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Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal

Summary
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Manufacturer URL http://www.mesaboogie.com/
Ease of Use 8.9 (119 responses)
Sound Quality 8.4 (177 responses)
Reliability 9.3 (159 responses)
Customer Support 8.7 (58 responses)
Overall Rating 8.4 (170 responses)
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Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: US $285
Submitted 05/16/2006 at 02:16am by rilovski@hotmail.com

Sound Quality : 10
My set up is as follows: Japanese Fender Telecaster 72 Custom reissue - V-Twin - Fender Pro Junior.

Clean - the clean setting adds warmth to the Pro Junior which is much needed when I'm playing the Pro Junior at lower volumes (most of the time). Despite the fact that the Pro Junior is only a 15 watt amp, it is increadibly loud

Blues - this is my favourite channel. The awesome balance allows you to easily control the amount of overdrive by how hard you hit the strings. Increadibly warm.

Solo - this channel has balls. I don't use this setting so much unless I'm wanting slightly more drive than what the Blues setting will offer.

Features : 10
I won't bother with a description of the features given all the other reviews available here

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion
I bought this second hand off ebay and it is easily the best investment I've made.


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: 350 (CDN) used
Submitted 04/08/2006 at 07:54pm by kevin

Sound Quality : 8
This is a follow-up review after using this pedal in front of various amps and in my home studio for the past couple of years. As has already been noted, this is an inherently dark sounding pedal if you're going to rely on it alone to generate your tone. It sounds COMPLETELY different depending the amp it's used with. I've had some real God sounds with it in front of a nicely pushed Fender clean sound and other times where it turns to mud no matter how you set it up. I was never satisfied with the headphone/mixer out sound for direct recording, which was a big dissapointment after using a Mesa studio preamp for a couple of years which is an outstanding product. The speaker sim on this is dead and chokes too much of the top end out no matter how the tone is adjusted. I'm getting much better results by using the guitar amp out into the recording deck and recommend skipping the mixer out entirely. With this setup, the tone actually works and there's a much wider palette of useable sounds across all 3 channels.

Features : 8
Already covered...

Reliability : 10
This thing is built like a tank.

Customer Support : 9
I've been using Mesa gear for the past 10 years and have always had great service from their support team.

Overall Rating : 8
I've been playing for over 25 years and have been through more than my share of gear. This is something that I'll probably always have on hand, even if it's just kept as a backup. It does a good job of warming up just about any amp I've used it with, especially with the clean channel. I don't use the blues channel much since I lean on the heavier side for most of my sounds. The solo channel does a good job of delivering a useful grind once you get to know how it behaves and pair it up with the right amp or power amp.


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: US $230 used
Submitted 03/14/2006 at 02:02am by Metal Mike

Ease of Use : 10
It's a straightforward, no-brainer piece of gear. Six knobs (Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, Master); two footswitches (1 for going from bypass to clean/blues, 1 for going from clean/blues to solo); and a couple of pots hidden under a panel under the base (clean channel gain adjust, and a selector to have the blues channel replace the solo as footswitchable). There's six jacks on the back, but I've only made use of the instrument input and guitar amp output, so I can't really say much about how useful the others are. There's no effects loop, though, and I imagine that this could be a sticking point in the interface for some people.

Basically, compared to complicated things like rack compressors and DigiTech RP-20s and even Dual- and Triple-Rec heads, this thing is about as simple and no-frills as you can get. The fact that it's a preamp that's already on the floor means that you don't have to spend extra cash on a footswitch. Very convenient if the clean channel isn't enough for you.

Sound Quality : 8
My rig is as follows: ESP Eclipse Custom w/ dual EMG-81s --> Zoom 505 multi-effects pedal (original, not II series) --> DOD 231Qx 31-band graphic EQ --> Mesa V-Twin Pre-Amp --> QSC USA 400 solid state power amp --> Marshall JCM 900 Lead-1960 4x12 cabinet. Even without the V-Twin, it's a powerful, versatile set-up that can work wonders in the brutality department.

