Mesa's Sweetest Sounding Amp | Lonestar Special

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00:00 - Intro
01:05 - CH1 Strat Tones
06:27 - CH1 LP Tones
07:27 - CH2 LP Tones
08:29 - CH2 Strat Tones
10:39 - CH2 Voicing Switch
11:42 - All the Gain
12:19 - Mark Series Tones?
14:02 - Master Volume Cranked
15:25 - Ultimate Blues Amp?
16:43 - Rock'n'Roll Tones
18:11 - Closing Thoughts

[@LeonTodd]

What's your favourite Mesa amp?

[@Wadey1960CS]

I Love my Mesa Mark 5:25 head… so versatile.

[@davidmccarroll3217]

Ha - you're holding it in this video! Bought one years ago when my AC30 started making horrible disintegrating sounds (mainly because it was disintegrating.....) - What I actually wanted was a Soldano Reverb O Sonic, but, yeah good luck with that one at that particular point in history in Australia. So, bit sad about that I did what any self respecting gear addict would do and went to the pub, got drunk and contemplated what else might do the job, deciding that, yes, EL84s do sound pretty darn awesome! Next morning I woke up with a slightly fuzzy head and a feeling I might have done something a bit too spur of the moment then shrugged that feeling off (....... nah, me? never!) - the same evening I get a call from the bookstore that pick up all my many internet purchases: "ummmmm..... David, there's a big box here from some guys in Canberra, it's very heavy......." oops. Anyway - despite that the Lonestar Special proved to be the most awesome amp I have ever owned, and I still love it just as much today despite having largely migrated to one of them Fractal work of the devil boxes 😀

[@caelmcleish1212]

JP2C!

[@jonholland6067]

Roadking II or royal Atlantic. Tough to pick!

[@therickyrod]

Vox AC 15 (British) and Tweaker 15…it’s low key my fave pedal platform amp.

[@michaelarthurmusic307]

I played a 1x12 Lonestar Special for 10+ years. Were it not for my Kingsley Dumble clone I would still be using the Lonestar. Great video as usual.

[@caelmcleish1212]

That sounds fantastic!!

[@MyCrazyDogs32]

Well, I'm now inspired to go home and fire up my Lonestar Special.

[@LeonTodd]

Enjoy!

[@llamasjosue]

great video leon. these are fantastic pedal platforms!

[@LeonTodd]

Yeah they're voiced to make music

[@philby8]

Great idea to always keep the front panel on screen ! I should have done that on my recent demo of this amp

[@aonortac]

By far the best clean platform Mesa has ever produced...

[@albertarmen4839]

Yea, by far the best showcasing of the LSS out there. Thank you mate. My best speaker arrangement to date has been a v30 + Scumback M75 but dang those Reapers sounded most excellent. If I ever think about letting mine go, I'll just watch this vid and come back to my senses. :)

[@peterdadswell7998]

I want the amp (GAS) badly, love the channel and really like the Golds in the BG Strat. Great playing man...

[@gtrchum]

This is hands down the best demonstration of the Lonestar. I super appreciate that you prioritize staying IN TUNE! Slick slow hand licks and you really captured the essence of this amp. My favorite part was the Les Paul feedback note.....Rocking. 🤙

[@LeonTodd]

Too kind mate!

[@fytakytemusic]

My exact amp! I love it! Had it for around 15 years… a definite keeper and extremely versatile which you well demonstrated here. For super Marshally tones, run a Vox Big Ben into channel 2 with the drive all the way up, and then into a Marshall cab loaded with 25 watt Greenbacks…Riff heaven, very similar to the last tone you demonstrated in the video!

[@TheNewRevive]

Great review of a smoking amp. I've had a few trade offers for a vintage twin or an ac30 but I kept with this legend. I feel like it will only continue to be revered as time goes on. Great playing Todd, I run mine through an fm3 with compressor, bb pre, suhr box and some other fx.

[@LeonTodd]

Nice rig! Yeah these are destined to become classics IMO

[@neilmcleish9014]

Hands down THE BEST instructional video of this amp on the internet... and I do reckon I’ve watched them all. Honestly, Mesa should hire you to demo all their gear Leon.

[@LeonTodd]

They know where to find me ;)

[@markbeard2220]

Thanks Leon. I agree with Neil on both fronts. Your review of the LS Special is unmatched. I bought my 1x12 Special during covid lockdown and was unable to play it before buying - had to trust the mostly shoddy online demos. Thankfully I love the amp and wish i’d seen your demo two years ago - but no matter. i bought it… I love it. I’d also vote for you to be an official Mesa Boogie artist! Love your channel, it’s killer.

[@evannovitzke]

Buy me one Leon!! Lol sounds fantastic!! I feel like those amps are in a low key sweet spot in the amp industry! Mesa Boogie hits

[@tacdoc8736]

Great review. As an old school metal guy who found blues later in life, I really dig the Lonestar Special. I run mine in stereo with a Morgan MVP23, each with Creamback loaded extensions cabs. Combined with a well rounded pedalboard its a rig that’s capable of doing anything I could want or need to play with my mediocre skills. 🤘🏻

[@LeonTodd]

That sounds like an amazing rig!

