Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal

Pretty straight forward. The clean gain adjustment is inconveniently hidden on the bottom of the pedal chambered beneath a metal plate that is locked down by two screws. I run into an old univox tube head that I basically use as a power amp. I wish there was access to all 3 channels quickly. I will most likely make a modification to direct the clean/blues selector out to an external footswitch. For most any application, the channel switching configuration is just fine.

The sounds are a bit limited. (i.e. the eq section) More indepedent channel controls would have been nice. (had to crank everything up) On the other hand, this is only a pre amp pedal, not a full-blown pre-amp or head. The sounds I CAN get are truly superb. Exactly what I was looking for. I also have an A.R.T. SGX 2000, univox tube head, boss metal zone and a mesa 4x12. The v-twin has exactly what my SGX lacks. BALLS! It has a much warmer/smoother tone than the metal zone. (what are those things called? TUBES?) The v-twin is an excellent addition to my rig. The blues channel sounds great too. I actually give it a 9.5.

Just bought it. Mesa quality. I've had my mesa 4x12 for about 8 or 9 years. It's seen about 200 shows and has many scuffs and dings. It has always performed like a champ. I'm sure it always will. Not worried about the v-twin breaking. It's built extremely well.

Never had to call them.

I play just about every style to try and make money. I'm really more into Tool/Deftones/Incubus, etc. I've been playing about 12 years and have acquired about 9 guitars, 3 basses, a few different amps, sequencers, samplers, pro tools studio, and A LOT OF DEBT. The v-twin is the best sounding pedal I've came across. I just love the distortion tone.

1. Two Modes: Power amp and Combo front end. Both are characteristically different tonalities. I only use the latter. I use two in one of three custom floorboards I use for live and session. This one is a Blues-Rock floorboard.
2. Floorboard Setup: Signal into 4:1 DOD Mixer. Line 1 into BOSS TU-12, line 2 into Carl Martin Compressor -35db, 4:1, Breather 1 o'clock, Gain 12-2 o'clock, into Fulltone Deja Vibe 2 (Vintage, 20 percent Chorus), into Dunlop 535Q (position 4), out via Hosa 1:2 cable into dual V-Twin inputs. Both pedals are on all the time active. VTwin Pedal "Combo" outputs into Morley ABY (A=Clean, B=Saturated). Active/desired pedal output controlled by Morley ABY switcher Mono signal out to BOSS FV-300H into H&K Tube Rotosphere out into Dual 1x12 open-back Randall RG75s (Altec-Lansing E120T and Altec-Lansing 417 respectively). These little monsters blow away any Plexi, JCM800, or Mesa head on the market. Have played medium to large live venues with these with pleasant stage volume while pushing air. 2ea Mic's on axis SM57s and 2EA off-axis EV-RE20s for concert venues.

Morley ABY (A) --> VTwin#1
Clean 1: (Tube off) Solid State nice and fat (Gain 1 oclock, Bass 3, Mid 4, Treble 6, Presence 6, MVOlume 11 'oclock)
Clean 2: (Tube on) Country twang same settings
Blues 1: Blue light (Not used)
Sat Tube: Red Light (Not Used)

Morley ABY (B) --> VTwin#2
Blues 1: Overdrive Rhythm (Gain 3 oclock, Bass 3-4, Mid 7, Treble 1, Presence 6, MVolume 11 'oclock)
Blues 2: Saturated Tube lead (same as above) Delicious violin lead. Sounds better than Deizel Channels 3 and 4 respectively.

Note * Interesting tonal combinations of VTwin#1 and #2 When Morley ABY is Y'd (Clean + Blues1 or Clean +Blues2)

Note ** Combo settings:
- Randall combo inputs are clean channel only.
- Unity gain Gain 1 o'clock, Bass, Mid, and treble set at 11 o'clock
- Master volume at 11-1 o'clock.
- Spring reverb 3-4

Delicious both live and to tape

* Built like a tank and Harley Davidson sexy a hell.
* Been using live and session since the 80s.
* I use Elctro Harmoinix 12AX7s exclusively for these, my Rivera amp, and rack stereo power amps.
* Nice, very nice. Randall Smith is a motherfucker!

No need. It's a Boogie! When I called about something else I got a call back the next day. Very kind and helpful.

These pedals are sweet. I play both Mesa and Rivera and recently sold a double stack 3-Channel RECTO. I finally woke up and realized I didn't need it other than for stage vanity.

