- Apr 3, 2003
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Mesa/Boogie Titan V12 megathread!
- Thread starter Krügmeister
- Start date
The Titan provides two completely separate channels, each with overdrive. When you punch in the OD it can significantly change the sound due to the added harmonics just like most overdrive does/should. When I would personally do is use Channel A for my "clean" sound, though I use that term comparatively as it still has a good amount of grit via the standard gain. Then Channel B for my serious overdrive sound with totally different EQ dialed in.
While I love the tube overdrive in the Mesa amps. I'm not sure I'd buy the Titan just for the OD. It's a lot less expensive to have a pedal do that, assuming you have a pedal that you like the sound of. And note the Titan's OD is at the end of your signal chain so it'll be overdriving all of the pedals you're feeding it. Usually good to put wah/touch-wah type filters in front, not so good for phaser/flangers as heavy overdrive eats up a lot of those effects. Sounds good for sending synth sounds into the overdrive to liven them up.
With all of that said the Titan has a lot of excellent features, tons of options, a great sound, tons of power, and in a nice package.
While I love the tube overdrive in the Mesa amps. I'm not sure I'd buy the Titan just for the OD. It's a lot less expensive to have a pedal do that, assuming you have a pedal that you like the sound of. And note the Titan's OD is at the end of your signal chain so it'll be overdriving all of the pedals you're feeding it. Usually good to put wah/touch-wah type filters in front, not so good for phaser/flangers as heavy overdrive eats up a lot of those effects. Sounds good for sending synth sounds into the overdrive to liven them up.
With all of that said the Titan has a lot of excellent features, tons of options, a great sound, tons of power, and in a nice package.
I've read a lot about the power and headroom of the Titan , but how does it sound at low volumes? I play a wide variety of gigs from small bars to large halls and outdoor gigs. I got rid of my last rig because it didn't cut it for my larger gigs , but will the Titan cut it for my smaller gigs , or should I purchase a smaller head for those gigs? I'll find out for myself soon enough when my Titan arrives , but I was just wondering if any of you use the Titan for smaller more personal gigs? Thanks (as always)!
From what I've heard (here's where you add the grain of salt), it's supposed to do really well at low volumes as well and not lose much of it's character, though of course it still really shines at high volumes.
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Pedulla, would it be too much to ask for a short review when you get it? I'm thinking about grabbing one too in the near future =D
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Pedulla, would it be too much to ask for a short review when you get it? I'm thinking about grabbing one too in the near future =D
I never had any complaint about how my Titan and PH 212 combo sounded at bedroom volumes or stage volumes, nor did I notice a significant difference in tonal quality between the two other than you start noticing a lot more low end at louder volumes. But I assumed that was due to sheer volume being pushed emphasizing the low end VS something tonal with the head when being pushed.
Gastric, how's the OD? Is it as awesome as the rest of whatever Mesa puts their hands on or meh? Does it retain the low end?
I always liked the OD, but mostly when using Channel 2 with it's own EQ settings specifically as my OD channel. Then i could use the amp switching in my BOSS GT-10B to toggle the amp OD on/off via the individual Channel B jack instead of the huge MESA multi footswitch. I don't recall ever hearing an OD pedal that sounds nearly as good as the tube OD on the Titan.
I actually haven't used my Titan in a few months as I left the rock band I was playing in and am trying some electronica right now and while a lot of synth sounds totally badass through the OD on the MESA on the flip side even with the OD off I can't get the Titan clean enough when trying to push pure, clean synth through the amp (too tubey for some synth applications) so I'm running into a Peavey IPR1600 right now and, gasp!, the Titan has been sitting in it's SKB case unused.
But my recollection was the OD was seriously excellent sounding, tons of low end if you dial it that way, and in fact if you dial the bass EQ up too high with the OD cranked you can get some really low sub-bass rumbling, mostly when trying to mute your notes off, but I'm not the best player so it could be my technique there. But it's real, badass OD, not some clever gated fuzz so it's not a clean chop on the end of the notes. The OD sounded super excellent with a touch-wah in front of it. But like I said a few posts up it would eat quite a bit of other effects if you had serious OD dialed in. Not that I ever tried it, but I would expect the same behaviour from sticking an OD/fuzz pedal at the end of your effects chain, so it's no fault of the amp.
Talking about the Titan in this thread has made me want to bop the amp back out for a while.
I always liked how tubey it sounded. It's a great package, though pricey. But I always felt it was a way better amp than some of the other > $1K heads I've personally tried, such as the Aguilar DB751 which was very boring sounding to my ears. More so when you consider it has barely any features in comparison, costs more than the Titan (particularly used), and there's no local service with Aguilar, you have to pay to ship things back to them (both ways if I recall). In contrast the Mesa has more features than you're likely to use, excellent support from the factory, and locally there's 2 authorized shops if I need repairs.
MESA has a lot going for it, both as a company and their products. If I had any gripes it would be the cost of their gear.
I've had an itch to buy a 400+ to see how much fun one of those are, purely just for the hell of it and not because the Titan leaves me lacking anything. But the 4U size and the all-tube aspect makes me a little nervous to be honest. Tube are expensive, and my Titan still has 4 years of warranty left as opposed to 0 on an old 400+.
