Mesa/Boogie V-Twin Tube Preamp Pedal

Sounds like the guy below hasn't even heard this thing! what a nob!

Well it has the basic features which everyone else has already gone over. 2x12AX7's, 6 knobs (gain, bass, mid, treble, presence, master), bypass & channel footswitches and the alternate channel switch. On the back there's external bypass and channel select jacks, power and instrument inputs (of course) and outputs to a guitar amp, power amp or mixer/headphones. Clean gain adjust and solo/blues channel swap is under panel on underside.

The clipping is done by 5 DIODES! The valves are only to warm up the tone.

The manual is easy to follow and the basic settings are alright but obviously not great.

Its pretty quick to dial a nice setting in with this, but the EQ doesn't have very large range and the frequencies it covers seem quite select. If you're looking for a specific sound, it will take a bit more fiddling to get it.

I play an ESP AX-260 (mahogany neck-thru, very dark/full tone) and it goes into the V-Twin and then straight into the effects loop return of my Laney TF200 combo. I use it this way because I just want the straight V-Twin tone without anything else.

This pedal is SILENT with my setup, even with maximum gain. If you have quiet pickups and amps, and make sure you keep away from fluorescent lights and TV screens you shouldn't get buzz. Also make sure you don't plug the V-Twin into the same outlet as other power adapters (phone/iPod chargers, etc) or it will pick these up too. I have no need to use a noise supressor.

As far as tone goes, the clean channel is nice and warm but the tone isn't very versatile. Its quite a dark clean and you can't get a sparkling tone but that's just Mesa/Boogie tone for you, and you have to expect that.

The blues channel hardly gets used because it seems a bit thin even with my guitar's fat tone. It seems alright for lighter overdrive stuff. Doesn't seem very warm though.

The solo channel is what I use most because I usually play black metal. The rhythm tone is dark and has good gain and a light crunch but isn't fully saturated. I back off the mids and bass a bit and this gives a nice bold, raw tone. I switch to my neck pickup for playing leads and the tone is VERY fat and VERY warm. It really sings with slower melodic solos and sweeping. It doesn't have enough articulation for virtuoso solos and fast shredding but with some decent pickups it would. The clarity is very low. You couldn't hear all the notes in an arpeggiated chord individually, you'd hear the first two and then it would muddy up. Also, you can't play a power chord and let it ring out while you play open notes above it (like the intro to Freezing Moon by Mayhem). But for crushing palm-muted rhythms and singing solos, it excels.

With headphones its very buzzy and artificial but its not supposed to sound AMAZING. I mean, are you ever going play a gig thru headphones? Not likely. You can hear what you're playing without pissing everybody else off. Thats the point of it and it does it fine. Also, I use it with my Sennheiser HD202 headphones, which are mid-range home hi-fi headphones. Don't try it with low-end headphones! It'll kill your ears!

Through the mixer output into a PA it doesn't sound as good as a mic'ed guitar amp would but it sure does the trick. Good if your amp breaks down or there are no microphones!

This pedal could take a thrashing. The most fragile part would be the valves and they're very well secured. There's no way it would break under normal usage. Of course water, fire, natural disasters, or an 'act of God' aren't normal use...

Yes, I'd gig it without a backup, for sure. Just a spare pair of valves and thats about it. I'd be more likely to suddenly break down at a gig than this thing.

I haven't had to deal with Mesa/Boogie but I've only heard positive stories so far.

This pedal is alright for most styles but it does jazz, rock and metal very well.

If it were stolen or suddenly destroyed by water, fire, a natural disaster or an 'act of God' I'd probably just save up for a Dual or Triple Rectifier. These things are rare too so finding another one (especially here in New Zealand) would be hard.

The only thing I think the V-Twin needs is an effects loop so that your effect signal can go through the extra gain stages for the power amp output, and the cabinet sim for the mixer/headphone output.

I haven't tried this thing with an all-valve amp but I bought it off a guy in a local rock band who'd tried it with Ibanez Thermion and Triple Rectifier half stacks and it didn't go too well with them. Its designed to work best as a stand-alone preamp with a good SS or valve power amp rather than just as a dirtbox.
Also it works best with closed back cabs and good speakers or the bass response is too loose.