Since sound quality is the most important reason for buying ANY piece of equipment, I'm going to be a little verbose on this category. I apologize in advance for the wordiness...

My V-Twin was a recent purchase, and I was basically adding it to a set-up that was fully functional -- though slightly lacking -- even without it. I'm partial to blues and classic rock, but really into heavier sounds, and I (try to) write technical death metal almost exclusively (if you want to get an idea of my influences, think bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, Pantera, Deicide, Nile, Cannibal Corpse, Soilent Green, Exhumed, Necrophagist, Scrotesque, Decapiated, etc. -- but none of that nu-metal $%^&). Minus the V-Twin, I had a good sound, but was missing the warmth and feel that only two 12AX7s can provide. I knew I needed a pre-amp to cover what was missing from my sound, but the ones closest-suited to my needs were digital rack-mount jobs, some a tad too complicated and all in violation of the all-analog philosophy I've adhered to for the last few years.

The V-Twin solved that problem. Anyone thinking about picking one up should know first and foremost that it is NOT meant to be a substitute for stomp boxes or a decent effects processor, as the distortion on the V-Twin by itself is not clear enough to allow for a fully-articulate sound. In short, it shouldn't be the only thing between your guitar and your rack (no matter how $%^&-hot either happens to be). While the tubes do provide a bit of natural compression no matter what channel you're running through, distortion and noise reduction are best left to other pieces of gear (i.e. a Boss Metal Zone or something like the 505 I have) running straight through the clean channel, with the V-Twin adding power, punch, and equalization. I've found that the blues channel can add a nice boost to a pre-distorted signal, and the solo channel -- while I haven't used it extensively -- sounds like it's downright ear-splitting. Both channels work best only when you need to really cut through the wall; otherwise, they can be a bit too muddy, noisy, or raucous for getting a normal point across. And regardless of whether my 505 is running running a distorted, high-gain patch or a clean reverb/delay, the V-Twin's clean channel has always been clear and quiet enough to let it all through -- thus, that's what I mainly stick to using. I've also found that it helped to clean up and "discipline" my overall sound and signal, to the point where the bypass channel actually sounds dirtier than the clean (!!).

Second, I've found that this pedal works best when used as a traditional tube pre-amp in front of a solid state power amp. The 12AX7s it uses were designed specifically for this purpose. I prefer the sound of the guitar amp output over that of the power amp output, but I keep my amp cranked for convenience anyway, so I guess it really comes down to personal preference. But if you're thinking of dropping this thing in front of something like a 5150, a Marshall, or a Rectifier (basically any other tube head) to beef up your tone, you may be better off just getting a graphic EQ or a processor/stomp box with some EQ and gain adjusts. More times than not, you'll wind up bypassing your head's own pre-amp in favor of the V-Twin's, at which point you're just wasting most of the money that you spent on your head. Hell, I bought mine from a guy who no longer needed it after getting himself a Mesa/Boogie triple-rec, so that should tell you something right there.

But if you're working with a tubeless, distorted, solid-state set-up, the V-Twin can fit in perfectly. It puts more low-end punch and overall substance into the chain and is very useful as a last-stop hub for tweaking an already-sculpted signal in a fashion similar to that of a sonic maximizer (but with more body and wattage). While its overall tone is naturally a bit muddy and dark by itself, this can be easily dealt with via the sort of gear I've already mentioned (assuming you know how to use it). I've noticed that a lot of reviews on here have made this murkiness in tone sound like a deal-breaker, but putting either a half- or full-spectrum graphic EQ (essential pieces of gear in and of themselves) either right before or right after the V-Twin will give you all the tonal control that you should need. It worked for me, and I tune my ESP down 2 steps from standard E.

I give the V-Twin an 8 in this category because its use of a single EQ for all 3 channels (the bypass doesn't count) detracts from its versatility; it lacks some of the heavy brightness that tube/rectified heads can provide; common pre-amp effects like chorus and reverb are non-existant; a change-out of the factory tubes may be necessary in order for some users to get exactly the sound they're looking for; and it seems as if it really shines only when used as one of several components in an already-decent set-up, as opposed to being viable as a stand-alone pre-amp/distortion pedal. After all, I may have just gotten lucky with my rig.

