This is one of the best shows for a while. I love these style of 'explore and build' shows...reminds me of the classic 'build a delay from pedals'. Well done.
More shows with this "Proof of Concept" approach, please. As a musician/player, I continually have these what-if scenario questions and I'm guessing that I'm not alone given the commentary here. This was a really engaging episode; well done.
I love TPS because it's about continuous learning -- trying something new, taking what works, applying it to the next thing, and repeating. For me, this is one of the things that makes for a rich life.
I own a Mesa 20/20 that power apm's little brother (EL84s) and now you know why I'll NEVER change my main stage rig. I use a Marshall MP1 with a TC G-Major and a midi controller for presets. I use 2 1x12s at about 3 feet apart, in wet/dry. The sound is GLORIOUS! Mick, if you haven't yet gotten the Mesa serviced- you should. There were many little updates that were released by Mesa that make it run quieter and will help tube life, etc... Welcome to TEAM RACK!
How's the volume control on the 20/20 ? I have the 50/50 like the video. It sounds fabulous, but as they point out in the video the whole point of that gear was to get clarity at VOLUME. It is SO LOUD. So even though I love it I keep searching for a more practical way to do this at home.
I'll put it flat; these are the best tones I've heard on your show. Game over gents, that's your grail, sorted. Now to go find a vertical stereo cab and dual tube power amp...
Fantastic episode, one of my favorites. My goodness the clarity of that rig with the Boogie/EV cab was un-freakin-believable! Sonic detail for days. Great playing by you Legends. That rig is not for someone who "can't handle the truth". So much great info in this episode. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Fantastic show guys! Really loved the Boogie cab in wet/dry...Mick - the LP into that rig...awesome! On a side note we got tickets to the TPS band show w/Andy Timmons in Frome - can't wait! All the best, Simon (got to get you a Juggler V3 - can replace the Maiden and Paso Doble, then some...plus has remote switching for everything so can use easily with G3)
Love the 2-12" vertical cabs. I made my own version, but split it into 2 cabs that fit together. Then I put a V30 in the bottom can and a 10" celestial in the top. Sounds glorious!
The best part about this episode is watching the moment of discovery on your guys faces. The “ah ha” moment was more like a “holy sh*t!” moment😂 so good! Amazing playing as usual boys🤘🏼
I recently got a Orange Rocker 32 which will do stereo and wet dry in its single cab with 2 x 10 speakers. Excellent compromise and not too much money. Great to see the pedal board setup. 🤘🏻👍🎸
@@benjaminvictor4996 30 watts is likely going to get you a visit from the cops and piss off your neighbors. Definitely not recommended for home use/recording without an attenuator or something like Universal Audio's Ox Box.
This is a fascinating and brilliant exploration, and it validates what I did last year. Well done! I bought an empty, vertical 2x10 cab with a reclined top baffle. I loaded it with my WGS ET-10s. I set my Bassbreaker 007 head on top of the cab for the dry in the bottom speaker, and velcro'd my Quilter Interblock45 to the cab for the wet in the top. The wet signal floats over the dry nicely, especially when I'm standing about 6 to 10 feet away.
I chuckled at 56:24 just after Dan's Tele drives the the DB meter to 107 using the Secret Machine Fuzz; Dan unplugs the guitar cable from his Tele and hands it to Mick while saying "It's too much for me". So good....
Gday guys! Ive been running this exact setup for 25 years , mesa 50/50 into ev12’s with a carvin quad x amp preamp, and am so glad you guys think it sounds good. I agree! Thanks for making the best gear show through the ages!
Yes yes yes! For 20 years now I’ve been using: JMP-1 - pedals - mesa 20/20 (el84’s) - 1x12” EV12L open back AND a 1x12” Vintage 30 closed back. Stereo. I can stack them, put them side by side, or spread across the stage - epic width! Great show D & M!
i had a similar setup, marshall JVM head into the left side of a marshall 1960a, and a VOX AC30 head into the right side. not a wet/dry but the different combinations of head channels gave a wide pallette of tones.
The vertical 212 Boogie with the full back sealed is my favorite cab ever. It’s easier to transport and easier for one man to handle than a 1960A. It seems to me to give better stage dispersion and the bottom push is as good or close enough. Posted for the algorithm.
Best episode in a while! Such a great idea. Sounded awesome in my headphones. That gold top LP was fantastic paired with that rig. Clean and dirty at the same time. Clarity.
