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Post subject: Dreaming About Amps
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 5:24 pm
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In the near future, I want to buy a very good quality tube amp that I can use for gigging. For about a year, Egnator has been at the top of my list. But recently I found this Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special and it seems just about perfect. I'm not sure if I'm going to go with a head or a 1x12. Here are links to the two candidates. Anyone that wants to check them out and comment, I'd appreciate the feedback.

Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special:
http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/ ... pecial.htm

Egnator Rebel 30:
http://www.egnateramps.com/EgnaterProdu ... 30112.html

I occasionally use an Egnator at rehearsals and it's a great amp. The Mesa Boogie will cost about $500 more than the Egnator if I go with a 112 combo, but it has everything I'm looking for and I'm thinking it might be worth it.

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Post subject: Re: Dreaming About Amps
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:00 pm
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For whatever it's worth .... the last band I was in the other guitar player used a MESA Lone Star Special 112 wide body combo. We both liked the growling blues tones from the dirty channel but the clean channel didn't have enough headroom. He had it set so the clean channel was at the full 30 watts and he alternated sometimes between 5 watts and 15 watts on the dirty channel. I was playing my Fandango rig and with 55 watts and two 12's, one open and one closed back, my clean channel had wonderfull chiming bell like tones with huge bottom end grunt and breathiness but his couldn't even come close to keeping up. In those days I also sometimes used my Line-6 as well and it had 100 watts and two 12s. He'd try to get some gig worthy volume out of it and it would start to break up too soon. The amp had all kinds of jam when you wanted crunch. In the end we pretty much decided I'd play the clean parts because he basically had overdrive and more overdrive. He may have had better luck with it if he had chosen to experiment with different preamp tubes and possibly an extension cabinet. It sounded amazing on the scorching blues settings.

In defense of the amp, we were always a band that played a touch on the loud side compared to most bands in our area that played similar styles.

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Post subject: Re: Dreaming About Amps
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:10 pm
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If you decide to go with the Egnator I suggest the Rebel 30 head unit.
That way you can have an expandable rig.
You can use it with a single 112 cabinet or two of them.
Might cost a little more in the short term but you still won't spend as much as for a MESA.

This is what both 63Supro and I have done with our Rebel 20s.

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Post subject: Re: Dreaming About Amps
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:15 pm
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Thanks, that's good info. I am a little concerned that the 30w might not be enough grunt. My first choice was an Egnator Renegade, which is 65w. I posted the Rebel 30 as a closer comparison to the Lone Star Special.
So far the people I've been playing with have tried not to blow each other off the stage. But when the drummer gets into it, you need some watts available.

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Post subject: Re: Dreaming About Amps
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:19 pm
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For most bands 30 watts is just about perfect but it also depends on who you're playing with and what kind of rigs they have. You should try to balance your power if possible against the volume you think you'll need versus the level of crunch you think you'll need and whether you will use your amp for crunch or pedals.

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Post subject: Re: Dreaming About Amps
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:39 pm
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Amp crunch or pedals, that is the question. I like the idea of having an amp that could pull off a Hotel California type solo without pedals. But the truth is I'm collecting pedals and will probably use some. Up to now, I've been using my Vox AD60VTX, which is a tube/SS hybrid modeling amp, but I'm putting together a pedal board now. I'm starting to think I should play it safe and get at least a 50W amp. Which puts the Egnator Renegade back on top. I'll go through the Mesa product line again to see what else tickles my fancy. Their factory is pretty close to me which for some unknown reason was appealing.

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'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue


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Post subject: Re: Dreaming About Amps
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:48 pm
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Looking at your guitars in your signature line I think you owe it to yourself to get a really nice amp. You may have heard me say this before. I am of the firm belief that the amp is at least as much of a musical instrument as the guitar is and possibly more of an instrument than the guitar is. The amp is what makes the sound you hear. I always say that if you are going to cheap out on either the amp or the guitar ... cheap out on the guitar and spend your money on a high quality amplifier. That combination yields better results than an expensive guitar and a cheap amp.

Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best.

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