mctallica1
Well-known member
The SYN 50 arrived early yesterday afternoon and the two modules arrived mid week, so I got to spend some quality time with the amp yesterday and today.
Amp chassis and modules seem to be built pretty solid, though I have not pulled the amp from the chassis. I have taken the cages off both modules...there is A Lot going on in these two modules. Not a lot of free space. Both modules and v1 in the chassis were loaded with JJ ecc83’s. Not the biggest fan of these preamp tubes, but I tried it out with them first, then quickly changed v1 in the chassis to an old school Mesa branded Chinese tube, and ended up with Mesa tubes in the IICP and a NOS Mullard and a Tung Sol in the Ultra Lead after some experimentation.
The master volume on the chassis and presence acts pretty much how you would expect, however the density didn’t seem to do a lot until about noon. Around 2 o’clock seems to be the sweet spot for me.
I think there is something to the sensing system in the chassis, as the power section definitely feels different between the two modules. I’ll have a better opinion on this after trying out a few more modules of different flavors.
I picked these two modules specifically because I have a shit ton of experience with their namesakes and wanted to see if they were actually in the ballpark.
IICP
Set the knobs pretty much how I would set a real Mark IIC+/III and tried to approximate the graphic EQ and it sounds and feels like a Mark should. Has that big 3D sound and can get super aggressive. Setting up the gain channel the way I like makes the clean channel unusable....just like a C or III! The graphic is VERY touchy. I had some difficulty getting it where I wanted. Slight adjustments make a big difference. This module has a hum that was a bit annoying, but a Decimator in the loop took it right away. I think anyone familiar with Mark series Mesa’s will dig this module.
Ultra Lead
Both channels have that distinctive “dry” VHT/Fryette thing going on. The tone controls work just as I expected and the EQ is like the EQ in a UL/CL. You don’t need big swings to sculpt the tone. With that said, this module reminds me more of the CL’s I’ve owned than the UL’s....and that isn’t a bad thing. The 50CL is my favorite amp in the line and green channel on that amp is THE VHT tone to me. My guess is that even with the sensing technology, you just can’t make 6L6’s sound like KT88’s. This module is dead silent and takes boosts really well for a different flavor.
I’ve got the amp running through my trusty Avatar 412 with VERY broken in V30’s and I’m using a Radial Switcher to switch between the SYN 50 and my Cherry Bomb and the SYN 50 is hanging with it. It doesn’t sound small in comparison, which I was somewhat expecting.
This is definitely a step up from the old school modular stuff I used....and I thought that stuff was pretty solid. The sensing technology in the head seems to be a big difference maker to me. With that said, I realize it is really just a minor difference in sound/feel, but those minor differences are what gets that last bit that I try for when tone shaping.
I’m impressed.
Amp chassis and modules seem to be built pretty solid, though I have not pulled the amp from the chassis. I have taken the cages off both modules...there is A Lot going on in these two modules. Not a lot of free space. Both modules and v1 in the chassis were loaded with JJ ecc83’s. Not the biggest fan of these preamp tubes, but I tried it out with them first, then quickly changed v1 in the chassis to an old school Mesa branded Chinese tube, and ended up with Mesa tubes in the IICP and a NOS Mullard and a Tung Sol in the Ultra Lead after some experimentation.
The master volume on the chassis and presence acts pretty much how you would expect, however the density didn’t seem to do a lot until about noon. Around 2 o’clock seems to be the sweet spot for me.
I think there is something to the sensing system in the chassis, as the power section definitely feels different between the two modules. I’ll have a better opinion on this after trying out a few more modules of different flavors.
I picked these two modules specifically because I have a shit ton of experience with their namesakes and wanted to see if they were actually in the ballpark.
IICP
Set the knobs pretty much how I would set a real Mark IIC+/III and tried to approximate the graphic EQ and it sounds and feels like a Mark should. Has that big 3D sound and can get super aggressive. Setting up the gain channel the way I like makes the clean channel unusable....just like a C or III! The graphic is VERY touchy. I had some difficulty getting it where I wanted. Slight adjustments make a big difference. This module has a hum that was a bit annoying, but a Decimator in the loop took it right away. I think anyone familiar with Mark series Mesa’s will dig this module.
Ultra Lead
Both channels have that distinctive “dry” VHT/Fryette thing going on. The tone controls work just as I expected and the EQ is like the EQ in a UL/CL. You don’t need big swings to sculpt the tone. With that said, this module reminds me more of the CL’s I’ve owned than the UL’s....and that isn’t a bad thing. The 50CL is my favorite amp in the line and green channel on that amp is THE VHT tone to me. My guess is that even with the sensing technology, you just can’t make 6L6’s sound like KT88’s. This module is dead silent and takes boosts really well for a different flavor.
I’ve got the amp running through my trusty Avatar 412 with VERY broken in V30’s and I’m using a Radial Switcher to switch between the SYN 50 and my Cherry Bomb and the SYN 50 is hanging with it. It doesn’t sound small in comparison, which I was somewhat expecting.
This is definitely a step up from the old school modular stuff I used....and I thought that stuff was pretty solid. The sensing technology in the head seems to be a big difference maker to me. With that said, I realize it is really just a minor difference in sound/feel, but those minor differences are what gets that last bit that I try for when tone shaping.
I’m impressed.