The 4 different outputs methods (guitar amp, power amp, mixer, headphones) are very handy for any situation and I've used all of them at least once.

This thing can easily copy what a Dual Rectifier sounds like overall, but it just isn't the same. If you wanna sound like a Dual Rec, just save up for one. This thing ISN'T the preamp from a Dual Rec and it isn't even BASED on one. Compare the schematics, they're completely different.

Well, overall this preamp is very dark-voiced and if you try getting bright spakly tones from it you're gonna FAIL!! But if you love the trademark Boogie roar, you'll love this thing.

it's easy to use, but hard to get a good sound. more on that below.

very limited in tone. Buzzy fuzzy distortion. This is because it is not an all tube pedal at all, and the tubes are not used to create the distortion! It uses nine TL072 IC chip sections and uses 5 clipping diodes for the distortion, exactly like any cheap boss or ibanez pedal. This is all shown in the schematic. So, sorry guys, the dist is just solid state pedal dist, not tube distortion at all. The clean channel is just a copy of the basic fender clean channel, nothing special. Same basic 3 knob passive eq like in any fender or marshall amp, nothing special, so the guy below who praises the eq in this pedal as "magic" is just praising the standard eq that's in nearly every guitar amp made since the 50's, nothing new. mesa just copied designs again like they always do (the dual recto is a soldano copy). the older boogies are fender copies with more gain.

looks to be reliable, but it's just a basic circuit board, mass produced, not handmade or anything.

never contacted them.

this pedal is a gimmick that pretends to be all tube but it's not even close. you'd get better results from a cheap pedal and any basic tube amp.

I'm sad of reading people who think that the V-Twin is an all-tube pedal... Let me clarify some points here:

First, a 12AX7 (or variant like 12AU7, etc) is a dual-triode. So there are two gain-stages available in each tube.

People said that they prefer the clean channel. No wonder, the clean channel on the V-Twin uses one tube (so 2 gain-stages), like most Fender preamps.

For the blues channel, well, it's another story. The gain is provided by a TL072 opamp and the distortion is created by 1N4148 clipping diodes (solid state, same topology as some of your Boss or Ibanez distortion pedal). However, they put ONE tube gain-stage afterward (the clean channel has two!!!) to warm-up the sound a little and the other half of the tube is a cathode follower (no gain, used as a buffer for the tone stack, like in a JCM800).

The lead channel is the same as the blues channel, but the opamp's gain is set higher.

That being said, I don't think it is a good or a bad thing. The purpose of this message is inform people that there is a bit of gimmick in there as the distortion is primarily created by clipping diodes, and not only by tubes like in a standard Mesa/Boogie amp.

By the way, the 12VAC from the power adaptor is being stepped at a couple hundred volts internally. So no, the tubes are not running starved at 12VDC (like the Chandler Tube Driver), but more around 200VDC like it is supposed to be.

Hope this help!

This is as simple of a layout as possible. Mine is the V2 version of the V-Twin, which has the clean gain control and the solo-to-blues control on the bottom.

Turning the knobs isn't that hard, and unless you have broken fingers, you can do use this pedal to it's full potential. I'd recommend messing with the clean gain to find your sound.

The manual is clear, even though you don't really need it once you start tinkering around with the dials.

Very easy to use, I'm glad I got this thing.

This thing, by itself, has some of the best cleans I've heard from any of my gear. It's phenomenal. The blues section of this pedal is perfect for blues; it adds punch to your tone, while having that bluesy slight o.d. sound to it. the solo section of this isn't what I thought it might be. I might just need to replace the tubes, but it's not a searing hot distortion. It still is good, and I may just need to put new tubes in, because it's still the original stock (i got this used).

I run my ESP ltd. Viper-400 or my Dean Dime Razorback into my ZOOM GFX-5 pedal, which then goes to the Mesa V-twin, and then finally into my Crate halfstack. This rig currently has my sound that I've been looking for. I had always been messing with the dials on my pedals, trying to get the right sound with that nice punch. With the Mesa/Boogie V-Twin and it's tubes, I've found that punch (and more sounds that I've been wanting!). My bass and treble are around 3 or 4 o'clock, and my mids are at about 12 o'clock. Gain is at the max (5oc), the presence is at about 12, maybe slightly more, and the master volume is at whatever it needs to be.