[@chrisact9601]

A mate of mine has the 4x10" Lonestar combo and it is a brilliant amp. Really versatile and sounds stellar.

[@toast180]

The secret sauce with these things is throwing a compressor/limiter at it and then boost the signal with a BB preamp to get into that Andy Timmons zone. BB Preamp into a Blues Driver for some more grit and add all the lush modulation effects. It's gorgeous!

[@MikeSalopek]

What toast said! Yessir!!

[@8sigreg]

Timmons does it and gets a good sound, but I’ve never understood why because by itself it can cover those sounds. I’ve had several Mesas but this is my favorite.

[@lsearchw]

…Or just plug a cable straight in. There’s no need for all that extra brand-specific stuff!

[@cpainyourass]

My favorite amp. I have gone through dozens of amps and I now just have a lonestar special with matching 1x12 extension cab and a 1967 fender bandmaster head I converted to a 1x12 combo.

[@LeonTodd]

That's a glorious rig

[@bushflyn]

Thanks Leon. I picked up a LS in Australia and after one hour of testing then rolling it back against the wall, I realised it had left a rectangular scorch mark on the wooden floor where I had played it, this amplifier has sooo much hot sauce. Tex Mex alright. Damn! I dig this amp!!

[@LeonTodd]

Fiery!

[@raybeeger1529]

I love the Mesa Lonestar clean tone with the lush valve driven spring reverb. But I have the Lonestar classic 2 x 12" and that thing is fantastic!

[@LeonTodd]

Very nice!

[@ourlifeinwyoming4654]

Love mine - just wow! Yeah, I use it for country/single coil clean. Mine is the El84, single speaker version. It's a great amp. Can't fathom why they discontinued them. Great job on this demo/review!

[@LeonTodd]

Beautiful amps.

[@PerryCodes]

Lovely naturally compressed sound.

[@HyperBlueZYZ]

I’m a tweed man so the Cali 40w combo was a killer upgrade (and stereo companion) to my Blues Deluxe. Let’s Boogie!

[@Telewest792]

When you pair this amp with a 65 deluxe reissue and send the wet signal to the effects loop in the mesa it becomes heaven in the ears I’m one of the lucky ones to jump on this amp when they first came out and a 65 fender deluxe and i have never looked back great playing Leon

[@sunetvardsky8685]

So like, guitar into ls, ls into 65, 65 into ls effect loop? 🤔

[@jstephenrussell6443]

I remember when they came out with the Lone Star, it's a really nice sounding amp.

[@beesong2450]

thanks for the IRs i used one with an lonestar amp sim. sounds real good with a strat

[@LeonTodd]

Great to hear!

[@SteeltheGodsandFate]

Easily the best review of this amp on KZbin, thanks. You don't need me to tell you you're a fine player, but you're a fine player.

[@michaelhagan7398]

Hey Leon, thanks for doing this video! I really want one of these amps. Some constructive feedback, take it or leave it (this probably goes for most amp review videos). In removing the amp's noise or hum from the audio we lose a lot of the 'air' sound and maybe some of the delicate clicks of what it's like when your fingers touch the strings and things like that. Everything sounds very compressed instead of dynamic and open. Or maybe the amp is really silent? On the other hand the tone does come through and you're playing is fantastic!

[@peterdadswell7998]

Ok Leon, first up, you must be one strong dude the way you handled this amp. Damn thing ways a ton. Second up. You cost me a lot of money. Thanks to you I had to find and buy one. Thirdly, thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Im a Fender guy but I love the thick cleans of this amp. Not as loud as my Twin but a thicker creamier clean that has me rethinking my idea of cleans. Back to the weight, i did need to remove the chassis to do a small repair and the amp itself is quite light. The cab with the amp removed is still really heavy and could use a couple of neo speakers for weight. Great layout and loves the Helix effects into the front. Early days but so far so good. Thanks for the great demo and keep on rockin......😅

[@peterharvin2775]

That thing has so much warmth you just want to snuggle up to it.

[@LeonTodd]

The Fathead actually gets the vibe in the room across quite nicely. Will have to use that one more for demos.

[@dfkuipers]

What a sound!!!

[@marklawrence9416]

Brilliant review and playing - I’ve owned my Mesa LSS for over 15 years, only criticism is it weighs a ton. 🤣🤣🤣

[@Starch1b2c3d4a]

Leon was born to play this amp

[@LeonTodd]

It's a beautiful machine

[@vincentlp1]

Would love a comparaison between that and the mark iv clean!

[@DarthPreamp]

Great video as usual! If you like the Lonestar, you should try the Mesa Blue Angel 4x10 😁😁

[@LeonTodd]

!!!

[@mikedenkinger9570]

Agree. If you can find one...a rare gem.