Mick - just an OCD note, in case you find it interesting: the whole Dual Rectifier thing didn't *really* really jump off till about 1993, and then turned into a landslide by 1994; originally, as you may well remember, "Dual Rectifier" was a whole series of amps that had switchable tube/diode rectifiers, and the amp everyone calls a Dual Rectifier now was called the Solo, as a nod to its design similarities to the Soldano SLO (which itself had borrowed a lot from the Boogie Mark series). That's why Rectos up to about 1998, I think?, all say "Dual Rectifier Solo Head." None of the other DR amps (the Maverick, Heartbreaker, and Blue Angel) really took off, however, and the Solo became so immensely popular that everybody just called IT the "Dual Rectifier." By the time Mesa/Boogie reworked the amp in 2001 to have a proper clean channel (based on the Lone Star ch. 1), they dropped the "Solo" and admitted that yes, for all intents, this thing was simply the Dual Rectifier. One for the true amp history geeks out there.
It should be recognised. though, that the "other" Dual Rectifier amps, such as the Maverick, Blue Angel, and Trem-O-Verb, etc, are widely regarded among those in the know as some of the best amps Mesa/Boogie has ever made, to this day.
@@gcvrsa Yes, very much so - I've got a Maverick, and I keep a perpetual ear out for a sanely-priced Trem-O-Verb, though the prices on those are getting absurd (just saw a fairly beat up TOV head sell for nearly $3,000!). The Mav is great but odd, kind of like a switchable blonde/tweed Fender circuit on channel 1, and channel 2 is a bit like an early Boogie if it had been based on a Vox instead of a Fender. The controls are really temperamental and weird, though, so you just kind of slap-fight the knobs for a minute and then pray, and if you get lucky, it sounds incredible. MONSTER amp for pedals, especially a treble booster.
@@ThemFuzzyMonsters No, it's confusing, but every Single and Dual Rectifier said "Solo" up to a certain point - I'm not sure if it changed with the 2001 3-channel version of the Dual Rec or what - and the 50w Single Rec Solo only had a silicon diode rectifier, no tube.
Been using a zilla 2x12 cab in this configuration powered by 2 Fryette power stations...tones supplied by sheriff v4 preamp....killer wet/dry sound. Great show guys!
Studio tones here. The rack system was really an evolution of the studio environment so makes sense this modular approach produces such “hifi” tones, record-ready tones, for lack of a better descriptor. Super cool
thank you for this brilliant idea. I already had the 2*12 from boogie, bought the 50/50 and a maiden, page etc. I am soooo happy with this. and the biggest wet/try-effect is the waterfall with "only" vibrato on one speaker. I love it!
I'm only at 33-34 minutes and this rig sounds like the GOAT of TPS. Holy Crap!!!! I can't imagine how great it would sound at full roar in a large or outdoor space. Great show already!
I used to do something similar. I ran a Marshall and a Fuchs ODS head into a 2x12 cab wired up for stereo. The Marshall ran through a Creamback and the Fuchs ran through a EV. It was an incredible sound! I've simplified my rig to one amp now, but this video is getting my mind wandering.
Loved that "Spanky Pristine Clean" - that's the Sound that Inspires me to: play-for-hours. Interesting stuff gentlemen. You guys always manage to: enlighten & entertain.
I love your attention to detail in the way that you position your gear for filming! The two Zilla cabs are exactly spaced with the Mesa amp central to the millimetre on top of them! This stuff does make a difference, the video looks so professional. I'm sure this carries through into other aspects too, e.g. the sound setup. On top of that the content is stellar, well done to the TPS team!
Killer tone, especially with the tube screamer. Please continue to explore alternative wet/dry setups as well as stereo setups like Rabea Massaad's. Well done. Bob
Still gigging today with my 79 Mark II, acquired in 1984. I love that cabinet Mick, I always wanted one in the 80s but I just had to stick with my 63 Bassman cab (with Eminence Black Shadows in it). Loved this episode
Ahhh, the return of 'Impy Dance'! :) Your sonic explorations are always so fascinating and fun. And the subtle (and at times not so subtle) senses of humor are brilliant entertainment. TPS never fails to brighten my day, thanks for all you do.
Having used them many times, the concept of those speakers was "transparency" and high SPL output. They're like PA speakers (and were actually used in Electro-Voice PAs and monitors during that time period). Your tone/timbre came from the amps and pedals.
"Flat as a witch's pancake" LOVE IT lol This rig is super cool and i'd love to see how it continues to evolve. Seems like a fun and fairly compact solution
This episode was really fantastic! I really prefer this format of experimentation and tone discovery over the more pre-prepared instructional episodes. I can really feel a special level of passion coming through in this video. Well done!
