The forgotten Mesa/Boogie for Helix

[rlingaas]

First about me. I played for thirty five years. Owned almost every Marshall, Mesa, Fender + a lot of  boutique amps ( Matchless, Bad Cat +++) Liked most of them, but Guitarist always want something new, right? 

Also worked for over 15 year selling guitars and amps.

 

 

Now the Helix.

While the Helix is my favorite toy and more than satisfying in my studio, I only used it as a pedalboard in live situations. It´s by far my best and most versatile pedalboard ever :-)  

Let me also mention that i do not use stereo setup live.

 

 

My Problem:

 

While some of you like it the FRFR thing does not work for me. Tried Line6, EV, Yamaha and other brands but i dont like the "miked" sound. 

 

 

My Solution:

 

I stumbled over a old forgotten Mesa Boogie. The Simul Satellite. Made in the early 90´s for use with the Mesa Mark IV for a stereo setup. It´s like having a 112 cab with a built in power amp. And you can use it as a singel channel amp as well. It is Perfect for my needs. While most tube amps bypass the tonestack when using the effect return the Mesa Simul Satellite have a 5 band footswitchable eq + presence and a master volume. Switchable from 90w down to 15w

The one i got also have the EV12L speaker.  IMHO the best speaker ever..200w and clean no matter what i put in to it. To my ears it does not color the sound like my V30, Greenback ++   This is of course a matter of taste. 

 

Cons: With the 8.6 kg EV12L speaker it is a bit on the heavy side.( Not more than a quality 12" PA speaker)   Have to choose between 6L6, EL34 or 6V6 tubes.( Can also mix 6L6 and EL34)

 

Pros: It´s a tube amp made for the use of the effect loops!!  Amp sounds good alone, and take pedals were well. Compact size. 15w to 90w . The EV12L sounds  good from bedroom level to stage level.  Can gig with only one amp, using different preamps in the Helix.

Now i have the Helix amp simulations as a Backup for the Mesa, and my Tech 21 fly rig 5 as a backup for the backup.

 

Hope this can help others "old school" BluesRock players like me out there searching...

 

 

 

[MonkeyXT]

I remember those satellite units - I used to use a Mark III Simul-class combo with the EV12 in it and all.

(I said they should package that EQ into a box and sell it back then (1988) - I can't believe it took them as long as it did to actually do so...)

 

That's an excellent solution to your scenario - kudos. I imagine it sounds immense.

Those speakers have a lot of body and are beasts.

 

Thanks for posting; I imagine a number of people here will be inspired by this routing possibility.

[Rocco_Crocco]

Sounds like a Tech 21 Power Engine with more power and a better speaker.

[rlingaas]

Sounds like a Tech 21 Power Engine with more power and a better speaker.

 

Use to have one. Nice budget amp and a good alternative. It sounded good with the Helix, But not as good as some of my other amps.( Sold It )

My cheap Fender Bassbreaker 15 sounded better except for the noise. (effect loop sucks on these amps, even after the update !)

Miss the Tech 21 because it was lightweight and and nice to carry around for rehearsal :-)

Ended up lugging my very heavy Mesa Lonestar (32.5 kg) to rehearsal because the Helix ( preamps only) in the Lonestar effect loop sounded superior to the Tech 21(and all my other amps) Sold the Lonestar for a decent price and got the Simul Satellite almost for free :-) It is 28 kg on my scale, so it´s heavy and not for everybody.

 

Of course this is my personal opinion. Some of you out there might have better ears and are better tweaking the Helix than me :-)