# Mesa Lonestar Special Opinions?



## colchar (May 22, 2010)

I've been offered a Mesa Lonestar Special in trade for an amp that I like, but don't love. I know nothing about Mesas in general, or this amp specifically, so was wondering if anyone here could provide insight?


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Here's the block diagram, if you are interested in what's going on inside.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I owned a Mesa Lonestar special back in the mid 90's. I remember it being a fantastic sounding amp but at the time not enough clean head room. A few years later I played a regular Mesa Lonestar for a few months that belonged to the lead singer in the band. It had much more clean headroom.
I've played a few other Mesas over the years. In general I like their tone. What I don't like is they all have way too many knobs and switches. I generally like my amps to have as few knobs as possible. Like the Dr Z Carmen Ghia with 2 knobs. Vol and tone. The exact opposite philosophy of Mesas.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Paul Running said:


> Here's the block diagram, if you are interested in what's going on inside.
> View attachment 376828



Oh man, I couldn't even begin to understand that.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

guitarman2 said:


> I owned a Mesa Lonestar special back in the mid 90's. I remember it being a fantastic sounding amp but at the time not enough clean head room. A few years later I played a regular Mesa Lonestar for a few months that belonged to the lead singer in the band. It had much more clean headroom.
> I've played a few other Mesas over the years. In general I like their tone. What I don't like is they all have way too many knobs and switches. I generally like my amps to have as few knobs as possible. Like the Dr Z Carmen Ghia with 2 knobs. Vol and tone. The exact opposite philosophy of Mesas.



I only play at home so headroom isn't an issue.

But I do also prefer simplicity and yeah, there are a ton of options on the Special.


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## _Azrael (Nov 27, 2017)

The Special is a great sounding amp.

The catch is that the lead channel is a lead channel… not a high gain crunch channel. If you want fat, singing single notes that cut you’ll love it. If you want to play crunchy high gain rhythm you‘ll be fighting it.


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## Khanh (Jul 30, 2021)

Great amp.


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

My best friend had a Lonestar Special for a few years in the early 2000s and I got plenty of chances to play it. He sold it because of a very noticeable lack of clean headroom. There was no way he could dial in a clean sound at a volume suitable for even a small venue. He bought a used F50 and has kept it ever since. Shortly after he sold his I sold my Rivera Fandango for exactly the same reason. Both amps were absolutely breathtaking when doing what they do best but they could not do gig-worthy cleans to save their lives.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

I've been thinking that I should go back to Orange amps.

I love Marshalls, and most of my favourite players play them, but I can't make them sound the way I want. Orange amps do it for me (I'm not a modern high gain guy, so ma talking vintagey sounds).

But I am also wondering if perhaps I should trade for the Mesa to see how I like it? If I do, great. If not, then I can put it up for trade for an Orange later on.


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

I'll never bought a second hand Mesa product, too expensive to repair.


The Lone Starr circuit :


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## theroan (Oct 7, 2008)

I don't know what guitarman2 is saying, the Lonstar Special wasn't released until 2005. 

The Lonestar Special is one of my favourite Mesa amps ever. The clean channel is very much a Fender Vox hybrid while the gain channel can get almost plexi kind of tones. It can even chug with the right overdrive. If you like Orange amps this may be the amp for you. And I never had an issue with headroom. But it's a 30 watt amp so I don't know what people expect.

Mesa's are incredibly well made, extremely versatile and sound great. I could only play Mesa products and be very happy.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

theroan said:


> I don't know what guitarman2 is saying, the Lonstar Special wasn't released until 2005.
> 
> The Lonestar Special is one of my favourite Mesa amps ever. The clean channel is very much a Fender Vox hybrid while the gain channel can get almost plexi kind of tones. It can even chug with the right overdrive. If you like Orange amps this may be the amp for you. And I never had an issue with headroom. But it's a 30 watt amp so I don't know what people expect.
> 
> Mesa's are incredibly well made, extremely versatile and sound great. I could only play Mesa products and be very happy.


Well clearly I've got my time lines mixed up. I've played and owned so many wonderful pieces of gear its hard to keep track. Mesa boogies are very good amps. Although I'd never own another with so many switches and knobs. I talked to a few well respected amp techs that won't or don't like to work on them as well. 
As for clean head room, at the time I preferred "Fender Twin" like cleans as a pedal platform. When the lonestar special got nice and heated it up it didn't come close to keeping up with a heavy handed drummer.