Reliability : 8
While I haven't had it long enough to put it through the rigors of full-on rehearsal and/or gigging, its weight and construction alone are enough to convince me of its sturdy design (the term "steel brick" comes to mind). It's low-tech enough to be free of glitches and memory loss, and idiot-proof enough to keep me from ^%$#@!& up my optimal settings. It gets an 8 here because its a floor unit and thus more prone to getting kicked around or stomped on wrong; and because even the best tubes eventually have to be replaced. I'd gig without a back-up for it, but that's also because I could make do without it if forced to.

Customer Support : 8
Since this is my first piece of Mesa gear, I've had no reason to contact the company -- although soon I'll need to get them to mail me a manual, but that'll be after this review is posted. I've always heard good things about them, so that earns them at least a 9; but the V-Twin Pedal is a discontinued product and thus replacement parts/repairs may be hard to get; plus the only version of their manual that I can find on their website is in PDF format, and I hate Adobe Acrobat; so I guess I'll just call this one at an approximate 8.

Overall Rating : 9
Overall, the V-Twin suits my violent and aggressive musical needs just fine. With about 7.5 years of heavy playing and practice behind me, I know the difference between $%^&@* gear and $%^&@* chops, and this pre-amp adds a substance and clarity to things that helps me get my point across. It's heavy without being over-saturated, and can bring out necessary points of technical articulation if used properly. Even the stock 12AX7s (the one in mine seem to be Russian) make everything sound fuller and more even, and notes in the upper registers played through the green channel have a substance to them that just wasn't there before. It works well with everything else in my rig, and I'd suggest it to anyone with a similar equipment set-up regardless of what genre of music they play. It'll probably only get stolen or lost over my dead body, but barring that, I wouldn't spend more than $250 or $300 replacing it (the guy I bought it from paid $450 for it when it was new) since Mesa no longer makes them and any ones I'd find would be used anyway.

Again, the 1 EQ to 3 channels thing and the lack of chorus or reverb effects are notable limits (especially in terms of lead playing, which I don't do a lot of), but a few stomp-boxes can be a cheap and easy solution to this. It's really helped in terms of increasing my range and has contributed greatly not only to my rig's versatility, but also its brutality. It's not exactly a substitute for a Boogie Triple-Rec, but it's the next-best thing for a fraction of the cost.


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: US $300 used
Submitted 03/08/2006 at 08:30pm by Brett
Email: brettc22 at gmail<dot>com

Sound Quality : 5
I'm using an american strat with standard pickups, into a JC-120. I'm into early 90's rock - STP, Sublime, Nirvana... a grungish, hard rock type of sound (non-metal). I also listen and play some classic rock such as Hendrix or Led.

As far as the clean channel, I am pretty impressed... obviously the best of the 3 channels, in my opinion. up against my JC, which is already known for one of the best clean sounds around, honestly it holds its own; more punchy and powerfull than the JC, most likely due to the two preamp tubes... Still, not as good, but i really didn't expect it to sound half as good as it does. Unfortunatly, I REALLY have to mess with the treble on both sides - the amp and the pedal, due to the bright sound of the JC. Also, unfortunatly, I have mentioned nearly everything good about this pedal.

From here everything starts to spiral downwards. The blues channel, is... well really muddy, even after replacing with groove tubes: 1 12AX7, 1 12AT7. It's almost as if it's trying to emulate a great blues tone, and having something majorly missing; if i turn the treble up, it immediatly sounds way too harsh. Even after plugging into the FX loop on the JC, it only made the sound more powerful. I DID however, find a useable setting: gain up 1/4, master 3/4. This cleans up alot of the mud, by limiting the distortion, and providing a boost, giving a sweet overdrivin sound. Note: YES I have tried plugging into the power amp plug in, it DOES sound a bit better, but that's really not saying much.

