It isn't! I still feel the void. I can't handle changes that well. Friday without 60 to 90 minutes of TPS is not a complete and/or satisfying friday. And sundays are meant to be for sports and only sports. I'm confused, I'm sweaty, this is not good! 😰
Happy you guys got the issue worked out. Now, for the hard part. Don’t beat yourselves up about it! I’ve been subscribed for years, and TPS has been the most consistent channel I follow. You’ve been adding production value consistently, and eventually that means there will be a gremlin in the works somewhere. Just don’t feed Frazier after midnight and we’ll all be fine:)
Gents - greetings from Brooklyn NY. A work colleague of mine had to go back to AUS to renew a passport stamp. She lives in... Brisbane, Queensland. So I asked her to please find the time to visit Pedal Empire and let them know that their partnership with your show is effective and giving them exposure all the way to NY! The gent at the store was super awesome and gave my friend a guided video tour of the store, the cases, the practice rooms and jam space, all for my benefit! That place looks like heaven on Earth, and they are obviously great people too.
Dave here...hello! Nothing like finding out Sunday morning that it's actually Friday afternoon! I've been looking forward to this weekend all weekend! Cheers!
Can we please acknowledge the thought, wit, and effort that Micks takes in responding to our comments? Even with the now weekly VCQ, he still manages to throw us some brief British insight. Thanks for being so present, Mick.
Hey guys! Sorry if all the tech trouble has spoilt your weekend a bit! Absolutely love the show! Thanks for all the effort you put into making it! I've learnt so much about guitar gear from you guys!
2 words Andy Timmons :) the king of 2 channel amp tones \m/ you guys should have him on TPS :) i would love to hear his input and approach to that sweet sweet tone. Great show as always lads.
That Pedal Show seems like we only get computers when we have to these days. When did it become “plumbing” the unsexy expensive thing you can’t live without? I am dreading an upgrade myself. What did you get?
Lovely to see the Lone Star in use, since I'm a Mesa player, myself. When an episode doesn't appear on Friday, the first thing I worry about is your health. Glad to see all is well!
You did it - got all worried this weekend! Plus you did IT! The episode I’m waiting for for so long and since I use the gain of my amp as part of gain staging - love it!! Thaaank youuuu!
I realised how much you are a part of my life as I spent all weekend worried about you guys. I’m not on social media and was super relieved it was just technical gremlins guys.
The way you explain the use of the channels and effects loop intuitively makes a lot of sense. What does not make sense is that I had not thought of it before myself, much less developed a related effects strategy! Having the demonstrations really drives home your points. I have a Lonestar Special and I almost always use the clean channel and run both channels with the reverbs off. I guess it makes sense to forgo using effect pedals into the higher gain channel, and turn its reverb back on. Baby steps.
Saturday night, I had a short on a patch cable and was forced to just plug into my amp. This is a practice that I had stopped doing since watching your show, because you had pointed out the practicality of using my amp as a pedal platform. Once I used my gain channel at the gig, I instantly fell in love with it again. Then I was faced with the dilemma of how to get a Tube Screamer like boost for solos. By coincidence (if you believe in those things), this is the episode that posted after the gig. Now I fully understand why someone would by a mid-boost, and when to use it. I also realized that I now need to sign onto your Patreon because your show helps me make a living doing what I love. Thank you Dan and Mick!
Carol Ann od3r is the ultimate multi channel. Looked for years and have had many with great one or the other channels but not both. Till the CA amp. Amazing loop too. Just look into it in your free time!...lol Great episode
Really looking forward to the show on Fx loops. My understanding of the differences in the way these things can operate is zero. That Mesa sounds fantastic.
I love my Mesa Lonestar Special! It has EL84s and sounds so sweet. Each morning first thing I do is have pot of Guatemalan coffee and plug straight into the Lonestar, no pedals. It’s my reference point for what a proper electric guitar should sound like. I even turn off the effects loop switch. I think it’s a slight improvement. From there I can move on to adding pedals or messing with the Kemper, Helix and Iridium while maintaining perspective. By the way, the new Xotic Super Sweet and Super Clean boosters are superb. I’m sure you’ll like them. Great show guys thanks!
been lost since Friday feels wrong without TPS glad you got it sorted has to spend all day rebuilding my pedal board Saturday just to make up for no TPS shattered no though spent most of today fixing my noise issues after rebuilding my board with a bad power supply, can relax now and watch TPS
As a major notebook fan I think we need a TPS branded notebook with the "no answers, just better questions" motto on the front! That opening was awesome! Loved all of the sounds together...
5:30 in says something about tinder and grinder.… Shortly there after says something about plugging gain stages. I giggled. 😱🤯😭😭😭. I absolutely love this show!
With that delay before and after the effects loop, you can really hear what made that "Welcome to the Jungle" intro so identifiable. It's got that multiple guitars playing out of time together thing that is really cool, but probably wouldn't work with the rest of the band playing.
Effects Pedals - Pre or Post Overdrive. Great examples and explanations of how pedals and multi- channel amps can really shine. Good to see you lads in such great form!
I don't know how I missed this video! Funny enough, I was thinking I hadn't played my Lone Star in ages so I brought it to the gig on the 23rd and just threw my board in front of it with no tweaking and had a wonderful time. Serendipitous. Still one of my favourite amps of all time. Thanks again Dan and Mick!
