Mesa boogie-never had one ,do I want One?

[Spivonious]

Ya I'm pretty clear on the Loomis/dual rect/TS in the front. I'm pretty sure that's what he used on Enemies of Reality as well, that's why I'm even thinking about getting one, I just need to know that I can get a little versatility out of it.
I just finished a one hour jam out using my 5150 combo/Marshall cab.
some nights I really love that thing and tonight was one of those nights.
How different does a dual rect sound next to a 5150 (I know the 'experts are probably coughing shit up reading this, but I have been a strict marshall guy my whole life , up until I bought this 5150 and B-52).

:ROTF: Dual Rec and 5150 are completely opposite sounds. Rec is much tighter, more compressed sounding (not a bad thing), "modern" (late 90s, 2000s) tone; 5150 is jangly, loose, more classic 80s sound. You need to get to store man! Try them yourself.

[Endrik]

Mark series amps don't do Nevermore, but they are the coolest amps ever in my opinion.

If you have always been a marshall guy, then get ready for a 180 turn. Those amps act totally differently.

Classic boogie tone is always with 6L6s, Boogies have strong low range mids, Marshalls have high range mids. Totally different tone characters.

Boogie's lead tone is WAY more smoother and fatter than Marshall's, and it has WAY more low end. Boogie's are brutal, you can hear every mistake very clearly, get your chops up

Now Recto vs. 5150, I think 5150 is tighter, Rectos aren't the tightest hi gain amps out there, and I think it's a good thing. I perfer a little bit loosness, because the individual notes "sing" better that way, and the tighter the amp is the more solid stateish it sounds to my ears.
Dual is way more in your face than 5150 and has more bottom.
5150 would be better if you play some fast palm muting eurometal, but for heavy grooves Dual is the shit.

[Twisteramps]

My 2 cents (I've owned 2 racktifiers, an old two channel dual recto, a single recto, a Mark III, two EL84 .50s and two Studio .22s, a Quad and a studio preamp... oh yeah, and a DC3 and 5, and probably a few other boogs that I've forgotten about ):

Recto vs 5150 is low mids versus high mids. Rectos tend to sound congested to me - it's a real fine line between a nice thick tone and mud with those. Main difference between rectos and mark amps is that the rectifiers are based on modded marshalls, Mark series are modded fender circuits. Mark series amps sound nasal because they have a tendency to feed back uncontrollably - the way mesa handles this is by cutting low and high end in the circuit with capacitors, effectively making the tone very mid-heavy. They started adding the EQs so you can dial the mids out and add more lows and highs. Also the EQ is before many of the gain stages in the Mark series, and after in the Rectos. So the recto eq affects the amp tone more than the Mark series. One tip I learned real quick on a mark with an eq is to pull the bass WAY down on the 'regular' eq - like 2 or 3, and boost it with the eq. Gets a lot more clarity that way and you still get your low end thump. I'd be real tempted to get a mark series mesa and mod it with a resonance control.

I haven't owned a mesa that gave a good 'brown' sound, to be honest. Closest I've been was a dual rectifier set to spongy power and tube rectifier, two power tubes pulled, and cranked. The single rectos are nice amps but don't have as many options as the duals do regarding rectifier settings and such. Fx loops on the older dual rectifiers suck: Never owned a three channel model, so I can't comment on the loops on those.

My favorite boogie is the .22+, but 99% of those are combos, and I hate combo amps. Used to gig with one sitting on top of an ADA horizontal 2x12, looked like a midget stack or something.

I'd love to find on in a head configuration, they have an amazing lead tone and are only 22 watts (actually a little less) so in a band situation you can crank them a bit more than say a 100 watt dual recto.

Pete

[charvelguy]

that short box purple stripe sure is nice..if I had the cash on tap and no obligations outstanding,...I'd seriously consider a jump on it.
I honestly do not know what the specific Loomis sound is that you are seeking, I rarely am tuned into newer guitarists.

[kmanick]

Maybe I should try a Tube Screamer in front of my 5150 and see what I get?
probably should try it in front of my B-52 as well, I'm looking for a "tighter" sound out of either amp.
supposedly the B-52 I have is voiced very similar to a dual rect (it does sound completely different from my 5150) . I know some of you guys are very "anti B-52" but for whatever reason , mine sounds fucking killer.
How do you guys use the TS in front of these hi gain amps?
(damn I sound like a complete fucking novice here don't I )
this is the sound I'm trying to get
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hIt4o_zwQgQ
the first 10 seconds is live but it sounds like shit so he laid the studio track in synch with the live video.

[charvelguy]

That definitely is a good sound. Very tight on the lows, but lotta rich harmonics and the gain is up there but not over the top. Still allows the notes to still have a ringing quality and a purity about them.
If anything..IMO ..if you are going to try a pedal slamming the front or in the signal chain.. I would use a 12ax7 driven effect that is very even and not too over the top.

I don't own a 5150 or a B52.. I think I could get really close to approximating that with a Trace modded XXX and a Guyatone Flipvalve powerdrive.. which has a 12ax7 where I wouldn't need anything else other than a decent guitar and cab...other than that..my next choices would be a modeler that could likely dial that in or a really well eq'd preamp/poweramp.

Alot of trying to emulate guys you admire is trial and error, hit n miss... you may just come up with your own sound you like just as much instead of trying to have a sound like Loomis.

Whatever he's using.. its very rich in harmonics and the notes almost bloom..I would venture to say its a modded and well tweaked tube head.

[sworn_enemy]

How do you guys use the TS in front of these hi gain amps?
(damn I sound like a complete fucking novice here don't I )
this is the sound I'm trying to get
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hIt4o_zwQgQ
the first 10 seconds is live but it sounds like shit so he laid the studio track in synch with the live video.

You just turn the gain on your amp down a few notches and set the OD pedal so that the gain is off and the level is cranked. Set the tone to taste and that's it.