Sigh. Now for the worst... the biggest dissapointment. My purpose for buying the pedal. The lead channel is unforgivably muddy... nearly twice as muddy as the blues channel. From using the guitar amp to power amp, through the imput on my JC and through the FX loop, it's flat out muddy... worse than muddy at times; muffled. YES I own a GE-7, tried to clean out the mud... Again, it may be due to my bright amp, but it's either WAY too muddy or WAY too harsh. As much as I would like to find an inbetween, I just can't.

ALRIGHT. This is the ONLY way I have gotten the lead channel to sound like a true Mesa distortion. I own a POS 15 watt crate amp... and I figured what the hell. I'll try it out, see if it makes a diff. So, I throw the best the V Twin has at it... plugged into the power amp, into the input on the amp. Sigh. STILL muddy, but suprisingly better.

NOW FOR the secret. This does NOT work on my JC-120. If you have a small $%^&*@ solid state amp at home, try this out (preferrably crate). Since you're plugged into the power amp setting, just add A LITTLE volume to the amp... Just enough to where you can hear it. CAREFULLY turn up the gain 100% and MASTER 100%. I do mean carefully... You can really &^%$ up the amp AND your ears if u set the amp's volume high. Next, Turn up the treble and mid 3/4, bass at about 1/2. Make sure your amps EQ is all at 1/2. If you want more definition, turn up the treble on the amp a little more, to your liking. Wow. This was the distortion sound i was looking for. I could nail Alice N Chains, near perfectly. Even for the strat I was using, I was getting unbelievable harmonics for single coils. NOTE there is ALOT of feedback, if you have a suppressor USE that $%^&, you'll need it.

Bottom line, the distortion should sound like this, without having to use a 15 watt crate and turning up the master all the way; my theory is that because the tubes were pushed so much, it gave a HUGE amount of distortion... But hey, thats exactly how a Boogie is supposed to sound :D.

But there it is. It's perfect for late night jammin. I would imagine you could A/B this with another amp, such as my JC, and obviously getting a larger version of a crate amp. That is the only way this distortion can be used, in my opinion.

Features : 8
With 3 channels - clean blues and lead, you would think it's all you need... untill you realise that you have to use the same EQ and volume for all 3 channels. This is one of the biggest problems with this pedal. Knowing this, i bought this pedal with only one thing in mind - Boogie distortion. Aside from the EQ, you can choose from either using the direct to guitar amp, direct to power amp, or direct to headphones (mixer option as well). That's alot of options! Pretty impressive as far as how you can choose to use the pedal.

Reliability : 10
Haha. Well, like BOSS "built like a tank", "it's Mesa", "going to survive WWIII", and so on... However you wanna say it; You have to WANT to break this for it to actually happen. Tubes are literally caged in.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with Mesa, although I've heard amazing things about their support.

Overall Rating : 6
Well, I may not be the most experienced user in the world (been playing for 4 years), and I'm probably concentrating more on tone than technique, but I've had my fair share of pedals and amps. I just really want to find the right sound, and continue my playing from there. I also own a OS-2 which is a great pedal, but doesn't have half of the punch or attack available with the V Twin. It's a shame the V Twin is so damn muddy. I've been after the boogie tone for about 3 years now (getting close, more like, not having the money to buy a real Mesa amp). From the settings i suggested above on the small crate amp, I was close. It was a good feeling, but I just wish i had a bigger crate amp to get a feel of how it would sound in comparison to the power of my JC-120. For how well the V Twin is made, and finally owning a piece of Mesa equipment, I REALLY want to give this a high score. But I can't. If you would like to know any more info on how i got the distortion side to sound good (to my ears), or you have info on how you made YOUR V Twin sound good, please feel free to contact me. I promised myself I wasn't gunna write this much, haha, there goes that.