I have to thank you guys for opening my eyes to how things work and how to dial in the sound I'm looking for. Last but not least, thank you for inspiring me to play more guitar 😊
Guys , good day , this amp is magic , Dan is hook up , seams to Work out great for his style of playing , I think both are surprise of how good this amps sounds , great great episode
Good to see your issues is sorted, many a guitarist/bassist have been twiddling their thumbs for the past 48 hours unsure of what pedals to google to add to their hoard! I used to run a Mesa Little Mark V with both channels but just found it too hard to manage, so decided to go to single channel amps and found the whole process easier to manage!
Great show! A nerd-ish approach to a simple question that does not have a simple answer. Very cool. Really appreciate the hard work you put into this. Cheers
Thanks for a great video! I have a 1988-89(?) Mesa Quad preamp, this thing is amazing! It is Mark IIC and Mark III in one box, each with its own spring reverb and clean/lead channels. I always use both at the same time, sometimes leave one amp on clean channel and switch another one into lead (not too much overdrive, just to give it some character), really nice sound when combined.
If you sold wallpaper that looked like racks of pedals, I would buy it. That is as close as one of my rooms would ever get to looking like your studio.
Hi gents. Thanks so much for this. I join those who felt adrift by Friday afternoon! This episode fits so nicely with the boost episode. Super relevant to the fork in my own journey's road from adding a high headroom, no master volume amp. Mick's illustration beginning at roughly 34:00, using ordering of pedals, was perfect. On a separate note, each time you showed the D&M Drive, I checked to see the order. Looks like you had it on D then M. Since the boost episode, I switched over to M then D, which is especially beautiful in the high headroom amp. Also have been setting my original amp (a Morgan with variable watts dial) to cleaner at the start. It's all been a revelation in tone and versatility. I wonder if an episode including ordering of drive and boost in doubled pedals such as the D&M would fit naturally in this progression of episodes. For example, the D&M has a switch, Thorpy's The Dane doesn't, King of Tone doesn't, I believe... Maybe you could give practical insight into the decisions makers take when designing. Cheers, guys.
I liked your comments about the preamp being like another gain pedal. For most people, this is the best explanation. However, I should point out one small difference which relates mostly to how the amp feels on the overdrive channel as opposed to just using a pedal. If you look at pretty much every valve amp schematic, the tube plate voltages come from a single source, that is the DC high voltage rectifier. As you move from the power tubes down through to the pre-amp tubes the tube plate voltages are stepped down with a series of resistors. The implication is that when you hit a great big cord on your guitar, the plate voltage on the power tubes drops a little. This voltage drop also causes a plate voltage drop of the pre-amp tubes. So the power amp tubes and the pre-amp tubes interact because they have a common plate voltage feed. Overdrive pedals on the other hand, are not affected by the plate voltage drop in the power tubes.
Hey lads, I'm watching from Hawai'i (family vacation from Canada). This episode answered a lot of questions I had about pedal placement in my Blackstar 2-channel amp. I'm still having issues with analogue delay no matter where I put it, though. Just a game of trial and error. Thanks, gents!
As a Mesa Boogie owner (Studio .22+) I have to say you don't use Mesa amps nearly enough, that Lone Star sounds fantastic. My Studio .22 has an extra gain stage rather than 2 channels, like you mentioned and I use it exactly as you describe, like a separate pedal instead of another channel. Brilliant episode, really helpful.
Interestingly, it's what I've done most of my career. I started using single channel amps just two years ago by watching you guys. Just a way to switch things around. My most flexible rig is built around an Orange Rockerverb. The Overdrive channel dosen't get much use most gigs, but for what it is, I never found a pedal as good.
It’s not simple at all. Please carry on with this thread. Made my day. I understand what you’re saying about just having a clean amp with pedals. Back to the debate. Amp channels + FX LOOPS more please (from the north of England)
My first amp,. my Ampeg VH-140C stereo combo, had two different effects loops. It had a mono loop on the front panel, before the phase splitter/inverter, and then it had a stereo loop after the phase splitter/inverter, with stereo preamp outs and stereo power amp ins. But, like you, I am very much a convert to pedal overdrives, and running everything into the front end of a tube amp. As Dan says, there's a magic there. I chased the dragon of building a stereo rackmount three-stage preamp-poweramp-attenuator-fx-poweramp rig for a few years, but it was just way too much expense and trouble. Getting my drive from pedals and running everything into the clean channel of my F-50 was a revelation. I'll never go back. Some of my favorite amps are channel-switching amps, but I'll still use them as clean amps. And now, I never have to worry about channel switching or fx loops or built-in reverb/trem/chorus again.
My takeaway from all of this is that it's perfectly fine to put pedals in front of dual channel amp, but you're gonna have to double up on some gain stage pedals, because they will have to be EQ'd differently. Got it! Another 20 years worth of live-gigging experienced absorbed by me in 40ish minutes. Thanks again.
Man, I walked around yesterday with my bottom lip poked out, pouting. Then I started thinking, "Oh no, I hope they're ok. What if something bad happened?" I'd like to think it was genuine concern, but to be honest, it might have been the thought of no more TPS and the ensuing bout with withdrawal.. Great show as always, love you guys.