This pre-amp pedal is also amazing with headphones. Now, you'll want to use the headphones part with actual "around the ear" headphones, like you'd find in a studio. But I can crank up the jams and get a GREAT sound using it, all while my room-mate and neighbors in the dorm sleep.

I give it a 9, only because of the solo channel, I was expecting something more out of it.

This thing is all metal. I think planes, cars, and other vehicles should be Mesa/Boogie diamond plated, because this crap is tough. The tubes are housed in a steel cage, which is tough by itself. I can gig without a back up.

haven't dealt with them, but I'm sure they'd be great.

This is anybody's pre-amp. You'll want to run decent equipment through it, otherwise you won't get it's full sound potential. You'll also want to possibly run a distortion into it so you can get the dist. sound that you want. But if you want just blues, classic rock, or clean sounds, this is the pre-amp you've been waiting for, and the only one you'll need.

I recommend this to anyone, and have to my friend, the other half the guitar line-up in our band. He may not get it, but he'll be missing out. For any blues, clean, classic rock, or related genres, it's perfect by itself. Otherwise, for more dist., just add a dist. pedal, and you'll have even greater punch and emphasis on your sound in no time!

And for the price these run on ebay, these discontinued pedals are the holy grail of pre-amps on the go. Get one and rock on!

easy to use

sounds like most other standard distortion pedals, does NOT at all deliver the sound of a complete Mesa Boogie amplifier.

I don't know. I bought one on ebay, tried it, put it back in the box, and sold it on eBay the next day.

blah

fabulous with an amp. but difficult with headphones. i appreciate this is not a stomp box and the manual does say {pro headphones produce the best results} but how much do they expect you to pay for a boogie sound in the bedroom.

i use a marshall jtm60 and get a great boogie tone but i think the marshall lets me down. i think i may trade in the boogie and the marshall for a nomad.

unbelievable quality and i should know i work with fabrication 10 out of 10

no need so i don,t know. the fact i have never needed it suggests excellent.

i am not a very goog player so my set up may do this puiecxe of artwork an injustice but i love it to bits when i get one of those creative moments. f****n fabulous.

So simple, a caveman can fugure it out. Manual was very limited reading, but gave you an idea of where you can go with this.

I have been working with mine for a week now and it really is exactly what I was looking for. I use a Marshall 2x12 50 watt combo that has two 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel and no gain control. Translation...for a 50 watt amp, it is really loud with the 4 Ohm load.
Being that the head in my combo (MK 2) had no gain control, I was facing having to install a master volume either before or after my phase inverter.
It was that or a new amp because I didn't want distortion from a 9 volt battery stomp box, I wanted real tube distortion, so I got this.

And it really brought my amp to a new level. Real fat Stevie Ray sounds, then too Sabbath goo.

So far so good. It is made like a tank.

Have no idea

Awesome, creamy gain with a slick clean setting as well. I play blues, Sabbath, Santana. I like a chunky sound where single coils can still hold up. This v-twin really allows all of it.
It can be quiet and discreet, and then be ear splitting.
Also, if you like to play like slide, the natural compression from the v-twin's valves give you a really great environment to play fluid slide.
It almost adds certain highlights and overtones to the slide that make slide sound good and not messy.

this unit is not exactly easy to figure out your particular sound . but that said music aint for the faint hearted and the time spent now pays major dividends later.there are no editing patches but thats because it,s a pre amp not an effects pedal. if you want patches see the nhs they,re giving them away!!!!

wow the best muddy waters to free , alright now, this baby is bad to the bone.

ha! can you depend on it , this fucker is star wars protected. forget the armour plating the fact the logo says messa engineering is enough. maybe messa should be signed up as military consultants!!

see other reviews most have 10 here i have only found one or two who have ever had to deal with messa, from those they gave a 10 i haven't
had to deal with them yet.

i am a relatively poor player who gets excited at top quality gear i know this may sound sad because i substitute my inability to play well with top quality equipment. what i have found however is each time i do this i improve dramatically. this unit is no exception. it rings quality, and is fun to experiment with. i also like the earphone function{not gigging yet, cos i'm shite}.

