2nd hand mesa gear down in price

Alnico

ICBM said:

Alnico said:

They do. It costs around £650 more at Andertons for the Black Vinyl Front than the Metal Plate.

I forgot they do now - although at that ridiculous mark-up I wouldn't be surprised if no-one has ever bought one. Until the current version it was deckplate or nothing though - unless you bought a Trem-o-verb head, which is the better-sounding amp anyway .

Such is the Dual Rec's reputation as purely a metal amp, that many people don't even realise the Trem-o-verb is the same amp but with reverb and tremolo.

That would include me too !
Thanks i never knew that.

timmysoft

I've owned loads of Mesa amps over the years, they're by far my favourite brand. Used prices on everything apart from Gibson and fender seem to have dropped in the last 2-3 years. Fender and Gibson have had such massive price increases though that they really have pushed up the perceived value. I picked up a used PRS Mira at the weekend for £400, that's used Japanese fender or used 2015 Les Paul junior pricing for a guitar that's a hell of a lot better. 

Mesa haven't had the price hike that Marshall have had over the last 10 years. My first recto I bought for £1799, the Marshall TSL was £769 at the time, the 50w DSL was only £399 I think! 

Id still pay over a grand for a black fronted Mesa racktifier 2 channel, they're killer.

andyoz

Every time I consider buying one second hand,  I research all the models...get confused and give up.

CHrisP86

What are the Dual Rectifier Mavericks like?  I'm mostly after a smallish 1x12 combo and that looks quite nice.  Does the express series do more of a high gain sound?

ICBM

CHrisP86 said:

What are the Dual Rectifier Mavericks like?  I'm mostly after a smallish 1x12 combo and that looks quite nice.

Completely unlike anything else in the Rectifier series - actually much more like a Lone Star Special. The 1x12" version is quite rare, but worth looking for. I probably shouldn't have sold mine…

The clean channel is a sort of Vox/Brownface Fender hybrid, the dirty channel is a bit of its own thing but not at all like a Rectifier or even a Mark Series Boogie - probably closer to the modern high-gain Vox derivatives. It's quite 'touchy' to dial in, and the stock speaker perhaps isn't the best choice - at the time I had mine the Celestion Gold wasn't available, I think that would have really suited it… or a Creamback G12H-75.

57Deluxe

for that drop D chugga chugga sound you really only need a 100 or 200w ss no brand amp and a joyo pedal anyway...

professorben

57Deluxe said:

for that drop D chugga chugga sound you really only need a 100 or 200w ss no brand amp and a joyo pedal anyway...

Agreed.
i feel sorry for all those guys that have to buy Lazy J's and Klons. 
It literally costs a fortune to sound like JoBo/SRV. 

I'm glad I play chugga chugga and can therefore afford clothes and food. 

CHrisP86

Thanks @ICBM Sounds like an interesting amp.  Although a rectoverb combo might suit me better.

Do the express series amps do a nice heavy tone? 

ICBM

CHrisP86 said:

Do the express series amps do a nice heavy tone? 

They can, although you really need one with the graphic EQ to get it into that sort of range - and even then, to me they sound more like a Mark series than a Rectifier.

professorben

ICBM said:

CHrisP86 said:

Do the express series amps do a nice heavy tone? 

They can, although you really need one with the graphic EQ to get it into that sort of range - and even then, to me they sound more like a Mark series than a Rectifier.

Always preferred the recorded sounds of Mark series over Recto, I'll admit I've not tried either in the flesh tho.  

CHrisP86

A mint 3 channel dual rec just sold on eBay for £750!

Wish I'd had the cash for that. 

CHrisP86

I've just been offered a Mark 3 red stripe as part of a trade.

From clips I've listened to it seems like they can do just about anything. Are they awkward to dial in? Are they regarded as decent boogie amps?

Whats a reasonable price for a 1x12 mark 3 combo? 

ICBM

CHrisP86 said:

I've just been offered a Mark 3 red stripe as part of a trade.

From clips I've listened to it seems like they can do just about anything.