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## theroan (Oct 7, 2008)

guitarman2 said:


> I talked to a few well respected amp techs that won't or don't like to work on them as well.
> As for clean head room, at the time I preferred "Fender Twin" like cleans as a pedal platform.


You may have been thinking of the Maverick. 

That's fair about repairs, though I've owned the following and never needed to even get them repaired at any time.

F30 combo
F50 combo
Mark IV as a head and combo
Mark V as a head and combo
Lonestar Special combo
Royal Atlantic head

Where as I've owned a Vox AC30c2x and Egnater which gave me nothing but problems. I too love the Fender clean. I think Mesa does the Fender clean better than Fender. But over the years I didn't find the mid-scoop sound of the Fender cleans was a good pedal platform for dirt pedals. They always sounded better through my LSS than my Mark V. The LSS definitely has more mids but I think that makes dirt pedals sound better.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

theroan said:


> You may have been thinking of the Maverick.
> 
> That's fair about repairs, though I've owned the following and never needed to even get them repaired at any time.
> 
> ...


No, I definitely owned the Lonestar special and for a while used the Lonestar Classic. I agree that the mid scoop of Fender cleans can be pickier about what pedals are good. I'm a low\mid to low gain kind of guy so for me something transparent that mimics the amp cranked is what I like. Currently using a 67 Pro Reverb with a Kingsley page for low gain and a Waza Blues driver for mid, gives me what I like. 
Many years ago I was doing a gig in Huntsville and a guy got up for our matinee with a small Mesa boogie amp in a hard wood cabinet and a strat with EMG's. Not sure what model the Mesa was. Was one of the best tones I had ever heard. He let me play his rig for a couple songs and I loved it. After that for a while I lusted after one of those small Mesa's and EMGs. I did try EMGs in a strat at one point but it never seemed to work for me with the amps I was using. I know this was back in the early to mid 90's because its been that long since I've toured full time up North or anywhere else.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Funny enough after all my dis of Mesa boogies I might be considering a 5:50+ 1X12 combo thats on Kijiji if I can get it cheap enough.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

guitarman2 said:


> Funny enough after all my dis of Mesa boogies I might be considering a 5:50+ 1X12 combo thats on Kijiji if I can get it cheap enough.



This place is bad for inducing GAS.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

_Azrael said:


> The Special is a great sounding amp.
> 
> The catch is that the lead channel is a lead channel… not a high gain crunch channel. If you want fat, singing single notes that cut you’ll love it. If you want to play crunchy high gain rhythm you‘ll be fighting it.



I am a clean to mild overdrive guy. The heaviest I get is '80s metal (Scorpions, Priest, etc.).


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

theroan said:


> I don't know what guitarman2 is saying, the Lonstar Special wasn't released until 2005.
> 
> The Lonestar Special is one of my favourite Mesa amps ever. The clean channel is very much a Fender Vox hybrid while the gain channel can get almost plexi kind of tones. It can even chug with the right overdrive. If you like Orange amps this may be the amp for you. And I never had an issue with headroom. But it's a 30 watt amp so I don't know what people expect.
> 
> Mesa's are incredibly well made, extremely versatile and sound great. I could only play Mesa products and be very happy.



Yeah I definitely like Orange amps. I also like (some) Fenders.

I told the guy I'd be interested, but he has to get himself a cab. I don't want to sell mine right now in case I grab an Orange head down the road.


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## theroan (Oct 7, 2008)

guitarman2 said:


> Funny enough after all my dis of Mesa boogies I might be considering a 5:50+ 1X12 combo thats on Kijiji if I can get it cheap enough.


The Express+ clean channel was a big improvement from the original. But I still think the F series sounded better.


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## theroan (Oct 7, 2008)

colchar said:


> I am a clean to mild overdrive guy. The heaviest I get is '80s metal (Scorpions, Priest, etc.).


I can assure you that the LSS will get you those sounds. The gain channel can almost replicate channel 1 and go all the way to singing leads with lots of great tones in between. It can totally do a plexi crunch. I also got my LSS in a trade and fully intended to flip it. Then totally fell in love with it. If I ever go back to real amps the LSS is the one I'd buy first.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

theroan said:


> The Express+ clean channel was a big improvement from the original. But I still think the F series sounded better.