I picked up an old Roland Bolt 60 amp. This has a valve driven power section. The effects loop has a switch to have the return go in one of three spots. Pre eq, post eq and post volume. Set up with a valve preamp into that and happy days. I know you guys enjoyed the JC 40 amp. Too bad this was the only amp Roland made with any valves. They knocked it out of the park with these in the late 70’s early 80's.
Rob Caggiano from Volbeat has a great way of using his multi channel amps in live shows. He has the dirty channel set up for rhythm sounds, and uses the clean channel with all his effects for lead parts.
Perfectly timed vid. After years of single channel clean headroom amps, I recently acquired a Bogner Goldfinger 45, which is a two channel amp. Every single thing you touched on is what I've been discovering. First time ever using an effects loop, gotta say, I really like it even though it's an extra step when it's time for setting up at gigs. I did notice that I had to adjust my time based effects levels quite a bit. They need more level going thru the effects loop as opposed to going straight in, so I made all new presets for when I'm using the Bogner. Thanks for the vid, great info!!
Long time viewer, first time comment. Recently bought a MESA Express amp. Great multi-channel amp. Thank you for this episode. Really helpful I’m understanding how to make the most of it!
My 3 channel Carvin V3 has a built-in boost in the power tube section that makes each channel up to 10dB louder. It’s perfect for solos, the clean stays clean but louder (ideal for jazzy/pop stuff) and the crunch/metal channels jump out without getting hairier or compressed. Great feature.
Massively late to this party but I've found that a king of tone ( or similar dual channel od)is pretty much the perfect pairing with a lonestar. OD side set to work with the clean channel, boost side cranked up with lots of treble for the amps drive channel. Gives you 4 stages of gain (plus the ability to solo boost any of them off the amp footswitch) and is pretty much a perfect function band setup without having to cram too much on your board.
I bought the Lonestar Head in Australia 15 years with the 4 x 10" Jenson Cab. Used it for a few years and got sick of carting the 2 parts to pubs. I picked up a 1 x 12" combo cab on eBay and put the head into it to use it for small pub gigs. I still can plug in the 4 x 10 cab when I'm practicing in the shed. Still sounds awesome! I set up the Lonestar with the second channel as a boosted clean rather than a dirty. Underrated amp!!! I also have a couple of Gibson Super Goldtones ive bought second hand from the same era which have channel switching. You could double the channel into each other - They were also awesome and underrated!!
One of my all time favorite videos of y’alls. The Mesa sounds great and this video covers such a huge puzzling question for many of us. I used to be all about using the loop but now love just running one cable from the board to the amp. The only bummer is that my high gain amps no longer see the light of day. Well done as always.
Great show, very informative. Wish I would've seen this info about a year ago... Been searching in vain to get a good volume boost out of my JCM800, of course using the high sensitivity input. Then I tried the low sensitivity input. Problem solved! I run a Carl Martin Plexi Tone into it, set my crunch to taste and the boost works fantastic without coloring the tone.
Dan makes a good point about amps that simply insert an additional gain stage, which is what my Mesa F-50 does (all the F-Series use the same preamp). Channel One engages both halves of V1 and half of V2, Channel Two adds the second half of V2. In fact, a lot of the Mesa amps are designed this way, including the new Fillmore Series (which is arguably an upgraded F-Series, which itself was basically an upgraded Dual Caliber). The Lone Star is the same. Although each of these amps has two complete sets of controls, the only actual difference is that Channel Two adds an additional triode, and relays switch over the pots.
I bought/had Boogie F-30 around 2007 and stupidly sold it around 2012. It was an amazing (but very heavy and loud) amp. The contour button would push the mids (I'm assuming) and produce this awesome overdrive/distortion tone that easily cut through the mix. I miss that amp ☹️
Al S According to Mesa, the "Contour" feature is a preset EQ boost that, as I recall, boosts lows and highs, not mids, like setting the classic Boogie 5-band graphic EQ in a "V" shape.
Just bought a Mesa/Boogie Rectoverb 25 two days ago and can't wait to try out the FX Loop this weekend to see if it's as great as the one on the Lone Star!
I didn’t know that bit about multi-channel amps flipping phase. Noted! On another note, my Boogie DC5 has the same dirty jack issue on the loop where I need a patch cable. Seems that’s pretty common for them and other amps in their line. It took ages and at least one trip to an amp tech that was convinced it was a tube issue before I realized I only had volume drop when I wasn’t using the loop but without the loop, volume was all over the place. Cheers!
Thanks for further illuminating the intricacies, yet relative simplicity, of signal chain/ pedal order / gain staging. Friedman’s new Twin Sister, two identical and switchable Dirty Shirley (“JTM 45”) channels in one amp, looks very interesting. Again, it’s a simple idea to make a “2-in-1 single channel amp”, with one channel set crystal clean and the other edge of break up, or more, then tone shape with boost and OD pedals to taste. Fuzzes will respond differently and, as Dan says, there’s something special about running pedals into a single channel amp’s front end x 2 (with a decent effects loop). 🤓
Another excellent video chaps!, I came to this conclusion myself with my Blackstar A30, so these days i run the dirty channel as a really really clean channel with more top end and less mids and that seems to do the trick for certain situations :)
Delay and reverb on the loop makes an huge diference on overdrive sounds. For years I used a single channel amp with pedals all in front of the amp, now I use my delays and reverbs on the fx loop and my signal and the tone is so much cleaner and defined. I fought it for years ( also because I’m lazy and I wanted something more plug and play and didn’t want to carry all these cables to stages) but a bandmate of mine convinced me and now I just can’t go back to use my pedalboard straight in to the amp. Just another chapter the tone chasing we all do in our life as guitarists I guess.