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: US $275 used
Submitted 02/09/2006 at 12:56pm by Mike

Ease of Use : 9
Recently picked this up, and am still experimenting with the settings, but I am already very impressed with the tones that you can create with the V-Twin. I bought it without a manual, but it was available for download from the Mesa website, and that was pretty helpful. It had all the required info on the controls, gave some good sample settings, and even included parts numbers for all the components. This is one of the second-generation V-Twins, with the Clean gain adjustment and Solo-Blues swap switch on the bottom, offering even more versatility. Overall, I think this is a very flexible and powerful unit based on my short time messing around with it.

Sound Quality : 9
I am currently using this with a Gibson Les Paul Custom and Gibson SG Standard into a Marshall MG-series combo. When I first bought the V-Twin, it had one Mesa and one Fender tube in there. I wasn't wild about the overdrive I was getting, so I swapped both of them out for JJ/Tesla EC803s High-Gain tubes. Wow! What a difference! With the Blues channel gain cranked up, I got wonderful ZZ Top overdrive. In Solo mode, gain about halfway, and mids scooped slightly, I nailed the classic Metallica crunch. With the gain way up and my LP on the neck pickup, it was classic Kyuss rumble. I would highly recommend this tube setup in the V-Twin. As a few people have noted, I was a little surprised the level wasn't higher - I find with the Master at 12:00, it's about the same volume level as the bypass. I don't know if this is because the bypass is so good, or the unit doesn't provide that much boost, but it's not bad, just not as loud as I was expecting.

Reliability : 9
Haven't had this for very long (so I don't think I can give it a 10), but I can't imagine having any problems with this unit. It is so solid, I think you could use it for crowd control and then turn around and plug it in with no problems. ;) I would definitely gig with it with no backup.

Customer Support : No Opinion
No experience with Mesa as yet.

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing for a couple of years, mostly hard rock, a little metal and a little classic rock. Now that I have a little experience, I am trying to improve my gear and refine my sound. I think this unit is perfect for my needs, and would definitely look for another if something happened to it. I purchased a Real Tube Overdrive before I bought this, and though the Real Tube is nice, I think this is far more versatile. I think anyone playing blues, rock, hard rock, or metal, would benefit from owning one of these.


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: $750 (Australian Peso's)
Submitted 02/06/2006 at 11:43pm by Recliningaussierockgod!

Sound Quality : 8
My gear consists of a 57 RI Strat with EMG's SA/SA/85, 84 Gibson LP, Washburn solid body classical, Rickenbaker John Lennon LE through a VOX AC30 or straight into the power amp of a Fender 85 fitted with a Mesa Boogie "Black Shadow" Celestion. Effects are the trusty ME-5 (call me a dinosaur, if you must...).

Look - it is what it is, if you have no idea how to get a good guitar sound or are using $%^& gear, you're going to have no hope. But, if you have no idea - you couldn't get a decent sound out of anything anyway!

Once I balanced the clean channel's volume, it was great. I found the settings that worked for me and it's been fine for gigs and recording. If you want it to sound like a Marshall/Dual - Rectifier/Orange/Crate/Whatever - go buy one of those amps instead. This isn't going to be all things to all people, but it isn't supposed to be.

The greatest mistake people make is trying to make a cheap $%^& amp sound hot by throwing something like a VT at it - it ain't going to solve the tonal problems. Go buy a decent amp.

Features : 8
Read below for the features list, I'm not going to regurgitate them for the 900th time... I agree with other posters that it needs a separate footswitch for the blues/solo changes. the little black button is a pain in the arse.

It works well enough for me, I've used it playing everything from Knopfler/Floyd and pop/rock originals and been able to get the sounds I want (with a bit of frigging around...)

Reliability : 10
Shoot it, throw it off a cliff or drive over it with a tank and it should be just fine. The bastard is armour plated for God's sake!

Mine hasn't even coughed in the 6 years had it - and I've gigged the $%^& out of it.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Mesa who? We are WAY too far South for to bother with calling support. I hear good and I hear bad - but I've not used their services, so I'll decline to comment. Plenty of other posters have an opinion though.....

Overall Rating : 8
I wouldn't buy another one, I'd raid Ebay for a Quad Preamp or something similar....

