1st Tube Amp! Mesa Buster.

rnilson · #1 08-21-2010, 04:42 PM

So I have a Mesa Buster head coming my way. I am pretty excited. I got it for $550 including shipping so not a steal, but I thought it was a fair price. He said the tubes and everything were in good shape.

I will be playing through a powerhouse 115. It is an older one when they were still using EV speakers. I am hoping this guys ends my "tone" search. We will see.

RickenBoogie · #2 08-21-2010, 05:16 PM

I love my Buster rig, but you should be forewarned, of all the tube amps I've owned or played through, the Buster is the most solid state sounding of them all. Super quick and punchy. I'm not saying this in a bad way, because that's how mesa engineered this amp, but if you're looking for that fat warm Ampeg tone, it's not in there. Congrats on the amp, too.

pfschim · #3 08-21-2010, 07:03 PM

Congrats on the Buster, its a great amp. I had one a few years ago and really liked it. But I will pretty much second what RickenBoogie has said.

The Buster truly is an all tube head, even the EQ section is tube driven, but it's a super clean amp due its linear power design. It will deliver very nice tube compression and warmth once you master the somewhat tricky tone/eq section (hint, the Bass/Mid/Treb are very interactive, not just simple boost/cut controls) So, if you are looking for tube distortion, you will have some issues with this amp. It does take to pedals very well though, so you can always run an out-board distortion/OD pedal if that's what you seek.

Be prepared to sit down with it and work through the tone controls in some detail. Mesa has a downloadable owners manual on-line that I would highly recommend that you get to help understand the amps tone section.

enjoy!

bassteban · #4 08-21-2010, 07:13 PM

I would call $550 shipped just short of a steal, myself. Congrats!

rnilson · #5 08-21-2010, 07:19 PM

Yeah,
I went into it knowing it didn't do the overdrive thing.
I hope to set the head for a "vintage tube" tone and I will use my DHA VT1 as my overdrive.

JimmyM · #6 08-21-2010, 07:33 PM

good enough for mccartney...although it looks like he's using a 400+ more often these days. i think $550 for a 200w tube amp is an excellent price, btw.

rnilson · #7 08-21-2010, 07:36 PM

I guess I also know the tone search really isn't over though. I still hope to own an SVT or an V4 some day...You gotta have options.

KramerBassFan · #8 08-21-2010, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

good enough for mccartney...although it looks like he's using a 400+ more often these days. i think $550 for a 200w tube amp is an excellent price, btw.

An American made one by mesa, at that.

pfschim · #9 08-22-2010, 12:40 AM

yeah, $550 is a good price for that amp for sure. It's going to be about the biggest/loudest 200w you ever heard - through the right cab setup.

enjoy!

Caca de Kick · #10 08-22-2010, 01:15 AM

The only thing you can do better, is to add another 1x15 EV.
Seriously tone goodness you'll have on tap, congrats dude!