Nice to see that SupaBoost get a little more board time. I can see Dan digs it when he digs in. I love mine, but it helps me hear better players (youse guys) thru it. I use mine in the Metro JTM45, but I am setting about refurbing and modding my 75 Fender Quad... This episode helps me as I try to parse out the different roles I have in mind for these two very different rock monsters, with very different flavors of gain. (The ‘45 has a “pedal-level” loop mod, the cleaner Fender has great term/reverb, but no loop.)
A lot of this has to do with the architecture of the lonestar. The gain knob is essentially a general eq knob with distortion, and the eq knobs are essentially gain knobs at various frequencies. As you turn up the gain, it turns up the bass, so you have to bring the bass down for it to remain tight. Also, the effects send level is adjustable, and many people use it as another gain stage to push distortion further along in the circuit path. Not all amps behave in this way, in fact, most don't. The lonestar is a weird beast. Its an amp for people who really understand how an amp works. They essentially give you all of the options, so there are many ways to make them sound terrible, but also ways to make them sound amazing.
Dan and Mick The British click ,Down with the tones that are always sick,Not Much Time and ya gotta know, The world will end without THAT PEDAL SHOW. !!!
I just want to say thanks for finally acknowledging Delay, Reverb in the loop of a dirty amp. I have two videos about this on my channel and because of you guys... I have had SO many people legit fight me about points you guys FINALLY addressed... a clean high headroom amp 100% can deal with everything into the front but. You turn up the gain to “about to break up” levels it can go to shit... so thanks!!! Also there are boosts that work in the FX loop which delivers that exact thing you were searching for at the beginning. Also thanks for mentioning that if you dig delay and verb into the front that That’s ok too... for the record I much prefer all my modulation in the loop as well... tho it’s cool both ways!
Another great episode! Thinking of the pre-amp as a gain pedal really makes this whole issue quite easy. Surprisingly I preferred the modulation into the front of the amp... Good job on the on-screen labelling of what's going into what as well, it made it very easy to follow.
There used to be this device on the market that was made for cleaning 1/4" phono jacks and plugs. It's a bit bigger than a lipstick, and it has a rod that looks like it's made of carbon or summat that you stick in the jack and twist round a bit, then the handle has a hole that you stick a plug into that has three rods inside it, and you twist that round the plug a bit, and the oxidation gets cleaned off. I don't think they make them anymore, because I've been trying to find another, but it comes with me to every gig as player or as engineer.
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Friday was incomplete...balance is restored.
It isn't! I still feel the void. I can't handle changes that well. Friday without 60 to 90 minutes of TPS is not a complete and/or satisfying friday.
And sundays are meant to be for sports and only sports.
I'm confused, I'm sweaty, this is not good! 😰
“A black hole” is completely right, exploring the combinations is amazing. Once you add in preamp pedals it’s down right infinite!🤯
I was worried the UK had fallen into the sea on Friday. Had to check the news to make sure it didn't happen. LOL.
No. I hate change.
Mario Driessen J
Happy you guys got the issue worked out. Now, for the hard part. Don’t beat yourselves up about it! I’ve been subscribed for years, and TPS has been the most consistent channel I follow. You’ve been adding production value consistently, and eventually that means there will be a gremlin in the works somewhere. Just don’t feed Frazier after midnight and we’ll all be fine:)
GrumbleAiden here here! At least now we know they aren’t deep fakes! Keep it human guys! We love you!
Gents - greetings from Brooklyn NY. A work colleague of mine had to go back to AUS to renew a passport stamp. She lives in... Brisbane, Queensland. So I asked her to please find the time to visit Pedal Empire and let them know that their partnership with your show is effective and giving them exposure all the way to NY! The gent at the store was super awesome and gave my friend a guided video tour of the store, the cases, the practice rooms and jam space, all for my benefit! That place looks like heaven on Earth, and they are obviously great people too.
Don't think we aren't noticing the slow death of the Namedrop Horn.
RIP sweet prince.
May it blast its tired rubber stench and rage, rage into the night.
Dave here...hello! Nothing like finding out Sunday morning that it's actually Friday afternoon! I've been looking forward to this weekend all weekend! Cheers!
Can we please acknowledge the thought, wit, and effort that Micks takes in responding to our comments? Even with the now weekly VCQ, he still manages to throw us some brief British insight. Thanks for being so present, Mick.
Man I love the lonestar… it’s my number one and have quite a collection of boutique and vintage amps. The headroom and clean channel is amazing 👍👍👍
I’ve always been one of those weird chord guys who just looks for extended voicings and Dan’s chords and jazz melodies always make me smile.
THE LONESTAR IS BACK!!! 😱😱
Hey guys! Sorry if all the tech trouble has spoilt your weekend a bit! Absolutely love the show! Thanks for all the effort you put into making it! I've learnt so much about guitar gear from you guys!
2 words Andy Timmons :) the king of 2 channel amp tones \m/ you guys should have him on TPS :) i would love to hear his input and approach to that sweet sweet tone. Great show as always lads.
I'm glad that you guys managed to get the issues worked out! I don't think I could handle a weekend without TPS!
Thank you! Yep. New computer purchased too. That hurts. Eeek.