I actually haven't used my Titan in a few months as I left the rock band I was playing in and am trying some electronica right now and while a lot of synth sounds totally badass through the OD on the MESA on the flip side even with the OD off I can't get the Titan clean enough when trying to push pure, clean synth through the amp (too tubey for some synth applications) so I'm running into a Peavey IPR1600 right now and, gasp!, the Titan has been sitting in it's SKB case unused.
But my recollection was the OD was seriously excellent sounding, tons of low end if you dial it that way, and in fact if you dial the bass EQ up too high with the OD cranked you can get some really low sub-bass rumbling, mostly when trying to mute your notes off, but I'm not the best player so it could be my technique there. But it's real, badass OD, not some clever gated fuzz so it's not a clean chop on the end of the notes. The OD sounded super excellent with a touch-wah in front of it. But like I said a few posts up it would eat quite a bit of other effects if you had serious OD dialed in. Not that I ever tried it, but I would expect the same behaviour from sticking an OD/fuzz pedal at the end of your effects chain, so it's no fault of the amp.
Talking about the Titan in this thread has made me want to bop the amp back out for a while.
I always liked how tubey it sounded. It's a great package, though pricey. But I always felt it was a way better amp than some of the other > $1K heads I've personally tried, such as the Aguilar DB751 which was very boring sounding to my ears. More so when you consider it has barely any features in comparison, costs more than the Titan (particularly used), and there's no local service with Aguilar, you have to pay to ship things back to them (both ways if I recall). In contrast the Mesa has more features than you're likely to use, excellent support from the factory, and locally there's 2 authorized shops if I need repairs. MESA has a lot going for it, both as a company and their products. If I had any gripes it would be the cost of their gear.
I've had an itch to buy a 400+ to see how much fun one of those are, purely just for the hell of it and not because the Titan leaves me lacking anything. But the 4U size and the all-tube aspect makes me a little nervous to be honest. Tube are expensive, and my Titan still has 4 years of warranty left as opposed to 0 on an old 400+.
That sounds awesome, yeah I usually just like some grit to my tone, like I posted on the last page. I play through an old Gibson Grabber so that contributes, but the amp is very important as well. Thanks for the input Gastric...hopefully I'll be able to get some cash and pick one up before they're gone forever =[
Yeah, you absolutely don't buy a Titan for pure, clean, uncolored amplification. It's a character amp for sure.
Unfortunately I've contacted every dealer and no one has any. Not even most of the online shops...though sweetwater claims they will get some in a month or so. I'm having them notify me if they get one in stop...fingers crossed =/
I'd phone Mesa directly. They're extremely helpful and might be able to tell you which dealers just received stock. I've never contacted them about that specifically, but I wouldn't be surprised if they could tell you. I personally bought mine used on these forums, though the seller happened to be local.
You can try contacting Craigslist sellers, see if they'll negotiate price (most are overpriced IMO) and be willing to ship to you. http://www.google.com/search?&q=mesa+titan+site:craigslist.org If you buy used try to get the original sales receipt to get the full remaining warranty. Otherwise Mesa takes the factory ship date based on serial which could shave a significant amount of time off the remaining warranty, if any. Shipping FedEx ground shouldn't be too costly.
Otherwise they do pop on the for sale forums here once in a very blue moon.
Otherwise they do pop on the for sale forums here once in a very blue moon.
Hi iri5h_punk21.
If you haven't had any luck finding a Titan on Craigslist maybe I can help you out . I'll send you a PM about it.
If you haven't had any luck finding a Titan on Craigslist maybe I can help you out . I'll send you a PM about it.
Honestly I am not quite sure why a second fan is needed, I have mine inside the vintage case and i have never had any cooling issues... am i missing something?
The vintage case actually provides better cooling than standard racks. There's much more room around the sides, and specifically the top of the unit. Plus the headcase has top vent holes. All in all I recall my BigBlock running much cooler in the headcase than my SKB 4U rack. However, my Titan runs super cool in the same SKB 4U maybe due to the 2nd fan, or maybe due to the fact it doesn't have to push the power section as hard to achieve the same output. I really don't know. But my BigBlock would get hot to the touch in the SKB, my Titan has never really even reached a concerning warmth.
When I contacted the music store that I deal with about picking up a new Titan (Modded Blackfaced) ~ Mesa told them that they had enough components to make a final production run of 16 Titans. They also told the music store that 13 of them were sold already. By the time the music store got back to me the next day and I told them to order me one before they were all gone - I was told that I got the last one! 
If this is the case - Why discontinue making Titans if they still seem to be selling rather well for a higher end bass head??
I'm just kinda curious if anyone has any ideas why the Titan is being discontinued if they still seem to be selling at a pretty decent clip?? My information is just hearsay from the music store that I deal with , but I see no reason for them to make up the information that they gave me.
Happy Holidays fellow Mesa (Titan) users!
If this is the case - Why discontinue making Titans if they still seem to be selling rather well for a higher end bass head?? I'm just kinda curious if anyone has any ideas why the Titan is being discontinued if they still seem to be selling at a pretty decent clip?? My information is just hearsay from the music store that I deal with , but I see no reason for them to make up the information that they gave me.Happy Holidays fellow Mesa (Titan) users!
From what I understand, there apparently just isn't that large of a market for a 1,200 watt beast. Though I suspect now that they're being discontinued, everyone that was toying around with the idea of getting one (i.e. me) are jumping on it.
