MESA CAB CLONE video redone. AWKWARD IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT,!

richardhomer

ThePrettyDamned;457187" said:

I kinda feel sorry for them in this video...

Mesa sent someone to make sure they read the script and did as they were told. I mean, really?!

I agree there seems some level of coercion - and the 'let's play two back to back recordings through a far-from-hi-fi-speaker - which then has to be miked' part was fascicle.

I have to say this seems like a rare duffer from Mesa - they should have the integrity to pull the product, get it working properly and relaunch it.

ThorpyFX

richardhomer said:

ThePrettyDamned;457187" said:

I kinda feel sorry for them in this video...

Mesa sent someone to make sure they read the script and did as they were told. I mean, really?!

I agree there seems some level of coercion - and the 'let's play two back to back recordings through a far-from-hi-fi-speaker - which then has to be miked' part was fascicle.

I have to say this seems like a rare duffer from Mesa - they should have the integrity to pull the product, get it working properly and relaunch it.

doubt they'll do that. I imagine what will happen is that they will quietly rework it and release it as a v2 soonish, unless they are too arrogant to believe they have released something that's not up to their usual standards.

richardhomer

^ Agreed.

slate

I owned one for a day.
No doubt about it whatsoever, the speaker sims sounded shit. just plain bad.
A head, a Load box and some good IR's (ownhammer!! ) are where it's at.

ROOG

ThePrettyDamned said:

richardhomer said:

"It sounds okay" seems to be the most positive comment.

I'm generally a fan of Mesa products - this does not seem worthy of the name.

And Chappers drives me nuts....

I kinda feel sorry for them in this video...

Mesa sent someone to make sure they read the script and did as they were told. I mean, really?!

Yup feels like this to me too.

asimmd

Smells of Mesa pressure,redo the vid if you want to keep selling the product. Fact is,this second vid doesn't do it any favours either.

randomhandclaps

Undoubtedly Andertons felt pressured to redo it so as not to damage their supply of Boogies, but it just highlights how their 'reviews' are 'opinions' are just ads and marketing - in case people missed it.  If this is the best you can get out of it with a Mesa tech in the room then I think I'll pass thanks.

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a579/imadray/Boo_zps3ae56faa.jpg

ThePrettyDamned

randomhandclaps said:

Undoubtedly Andertons felt pressured to redo it so as not to damage their supply of Boogies, but it just highlights how their 'reviews' are 'opinions' are just ads and marketing - in case people missed it.  If this is the best you can get out of it with a Mesa tech in the room then I think I'll pass thanks.

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a579/imadray/Boo_zps3ae56faa.jpg

It does reassure me a tiny bit, though - when they thought it was shite, they actually said so! 

I mean, then they were castrated by mesa, but I guess it goes to show they can be honest in a review.  Even if they generally try to look on the brighter side of things...

benmurray85

I may have completely got the wrong end of the stick but IMHO they're pitching it all wrong. FAO Mesa. Whatever you do, however you try and spin it this demo situation was NEVER going to work. It's a £1600, high end, Handwired amp, mic'd up by someone who's very experienced with getting live and recorded guitar tones (can't deny that bea knows what he's doing) COURSE IT DOESNT SOUND THE SAME!!!!!! By "trying" to convince anyone it does you're cheapening the brand Two undeniable benefits or useful applications it has without a shadow of a doubt are for live (consistency, reliability etc) and bedroom recording. Whether you like the sound that it side is purely subjective. If we take them on their word that the iPhone samples are "untampered" then I love those tones. Idea: good execution: poor

ChrisCox1994

Whereas Guitarist magazine make the mark 5 25's cabclone sound better than the mics! 

Spanner in the works?

ICBM

I don't agree it sounds better than the mic at all - or even as good - but it's certainly much closer, and doesn't have that awful muffled characteristic.

An observation… Andertons used a different, non-Mesa amp. It's quite possible that the Cab Clone simply doesn't work well with that amp. This is very true with attenuators, and I know a lot of people tend to write off all attenuators as tone-sucking after they try the wrong one with the wrong amp, without realising how much you need to find the right one.