That Pedal Show seems like we only get computers when we have to these days. When did it become “plumbing” the unsexy expensive thing you can’t live without? I am dreading an upgrade myself. What did you get?
Lovely to see the Lone Star in use, since I'm a Mesa player, myself. When an episode doesn't appear on Friday, the first thing I worry about is your health. Glad to see all is well!
Best explanation of an FX Loop I've heard yet. Even the explanation of a signal chain was great!
You did it - got all worried this weekend!
Plus you did IT!
The episode I’m waiting for for so long and since I use the gain of my amp as part of gain staging - love it!! Thaaank youuuu!
It's super great we get a lot of sound samples of a vintage strat through different modern amps and pedals!
One of the best TPS intro jams. Beautiful
The cleans on that Lonestar are the best I’ve heard.
Oh, I love the Sunday release. Friday’s are tough because of work and then the weekend. This is a great use of my lazy Sunday!!
Just watch the Friday releases... on Sunday?
looptheloops I don’t understand these words you wrote. They do not compute. Wait..? No. No, that’s not a thing I’m pretty sure.
Looking forward to the Effects Loop episode.
I realised how much you are a part of my life as I spent all weekend worried about you guys. I’m not on social media and was super relieved it was just technical gremlins guys.
Thank you for this treat, guys. Good to see you.
Yes. Another TPS to fill my evening. Thanks Dan and Mick.
The way you explain the use of the channels and effects loop intuitively makes a lot of sense. What does not make sense is that I had not thought of it before myself, much less developed a related effects strategy! Having the demonstrations really drives home your points. I have a Lonestar Special and I almost always use the clean channel and run both channels with the reverbs off. I guess it makes sense to forgo using effect pedals into the higher gain channel, and turn its reverb back on. Baby steps.
Saturday night, I had a short on a patch cable and was forced to just plug into my amp. This is a practice that I had stopped doing since watching your show, because you had pointed out the practicality of using my amp as a pedal platform. Once I used my gain channel at the gig, I instantly fell in love with it again. Then I was faced with the dilemma of how to get a Tube Screamer like boost for solos. By coincidence (if you believe in those things), this is the episode that posted after the gig. Now I fully understand why someone would by a mid-boost, and when to use it. I also realized that I now need to sign onto your Patreon because your show helps me make a living doing what I love. Thank you Dan and Mick!
Just bought a VHT d-50 (amazing and inexpensive dumble clone) and this is exactly what I needed. Thanks.
I enjoy the descriptions at the bottom of the screen. Helps visualize that is going on.
Carol Ann od3r is the ultimate multi channel. Looked for years and have had many with great one or the other channels but not both. Till the CA amp. Amazing loop too. Just look into it in your free time!...lol Great episode
Really looking forward to the show on Fx loops. My understanding of the differences in the way these things can operate is zero. That Mesa sounds fantastic.
I love my Mesa Lonestar Special! It has EL84s and sounds so sweet. Each morning first thing I do is have pot of Guatemalan coffee and plug straight into the Lonestar, no pedals. It’s my reference point for what a proper electric guitar should sound like. I even turn off the effects loop switch. I think it’s a slight improvement. From there I can move on to adding pedals or messing with the Kemper, Helix and Iridium while maintaining perspective. By the way, the new Xotic Super Sweet and Super Clean boosters are superb. I’m sure you’ll like them. Great show guys thanks!
I've never owned one, but I knew someone who did, and he made that sucker sing!
The lone star special is the best sounding amp ever made in my opinion.
I think I went onto a state of TPS withdrawal because of no Friday episode but thank god I got a Sunday fix !!, excellent episode :)
been lost since Friday feels wrong without TPS glad you got it sorted has to spend all day rebuilding my pedal board Saturday just to make up for no TPS shattered no though spent most of today fixing my noise issues after rebuilding my board with a bad power supply, can relax now and watch TPS
As a major notebook fan I think we need a TPS branded notebook with the "no answers, just better questions" motto on the front!
That opening was awesome! Loved all of the sounds together...
5:30 in says something about tinder and grinder.… Shortly there after says something about plugging gain stages. I giggled. 😱🤯😭😭😭. I absolutely love this show!
With that delay before and after the effects loop, you can really hear what made that "Welcome to the Jungle" intro so identifiable. It's got that multiple guitars playing out of time together thing that is really cool, but probably wouldn't work with the rest of the band playing.
Effects Pedals - Pre or Post Overdrive. Great examples and explanations of how pedals and multi- channel amps can really shine. Good to see you lads in such great form!
I don't know how I missed this video! Funny enough, I was thinking I hadn't played my Lone Star in ages so I brought it to the gig on the 23rd and just threw my board in front of it with no tweaking and had a wonderful time. Serendipitous. Still one of my favourite amps of all time. Thanks again Dan and Mick!
I have to thank you guys for opening my eyes to how things work and how to dial in the sound I'm looking for. Last but not least, thank you for inspiring me to play more guitar 😊
Guys , good day , this amp is magic , Dan is hook up , seams to Work out great for his style of playing , I think both are surprise of how good this amps sounds , great great episode
Thanks so much for doing this show - I've been wanting to hear you guys on exactly this topic for some time. Rock on.