It's not rocket science to get a sound out of it, but it takes a lot of fiddling to get it just right. Tubes is tubes and they got personality!


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 01/21/2006 at 10:12am by JW

Sound Quality : 8
I'm playing a Gibson Sonex 180 with Salt/pepper pickups. That's a very high output guitar, that actually can put this unit in some trouble.

The Clean channel sometimes gets distorted in a real wierd fashion if the input signal is too high. It starts crackling instead of distorting. I don't use the clean channel though, so no problem for me there.

The blue and red channel are the ones that really rock. They give a great base sound for classic heavy metal tones! Not the over-the-top ultra high gain you might want at first, but a extremely melodic overdrive.

Remember: For a good solo-sound, you still have to add some delay and some chorus! For rythem, only a bit reverb is needed to get a massive wall.

Features : No Opinion
I bought it brand new in 1999. For rock / metal it is one of the best units I ever played through. A bit more features then a standard stomp-box.

The thing I like most about it, are the footswitch-connectors... Guess I should have bought the rack-unit, as I have plugged it in the FX-loop of an ART SGX multi-effect box. That box is finally plugged in into a DanElectro Californian tube head.


Reliability : No Opinion
Of all units I've ever had, this one is definitively the one I would pick if I wanted to smash someone's head in. It's just a solid metal brick with some knobs sticking out...

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
It does have some problems with high-gain input on the clean channel, but this thing is the most important part of my sound.

I compared it to a lot of Boss pedals, to a Peavey Bravo (if you want classic ultra-high gain, get this amp!!! Route the pre-amp to a heavy power amp and enjoy the ride), to the overdrives in a DOD Metal Machine, to a V-amp, to a Marshall JCM 2000 and to the real bad sounding ones in my ART SGX 2000. I will pick it over any one of these!

I'd pick it over all stomp-boxes in any possible case. And I'd probably pick it even over some real good tube heads, plugging it in to the power-amp section only if I wanted to blow away any other guitarist on stage.

But in my current setup (using it in the FX-loop of a midi-controlled multi-effect), it serves me best at this moment.


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: 1200 (croatian kunas {$ 191.41})
Submitted 11/21/2005 at 12:15pm by ashas
Email: gazda at udargroma<dot>org

Sound Quality : 9
i play metal, it's psychodelic rock/metal, if you ask me. sometimes chaotic, sometimes veeery slow.. whatever suits us at the time (today is the day, neurosis, melvins, kiss it goodbye, deadguy, sleep, high on fire...)

i have people that make instruments for me.. the guitar i use is flying V baritone guitar (huge monster) with no finish - just plain ol' wood - and it's mahagony.. beautiful instrument.

it has very deep, resonant sound and it works good with overdrive. it's tuned to A.. very, VERY brown sounding!!!

v twin works good with it.. i read somewhere here that if you don't use 'guitar amp' but 'to power amp' output and still go in the amp it sounds ten times better, louder and harder. THAT'S TRUE!!!

AND - i changed the right tube. the left is still ECC83 (12AX7), but for the right one (for RED channel) i use ECC81 (12AU7) tube. less gain proved to have less white noise, which is a feature you have to respect. it didn't weakened the singal in any way, but made it more usable...

and, i have old one where clean sound is like 5 times louder than overdrive.. imagine that!!!!

of course the hum is louder, but that's what makes it breathe and live, and i like when my sounds breathes!

when you're playin' it - rehearsal or live, it sounds brighter than it actually is!!!!

i was recording using the twin, and it sounded zillion times better and crunchier and fatter and more vintage - more EVERYTHING in a good direction than i percieved it using it live....

i was very happy when i realised that...

i use old school amps only.. point-to-point soldered tube amps.. beauties like old oranges, old marshalls... THE amps...

if you use it like i do (to 'power amp' outpur to amp) you get really loud rock sound.. if you're not afraid to use it, you're in for a treat...