Nothing in the world can beat the Triaxis/2:90 combo. The "switchable" thing that Dan mentioned is the magic of that pairing, with three different modes (Modern, Half and Deep) switched from the Triaxis. Playing clean or pushed clean on that with Deep engaged is just pure magic. :-)
I love every episode but this might be my favourite one in a while. Well done! Side note: I can't be the only one who now wants to hear it with the preamp running after all the effects right?
I was thinking the same about the preamp, wondering why it wouldn't be running last after the effects. After a quick look at the Maiden specs, its only mono in/out, so for the wet/dry rig you'd need two of them to power each of the power amp channels.
Mesa “half back” cab. Heavy as a beast. Loved the fact you could take either the top or the bottom panel out to have an open back speaker cab. Didn’t really care for the EV’s. I appreciate you guys deep dive into the wet, dry, wet, dry, wet, set ups!
Yesterday, I was watching each one of the TPS's wet/dry videos. Amazed by the sounds and the idea of been able to reproduce it in bedroom levels, but still, limited by my one cab rig. Yet, today's video came on the perfect timing for me! Thanks a lot for doing this every week! It has been one of my biggest sources of inspiration for a while now.
Just wanted to tell thank you for the awesome content Mick and Dan ! Never had the opportunity to use loud valve amps and incredible gears but I really enjoy watching you explaining the processes behind those insane rigs ! One last thing, what Mick said in the previous VCQ really hit me : the first thing I think of when i wake up is strat. So thank you for bringing us with you in your strat journey ! Cheers from france !
That is my absolute favorite cab ever created. I sold a pair of these in '88 or '89 when I still worked in music retail. It was paired with a V-Twin rackmount preamp and a 20/20 Dynawatt poweramp, and the sound of that rig was glorious!!! To this day I regret not having bought it myself. The original cab came with a EV in the bottom and a Black Shadow in the top. Incidentally, my second fav cab is the 1965 A (and/or 1965B) 4x10 Marshall produced around the same timeframe.
To what Dan was saying about the clarity of this rig, I think it comes from the Maiden D in no small part. I remember one of the first "Mick's Pedalbaord" episodes had the Maiden D in the rig, and I was utterly inspired by how tremendous that preamp sounds. Every time it's on the show, I love how it sounds. If I had the cash, I'd be on that like holy on the Pope. Terrific episode, have a great weekend, gents.
Some of the most astonishing sounds I've heard on the show yet, fellas. Truly inspiring. Mayhaps time to renew the 'Great Wet/Dry on a Sensible Budget' video concept and do a fresh one in the form of a challenge? Wet/Dry for under $1000? You know we'd all love to see it.
Quick little thing to test if you're going to build your own dual signal chain board and then run it through a stereo pedal like a reverb at the end like they do here, find out if that pedal is actually stereo. Sometimes, like on the HOF, they put dual ins and outs on the pedal and the dry is passed through but for the wet half both left and right inputs are summed and sent into one stereo reverb engine and the signals bleed into one another. This doesn't always matter but if you hear some weird blending or bleed on a clean/dirty rig or your delays aren't fully panned it might be because of that.
Oh hell yeah, I was going to try this once with a dual power amp + 2x10 cab… I live in a small apartment in the city so it saves space and volume appropriate!!! Nice!!!!
Love this. I have been trying to combine an acoustic and electric board together, and this is in the same level of complexity in signal routing. Thanks guys, as all ways, very informative.
Loved that! As someone who used a JMP-1 and a 9004 tube power amp (in pubs in the 90s! Insane!).. it brought back very fond memories. I will say, though, that it did validate moving back to an amp and pedals because I think your point about how it recorded was valid.. brilliant episode though. 😁😁😁
I'm late to the party as usual, but I'm here because I'm belatedly trying what you did! And oh man oh man.. the headroom and clarity are next level! Great episode. You're of course right about wet effects and line level. I followed my Kingsley Maiden with a Hatchet as the "phase inverter" stage (really just another gain stage before hitting the power amp) and while that really gives up the goods for the dry sound, it's hawaay too much gain for some of the modulation effects. So more experimentation needed.
The gained up sound along with the chorus is my favourite sound ever! I eagerly await your 200 date arena tour announcement!! What an absolutely glorious proof of concept. I built a Trainwreck Express clone and I’m building a Trainwreck Rocket clone and wanted to run them wet/dry into a single 2x12 and you have now shown me that this is the way. You glorious humans, fantastic episode! Cheers.
Just tried this tonight though my stereo Marshall Greenback 1960a cab with an ART Cool Switch Pro running an Orange OR15 wet and Orange Micro Terror dry. WOW! What an immense and spacious sound! I can see why you really like it. Initially I couldn't get enough of it, but when in wet/dry mode, the effects and sound itself is a bit too bright and tiring. Turn off the wet effects and run both and the brightness goes back to normal. But I've kept it connected to try it though some other amp combinations and also adjust the brightness and mix of the wet effects.