Good to see your issues is sorted, many a guitarist/bassist have been twiddling their thumbs for the past 48 hours unsure of what pedals to google to add to their hoard! I used to run a Mesa Little Mark V with both channels but just found it too hard to manage, so decided to go to single channel amps and found the whole process easier to manage!
what has happened here... suddenly my sunday night has became SUPER COOL!! YESSS!!!!!
Great show! A nerd-ish approach to a simple question that does not have a simple answer. Very cool.
Really appreciate the hard work you put into this.
Cheers
How you don't have at least 1,000,000 subscribers yet is beyond me! This is such a great channel!
Thanks RC 🤓👍
Thanks for a great video! I have a 1988-89(?) Mesa Quad preamp, this thing is amazing! It is Mark IIC and Mark III in one box, each with its own spring reverb and clean/lead channels.
I always use both at the same time, sometimes leave one amp on clean channel and switch another one into lead (not too much overdrive, just to give it some character), really nice sound when combined.
If you sold wallpaper that looked like racks of pedals, I would buy it. That is as close as one of my rooms would ever get to looking like your studio.
I second that!
That's a really cool idea, I'd buy it.
Very cool idea for the music room!
Hi gents. Thanks so much for this. I join those who felt adrift by Friday afternoon! This episode fits so nicely with the boost episode. Super relevant to the fork in my own journey's road from adding a high headroom, no master volume amp. Mick's illustration beginning at roughly 34:00, using ordering of pedals, was perfect. On a separate note, each time you showed the D&M Drive, I checked to see the order. Looks like you had it on D then M. Since the boost episode, I switched over to M then D, which is especially beautiful in the high headroom amp. Also have been setting my original amp (a Morgan with variable watts dial) to cleaner at the start. It's all been a revelation in tone and versatility. I wonder if an episode including ordering of drive and boost in doubled pedals such as the D&M would fit naturally in this progression of episodes. For example, the D&M has a switch, Thorpy's The Dane doesn't, King of Tone doesn't, I believe... Maybe you could give practical insight into the decisions makers take when designing. Cheers, guys.
What an utterly stunning intro from Mick.
Thank you!
You can always count on that.
What a create episode had a multiple channel amp for years never thought of the effect loop signal chain order like that before! Thanks
I liked your comments about the preamp being like another gain pedal. For most people, this is the best explanation. However, I should point out one small difference which relates mostly to how the amp feels on the overdrive channel as opposed to just using a pedal. If you look at pretty much every valve amp schematic, the tube plate voltages come from a single source, that is the DC high voltage rectifier. As you move from the power tubes down through to the pre-amp tubes the tube plate voltages are stepped down with a series of resistors. The implication is that when you hit a great big cord on your guitar, the plate voltage on the power tubes drops a little. This voltage drop also causes a plate voltage drop of the pre-amp tubes. So the power amp tubes and the pre-amp tubes interact because they have a common plate voltage feed. Overdrive pedals on the other hand, are not affected by the plate voltage drop in the power tubes.
I was going thru withdrawal without my Friday fix of TPS.
Hey lads, I'm watching from Hawai'i (family vacation from Canada). This episode answered a lot of questions I had about pedal placement in my Blackstar 2-channel amp. I'm still having issues with analogue delay no matter where I put it, though. Just a game of trial and error. Thanks, gents!
As a Mesa Boogie owner (Studio .22+) I have to say you don't use Mesa amps nearly enough, that Lone Star sounds fantastic. My Studio .22 has an extra gain stage rather than 2 channels, like you mentioned and I use it exactly as you describe, like a separate pedal instead of another channel. Brilliant episode, really helpful.
LOVE Lonestars!
Interestingly, it's what I've done most of my career. I started using single channel amps just two years ago by watching you guys. Just a way to switch things around. My most flexible rig is built around an Orange Rockerverb. The Overdrive channel dosen't get much use most gigs, but for what it is, I never found a pedal as good.
It’s not simple at all. Please carry on with this thread. Made my day. I understand what you’re saying about just having a clean amp with pedals. Back to the debate. Amp channels + FX LOOPS more please (from the north of England)
My first amp,. my Ampeg VH-140C stereo combo, had two different effects loops. It had a mono loop on the front panel, before the phase splitter/inverter, and then it had a stereo loop after the phase splitter/inverter, with stereo preamp outs and stereo power amp ins. But, like you, I am very much a convert to pedal overdrives, and running everything into the front end of a tube amp. As Dan says, there's a magic there. I chased the dragon of building a stereo rackmount three-stage preamp-poweramp-attenuator-fx-poweramp rig for a few years, but it was just way too much expense and trouble. Getting my drive from pedals and running everything into the clean channel of my F-50 was a revelation. I'll never go back. Some of my favorite amps are channel-switching amps, but I'll still use them as clean amps. And now, I never have to worry about channel switching or fx loops or built-in reverb/trem/chorus again.
My takeaway from all of this is that it's perfectly fine to put pedals in front of dual channel amp, but you're gonna have to double up on some gain stage pedals, because they will have to be EQ'd differently. Got it! Another 20 years worth of live-gigging experienced absorbed by me in 40ish minutes. Thanks again.
I love my Lonestar Classic. Best piece of gear I've ever bought. It made me play 10 times more. Thanks Mesa Boogie!
Man, I walked around yesterday with my bottom lip poked out, pouting. Then I started thinking, "Oh no, I hope they're ok. What if something bad happened?" I'd like to think it was genuine concern, but to be honest, it might have been the thought of no more TPS and the ensuing bout with withdrawal.. Great show as always, love you guys.