Features : 7
the features are usable, but after certain value, the tones doesn't change that much.. and playing live could cause you problems, as you can never see what value your knobs are at... still, i don't have those problems.. and i hit it hard.... too bad you can't choose between clean AND blues channel as well.
i read that some people are building extra foot press button for that - good thinking, if you ask me...

i broke my blue light (for blues), and just press it with my foot to swith between clean and blues modes though....

the red mode is all-out overdrive..

have you noticed that v-twin is so ROCK oriented... not that metal.. i love that...

Reliability : No Opinion
i really can't imagine this getting destroyed.. it will outlive me, no problem...

Customer Support : No Opinion
i don't know.. this friend of mine bought it off eBay, didn't liked it and sold it to me..

i don't need them, thank you very much...

i don't know what would i do if i'd need them..

i'd probalby go to the guy who makes amps for me and got it fixed.. what else...

Overall Rating : 8
it cool, good sounding device... my main overdrive.. i used Rat [from 1971] before... this has more options, so it won... i still use both for recordings..

i play really heavy and it sounds great for that... if you wanna hear how it sounds in my band go to our <a href="http://myspace.com/changffos" target="_blank">myspace profile</a>


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: US $300 used
Submitted 10/20/2005 at 05:46pm by Jim
Email: jimaklik1 at aol<dot>com

Ease of Use : 10
Very easy to use and the 'gazintas' are intuitive

Sound Quality : 10
Various single coil guitars through small 15 - 35 watt combos (Crates, Carvins, Fenders). This pedal really shines when overdriving small amp output stages-as things heat up the touch sensitivity increases. Clean boost acts like a volume control not much more. Blue channel is sweet and I tend to use this most of the time and then back off the guitar's volume for clean tones. The Red drive can be a little explosive but coupling it with a lovetone doppleganger and it's Jimi's Star Spangled effect. Should also mention that this overdrive effect 'plays well with others' That's a plus when you're not using a heavily processed sound through smaller stage rigs. You can push a couple pedals to the limit without loosing the signal.

Reliability : 8
One of the p/b switched fell through the front panel but I've used and abused this for almost eight years and it has always worked. Caution: Donot spray the pots sooner than two hours before a gig, everyone should know this - I learn things the hard way :o)

Customer Support : 8
I haven't contacted the company, it's a well made device and would give the benfit of the doubt to Mesa Eng.

Overall Rating : 10
30+ years of buying then selling then kicking myself for selling and I won't make that mistake with the VTwin. It's heavy on the pedal board but worth it's weight. Anymore, for my bands to work we play all varieties from Beatles to BareNaked Ladies and I would say that I use this pedal in almost every song. If you find one at a price you think is reasonable, you would be cheating yourself not to buy it.


Product: Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal
Price Paid: US $150 used
Submitted 10/15/2005 at 01:52pm by Terje
Email: terje<at>walla dot co dot il

Ease of Use : 9
Its a very simple pedal, You can easly get any sound you want from it. Plug it in and you're set to go.

Sound Quality : 9
I'm using a USA start. cutom shop, reissue 69', (and a lespaul standrad.. use to - till i got my strat) straight to the V twin> than to vox wah wah pedal>boos tu2 > boss sd1> boss od 2 > boss tr2 >boss dd3 through a FENDER TWIN REVRB.
Its a very quiet peadl, no noise at all.

Its upgrades every loop, and every amp its plugged too, wethear its a tube amp or not.
I have only one problem: the level of the clean compared to the blues & solo- I mean that the Dist, and OD channels needs to be louders. when working in gigs, live- i sometimes find my self turning the master volume up. but in a studio its perfect.
A few guys who have this pedal also told me they have this problem, and one of them told me he actually took it apart and some how altrnate the other modes gain level.. when i couldn't .

Reliability : 10
Bulit to last. Like a tank.I'm using with out a back up. Common its mesa boogie!

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 10
The V TWIN is a great pedal, it gives you the ulimate tubes sound, great overdrive, and the clean sound is sweet!I play mostly rock, British rock, Radiohead and COLDPLAY style- its pefect for my sound.I love it

If it was stolen i'd cry, for days. and than get a new one.
If you ain't got till now, you don't what you're missing

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