Even among Mesa amps the same attenuators don't always work best - for example the Hotplate sounded great with the Trem-o-verb but horrible with the Blue Angel. The Airbrake was the other way round.

darcym

ICBM said:

I don't agree it sounds better than the mic at all - or even as good - but it's certainly much closer, and doesn't have that awful muffled characteristic.

An observation… Andertons used a different, non-Mesa amp. It's quite possible that the Cab Clone simply doesn't work well with that amp. This is very true with attenuators, and I know a lot of people tend to write off all attenuators as tone-sucking after they try the wrong one with the wrong amp, without realising how much you need to find the right one.

Even among Mesa amps the same attenuators don't always work best - for example the Hotplate sounded great with the Trem-o-verb but horrible with the Blue Angel. The Airbrake was the other way round.

could you give an idiot friendly suggestion as to why this is, as the hotplate and airbrake suggest that they are the same technology

ICBM

darcym said:

could you give an idiot friendly suggestion as to why this is, as the hotplate and airbrake suggest that they are the same technology

They are not the same other than both contain load resistors. The Airbrake is purely resistive (apart from a tone correction cap in the 'bedroom' setting, which plays no part in the load presented to the amp), whereas the Hotplate has both inductive and capacitive elements and presents a varying impedance to the amp, particularly when the 'deep' and 'bright' switches are engaged.

As a result the Airbrake is a very 'light' load for the amp, whereas the Hotplate loads the power section more heavily than a real speaker. This makes the power section of the amp respond differently, and makes different types of power sections react in different ways too. The Blue Angel and Trem-o-verb have very different power stage designs even though both are Mesa.

You need to find the type of attenuator which makes the amp's power stage react in the right way. Typically 'Fender' type power stages prefer a heavier load and 'Vox' or 'Marshall' ones prefer a lighter load, but even that is not totally consistent.

breadfan

@ICBM : What would you recommend for a 50w Marshall Plexi clone? I know you've suggested the Powerbrake before, but any current production attenuator?

stickyfiddle

I actually feel sorry for the Andertons guys here. The Cab Clone just sounds rubbish with this setup. I haven't seen the other vid and I assume it used the same Victory amp (which as IC says, may just not work well with the CC), but either way the net result is that it just sounds balls, and Mesa were clearly upset that the old vid made it sound shit. End result is a demand to re-shoot or risk Mesa pulling their stuff from your shops, which I'm guessing neither party wants.

I can't help feeling they'd have been better saying "Look, like all attenuators and cab sims this works better with some amps than others, so here are a bunch of different amps and tones AB-ed using the same cab, so you can see for yourself how it sounds."

But agin, Mesa probably wouldn't be happy with that as it would still sound rubbish with at least some of them. In any case, I think the Victory amp sounds rubbish just through the micced cab as well, so it's all a bit moot.

impmann

Sorry but that sounds utter fucking shit. For less than half that price is Hughes and Ketner Red Box - that does a similar job and sounds 10 billion times better, and even that ain't great.

ICBM

impmann said:

For less than half that price is Hughes and Ketner Red Box - that does a similar job and sounds 10 billion times better, and even that ain't great.

I agree it sounds better, but it isn't directly comparable since it isn't a load box, so you can't run a valve amp into it with no speaker connected. OK, you can add a simple load box as well, and the combined price would still be less than the Cab Clone...

impmann

True - but as you say, a load box won't cost the earth... and it will sound better.

ICBM

impmann said:

True - but as you say, a load box won't cost the earth... and it will sound better.

For any amp under about 50W you can build a perfectly adequate load box for about a tenner! Since it's not in the signal path it doesn't have to be anything special, a plain power resistor in a suitable casing (bearing in mind it can get hot) will do fine.

samzadgan

god that video is an absolute car crash...no one really likes it but they keep saying its good.

its like they've been given an umbrella with holes in it and then being asked to say it works fine. obvioulsy it doesnt, but if you use it on a dry day then it works perfectly...sorry we made the mistake of thinking this would keep rain off our head, thats not what it was designed for...ok...so its fine.