Except sound like anything other than a Boogie .

CHrisP86 said:

Are they awkward to dial in?

Yes, massively. They're billed as a three-channel amp, but share almost all the controls so really they're not much more than a single-channel amp with a boost mode. Even with the Graphic EQ auto-assigned to the R2 and/or Lead channels it's very hard to get a good sound on all three channels at the same time, or R2 at all. R2 is poor, R1 is good, Lead is great - even then you'll find it very fussy to dial in for both at once.

CHrisP86 said:

From clips I've listened to it seems like they can do just about anything. Are they awkward to dial in? Are they regarded as decent boogie amps?

I think they're less highly-regarded than either the MkIIs (by the purists) and the MkIV (by those who want versatility), but actually I think they're a bit unfairly underrated, even given what I said above. The Lead channel is better than either the II or IV, to me - more gain than the II and more 'organic' (stupid word, sorry ) than the IV.

CHrisP86 said:

Whats a reasonable price for a 1x12 mark 3 combo? 

Depends on what options it has - there are so many.

The last one I saw was a Simul-Class with reverb and Graphic EQ (this is the best version by far) in a black vinyl cabinet and went for £750. Others are worth less. I probably wouldn't take one without the GEQ at all, it's essential to get the best sounds out of them.

Barney

CHrisP86 said:

I've just been offered a Mark 3 red stripe as part of a trade.

From clips I've listened to it seems like they can do just about anything. Are they awkward to dial in? Are they regarded as decent boogie amps?

Whats a reasonable price for a 1x12 mark 3 combo? 

I saw a Mk4 on one selling site for £700..probably a lot more versatile than a mk3

CHrisP86

Thanks @ICBM ;.

I would probably just leave it on the lead channel so balancing the sounds wouldnt be an issue, if that's the main drawback.  Is it relatively easy to get individual sounds, without worrying about balancing the channels?

The guy doesn't seem to know much of the specs but it's looking like a 60w version with the eq. Speaker he thinks is an eminence. 

He wants my amp worth about £350 and £250 cash. Doesn't seem a bad deal.

ICBM

CHrisP86 said:

I would probably just leave it on the lead channel so balancing the sounds wouldnt be an issue, if that's the main drawback.  Is it relatively easy to get individual sounds, without worrying about balancing the channels?

The guy doesn't seem to know much of the specs but it's looking like a 60w version with the eq. Speaker he thinks is an eminence. 

He wants my amp worth about £350 and £250 cash. Doesn't seem a bad deal.

Top price for that version really - especially if it also doesn't have reverb. Simul-Class is by far the most desirable power stage, 100W second, 60W last.

You can get good sounds on R1 and Lead individually, yes - but I could never get anything really usable out of R2 which to me is an afterthought and completely fails at what it's claimed to do… sounding like a Marshall.

If the speaker is an Eminence that's not good - the only Mesa Eminence is the 'Vintage' which has an extremely middy, barky sound that restricts what the amp can do. I didn't think the MkIIIs ever came with that but I could be wrong. If it's the EV Black Shadow (easy to tell, it has a magnet the size of a dinner plate ) that's much better.

Moltisanti

i'm after a Lonestar 1x12 at the moment if anyone sees one

CHrisP86

From what I read Mesa only used the EV or Celestion G-100 with the MK3. Makes me think it must be the EV.

I'll see what he says but I'm getting less interested in the deal. Also just been offered a mini jubilee combo as an alternative trade from someone else. That might be more my thing.

CHrisP86

The mark 3 didn't happen.

I am now thinking I need to own a Rectifier.  What are the original rectoverb's like?  A combo would suit me best at the moment.

timmysoft

CHrisP86 said:

The mark 3 didn't happen.

I am now thinking I need to own a Rectifier.  What are the original rectoverb's like?  A combo would suit me best at the moment.

I love the rectoverbs, they can slam down some serious bottom end for a combo.

my favourite is the Stiletto ace combo, huge cleans, 800 style crunch and boosted recto tones in one package, sonic bliss although heavy and bulky