I picked up an old Roland Bolt 60 amp. This has a valve driven power section. The effects loop has a switch to have the return go in one of three spots. Pre eq, post eq and post volume. Set up with a valve preamp into that and happy days. I know you guys enjoyed the JC 40 amp. Too bad this was the only amp Roland made with any valves. They knocked it out of the park with these in the late 70’s early 80's.
Friday was so sad without you boys. I am old enough to have grown rather concerned. You know how it is! Glad all is well
Rob Caggiano from Volbeat has a great way of using his multi channel amps in live shows. He has the dirty channel set up for rhythm sounds, and uses the clean channel with all his effects for lead parts.
YES! We have recommended exactly this in previous episodes. Makes every sense to me.
Perfectly timed vid. After years of single channel clean headroom amps, I recently acquired a Bogner Goldfinger 45, which is a two channel amp. Every single thing you touched on is what I've been discovering. First time ever using an effects loop, gotta say, I really like it even though it's an extra step when it's time for setting up at gigs. I did notice that I had to adjust my time based effects levels quite a bit. They need more level going thru the effects loop as opposed to going straight in, so I made all new presets for when I'm using the Bogner. Thanks for the vid, great info!!
You guys answer the questions we all
Ask!
So glad this has arrived... better late than never. Friday just wasn't the same! 🎸
Long time viewer, first time comment. Recently bought a MESA Express amp. Great multi-channel amp. Thank you for this episode. Really helpful I’m understanding how to make the most of it!
Hearing Mick and Dan talk about doing "something else in the dirty channel" is making me feel a certain way.
My 3 channel Carvin V3 has a built-in boost in the power tube section that makes each channel up to 10dB louder. It’s perfect for solos, the clean stays clean but louder (ideal for jazzy/pop stuff) and the crunch/metal channels jump out without getting hairier or compressed. Great feature.
Massively late to this party but I've found that a king of tone ( or similar dual channel od)is pretty much the perfect pairing with a lonestar. OD side set to work with the clean channel, boost side cranked up with lots of treble for the amps drive channel. Gives you 4 stages of gain (plus the ability to solo boost any of them off the amp footswitch) and is pretty much a perfect function band setup without having to cram too much on your board.
I bought the Lonestar Head in Australia 15 years with the 4 x 10" Jenson Cab. Used it for a few years and got sick of carting the 2 parts to pubs. I picked up a 1 x 12" combo cab on eBay and put the head into it to use it for small pub gigs. I still can plug in the 4 x 10 cab when I'm practicing in the shed. Still sounds awesome! I set up the Lonestar with the second channel as a boosted clean rather than a dirty. Underrated amp!!! I also have a couple of Gibson Super Goldtones ive bought second hand from the same era which have channel switching. You could double the channel into each other - They were also awesome and underrated!!
Dream setup, Collings City Limits Jazz (Merlot) and a Mesa Lonestar. That amp is magical seduction.
One of my all time favorite videos of y’alls. The Mesa sounds great and this video covers such a huge puzzling question for many of us. I used to be all about using the loop but now love just running one cable from the board to the amp. The only bummer is that my high gain amps no longer see the light of day. Well done as always.
Great show, very informative. Wish I would've seen this info about a year ago... Been searching in vain to get a good volume boost out of my JCM800, of course using the high sensitivity input. Then I tried the low sensitivity input. Problem solved! I run a Carl Martin Plexi Tone into it, set my crunch to taste and the boost works fantastic without coloring the tone.
Dan makes a good point about amps that simply insert an additional gain stage, which is what my Mesa F-50 does (all the F-Series use the same preamp). Channel One engages both halves of V1 and half of V2, Channel Two adds the second half of V2. In fact, a lot of the Mesa amps are designed this way, including the new Fillmore Series (which is arguably an upgraded F-Series, which itself was basically an upgraded Dual Caliber). The Lone Star is the same. Although each of these amps has two complete sets of controls, the only actual difference is that Channel Two adds an additional triode, and relays switch over the pots.
I bought/had Boogie F-30 around 2007 and stupidly sold it around 2012. It was an amazing (but very heavy and loud) amp. The contour button would push the mids (I'm assuming) and produce this awesome overdrive/distortion tone that easily cut through the mix. I miss that amp ☹️
Al S According to Mesa, the "Contour" feature is a preset EQ boost that, as I recall, boosts lows and highs, not mids, like setting the classic Boogie 5-band graphic EQ in a "V" shape.
@@gcvrsa I don't recall it scooping the mids but it did something very special. Cheers!
Just bought a Mesa/Boogie Rectoverb 25 two days ago and can't wait to try out the FX Loop this weekend to see if it's as great as the one on the Lone Star!
Fellas, really well organized show. I know many will appreciate the well thought out/organized explanations. Great job, cheers!
I didn’t know that bit about multi-channel amps flipping phase. Noted!
On another note, my Boogie DC5 has the same dirty jack issue on the loop where I need a patch cable. Seems that’s pretty common for them and other amps in their line. It took ages and at least one trip to an amp tech that was convinced it was a tube issue before I realized I only had volume drop when I wasn’t using the loop but without the loop, volume was all over the place.
Cheers!
