-style dirty channel that stays clear, not muddy, up to JCM800 levels of gain. Global master volume would be great.
  • Fully buffered effects loop is a must! I use delay & reverb pedals thru the loop.
  • Smallbox, lightweight head, preferably less than 23" wide and <40 lbs (needs to fit on my cabs).
This is the Friedman Runt 50 to a T, except for the global master volume but it's easy to balance out the channels. Or you can easily add a global master with a JHS little volume box last in line in the loop.
 
This thread is pure gold:

Sleewell: "dude, you're way too picky. Nobody cares about your tone nearly as much as you think they do."

Laxu: "surely the Blu is utter perfection?!?"

Spawn: "5153 solves all problems"

Jive: "Badlander solves all problems"

Dessert: "You just haven't tried the RIGHT Mesa with el84s"

TSJ: "You just haven't tried the RIGHT Mesa"

Byrdman-standing-in-for-90%-of-the-place: "You say a head and 4x12 is too much. Have you considered TWO heads and 4x12s?!?"

Now I'm in here being an asshole...

We just need Stone to come in and remind us how much he loves his Fractal and we should juuuuuuuuust about have the entire forum all wrapped up neatly in one thread? :rofl :rofl :beer:beer

(Has he tried the Electra Dyne?)
 
How about the 50 watt Bogner Ecstasy? The blue channel will have a little more gain than 800 levels.. though I don't know how funky the clean will do (Since I never play clean lol)
That's high on my list and one I may try next if I can find a good deal.
Bad Cat Hot Cat?
New Hot Cat 45 is another that's very intriguing. Jury is still out on how clean the clean channel stays at loud levels.
(Has he tried the Electra Dyne?)
No but's it one of the few Mesa's I'd still like to try.
 
I think I may have reached the end. :love

Magica.jpg


I know it's the honeymoon but yowza, this thing just hits all the bases for me. The clean is truly amazing, as is expected, one of the best I've ever played. I was worried the dirty channels would be too dark but with the presence off it's great. Gain 1 for classic low-med gain and Gain 2 for the rawk. It takes pedals like a champ too.

Two other key features:
1.) the effect loop is perfect!! I don't know why that seemed so hard to get right with other amps but this is how it should be. I can even use my favorite Talisman reverb, which gets picky as hell and will distort. The last few amps I owned had unusable effects loop for pedals.

2.) Master volume is perfect, I don't need to run any gizmos in the loop to tame volume like I usually do. This will free up some room n the board, which I will need to figure out where I'm going to put this big footswitch (my only gripe).

I've only begun to scratch the surface but it took me about 5 minutes to get the sound right where I wanted. Used it at practice last night and it did not disappoint. Definitely less bite than my Splawn but Gain 2 really cooks in its own way. The high gain almost reminds me of an ENGL Artist I played years ago. I went back and forth between Gain 1 + boosts (Stud Klone or Groovy Wizard fuzz driver) and both options were awesome. The great thing is that Gain 2 cleans up very nicely, even at higher gain, which is huge for me because sometimes I like to use an amp as a single channel when I don't feel like switching channels. Like I said, it ticks so many boxes, such a fantastic amp.
 
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I think I may have reached the end. :love

View attachment 32104

I know it's the honeymoon but yowza, this thing just hits all the bases for me. The clean is truly amazing, as is expected, one of the best I've ever played. I was worried the dirty channels would be too dark but with the presence off it's great. Gain 1 for classic low-med gain and Gain 2 for the rawk. It takes pedals like a champ too.

Two other key features:
1.) the effect loop is perfect!! I don't know why that seemed so hard to get right with other amps but this is how it should be. I can even use my favorite Talisman reverb, which gets picky as hell and will distort. The last few amps I owned had unusable effects loop for pedals.

2.) Master volume is perfect, I don't need to run any gizmos in the loop to tame volume like I usually do. This will free up some room n the board, which I will need to figure out where I'm going to put this big footswitch (my only gripe).

I've only begun to scratch the surface but it took me about 5 minutes to get the sound right where I wanted. Used it at practice last night and it did not disappoint. Definitely less bite than my Splawn but Gain 2 really cooks in its own way. The high gain almost reminds me of an ENGL Artist I played years ago. I went back and forth between Gain 1 + boosts (Stud Klone or Groovy Wizard fuzz driver) and both options were awesome. The great thing is that Gain 2 cleans up very nicely, even at higher gain, which is huge for me because sometimes I like to use an amp as a single channel when I don't feel like switching channels. Like I said, it ticks so many boxes, such a fantastic amp.

Congrats! :banana


Always wanted to try a Redplate Amp. Heard nothing but great things about them. :beer

Is that a Magica? Can't read it with the glare, but it looks like one.
 
How can you be happy when it isn't a Mesa Mark V ?!?!
LOL, this has almost as many switches. I have come to not love the Mesa dirty sound, although the MkV has the best I've heard from them. I don't think I'd want to deal with all that for live playing though. Mesas can have some bad sounds if not set right whereas this one is quick and easy to get great sounds.
 
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