Is the F series the Fillmore 50 or is that something else. I've read the description of the Fillmore 50 and it might fit the best with what I'm trying to do. Some features on that amp that might actually be worth while. A little above my budget new from L&M but doable.
On the Mesa Boogie site I can't find anything "F series". Thats why I was wondering if you were referring to the Fillmore series.


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## theroan (Oct 7, 2008)

MESA/Boogie®


MESA/Boogie is a leading innovator of guitar amplification technology whose product line includes the Mark V®, Dual and Triple Rectifier®, Lone Star®, TransAtlantic®, Mini Rectifier®, and most recently the new Mark Five: 25™, CabClone™, King Snake™, Recto®-Verb™ 25, Bass Prodigy™ Four:88, Bass...




www.mesaboogie.com





The F Series was it's own thing. It replaced the Dual Calibre Series and was replaced by the Express. The F stands for Fender. The clean channel is pretty spectacular and the gain channel was based around the Recto. Compared to most Mesa's it's a pretty simple design.


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## _Azrael (Nov 27, 2017)

colchar said:


> I am a clean to mild overdrive guy. The heaviest I get is '80s metal (Scorpions, Priest, etc.).


Sounds like you’d be more into Marshall than Boogie?


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

_Azrael said:


> Sounds like you’d be more into Marshall than Boogie?



I have a Marshall. As I said above, I love how they sound when others play them but I cannot get them to sound how I want.

That being said, it turns out that the other guy wanted my head ($2499 new) and cab ($1299 new) both in exchange for his combo ($2699 new). That ain't happening.


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## _Azrael (Nov 27, 2017)

colchar said:


> I have a Marshall. As I said above, I love how they sound when others play them but I cannot get them to sound how I want.
> 
> That being said, it turns out that the other guy wanted my head ($2499 new) and cab ($1299 new) both in exchange for his combo ($2699 new). That ain't happening.


Ah, I must’ve forgotten that you mentioned it.

Honestly, unless you were looking for an amp that could jump straight from Fender-meets-Vox on channel 1 to thick Boogie lead on channel 2 I think you would’ve struggled with it. I say thick… others would say bloated, boxy mids, muddy, etc... so IMO a Perfect lead channel and not an ideal rhythm channel.

For more Mesa-meets-Marshall-meets-Hiwatt I’d check out the Electra-Dyne or Triple Crown. I spent a number of years playing Orange (and a couple decades playing Rectifiers) and eventually found my sound in those two amps. That said, the Orange TH-30 is a pretty cool amp too.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

_Azrael said:


> Ah, I must’ve forgotten that you mentioned it.
> 
> Honestly, unless you were looking for an amp that could jump straight from Fender-meets-Vox on channel 1 to thick Boogie lead on channel 2 I think you would’ve struggled with it. I say thick… others would say bloated, boxy mids, muddy, etc... so IMO a Perfect lead channel and not an ideal rhythm channel.
> 
> For more Mesa-meets-Marshall-meets-Hiwatt I’d check out the Electra-Dyne or Triple Crown. I spent a number of years playing Orange (and a couple decades playing Rectifiers) and eventually found my sound in those two amps. That said, the Orange TH-30 is a pretty cool amp too.



I had an Orange AD30 and stupidly got rid of it. I want another, but would be happy with a Rockerverb or maybe a Thunderverb.


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## _Azrael (Nov 27, 2017)

colchar said:


> I had an Orange AD30 and stupidly got rid of it. I want another, but would be happy with a Rockerverb or maybe a Thunderverb.


The AD30 is one of my favourite amps of all time. Outstanding amplifier.

I sold it to buy an AD140, but the 140 was kind of bland with none of the character that the AD30 had.

I never liked my Rockerverb. I felt mine sounded very generic… like I was playing a DS-1 in the shape of an amplifier.

One of the guitarists a couple bands ago had a TH-30 that I really liked.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

_Azrael said:


> The AD30 is one of my favourite amps of all time. Outstanding amplifier.
> 
> I sold it to buy an AD140, but the 140 was kind of bland with none of the character that the AD30 had.
> 
> ...



You got rid of an AD30 too? So you're just as dumb as me eh? Moronic move on my part. The grass ain't always greener.

Hopefully there will be one available somewhere during the L&M Attic Sale. If so, I'll call the store and give them my credit card number and have it shipped to my local store. If not, I'll keep looking.


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## oneflatnote (Jul 18, 2016)

Owned one of these. Loved the cleans but couldn’t gel with the OD channel. No crunch, too smooth and probably more suited for lead. The cleans though…..🤤


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