Thanks for further illuminating the intricacies, yet relative simplicity, of signal chain/ pedal order / gain staging. Friedman’s new Twin Sister, two identical and switchable Dirty Shirley (“JTM 45”) channels in one amp, looks very interesting. Again, it’s a simple idea to make a “2-in-1 single channel amp”, with one channel set crystal clean and the other edge of break up, or more, then tone shape with boost and OD pedals to taste. Fuzzes will respond differently and, as Dan says, there’s something special about running pedals into a single channel amp’s front end x 2 (with a decent effects loop). 🤓
Sunday just got great!! Loving the mesa lonestar.... got mine after hearing yours.
Just affirmation for me: I had a Lonestar 4x10 twin channel before I discovered TPS, choice affirmed! Totally awesome amp.
@@johnvcougar its a great amp.... paired with a victory V40 in a wet dry set up.... absolutely love it!
Mick: I’m gonna switch guitars.
Me: Get Blue, Get Blue!
Mick: “hesitates”......grabs Blue.
Me: YES!
Unrelated, but: Thanks for the VCQ's as podcasts! I was just listening to it on my way to work. Makes commuting a lot better!
Another excellent video chaps!, I came to this conclusion myself with my Blackstar A30, so these days i run the dirty channel as a really really clean channel with more top end and less mids and that seems to do the trick for certain situations :)
you guys are like crack for me - I missed my fix on Friday, barely made it to Sunday. So glad to see balance is restored!
Delay and reverb on the loop makes an huge diference on overdrive sounds. For years I used a single channel amp with pedals all in front of the amp, now I use my delays and reverbs on the fx loop and my signal and the tone is so much cleaner and defined. I fought it for years ( also because I’m lazy and I wanted something more plug and play and didn’t want to carry all these cables to stages) but a bandmate of mine convinced me and now I just can’t go back to use my pedalboard straight in to the amp. Just another chapter the tone chasing we all do in our life as guitarists I guess.
I have an old 100w Valvestate Marshall - dreadfull effects loop also, as is the clean channel - I use it as a drinks stand now 🍸
Every amp serves a purpose lol.
Nice to see that SupaBoost get a little more board time. I can see Dan digs it when he digs in. I love mine, but it helps me hear better players (youse guys) thru it. I use mine in the Metro JTM45, but I am setting about refurbing and modding my 75 Fender Quad... This episode helps me as I try to parse out the different roles I have in mind for these two very different rock monsters, with very different flavors of gain.
(The ‘45 has a “pedal-level” loop mod, the cleaner Fender has great term/reverb, but no loop.)
The perfect video for me, having an Orange TH30 and a D&M Drive AND always tone searching. Learned a lot, thank you!
Great intro song Mick...sounded really really good!
Thanks!
A lot of this has to do with the architecture of the lonestar. The gain knob is essentially a general eq knob with distortion, and the eq knobs are essentially gain knobs at various frequencies. As you turn up the gain, it turns up the bass, so you have to bring the bass down for it to remain tight. Also, the effects send level is adjustable, and many people use it as another gain stage to push distortion further along in the circuit path. Not all amps behave in this way, in fact, most don't. The lonestar is a weird beast. Its an amp for people who really understand how an amp works. They essentially give you all of the options, so there are many ways to make them sound terrible, but also ways to make them sound amazing.
Players have to spend time with these amps and their ears! Patient tweaking will yield amazing results! I have one and it is awesome!
Dan and Mick The British click ,Down with the tones that are always sick,Not Much Time and ya gotta know, The world will end without THAT PEDAL SHOW. !!!
Thank you!
Uncontrollable sounds with the D&M Drive with the Mesa OD? I love that sound at 20:29.
Great vid as usual. Mick...one of the best intros ever!
The Lonestar is probably the most underrated Amp from Mesa. The clean on it is glorious and it takes pedals very well.
2. That Mesa sounds incredible, I know a good home for it if you are really not using 2 channel amps anymore.
Mesa for life!
Thanks guys! I really appreciate you doing this episode!
I just want to say thanks for finally acknowledging Delay, Reverb in the loop of a dirty amp. I have two videos about this on my channel and because of you guys... I have had SO many people legit fight me about points you guys FINALLY addressed... a clean high headroom amp 100% can deal with everything into the front but. You turn up the gain to “about to break up” levels it can go to shit... so thanks!!! Also there are boosts that work in the FX loop which delivers that exact thing you were searching for at the beginning. Also thanks for mentioning that if you dig delay and verb into the front that That’s ok too... for the record I much prefer all my modulation in the loop as well... tho it’s cool both ways!
Also always try and remember a LOT of your viewers are playing AC15’s and Blues Jr’s
Another great episode! Thinking of the pre-amp as a gain pedal really makes this whole issue quite easy. Surprisingly I preferred the modulation into the front of the amp...
Good job on the on-screen labelling of what's going into what as well, it made it very easy to follow.
Nice! Analogue mods are ALWAYS better in the front. IOHO
There used to be this device on the market that was made for cleaning 1/4" phono jacks and plugs. It's a bit bigger than a lipstick, and it has a rod that looks like it's made of carbon or summat that you stick in the jack and twist round a bit, then the handle has a hole that you stick a plug into that has three rods inside it, and you twist that round the plug a bit, and the oxidation gets cleaned off. I don't think they make them anymore, because I've been trying to find another, but it comes with me to every gig as player or as engineer.
This is awesome! Can´t get enough of your show! Thank you! 😊