Mesa EQ is peculiar on all it's products. If you turn the bass and gain up turn the Mid down. The gain contains midrange bottom end. The Treble is the most powerful EQ band. If the Treble is 1 oclock or above, turn the Presence down (12 oclock to 9 o'clock). This is monster rock tone. If you like the scooped California thang, gain 9-12, bass 8, treble 8, mid 0-1, presence 6-9, master 4-6. Mesa has amazing crunch and blues-rock tonalities. Especially sweet with 52 telecasters and Joe Barden pickups. You will be in heaven on earth.

Rivera in the exact opposite. The magic is in the midrange and bass. On the saturated tube British channel, turn the bass up to 8, Midrange 6-7, Treble to 1, Presence to 3, Hammond Reverb to 4-5, and Master Volume to 2. This is the sweetest saturated Steve Vai tone you will ever hear. Rivera has lousy crunch. Rivera produces sweet EL34 stratospheric solo lead tone.

Summary: This is Mesa's best kept product and secret. If Randall ever stops making these, well, that'll be his huge big mistake of this century :)

i couldn't get a good clean sound..the darn thing was clipping
on the clean channel..

blues channel..and lead channel were too close for comfort..
great metal sound..but no cigar here

i have a strat with 2 emg humbuckers..
noisy yes.. not a lot though..but that is befcause i had virtually
no response from the trebble knob
the clean channel clipped even when i turned the little
adjustment on the bottom..
i'm using a Rocktron velocity 120 (very recommended)
clean channel useless for lack of trebble and
annoying clipping..!!

built like a tank..but who cares if it doesn't work well

i bought it used..i haven't it contacted them ..

don't waste your money..if you have 1 or 2 guitar sounds..this is
ok..
i really regret spending this much for it..especially because i
had an eye on a marshall jmp1 preamp for $100 more!!

Este chiar usor de folosit,Avand in vedere ca nu are chir asa multi parametri de modificat.EQ este mai mult un reglaj fin .Nu se modifica cu prea mult daca treci de la min la max.Este ca un efect preset (pentru EQ).Singura treaba se aude la gain prezenta si master.

Este cel mai bun pre-amplificator pe care l-am avut vreo data.Suna mult mai bine decat orice distorsiune de pe renumitul GT-3

Am de gand sa cumpar o pedala(swich) si sa pun mesa intr-o cutie la pastrare.

Sper sa nu

Nu se va intampla niciodata asta.

I don't know how much more intuitive you can get. Turn the nobs until it sounds how you want it too, and leave them there--pretty simple.

OK, let's get this straight. I play hardcore. Agnostic Front, Cro Mags, Bane, American Nightmare and some metal core (Zao/Throwdown'esque). I play with an Epiphone Special 2, and have played through various power amps. I've read some reviews were people said the solo gain is "muddy." Those of us who play heavier music call this CRUNCHY. It's always had plenty of bass for me, especially when I palm mute chords and harmonics sound AMAZING. My only problem is that you can't set the sounds for clean seperately, so with the bass all the way up, the treble all the way up, no mids, and the gain/presence maxed-- the clean leaves a little to be desired. But don't get me wrong, the distortion is amazing and it's a hard decision to give up my V twin.

I just put new tubes in and I wouldn't give this thing a second thought for the next few years. As for the construction, well, let's put it this way: if I ever get in a fight at a show, I'm whompin' somebody with the butt end of this pedal. On second thought, it may kill them. On third thought, I'd probably hurt myself hurting someone else with this thing. It's that tough.

I bought this used, and it has been the best $300 I've ever spent. I'm going to invest in a half stack, just because I need to get loud and I want a seperate EQ for my clean channel, but even as I sit here typing this-- I'm having second thoughts of parting with it. This thing is amazing and has an amazing sound.

Gain, EQ, Presence, Volume. So far, so good...BUT - you will have to f**k with this thing for hours before you get anything close to the sound you're after

I am truly appalled. For one thing, I had to max out the volume, mids, treble and presence, cut the bass (ie around 3) and keep the gain at three o'clock.
To give some idea of my setup:
-Les Paul 57 REissue (can't be the guitar that sucks)
-Marshall 50w Plexi Reissue (amp has PLENTY of treble)
-Mesa Recto 1x12 Cab

This pedal was going to be my dirty channel on the Marshall - big mistake. Not only did it make my LP sound like a muddy piece of garbage, but b/c I needed to max out the vol, the hiss on the SOLO mode was truly unbearable. Interestingly, it didn't seem to have the same amount of hiss on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, but the muddiness was still there. The clean mode I found quite pleasant however, giving the 2 & 4 positions on a strat a nice compression and a volume boost that made it sound really ballsy. That's why I give this thing a '2' here.
Since I bought this thing under the impression that it was the greatest distortion pedal around, the clean sounds didn;t sway me into keeping the thing - I took it back to the shop and they refunded nearly all of what I paid for the thing (it cost me $850 to start with!).

