Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal

Fairly simple, decent manual. Three sounds and true bypass(Clean, BLues and Solo)

No noise but this pedal can really change the sound of your amp. I was able to make my vibro king sound very close to my mesa maverick and this was exactly what I didn't want. However if you're looking for the elusive boogie tone, this pedal has it.

Appears heavy duty. Returned it the next day

The people at boogie love what they do and have always been very helpful. I have owned 2 boogie amps and the tech support have always answered questions promptly.

Returned the pedal the next day, changed my fundamental sound too much.

Looks a little simpler than it is. It has three channels and a bypass, but switching between them can be tough live, partly because all channels use the same knobs and partly because one of the switches is in an awkward place.(I wear socks onstage and use my toe) No problems in the studio, though.

It's a Mesa/Boogie tube preamp that goes on the floor. How do you think it's going to sound? Every clean, overdriven, and distortion sound I've ever wanted. Beautiful.

built like a tank...I've had it for three years and haven't had one single problem yet...I haven't even changed the tubes yet!

I tried all the Bosses, DOD's, etc. and couldn't find anything I liked. If it had one type of tone I liked, it lacked others. So I payed five times as much and got the V-Twin, and now i can get ANY tone I want. I would definitely buy this again.

Ten minutes playing with this pedal and you have got it! The manual offers a number of quick start settings to get you going, but this pedal is self explanatory, for the most part. Theres a clean/solo or blues blues/solo combination of playing/switching modes controlled by gain, treble, bass, presence and master controls , which are effective in providing a wide variety of sonic flavors. The Clean mode is very much in the Fender vein. Through my Twin the pedals' clean mode reins in the dispersion of that cabinet making it more Mesa Mark IV clean than Fender. The Blues mode provides a harder edge (SRV like) and can be adjusted up via the gain and master controls. The Solo mode brings on a harder edge yet with more sustain. I found that This was best accomplished killing the bright on the Twin and jacking up the bass and turning down the treble controls on the amp. More of a overdriven blues sound..but make no mistake it distorts nicely and very smooth sounding! This may no be the Rx for Metal thrashing but it cuts the mix for Blues!

The V-Twin is a VERY QUIET and seamless accessory. Only in the higher gain settings will you hear a almost indiscernible hum...VERY NICE! The effect of this pedal can be subtle, but also very pronounced and impacting given your style and equipment.

Built like a brick...well you know! Solid diamond plate construction and a beautiful piece to see as well. I ordered a padded V-Twin carry case from Mesa, I haven't regretted it. Would I gig without backup.. in a word...YES!

I spoke with mesa when I got the V-Twin for suggestions specific to my rig. I found them to be helpful, knowledgeable about their product as well as having a good insight on some of my other equipment.

This one is a keeper. I would replace it in a New York minute! Not much else to say about this than it rates high in quality points, very quiet warm/smooth operation. Definitely put it on your audition list for your next trip to the store!

Very easy to use. Pretty basic controls. Dialing in sounds are pretty easy There is also a access panel on the bottom of the pedal where you can adjust the clean gain and the blues to solo channel. Bought it used so there is no manual.

I'll evaluate the three channels:
Clean: Very nice clean channel. This is my first experience with a tube pre-amp, I have been using solid-state equipment ever since I started playing. The difference is very noticeable. The sound just sounds so much more fuller and warmer than solid-state. I really like this channel a lot. Very, Very Nice... It really does make your guitar sound so much better.
Blues: This is where I started getting a little dissappointed. Not that much difference from the clean channel. It sounds like the clean channel with just a tad bit of overdrive. The tone also isn't as fat as I wanted it to be.
Solo: How you will like this channel will depend on what your individual tastes on distortion. With this being said, I have been raised on the distortion of my electro-harmonix big muff pi. When I stepped on the solo channel I thought to myself "that's all???" The gain knob was cranked as was the master volume. The solo channel can best be described as more of a classic rock distortion. It is good for rock and roll but not good if you like over the top screaming, fat distortion like the electro- harmonix big muff pi. I personally don't like this channel. I would like it more if it had some more gain. I guess the v-twin just wasn't designed to do this kind of stuff anyway.

It looks very reliable. Nice sturdy construction. Made out of all metal parts. It kind of looks like a really nice kitchen appliance, you know the expensive stainless steel kind of look. It looks like this thing could take a lot of abuse

I called Mesa up the day I got it and asked them for a manual. they were very nice people and very helpful. I also talked to a tech about a few questions I had about the tubes and he was very helpful too.

