Tremoverb Combo

Rectifier + Vintage 30s = Perfection

But that's just me. I had a Rect-O-Verb and a V30-loaded Rectifier 2x12 cabinet and they worked so well together it was scary. I thought I could lighten my load at rehearsals and use the beat up Marshall cabs at the rehearsal space. Nope. Couldn't use the RoV with anything but Vintage 30s.

 

IMO you want either Mesa V30s (not the 'normal' ones, the Mesa ones are still UK-made and I think sound slightly different/better) or Mesa/Celestion Black Shadow 90s if you want something closer to the clarity and evenness of the EVs... and not just because they say Mesa on them. Mesa seem to tune their amps to work best with their own speakers (not surprising) and IMO they really don't sound as good with anything else.

You could always look for some used Mesa EVs, too. They're not rare.

 

No. The Mesas are UK-made and the Marshalls are Chinese - or have been since about 2001 I think.

I have nothing against Chinese Celestions as such BTW, but I don't think they sound quite the same. If they did, why would Mesa continue to order a more expensive version? They aren't anti-Chinese either, since that's where most of their tubes come from.

 

If I had that amp I would make a baffle board for a single 12" speaker and find an older (no label) EVM 12L...that's unless you are a professional weight lifter. You would still have all the loudness you could ever want and it would sound better in that larger cab than they do in smaller, single 12" cabs. I made the mistake of taking the original Jensens out of a 65 Fender Twin Reverb and replacing them with a pair of EVMs. I had to carry that amp many many times and it was just stupid heavy...never again!

 

Great amp. I think the one I owned was bolted to the floor though.
Get some black shadows.

 

The Trem-o-verb is way easier to move than even a stock Twin, despite the extra weight. It has nice end handles, better wheels, and even if you have to dead lift it, the cabinet is somehow easier to grab hold of and better balanced. I've been surprised just how not hard to move mine is. I do not try to lift it off the ground by the top handle usually though, that would be silly .

Odd, considering they told me they didn't use the Chinese ones, which are what all the other aftermarket ones are.

 

I had a T-verb combo since the week it cam out in 93. Recently converted it to a head, that amp works great with just about anythin but I do think the V30s are perfect for that particula 2x12.
As far as Chinese vs. "UK made" I on't believe there are UK made V30s OEM or otherwise. But maybe Rick will see this thread and chime in...

My go to set-up...T-verb with a 2x12 loaded with Celestion Golds....

 

Ha, that sounds exactly like me in the early 90s with a Marshall Club & Country 100W 2x12" combo in central Edinburgh .

That's what got me into smaller amps, back then - after one too many times coming up the stairs late at night with it, I decided to measure the power output at my normal stage settings (I knew I never had it turned up remotely all the way) and found it was 15W... so I went and bought a Studio 15 instead!

I stuck with smaller amps for years - although I never really liked the smaller sound, and progressively went back up to a 50W 1x12" - but finally bit the bullet last year and bought the Trem-o-verb... and finally got my tone back . Of course, it doesn't hurt that now I live out of the city in a house where I can park the back of the car up level with the door and move the thing no more than about twenty feet - only the first six off the ground, then on its wheels into my music room, then one more easy lift up to where it sits at home .

I agree they do sound bigger than a small 1x12", but still not as big as two 12"s in the bigger box.

I do think it's interesting we have about as completely different taste in tones as it's possible to imagine, and both love this amp... shows how versatile it is. One of the all-time classics IMO (and I thought that even when I didn't own one).

 

There are. Mesa's Celestions are UK production.

However, the Mesa V30s have the same T-number as all the others, so I don't believe there are any design differences...Mesa just stipulates UK build.

Apparently the OP thought about a head conversion but reconsidered - I have a TOV head box on eBay; he bid on it but retracted...

 

When I sold my RoV it was with a promise to myself that I'd pick up a ToV at some point. I think the "Rectifier" badge on it scares so many people away. It is a great and versatile amp.

 

The years somehow seem to add a lot of pounds to amps.

Hey John, I didn't have the 4 X 10" Marshall cab at the same time as the Marshall Studio 15. Did/do you? How did it/does it sound? I have been wondering about the sound of that package and it seems like it would make a great sounding and fairly easy go move around rig.

 

Not as much as it does on the Blue Angel .

Nah, the pounds in the amp just take the pounds off you instead . I'm 40, and this thing feels lighter than the Marshall did when I was 25...

No, I didn't have the old cab then. I bet it would sound good through it though... pretty much everything else does .

 

I don't think anyone is scared of the BA...they've gone WAY up in price in the last year.

 

Nah, the pounds in the amp just take the pounds off you instead . I'm 40, and this thing feels lighter than the Marshall did when I was 25...
John P

I turned 60 two days ago. I am still in good shape but if I was gigging I would be going with much lighter rigs these days. It doesn't help that I have taken two major falls onto my shoulder in the last few years. Once off a mountain bike doing about 35 mph down hill in a bumpy stretch and the other doing an unexpected forward flip on to it skiing in white-out conditions. The Ampeg VL 503 amp I just got weighs 85 lbs. Fortunately it has wheels and only has to go between the house and the garage/studio.

 

Celestion Classic Lead 80's. You can thank me later.

 

Happy birthday! You look much younger in print .

I can certainly understand you wanting to keep the weight down. I doubt I'll really want to be carrying a 100lb amp in twenty years either...

 

Thanks. The internet has done wonders for my looks and weight.

 

According to whom? I cannot for the live of me imagine Mesa caring whether they're UK or Chinese made.