Follw up review after now having this for maybe 6 years or so-
Great piece of gear that has been to at least 400 gigs and never, ever failed to date.

wish it hade 3 switches....lol

well i'll say this-
I play a ton of shows with my band, EL84. We play every weekend in SF Bay area with bands from everywhere. My tone kills em all.
Rectifiers, Marshalls, Stilleto's, Carvins etc.
I use it with the following-
Boogie Simul 2:90
BBE 482
Alesis Midiverb IV
4 2x12 cabs in split stereo set up
Korg Tone works DDelay
Ibanez Prestige's, American Strats, etc.

If your after samples check out http://www.myspace.com/el84

If your a blues tone freak check out-
www.el84rocks.com/Why.mp3

everything there is the v-twin
also live video's at-
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.uservids&friendid=7538183

Only issue ever is that the clean gain occasionally changes. Most likely a tube/weather thing

never used it

play rock, blues and some metal great for all

love the blue channel with my 535q wah sounds arena filling.
we have played some large premium venues and it fills the sh*t out of em all

only a 9 because it needs a 3rd footswitch for the blue channel- sometimes I miss the little switch with my toe and it screws up the song.... hard to hit with boots on...lol

This is a follow-up review for the one I posted about 6 years ago. I've been playing with this pedal, off and on (mostly on), for all this time.

This baby is very easy to use. It has an AMAZING EQ. It is so sensative, you move a knob one cm and it changes the whole character of the sound (very nice). Easy to change the tubes, no tools needed. It even lets you deep edit the gain amount and switching modes.

F------IN' BEAUTIFUL! Beefs up thin sounding setups, Makes dark dsound shiny,. TONS OF HARMONICS, very percussive.

Change the tubes and it's a whole new animal.

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.

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

I bought this second hand off ebay and it is easily the best investment I've made.

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.

Already covered...

This thing is built like a tank.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Never dealt with Mesa, although I've heard amazing things about their support.

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.

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.

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.

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.

No experience with Mesa as yet.

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.

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.

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...)

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.

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.....

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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...

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

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...

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>

Very easy to use and the 'gazintas' are intuitive

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.

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)

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

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.

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

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 .

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

never dealt with them.

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

Very simple! There is no patches, only knobs. Gain, Low, Mid, Hi, Presence, Gain. A selector to choose between Clean & Blues channel, and a FootSwitch to choose between C/B & Lead Channel. A bypass footswitch is also present. Connections to external switches, input, output to power amp, input of guitar amp or mixer/phones. Everything very easy. In the back of the peadal has an switch between blues/clean and clean/blues and a volume trimpot to choose the clean gain. On the side a switch between mixer/phones.

Awesome! The best pedal the I ever played, And an excelent preamplifier!
It suits to a lot of styles of playing. I don't recommend if you want to play country, vintage, or want just a little overdrive with crunchy sound(I have a peavey classic 30, and I use its preamp to play these stuff). The sound is a bit muddy, frequenttly I use the eq Hi and presence almost full to get a good sound. I recommend an graphic EQ post the v-twin (I'll have to buy one). Not noisy. I can get sound of a thousand artists with the v-twin. Very rich tone.

The mixer output has a great sounding if u don't wanna spend some time placing microphones or u dont have a good amplifier. U can record great things this way.

Some say that can't get much gain from it... I use a tubescreamer ibanez before the vtwin, so when I need gain, its there... =] but the gain is well balanced, just use the tubescreamer to do solos or play metal stuff.

Equipment:

Guitar: Cort S2550 with dimarzio single pickups and a shadow humb. pickup;
Ibanez Artcore asf75tbl.

Guitar>*Boss CS-3>*Tube Screamer tonelok Ibanez> *Vtwin> *Boss SD-2 Dual overdrive>*Danelectro TBone distortion DJ2>*Boss Ch1 super chorus> *Boss DD-3> Peavey Classic 30 tube amp or mixer (if using the mixer output from the vtwin

It will last decades.

never tested it

I play lots of styles, varying from blues/country to Heavy/Death metal, almost always using the v-twin. If I were stolen, I would buy an other one! This preamp/pedal rocks!