To tell the truth, I'm into Slash's tone and Van Halen Fair Warning etc, but I got some cool tones on the lower gain settings, however the noise this thing generates was unbearable and completely outrageous given the asking price. Don't get me wrong, I quite like the rectifier heads, but to me the V-Twin does not turn another amp into a rectifier a la Tool ( a sound I really like) and it certainly seems to make anything resembling a Marshall sound like shit.

I owned it for three weeks and never gigged with it, but I'll give Mesa some respect here - built like a tank and basically stomp-proof.

While I'm primarily a Marshall fan, I quite like Mesa amps and too, and thought I might get some good sounds out of the V-Twin, but what came out of this thing sounded really horrible to me. Too muddy, too noisy, and a pain in the ass to hook up w/ other pedals b/c the input/output are the opposite to my Crybaby and Delay. For those reasons, thanks to Turramurra Music for letting me bring this thing back.

Lo uso con ibanez y cualquier cosa que caiga en mis manos..usualmente toco rock pero lo he prestado a diferentes guitarristas de diferentes estilos y lo han disfrutado...Jazz, pop..etc..
Distorsion buena y lo que mas flipa de esta unidad (por lo que lo compre) es que tienes un ampli a valvulas a miniatura cualquiera que sea el Backline que te encuentres.Te llevas este aparatito en una bolsa y la guitarra en su funda y no te agobies por lo que te encuentres en el escenario o en un local de ensayo ajeno...
De verdad vale la pena...y no te digo nada de cuando lo conectas a una consola directamente pa grabar o lo que sea....
Si sufres sin tu sonido habitual este es tu pedal..olvidate de chorradas de Line6....eso es plastico al lado de esto...seguro

3 Canales de sonidos dentro de un tanque..con dos valvulas 12ax7 sustituibles en segundos por 12at7 si quieres...

Esta claro que es adictivo...y en cuanto a que te dure ...seguro que tus hijos lo heredan (si es que llegas a tenerlos..esta la cosita mu mala).

Los tipos de Mesa/boogie en Los Angeles son autenticos ,amables y te dejan probar todo lo que quieras...osea inmejorables...se nota que ellos saben lo que estan vendiendo y a quienes se lo venden..

No paro de usarlo porque ahora no tengo local de ensayo concreto y me esta salvando la vida..estaba harto de tener que pelear contra Valvestates y demas chorradas...ahora me da igual lo que haya en el local llego lo enchufo y punto....

Un unico defecto!!! deberian regalar una Les Paul al comprarlo....como detalle hacia el cliente ;-)

I use a ESP explorer with a EMG 81 @ the bridge & a EMG 85 @ the neck,
I also have a EMG after burner that replaces the tone knobs. It suits my style of music excellent which is heavy shit like metallica, slayer, marylin manson, & pantera. I set it with gain, bass, pressence, and treble up all the way and it screams with grinding overdrive. You can set the clean gain how ever you want it, so it can be clean at high volumes even with all my EMG stuff. The blues channel I never use so I will not comment on that. But the clean is the best tone I have ever heard its incredible. As far as the solo channel I love it just wish it had more bass though I need to get a EQ for it. I have the bass on my V-twin and on my Randall RH 200 watt head turned all the way up. And it is still no where as bass heavy as my Randall's overdrive channel, but I no longer use that channel anymore. I am amazed how well this thing warms up my solid state amp. I think the distortion is as brutal as it gets with still having tone, not good for death metal shit, think Metallica And Justice for All.. type stuff. I think it would do find for even pantera if you had a bass heavy power amp like a mesa 50/50, or used it with a good parametric or graghic EQ. Most people say this thing is not brutal enof or does not have enof gain. They most be using some small amps with open back 8 inch speackers. For this thing to sound heavy you need a amp with alot of headroom or power to spare and have a good closed back 4 x 12 speaker cabinet. Because this thing grinds the best when it is played loud.
I would give it a 9 but it needs more bass could, be my solid state Randall head though.

