Mesa Quad preamp - tone test inside

[Revson]

I couldn't find any good tone tests of the two distortion channels of the Mesa Quad, so I decided to make one today. I rocked out a couple of riffs from Metallica's "Orion" using both channels, L1 on the left and L2 on the right, and tried to get an approximate tone of the MoP era. The guitar was a PRS Singlecut with a Dragon 1 pickup in the bridge and the amp was plugged straight into my interface and I used Redwirez impulse responses in my DAW. The only EQ is a HPF set to 64Hz and a LPF at 8kHz.

At some point I'll do a full song so I can utilize all the channels and tones, but enjoy this quick blurb for now.

https://soundcloud.com/villain-productions-1/mesa-quad-preamp-test

 

[rocknrolla]

Great tone and a great song man! You'd be even closer if you backed off the gain slightly, brightened it up a bit, then quad tracked it.

 

[blackba]

Great tone and a great song man! You'd be even closer if you backed off the gain slightly, brightened it up a bit, then quad tracked it.

Sounds good, but I have to agree with rocknrolla. Nice playing.

 

[Revson]

Thanks guys. Listening back to the original song, it sounds like I need to scoop the hell out of the mids and put up a room mic or something. I only took about 10 minutes to dial in these tones.

The Quad itself is really versatile. R1 is a nice clean tone with a little bite to it, R2 is kind of an ACDC crunch tone (Hells Bells springs to mind), L1 is that MoP crunch, and L2 is a more saturated and compressed version of L1. I still need to play with it a lot more, but these are my initial impressions.

I'm planning on making several different demos ranging from jazzy/bluesy stuff to detuned metal. I doubt I'll have any real problems finding a good tone on the Quad for whatever I'm after.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

EDIT: I use R1 for Cleans and L1 for Rhythm. I've got the L2 setup for lead boost.

The quad is an amazing unit...extremely underrated. It can cover so many tones.

PS: I'm running mine in stereo through a 2:90

 

[kiff]

has a bit of a boomy low end. I'm not sure how the quad works, but if it's anything like a mark series then I'd guess you have the bass knob up a bit... which, assuming it's like a mark, should be at zero and compensated w/ the EQ (which is post pre-amp).

 

[Sick Michael]

Sounds good and as a fellow Quad owner, not an unfamiliar tone!

Pretty accurate comments on the LD1 vs Ld2 debate. I scoop my Ld2 and use it as my out and out thrash tone. You're right, its more compressed and tighter. Its like Sepultura "Arise". Ld1 is slightly wider sounding, a little more "80s" for want of a better phrase. Its looser, I set mine up for the super cleans on the Mk2c channel, so I have to compensate with a little tightening from a boost pedal, but can still get 95% of what I want from it.

In terms of tonal quality, Ld1 is better IMO. Both work for early Metallica tones. Probably like comparing Master of Puppets to the Black Album, tonewise.

 

[Revson]

I use my L1 (IIC) channel for all clean ad rhythm tones. I've got the L2 setup for lead boost.

The quad is an amazing unit...extremely underrated. It can cover so many tones.

PS: I'm running mine in stereo through a 2:90

I haven't even tried running L1 clean. I'm assuming it's pretty awesome if you prefer it over R1. I really agree about this rig being underrated. I may just be in a honeymoon period, but I love it and I've barely heard anyone talking about this rig before I snagged this. I've got an ADA Microtube 100 I need to fix up when I want to run it through a cab, but for now I'm happy with it plugged into a DAW and using impulses.

has a bit of a boomy low end. I'm not sure how the quad works, but if it's anything like a mark series then I'd guess you have the bass knob up a bit... which, assuming it's like a mark, should be at zero and compensated w/ the EQ (which is post pre-amp).

I think I had the bass set to 2. I think some more post processing would do the trick or maybe hit the front end with a tubescreamer to tighten it up.

Sounds good and as a fellow Quad owner, not an unfamiliar tone!

Pretty accurate comments on the LD1 vs Ld2 debate. I scoop my Ld2 and use it as my out and out thrash tone. You're right, its more compressed and tighter. Its like Sepultura "Arise". Ld1 is slightly wider sounding, a little more "80s" for want of a better phrase. Its looser, I set mine up for the super cleans on the Mk2c channel, so I have to compensate with a little tightening from a boost pedal, but can still get 95% of what I want from it.

In terms of tonal quality, Ld1 is better IMO. Both work for early Metallica tones. Probably like comparing Master of Puppets to the Black Album, tonewise.

Totally agree! I L1 is the only reason you need to pick up this preamp, IMO. Everything else is just icing on a delicious cake.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

I use my L1 (IIC) channel for all clean ad rhythm tones. I've got the L2 setup for lead boost.

The quad is an amazing unit...extremely underrated. It can cover so many tones.

PS: I'm running mine in stereo through a 2:90

I haven't even tried running L1 clean. I'm assuming it's pretty awesome if you prefer it over R1. I really agree about this rig being underrated. I may just be in a honeymoon period, but I love it and I've barely heard anyone talking about this rig before I snagged this. I've got an ADA Microtube 100 I need to fix up when I want to run it through a cab, but for now I'm happy with it plugged into a DAW and using impulses.

has a bit of a boomy low end. I'm not sure how the quad works, but if it's anything like a mark series then I'd guess you have the bass knob up a bit... which, assuming it's like a mark, should be at zero and compensated w/ the EQ (which is post pre-amp).

I think I had the bass set to 2. I think some more post processing would do the trick or maybe hit the front end with a tubescreamer to tighten it up.

Sounds good and as a fellow Quad owner, not an unfamiliar tone!

Pretty accurate comments on the LD1 vs Ld2 debate. I scoop my Ld2 and use it as my out and out thrash tone. You're right, its more compressed and tighter. Its like Sepultura "Arise". Ld1 is slightly wider sounding, a little more "80s" for want of a better phrase. Its looser, I set mine up for the super cleans on the Mk2c channel, so I have to compensate with a little tightening from a boost pedal, but can still get 95% of what I want from it.

In terms of tonal quality, Ld1 is better IMO. Both work for early Metallica tones. Probably like comparing Master of Puppets to the Black Album, tonewise.

Totally agree! I L1 is the only reason you need to pick up this preamp, IMO. Everything else is just icing on a delicious cake.

Sorry, I misspoke. I use R1 for Cleans and L1 for Rhythm....was typing from my iphone lol. R2 is practically useless to me...

 

[EvilBatman]

Sounds good and as a fellow Quad owner, not an unfamiliar tone!

Pretty accurate comments on the LD1 vs Ld2 debate. I scoop my Ld2 and use it as my out and out thrash tone. You're right, its more compressed and tighter. Its like Sepultura "Arise". Ld1 is slightly wider sounding, a little more "80s" for want of a better phrase. Its looser, I set mine up for the super cleans on the Mk2c channel, so I have to compensate with a little tightening from a boost pedal, but can still get 95% of what I want from it.

In terms of tonal quality, Ld1 is better IMO. Both work for early Metallica tones. Probably like comparing Master of Puppets to the Black Album, tonewise.

I was planning on sharing my thoughts, but Michael summed them up almost perfectly.

I'll simply add that the Quad is IMO one of the best amp/preamps that's ever been made.

Excellent tones OP.