If you want to know anything abou the pedal, or wanna hear something from it, just send me a mail.

Having read through most of the reviews before buying, and then buying one, I have to give it a 10. Heres why. I bought an (lucky me) unused one with original everything.

First off the tone. it is dark and one voiced a little bit, with the stock tubes, MESA. Drop in some of your favorite vintage tubes and problem solved. eg. I pluged in my Gibson EB-2D Bass and by the way this is a great bass preamp also, talk about facination street. Anyway with the stock tubes it was kind of dirty and one voiced all the way from the bottom up to the top. change tubes and you dont have old fender sound but a better stock Mesa, in my opinion.

Now I have a 64' Princeton that Im putting this into (not bass that's head phones) but as for guitar with this setup I have to give it a 10 for the cost alone. Of course it might (in my opinion) sound like crap into a transistor amp I don't know.

This preamp is so versital (with NOS or just OS) you can get quite a bit of different sounds out of it. Between the Gain Master and Presence you really have serious flexability. 10 for sound. 10 for build. few things to keep in mind it has "switching logic" the buttons are not switches. It's like pushing on a spring, no click. I don't mind this but there is a pause in audio when switching channels. And if I remember correctly it's one way, like going from blues to lead or clean to blues, and not the other way. Buy one on ebay if you hate it you will always get your money out of it if you sell it back on Ebay.

It's pretty simple. Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence and Master. Although when I first baught this, I had to spend ages tweaking the EQ to get the sound I wanted! This is why I give this is an 8 instead of a 10.

I'm using an ibanez sz and usa fender strat with lace sensor pickups into a marshall 80 watt valvestate amp. I use my v-twin going into a pod xt live. i only use the effects on the pod xt live, I hate digital overdrive sounds. The v-twin proves that valve overdrive is by far the best.

My amp is not the best, but it has a nice clean sound but the v-twin sounds awesome through it. For heavy overdrive, this pedal sounds the best with humbuckers,I use the bridge pickup on my ibanez and I love the sound. It's a big sound with enough gain to give loads of sustain but it's also very clear. Too much bass on the EQ makes the sound quite muddy, so I set the bass and the gain quite low and have slightly more mid, presence and treble and it will cut through a full band mix perfectly.

I use the solo chanel for heavy rhythm and the blues chanel for more mellow stuff. For solo's I boost the signal from the solo chanel on my pod xt live.

I use the blues and solo channels on the v-twin which i think are perfect! I don't use the clean chanel on it because I think it's totally pointless to have clean and overdrive sounds with exactly the same EQ.

This pedal sounds great with my strat but I think this pedal was made for humbuckers! I have to turn up the gain quite a lot to use with my strat.

This pedal is amazing! The blues chanel gives beautiful creamy mellow overdriven tones and the solo chanel has loads of gain and sustain for hard rock! Maybe not quite enough for really heavy metal.
Overall the sound is smoother than a proper mesa dual rectifier but it still got more than enough balls!

I'm about to get a prs or a les paul and a good fender valve amp, so I'm excited to hear this pedal sound even better!

I've had this for just over 18 months and it has never let me down. I've done loads of gigs with this beauty and it's built like a tank.
I can't afford to buy another one for a backup, but if I had the cash I'd buy another one! In that case, I would use them both and EQ one of them for my ibanez and set up the other one for my strat.

Never had to deal with the company.

In my rock band, I mainly play punk and hard rock (sometimes metal) and this pedal does the job to perfection. It's great for more mellow bluesy suff aswell, although I'm looking out for another overdrive pedal to give a more mellow sound to compliment the v-twin.
But it looks like I'm gonna have to look long and hard to find an pedal of similar quality to this baby.

I've been playing for 7 years. If were lost or stolen, I would cry my eyes out and then buy a new one.

I don't really see the point of the clean channel, but I suppose it would be useful for use with power amp and cab. Would be amazing if you could have independent EQ setting on the each channel

Knobs are very interactive so it takes some time to figure them out and dial in your sounds. Also depends greatly on what you are patching into-guitar amp, recording desk, PA - as to what the final result will be. Channel switching is also a factor as one set of controls is used for whatever two channels you selct. As always, there is some compromise-you'll never get both channels exactly the way you wish.