Thinking about selling off my MTS?

[JayDA]

Someone want to talk me out of it? I know this is a long rant...sorry.
I'm referring to heavier tones here, not really clean tones. I've had pretty much every module this earth at one time or another, starting with stock Egnater dualies in 2006ish, all the way through all the "Series 1" Jaded Faith stuff.

I have 2 RM50s and 12 JF mods left, and recently picked up a Mesa Mark V. It just sounds...I don't know what the word for it is...richer...more "3d sounding"? It has a different kind of top end and a ballsy sort of midrange thing that I love...and I'm usually NOT a Mesa guy at all, but this one is speaking to me for some reason.

I've had the MTS stuff for so long, I guess I just got used to it. Is it just because it's different...not necessarily "better"...but different? Have my ears just become so accustomed to the MTS power section that ANYTHING different sounding is exciting?

I have been thinking about having Rob do the full set of mods on one of my amps to see if that's the missing piece. Has anyone else ever felt like this? Did the mods fix it?

 

[JKD]

Mesas are great amps, actually had ENGLs here at one point too.....

...I honestly think it's easily possible to have your ears get jaded by the MTS power section....it doesn't seem to do particularly well at uber-heacvy tones.

If it were me, I'd keep my core selection of favorite modules...keep an RM50...or maybe grab an M4/RM4, plug into the other amp and run it into the loop.

I'm really gassing hard for a Mesa JP2C right now

 

[JayDA]

I'm really gassing hard for a Mesa JP2C right now

Yeah, that was what I REALLY wanted, but I found a good deal on the Mark V. The YouTube demos sound ******* amazing.

 

[blacksun]

might be a power section thing. Have you tried using the mts preamps into the mkV - by running a guitar cord from the loop send in your rm50 to the fx return of the mesa?

I remember the mesa 2:90 power amp coloured the tone quite significantly in a "mesa way" when I compared it to a VHT 2150.

 

[SixFeetUnder]

Have you tried swapping out power tubes? I had luck with changing the feel on my RM100 by changing out the 6L6's and using two EL34's mixed with 2 KT88's......WOW! New feel for sure, with a snarly bite and punchy bottom end! Not that the 6L6's did not sound good, but it was cool to be able to change it up a bit with a tube change. That is one of the great things about these amps and sometimes overlooked by a lot people who have them.
Anyway, just a thought.

 

[trimix]

Yeah, MTS is a great modular preamp system, was not impressed by the head's power section. Now running an RM4 into a Mesa 395 power amp instead.
As it happens, I just installed new JJ 6L6s in the 395 this morning, Simul-class into the left 4x12 and Class A into the right 4x12. Big improvement over the ancient glass.

 

[webrthomson]

I know how you feel - the mesa power sections are pretty glorious and the Randall ones can sometimes feel lacking.

Some of observations for you (in order of impact IMHO):

KT88 / 6550, if you feel the Randalls are not moving enough air throw some of them in and see if you like the resulting bottom end more. I use a mix of EL34 and KT88 in my RM100 and it's amazing (as previously mentioned in this thread). With your RM50 you would have to go all KT88 / 6550, but EHX ones are pretty cheap and would let you know if you like them without investing in something expensive like =C= or Gold Lions.

Speakers - not all speakers are made alike! Some suit MTS IMHO more that others, likewise some suit some mods more that others. So if you are finding the you don't get the thump you want from MTS and you are using V30's say then it might be worth looking at the 75 watt cream backs or G12K100 which bring more bass into play and lessen the mids.

MDS / Foglifter - makes quite an bit of difference - I've got them in all my Mod50 / RM100 - sure you've already done this but just in case

Transformers - I've got MM in my MOD50 and it, to my ears anyway, once you get the volume up a bit makes a difference. If you are playing at low volume you won't notice it thought

Robs suite of mods - I got Rob to trick out a RM100 for me with all of them and it really takes the RM100 from what it was to what it should have been all along. Just being able to dial in things as expected and getting the power section tuned make a big difference. Same caveat as above if you're not playing at volume you won't get the most out of this either.

And finally - most of us are lucky enough to not have to chose one or the other if you like the Mark V keep it and an RM50. Indeed you might try running them in stereo, as long as you can get them in phase, sometimes just the subtle drive differences makes for a glorious sound in itself

Either way - happy tone chasing, remember its supposed to be fun!

 

[JayDA]

Some great points here, thanks everyone! I've tried every flavor of tube under the sun, and have foglifters as well. The speaker point is a valid one as well...some things to think about!

 

[scary groove]

Get a Kemper Profiling Amp. Profile all your MTS stuff. Sell off your MTS stuff to help offset the cost of the Kemper. Get all the amp profiles you want on the Kemper Rig Exchange. Thank me later

 

[MarcoR]

Not out totally, I kept an RM50 combo with my two self modded Egnater modules for a grab and go rig.

Ultimately, I realized I just need a great clean and a Marshall flavored distortion. I got a Landry for my main rig. 8)

 

[ricky]

don't know about the heavy tones, but I had Rob do his ultimate mod on two different RM50s....mercury Transformers and such. It did change the feel of the power section from being kind of "cheap" to really ballsy. One of them is tuned for a Fender-y feel and the other a marshall feel. Consequently I use 6L6s in the one and EL84s in the other. I have some money to but something right now, and a new amp is the farthest thing from my mind as I am so content.

 

[The Rossness]

When I had my first Salvo Mark US, it inspired me to get a Mesa MKV. I loved the module and expected to love the Mesa, but I didn't. The Mesa had some good tones, but I wanted it to have individual slider EQ's for each of the 3 channels and I set up the parametric EQ's differently. Since I couldn't do this I sold the Mark V.

I don't think you can just have an MTS rig and nothing else. I play my VHT Pitbull and 5153 extensively. But when I need the tones from my MTS system, I have them. I too went through many modules and kept my favorites. Once upon a time, I sold all of my MTS gear to buy a VHT SigX and what a mistake that was :/