Wow this was very cool. The clarity was insane, every touch of the strings, even tiny ones was just THERE. And again, those Kingsley pedals just continue to impress. I can feel my card heating up... grrr! ;)
Congratulations on this Mesa/Boogie 2x12! I had the chance to buy a used one back in the 90s. What a fantastic speaker cabinet! The only reason I didn't was that it was 4 Ohms. So I got a Mesa 1x12 Thiele Road Ready version (also with an EV-speaker) which was 8 ohms
I love EV's, I started out with a pair of Dean markley combos with EV's in stereo using a Boss CE-1, then W/D/W with a Hiwatt half stack in the middle. Then I went down the boogie road with a Quad, 50/50 into a pair of EV thiele cabs, which eventually grew into a quad, Strategy 400, custom boogie 4x10 road cabs loaded with EVs, still with that Boss CE-1. I still have a pair of EVs, now in a 100 watt D-style twin combo. I haven't tried the eminence 12L with the neo magnet, that seems like the best of all worlds. On a related note, I'm going in for a hernia surgery consult the end of this month. Wish I was joking, but I least I still have my hearing!
ER, I just picked up that Eminence 12L. Highly recommend, a tighter base, zero shrill and relatively very light. Put it in a combo and I'm not looking back.
Some lovely sounds! I may have to plug my stereo echo/chorus/flanger pedal into my two amps again, just for a while. I love your no-expenses-spared approach.
Haven’t even watched yet and I’m so pumped. I built a custom cab with really flexible wiring just so I could do things like this. Aaaand now I get to hear all about it on my favorite show.
I’ve paused this video at 20:42 just to comment and say, it’s Easter Friday, I’m laying in the sun in my garden, headphones on watching this vid, so I am psyched to hear the wet/dry tests on decent headphones for once. Ok, unpause, carry on.
Love this video. It inspired me to have a go, albeit with two tube heads. First step was to load a 2x12 cab with a Gold and an EVM12L. The EV was amazing when the whole thing was around 110db, but that was too loud even for pub gigs. Worked my way back down through the Warehouse equivalent and a couple of other lower powered options, and settled on a Two Rock stock speaker for the TR Vintage Deluxe and an Alnico Cream for the Matchless C15. The 2x12 cab is the relatively compact and light one that comes as an option with the Boogie Cali Tweed head. I A/B’d the whole rig with against two 1x12s with the same speakers (Two Rock stock 1x12 cab and speaker, and a Jackson Audio side-ported 1x12, also with a Cream), with all the speakers installed at once (i.e. the only delay was swapping the two speaker cables quickly). The separate boxes, in the room and side-by-side, produce a significantly thicker, wider and more enjoyable sound. There’s certainly something to be said for the extra heft of the cabinets and physical separation, whereas in the 2x12 there is some inevitable bleed / mingling of the two speakers inside the cab that lessens the wet/dry impact. I would say that the 2x12, even in wet/dry or stereo, sounded like a very full standard sound, whereas the two 1x12s sound more like you get used to running wet/dry or stereo often. This may be obvious, but it was good to try it in the room with no wait in between. The 2x12 is a great option for space and easier to set up/break down, but it remains a ‘Plan B’ if I’m able to sneak both 1x12 cabs into a gig. And as someone else pointed out, you can stack the 1x12 cabs vertically as well.
These are the mini documentaries that get me closer and closer to decide on quitting my job and just follow a path of sonic joy discovery. Only downside is I have to find a way to not stop providing for my family!
What Im missing in this version of Wet/Dry is the "coupling" of two different amps, that makes it very pleasing to listen to. Also (as mentioned in show) was not fond of chorus/phaser in this situation. Otherwise it sounded massive. The combination of Maden/Page DS makes glooorius detailed driven, crunchy, meaty sound. Like good, well aged steak, that is crunchy caramelized on around, yet soft and juicy inside. Much love
The extra gain stage in the modded “Jimmy Page” Hiwatt DR-103 from c. 1970 is a cascading type but wasn’t identified as such at the time. It was labeled as a “Balance” control, which tells you nothing about what it does…which is send the output of a (otherwise unused) 12AX7 triode straight into the input of a second 12AX7 triode. With the Balance knob all the way down you get unity gain. Turn up the knob and the first triode increasingly breaks up itself while also overdriving the second triode.
I am a Mesa fetishist too (and still play a Mark V and a Fillmore 50)...but I love that cab...I great up with pics/ads of those Mesa rigs in the early 80s with Brad Gillis and Steve Lukather on my walls! Digging the setup!