Mesa V1 Bottle Rocket...Wow!!!

Crabby · #1 06-28-2011, 11:25 PM

On a whim, I picked up a used Mesa V1 Bottle Rocket tube overdrive pedal today for a great price. I usually have no interest in pedals that require an ac power supply but I'm such a Mesa fanboy and used to own the V-Twin pedal years ago so thought this might be worth tying out as a bass overdrive.

All I can say is wow, this pedal is outrageously good sounding on bass! Its so warm and fat with all the low end you could want. its not muddy, fizzy, noisy or ugly in any way and goes from a fat almost clean tone to an all out creamy shred with everything in between.

I was using a Stingray into my GK MB500 head into my Schroeder 1212BMF 212 cab. The first thing I thought was that this pedal is a Mesa Walkabout in a pedal! I am amazed how much fat tubey goodness it produces when the gain is dialed down. The overdrive is smooth and creamy with no ugly fizzy character. Even the tweeter in the cab didn't seem to protest at all no matter how high the gain was set. Very simple bass and treble controls but the tapers are bang on.

Totally usable pedal and it sounds like it was designed for bass players from the start. Despite the large size and power supply wal wart, I think this is going to be a keeper> I could not wipe the smile off my face playing through this thing.

Not even sure if these are made anymore but if one comes your way, snap it up!

Matt Dean · #2 06-28-2011, 11:46 PM

Sshhhhh.... I'm looking for another one at a good price and you're driving the price up!

Seriously, these are killer.

karter2000 · #3 06-29-2011, 01:45 AM

I think you got the one I was looking at. Damn...I should have picked it up!

Matt Dean · #4 06-29-2011, 09:56 AM

I had one of these for a long time... wish I never sold it.

silky smoove · #5 06-29-2011, 10:45 AM

I used to own one, back in about 2005. Great pedal. Incredible low end retention, and very tasty breakup. It could get overly muddy if you weren't careful, but overall I really dug it.

Crabby · #6 06-29-2011, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by karter2000

I think you got the one I was looking at. Damn...I should have picked it up!

Sorry bout that. I kind of bought it on a whim without trying it but it really is a keeper.

And Matt, it was your older threads that I read up on when trying to make a quick decision to go and scoop this thing yesterday.

There must be more of them out there!

Matt Dean · #7 06-29-2011, 09:31 PM

Yea, but they're all like $200+ now.

Crabby · #8 06-29-2011, 09:50 PM

Ouch, didn't realize they were selling for that much. I should have kept the V-twin pedal I had back in the mid nineties. I had the matching soft case and everything! I actually used it as a tube pre amp for bass and acoustic guitar and it was about the coolest looking pedal ever. Not as crazy about the all black Bottle Rocket's appearance but it sounds way too good to care about the color.

kmon · #9 07-01-2011, 08:54 AM

haha...Crabby you wrote the post I was all fired up to write this morning.

I picked one up yesterday via the local list. Now I'm trying not to let infatuation and the honeymoon phenomenon color my reaction too much but HOLY ****. I can't believe that bass players aren't eating each other alive to get this thing. The overdrive is absolutely gorgeous, and there is zero loss of low end...it's like it was built for bass. I'm really stunned.

The overdrive is gooey, creamy...this thing is for real. I like the drive sound a whole lot better than my old streamliner. A WHOLE LOT better. It's way easier to get a great overdriven tube tone out of it. With the streamliner I had to really hammer it to overdrive it(and I hated the little high gain button). With the mesa I can get a fantastic overdriven tube tone with just my passive jazz plugged in. Me like. Gain around 9 gives just a little hair...crank it up and the sky's the limit, but it still sounds GREAT!!

Responds as well to dynamics as any OD pedal I've tried. I'm in love with this thing. I haven't tried it in a band situation, but I will soon. We'll see how it does, but I'm optimistic.

Oh and try driving it with a Phat Phuk B...sounds even better.

**oh one more thing that's cool...it's supposedly easy to switch out the tubes(that hasn't been the case with other tube-containing pedals I've had). The guy i got it from had stuck some groove tubes in. I think the stock ones were sovteks...wondering about any sound difference. I'm really digging the groove tubes but it might be fun to experiment with some others.

Matt Dean · #10 07-01-2011, 02:24 PM

BTW, there's a Bottle Rocket on Ebay right now. I bid $175, but just got outbid. I'm not going to go after this cause I just can't afford it. But, if any of you rich folk want to go after it... GO GO GO!

dune2k · #11 07-01-2011, 03:13 PM

No clips, no effect. :P

LongHairFreak · #12 07-02-2011, 08:03 PM

Since my DHA VT2/Twin, I've had little interest in any other OD. But you guys are making this one sound really tempting--Not to replace my DHA, but rather to add/enhance/mix it up a bit.

chaosMK · #13 07-02-2011, 10:53 PM

Can you get a harsh OD out of this?

Crabby · #14 07-08-2011, 11:40 AM

The more time I spend with this pedal the more amazed I am that more bass players don't have one. It can do the fat warm "barely breaking up" sound, to full on roaring creamy overdrive with everything in between. No loss of low end whatsoever and the simple bass, treble, gain and master controls are all you need for a getting a great tone. There are no bad tones in this box.

Mine has the stock Mesa tubes but I am itching to try a pair of JJ's at some point.

I let my guitar playing friend try the Bottle Rocket yesterday and he was underwhelmed. That's ok with me as I wasn't going to let him have it!

kmon · #15 07-08-2011, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabby

The more time I spend with this pedal the more amazed I am that more bass players don't have one. It can do the fat warm "barely breaking up" sound, to full on roaring creamy overdrive with everything in between. No loss of low end whatsoever and the simple bass, treble, gain and master controls are all you need for a getting a great tone. There are no bad tones in this box.

Mine has the stock Mesa tubes but I am itching to try a pair of JJ's at some point.

I let my guitar playing friend try the Bottle Rocket yesterday and he was underwhelmed. That's ok with me as I wasn't going to let him have it!

yup...the overwhelming GAS to obtain and try every OD in the universe has gone away. It's simple and sounds amazing, especially driven by a Phat Phuk B. In fact the boost on the PPB is subtle and gradual enough that I can use it to crank up the OD on the mesa without having to adjust other volume knobs afterwards.

"just a little OD" is the only effect I actually use regularly. This setup gets me there miles better than anything else I've tried.

goddamn I love it...plug it in...3 or 4 seconds...the tubes slowly light up...then it's overdrive heaven

silky smoove · #16 07-08-2011, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaosMK

Can you get a harsh OD out of this?

I suppose if you fed it a signal from a really bright bass, and EQ'd a ton of upper mids into it after the fact... Harsh is not something I would associate with this pedal on its own.

chris lykins · #17 08-03-2011, 01:32 PM

Agree with previous posts that this an awesome overdrive!

metaball · #18 11-30-2012, 04:48 PM

guess i need to try mine on bass.

ryansalmond · #19 11-30-2012, 04:57 PM

Strange, I tried one year's ago and I couldn't get it to break up even with the gain cranked. Thought it was the worst od ever. Just goes to show us that different pieces of gear respond differently to eachother. Glad it's working out for you!

Caca de Kick · #20 11-30-2012, 05:12 PM

Mine breaks up with ease, can go into pure face ripping distortion when I want it to.
I really only have mine set to a nice wooley overdrive. My gain is set low around 8:30 to 9:00, and the master is full open.
If you want to send any guitarist home crying to mamma, turn the master down and the gain anywhere past 12.