#169196  by wpmartin1979
 
What’s up kind folk! So a little while ago I asked around here if anyone had tried to use the Mesa Boogie V Twin Preamp for Jerry tones. It became clear that nobody had really tried at and I felt like most were skeptical.
Well... The fact that it hadn’t been tried killed my curiosity because I really had faith it could be done. I couldn’t help myself so I picked one up for $250 and here’s what I did:
Switched out both 12AX7 tubes for two Mesa Boogie (Tung Sol) 12AT7 tubes
Changed a couple of the settings under the hood
Dialed in the classic Jerry settings with the tone controls

The results were awesome!!! It sounds really darn great! Not quite as good as the FYD and I can’t speak for the SMS, but for $250 this thing really kills!!
I have it going into a MosValve 962 and a JBL K120/E120

The first video link just shows how I modded the unit and goes over the settings I used,etc

The second video link is the sound check where I am just noodling some different Jerry licks with the Eastwood Tiger, switching between the two settings (clean and blues) showing what the tone sounds like.
If the FYD or SMS are a little steep for your budget, or if you just want to try something new, I would recommend giving this a look. With the mods it really works. I am also using it as a drive channel going into the FYD and it sounds incredible for Jerry Dirt!

https://youtu.be/T3B-LzloazY
Part 1 - mods and settings

https://youtu.be/h1pLa9VeWQA
Part 2 - sound check
Last edited by wpmartin1979 on Mon Jan 11, 2021 9:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Gr8fulCadi liked this
 #169198  by Jon S.
 
Well done!
wpmartin1979 liked this
 #169203  by wpmartin1979
 
strumminsix wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:05 pm Sounds awesome. Like a great balanced clean. And better than what I thought anyone could get outta that pedal. Bravo.
Thanks man, Mesa Amps are kinda known for their versatility and this little gem turned out to be no different. It is definitely capable of high gain rock/metal, but with a little luck I was able to tap some of the Mark Era cleans. The manual actually says to change the tubes to 12AT7 if you want cleaner tones, so I actually didn’t come up with that I on my own, just read the manual online lol!
 #169204  by strumminsix
 
wpmartin1979 wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:25 pm
strumminsix wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:05 pm Sounds awesome. Like a great balanced clean. And better than what I thought anyone could get outta that pedal. Bravo.
Thanks man, Mesa Amps are kinda known for their versatility and this little gem turned out to be no different. It is definitely capable of high gain rock/metal, but with a little luck I was able to tap some of the Mark Era cleans. The manual actually says to change the tubes to 12AT7 if you want cleaner tones, so I actually didn’t come up with that I on my own, just read the manual online lol!
The good old RTFM hahaha. But yea, to your point, those early Mark tones are delicious for cleans. recall some JGB shows where they say he used Mark amps. and know weir experimented with them too!!!
 #169205  by wpmartin1979
 
YouTube keeps pulling my Part 1 video down where I show the pedal and explain what I did to it. I’m not sure what the issue is, but I’ve uploaded it for a third time now, keep changing the title, took “Garcia” out of the title in case his estate is on the hunt or something, lol! I’ve heard they get kinda crazy over copy right stuff on YouTube.
Or it could be Mesa, haha, not sure what’s in it that would violate anything...
 #169309  by gdrfk1990
 
Nice !! I alsoi felt this was a viable option !! :-) When I brought it up on Grateful Dead Musician Discussion Forum on FB Brad replied he thought it would sound nice as well. I would think the clean channel would sound nice with the 12ax7 too.. Garcia did use Boogie for at least JGB shows winter 80 including 2-28-80 Keene College show. I noticed in the pic it's Tiger and a Boogie even though the cover has the Bean on it....
https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1980-02-28 ... nion-nj-2/
wpmartin1979 liked this
 #169311  by wpmartin1979
 
gdrfk1990 wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 8:04 am Nice !! I alsoi felt this was a viable option !! :-) When I brought it up on Grateful Dead Musician Discussion Forum on FB Brad replied he thought it would sound nice as well. I would think the clean channel would sound nice with the 12ax7 too.. Garcia did use Boogie for at least JGB shows winter 80 including 2-28-80 Keene College show. I noticed in the pic it's Tiger and a Boogie even though the cover has the Bean on it....
https://jerrygarcia.com/show/1980-02-28 ... nion-nj-2/
Yeah those 1980 JGB show are the holy grail in my book - just a whole different level of both playing and tone combined - 🔥 🌹💀⚡️