Bought it from ebay about 3 weeks ago for $232.00, has lots of features for a non-digital pedal. I should actually call it a pre-amp
not a pedal, because thats what is. Read other ratings to get the in depth features.

Looks like a fucking tank, and it is covered with aluminum diamond plate looks killer. I think I could shoot my 30-06 at it and the tubes would still be OK!

I hope I don't have to deal with them I bought this thing used.

I have been playing metal for 2 years and thats all I play, I would definetly buy it again what a bargin. No other pre-amp or distortion pedal comes close to this thing for the price they cost. It's like having a Mesa dual rectifier(with low bass) that can fit into your gig bag. Mesa stuff is the best, my next toy besides a EQ will be a Mesa 50/50 power amp. (good bye solid state FOREVER!)
I would also like to state for everyone who has one if want to get a mean metal sound out of it get some hot ass pickups turn the EQ knobs to an extreme setting and GET A BIG ASS AMP with lots of power, and dont forget your full stack consiting of a Dimebag 4 x 12
(vintage 30s) and a 2 x 15 cab. if you dont want to by a randall cab of 2 x 15 make your own he uses eminence B15B 15 inch bass speakers they cost $100.00 dollars through musicians friend and build your own cabinet. Oh yeah did I say this is best deal in Music for $300.00 New!

First of all ,it's extremely easy to get a great sound,reguardless if it's a clean, dirty, or screamin lead tone you want.The manual gives you some good reference points as far as knob placement, but it all comes down to what your ear tells you.......bottom line:Just like dialing in your favorite amp

I mainly use a strat with stock pick-ups except for a dimarzio humbucker in the bridge.(I can also split this to act as a single-coil)I run the V-twin into a fender hot-rod deville 2x12. my effects chain goes like this: Crybaby wah>V-twin>TS-9>Guyatone MD-3 Delay>Supervibe> into the Amp. I have only noticed a little extra noise (when not playing) coming from the V-twin in cranked-up "SOLO" mode. But thats to be expected when that much gain is being used.I have to tell you the tone is amazing.........lots of bite and sting in the solos..this thing really cuts through with plenty of sustain...not to mention the clarity....even when playing distorted chords you can actually hear the individual notes ringing out...not the distorted sonic mush you get from lesser "pedals"..in fact to call this a pedal is unfair.......its an actual rectifier pre-amp. it seems to work really well with the tube-driven deville.i can get SRV tones , Lead tones like Santana, Allmans, Garcia ,crunchy rhythms ala Creed.....although im not really into "heavy" stuff.......the capability is there...although it may not be "heavy enough" for some folks into supersonic-thrash-death-grunge-metal-punk or whatever they're calling it these days...but even some of them can use this to boost their distortion levels...lol so maybe i'll have to give it a 9

First of all it is built really well.."Like a Tank" is no understatement. Ive had my own for over two years and havent had a problem.....even the tubes are still good .....i may try the Sovtek tubes , they're probably alot better than the chinese ones that came with this....but as far as reliability......true story : while on tour in 95' my amp went down at soundcheck(spike through house power) my singer (who also played guitar) happened to have one of these bad-ass little units ....i used it direct into the board and pulled the gig off with few problems.....the capper was the sound tech said my sound was better than usual!!!(NOTE:i also was playing a PRS at the time!)so based on my own personal experience, i have to give this thing a 10

havent had to deal with them so i dont know

I play jam-oriented stuff and down-home rock and this thing everything i need and more.you just cant beat a tube-driven effect like this.......theres no distortion pedal that even comes close.Its an upgrade to any amp. Im 33 and i have been playing since i was 15 and have seen stuff come and go . i wish i had one of these babies years ago. If it were stolen i would defintely buy another. if you're on the fence about buying this .....dont waste another minute..although its the most expensive distortion unit on the market, its well worth it....the only complaint i have is the lag that occurs when you change channels....its not long but noticeable.....other than that this thing rules!

You can plug this thing in, and its gonna sound good howevr you set it. It has a good manual.

i use a russian redbear tube head with a warhead sig. cab, a v twin, volume, and a 95q wah pedal. The pedal, with tonsa gain isnt half as noisy as most solid state distortion, and the distortion on this pedal is sexier than any woman or mustange alive. i can get a good metal sound, but mostly the sound is just heavy. i like it.

built like a tank

i play new metal, and this pedal is sexy shit. i would cry like a baby if i lost it. it helps my music, and overall rocks hard.