I play in a typical dance band that plays 60's through modern Country (Johnny Cash, Eddie Rabbit, etc), Country Rock (Keith Urban, Big & Rich), Blues (SRV), Rock (John Cougar, Brian Adams, CCR) and a bit of Classic Rock (ACDC, Black Crowes, etc.) I've tuned in my Nomad the best I can, but it lacks: a) a little "hair" on the clean channel (its wayy too clean even at 100% gain) b) pretty acceptable channel 2 - Boogie Lead c) wayyyy too much gain on the Marshall Channel 3, I gotta turn the gain almost completely off, and the dynamics suffer. (5751's aren't enough to tame this amp) So, it may be time to hone in on something a little more controlled and vintage. I'm looking for: a) Country / Country-Blues leads in the vein of Fender b) Boogie liquid lead c) A nice lighter Marshall crunch for stinging blues and Plexi-style rhythms I play rhythm and take alternate lead breaks. Should I be after the Heartbreaker or Maverick (or other newer MB??) , and which one do you think meets my needs the best. What kind of speakers ?
I would recommend the Maverick. Fabulous cleans, great dirt, very articulate. There's a 2x12 on ebay for $700 or so.
I can do all this with my Mark I reissue, although the country might suffer some compared to the rock tones. The catch is, I HAVE TO use pedals. Especially since the Mark I is a single channel amp. That said, you might wanna check out the Lone Stars (classic and special). I think it's a positive update on the Heartbreaker/F-Series concept. Stormin!
The Maverick will give you a great platform, but it has two sounds, not three. You can get a great clean sound and push it to the point where you can get some hair on it. It also has a good southern rock crunch. Kind of in between the liquid lead tone that you describe and a Marshall crunch. I use it in a similar application, country dance band, with a lot of success. I keep a couple of different dirt boxes on my board for the sounds that the amp doesn't have.
I would say if you wanted BIG CLEANS and some dark gain do the HB. The HB can get some sponge-y tones with the YELLOWJACKETS, but frankly the 6V6's are too farty. The failure on the HB is it can't do the liquid gain AND retain the clean channel (this is all shared, sadly). Therefore, since you want some dirt no the cleans, and for all the tones you described - get the Maverick - they are a steal!
The Maverick still only nets two out of three. It'll do the gain and the clean, but not the Marshally crunch at the same time. In fact, it doesn't really do Marshally at all. The HB will do Marshally crunch and clean OR gain. I get the liquid gain out of the Mark I channel on the Heartbreaker, and get the clean/crunch from the Marshall channel using the guitar's volume. Not perfect but it works.
I have a maverick 4x10 and LOVE it. 2 channels, great reverb, el84s! this is one of the most versatile amps Mesa ever made (IMHO)---very responsive, SS or tube rectifier. i am always on the lookout for a 2x12 version or a head to pick up. i've owned both the Nomad and the Blue Angel. This model beats them hands down. only 2 negative aspects- 1) momentary "silence" when switching channels in live situation 2) wish it were closer to 50 than 35 watts. do me a favor though---let's try and keep these a secret so the prices don't go up?!? hope this helps.
This is fixable. My Heartbreaker did the same thing; the LDR in the mute circuit is just on the 'slow' end of tolerance. Replacing it (might take a couple tries) with a faster one eliminates this.
I have both, to me the best amps of my little collection are my 4x10 maverick combos. The cleans are outstanding, overdrive the gain on the clean channel and is awsome tone, even the distorted channel sound good to me, very old school. The HB is also a great amp but I think is a little more dark and it need to be loud to make it come more alive, is a great amp that can have a lot of changes to suit, but to me the Maverick is the best, very versatil.
I've owned both and have kept the maverick. It just covers more sonic ground than than the Heartbreaker. I use the 4x10 combo most of the time. I use a higher output humbucker at the bridge and 2 lower output single coils. I set the clean channel up so that i can get a really clean sound from the neck single could but when i switch to the bridge pickup based upon string attack can get clean with just some hair to a lower gain crunch. you can get even more variation playing with your guitar volume. I then set my dirty channel up so i go from light crunch at the neck to more of a modern rock sound out of the bridge pickup. I'm using the amp for the most part in the confines of a cover band that covers rock/pop/classic rock/and some Country.
Heartbreaker clip. Open Blues Jam http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...44038311616881 This was recorded about a year ago. Slightly modified. Only 1 C'90 loaded in 2x12 combo to make it weigh a little less. Open back and goosed with a TS-9 and DS-1
Then I should throw out there that the OCD and Keeley TS9 worked really well goosing the Marshall channel of the HB
My local music store recently started carrying Mesa's so I demo'd a Maverick 212. I wanted to like it but the gain side was fuzzy/ farty and waay to fat for the type of music you described -which is very similar to what I gig. While I liked the gain/pre volume on the clean side I couldn't get a happy medium between cut and a little hair on the notes kinda sound. The Mesa Lonestar in either form would easily be my choice over the Maverick. A good friend and great player I know plays in the house band at a local club uses a Lonestar and sounds GREAT. I know he gooses the front end with a blues driver once in a while but his tone is very consistant and wide ranging for the music -rock/pop country. ...
