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<< back to reviews Mystique Amps one off 100w in former Mesa Simulclass chassi review By Anders Bergdahl UGG. LET THERE BE LIGHT 
When a amp like this comes up for sale you just HAVE to try if it's close to you, even though there is a BIG RISK that you might get a acute fit of GAS and spend money you don't really have.This amp is a Rock'n'roller. The specification from the guy who ordered it was small, dynamic, 3D, Touch sensitive, control from Guitar Volume, power tube distortion at reasonable volume level and sound from Vox/Fender style clean to Marshall roar. Did Mystique amps succeed, in my opinion yes. It's strictly a one channel amp with master volume and no reverb. All Mesa circuit boards where torn out and replaced with Mr Mystics point to point magic, only the transformers and chassis is still from the old Mesa. It can run on two or four tubes either 6L6 or EL34 and there is an accessible bias pot and bias measuring points on the back. One tube pair runs in triode mode to get power amp break up at reasonable volume levels. SOUND We mostly tried it through a 1x12 ported Mystique cab with an EV speaker. This cab is very transparent and clear sounding, even EV -haters tend to like it. Control are Volume (pull Bright), Treble (pull Marshall style mid boost), Bass, Middle (click settings) and Master With master dimed we started to we fiddled around to get a rocking sound. The mid knob is graded and with 9 o'clock setting the sound is voiced as a Blond Fender at 9 o'clock you have a more Marshall like response. The Treble can be pulled to get a response even more in the Marshall vein. So, we set it in the Marshall type of setting and plugged in my MJ-guitars Mirage GT with Duncan Alnico II tele pickups, and rocked it did. GUITAR With guitar volume dimed there was a compressed but full Marshall style of sound but with more bottom and more high en sparkle, roll back the volume just a bit and you get a almost clean sound. We fiddled with the controls and managed to get an almost totally clean sound with the guitar volume turned down a bit and a nice crunchy classic Plexi style rock tone with guitar volume on full. Changing around the controls a bit gave as a nice sparkly clean sound more like a cross of a Blond era Fender and a Vox AC30 than a Marshall. With a bit of tweaking we where able to go from nice clean to Texas style blues sound. Rolling Stones type of sound where also there, quite a bit like a Tweed Twin, powerful and raw. To sum it up this amp covers about the same territory as a Komet but at a lower Volume level, to my ears the Komet is also more powerful. I'm not saying it really sounds as a Komet but it would appeal to the type of player who looks for a Rock amp that can do more than just Marshall style sounds. This amp has a signature Mystique sparkle and it's own personality. So did anyone spend more money than they had, well let's put it like this. I will publish a deeper review one I have spend more time with the amp…so look back in a couple of weeks. Oh if you haven't figured out yet with the right guitar this amp will get you AC/DC style tones. Let there be ROCK Anders << back to reviews |