I'm undiecided if I would shell out the $$ for this pedal again. I bought it cause I thought the distortion was going to be as good or better than my big muff. This is a very good pedal for clean sounds though. I am now using the V-twin and the big muff together, running first through the v-twin to get the sweet tube sound then to the big muff for the dirty stuff. With my big muff I use the clean channel as a my first distortion channel then switch to blues for even more gain with the big muff still on! I tried using the solo mode cranked with my big muff cranked as well, it didn't work as well as I wanted it to (just a big mess of noise!!). I think that I have extracted the best of these two pedals, the big muff's out of control fuzz with the tone of tubes with my v-twin. Two great tastes that taste great together!!
Is it worth the money? For the craftmanship it is. It is handmade in the USA, not in some factory in south america. It is well built and very nice looking. You really can't build something like this cheap.
I think if you used this in front of a nice tube amp it would sound really nice. I treated this pedal as more of a fuzzbox than anything else. If you take the V-twin for a fuzzbox then you will be dissapointed. But if you take the V-twin as a tool to improve the overall tone of your setup then you will be impressed. Regardless if you use tube or solid state amps or what effects you use this unit will definitley sweeten up your overall tone.

The Mesa V-Twin preamp is a very simple to use, three mode device that operates with two 12AX7 tubes. It's got volume, treble, mid, bass, presence, and master knobs. In addition, you also get a general by-pass footswitch, a single footswitch for switching between 2 of the three modes, and a black plastic push/push switch for selecting between either blues or solo (more on this later). Overall, it's stupidly simple to dial in a beautiful clean tone, a greasy blues tone, and a BLISTERING distortion tone.
The accompanying manual is short and sweet, and very well written.

I wish that I could go beyond a simple "10" for the sound quality, because I am COMPLETELY blown away by the sounds. Okay, here's the scoop:
Green: Clean, Clean, Clean! This mode is like a Fender Twin type of clean. It sounds wonderful when used with the clean sound of a great tube amp. When you use it this way...you get this gigantic, thick-n-rich clean tone that's just addictive. I used this in conjunction with my T.C. Electronics SCF pedal. WATCH OUT! :)
Blue: This mode is like getting Stevie Ray in a box! It'll give you that elusive greasy, "Fender about to blow up" type tone. Just switch this mode on, and crank out your favorite SRV or Hendrix tune. I promise you - you'll be wearing a smile on your face for weeks!
Red: Oh my goodness does this thing scream! You get THE most blistering distortion you've ever heard! BUT, it's not a thrash machine (ala Boss Metal Zone). It's more "Steve Lukather" than "Metallica". Even though you've got boo-koo distortion, you can still articulate very well...and you can hear all the notes in chords. From what I've heard, the guys at Mesa Engineering used part of the Dual Recto circuit when designing the V-Twin's solo mode. It's truely amazing at how much dynamics you still get when using THIS much gain.
The tone controls are passive (and hence not that radical), but it's still pretty versatile. The frequencies of the tone controls are also very well chosen to compliment this preamp. Of all the knobs, the treble one is the most sensitive (especially in the upper range area). I like to cut the mids slightly, keep the bass around 1-2 o'clock...play the treble around 3 o'clock...and vary the presence. BTW, there's a panel underneath the unit that's removeable via two machine screws. Under this little panel is a blues-to-solo slider switch and a "clean gain knob" which you move w/ a phillips head screwdriver. The "clean gain knob" allows you to better match the overall output of the device (mostly with the clean mode) for proper matchup with a tube amp. BRAVO to Mesa for including this. Since you can only switch between two out of three of the modes with the front footswitch, you can use the special "hidden" blues-to-clean knob to switch the functions. This allows any combination (eventhough in a real life peformance situation, you can still only select two out of the three modes. BUT if you can bend over and press the little black push/push button, you can still have access to all three modes. :)

Built like a tank - as are ALL Mesa products.
I would go to the moon with this thing w/o a backup!

If you've ever called Mesa, you'll find that they're extremely nice people and very outgoing to try and help you anyway they can. I've had nothing but complete satisfaction with them.

Expensive, but you get what you're paying for here. This is the pedal which solved my life-long problem of being able to get all of the needed sounds at any volume...at any time. I play a variety of music inlcuding rock, fusion, jazz, and some blues. The V-Twin can handle all of that versatility...and much more. It'll warm up even the coldest amp, and with a good sounding tube amp...it's tone heaven!
I have NEVER heard a better sounding distortion from a preamp from any other company. Supposedly the Matchless Hot Box is also nice, but it can't even begin to approach the V-Twin's versatility. Since I need more than one basic sound....this thing's perfect for me.
I'm currently using this with a mid 80's Seymour Duncan Convertible combo. I have the SD 100 set up for two different type clean sounds (ultra clean tube, and semi-clean tube). So between the two channels of the SD 100, and the three modes of the V-Twin....I'm playing with 6 different sounds. ;)
Overall, I cannot recommend this unit highly enough. I've been wanting one for almost 2 years, and Santa finally brought me one for Christmas. I guess I have been a VERY good boy this year.