[@delachance7861]

Yes ,enfin un vrai son de d amplis ❤❤❤

[@ThatIrishCowboy]

PRS and Mesa are like PB&J. Gibson knew this.

[@Wileylikethehawk]

Had two of these and they were always just a bit too glassy for me…. That being said I’d like to try one again. One of those amps you just want to love.

[@nonsense2369]

Just discovered how amazing this amp sounds when you crank DOWN the mids. I know! Wild….it goes against everything I understand about tone shaping in amps but hey 🤷‍♂️ it’s a game changer.

[@boonfire3714]

Love mine!

[@jonbigg7385]

Love that Lonestar sound! Any chance you could do a vid comparing it to the Texas Star models in the Axe?

[@LeonTodd]

Yes I can

[@harumann]

Send it to Cliff!! We want it modeled 😄 Thank you for the great demo

[@LeonTodd]

You got it!

[@harumann]

@@LeonTodd Oh, yes!!! It is called Texas Star. I never imagined that it was the Mesa Combo, so I never used it. LET'S PLAY! 😃

[@LeonTodd]

@@harumann I think the Fractal model is based on the Lonestar classic rather than the special

[@AlexandreCriado]

The Drive channel reminds me a lot of the V-Twin preamp

[@studiodw12]

I have already tried this Tweed Lone Star model, with a Gibson LP Deluxe 2015 mini-humbucker my favorite couple overall (but too expensive for me now) also try with firebird ♥

[@larslevinberget9558]

I came here because of the Lonestar 1x12" model in the NUX MG-30 and Andy Timmons :)

[@wheresallthezombies]

I’m so curious how these and the bogner shiva compare. I play indie, post rock, and post metal. So now all my tones come from my pedalboard. I really only use amp distortion when I’m at home goofing around. I kind of prefer pedal distortion. Anyway, it’s been fun looking at amps with nice clean channels. I’m trying not go full on fender amp, just because I feel like that’s boring. Ha.

[@dlpasco]

god damnit, Leon, I do NOT need another amp

[@dlpasco]

I think Mesa would have sold WAY more of these if they'd handed one to you to demo it.

[@LeonTodd]

It's a pearler isn't it!

[@SnappyJCM800]

There was one of those lone stars at my local shop and the guy had it custom with all figured maple shell instead of tolex in a natural finish and it looked and sounded amazing. Crazy thing is that guy buys everything in pairs so he had a stereo rig of them at one point. Wish I had the $2500 to buy it but someone beat me to it

[@LeonTodd]

😯

[@brucesguitardemos8197]

Second hand 1,000-1400 bud !

[@kasakka]

The Lonestar Classic is one of the nicest lower gain amps Mesa has made. I liked the Special a bit less but its low end is easier to control. The Fractal Axe-Fx 3 model of the LSC is great and can probably be turned into a LS Special by changing powertubes to EL84 or something.

[@LeonTodd]

I'd love to buy this amp but the form factor just makes it a bit unwieldy. Will have to dig into the fractal until i can find a Lonestar classic head :p

[@8sigreg]

@@LeonToddt’s pretty easy to get close to the Special’s sound. Besides changing the output tubes I used different Cab settings, and messed with the speaker impedance curve. I look forward hearing what you come up with. Yeah, it’s pretty heavy. The good thing is it comes with castors so I can roll it to the car, then into wherever I’m using it, tip it on its side, remove the wheels, and tip it back so it’s firing straight at the guitar and my ears. That sustain is just too much fun. :-)

[@angusorvid8840]

This is the single best amp Mesa have ever engineered.

[@justsomerandomguyman]

Have you played a Mesa Fillmore? Curious how the Lonestar fairs against it.

[@mikedenkinger9570]

Best clean from a Mesa? Perhaps... What abot the TransAtlantic TA-15 or TA-30?

[@christianlacheze3323]

Agreed, best clean sound I ever heard (except perhaps a ‘57 Deluxe or a Music Man HD130 ). Only con , as shown in the video: it is very heavy indeed.

[@mentoneman]

would be curious to hear this amp clean with your emg strat, dbx comp, the rack rig and real speakers!🙏🤙🏽♥️🥳

[@LeonTodd]

I think this thing would handle drippy 80's tones with utmost confidence!

[@lbarj]

Mini Rectifier Twenty-Five. from clean to mean. Really rips with a 4 X 12.

[@evannovitzke]

What pedals would you use with that amp using the clean and drive channels, plus would you do like a dry/wet setup with that?

[@LeonTodd]

I'll do a video explaining just that!

[@jmproductions59]

Leon, this is all great but very teasing for an amp that is almost impossible to get 😢

[@Jay-nu1bk]

So the australians keep pinching stuff from New Zealand for example: Crowded House, Phar lap, Russel Crowe just to name a few. Here is another example, Leon is so good he has to be a Kiwi. lol I love listening to your playing 🎸🎸🤙🤙

[@LeonTodd]

hahaha I'll gladly take honorary kiwi status!

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

What glorious tone! Isn't this the amp that the dude from Danger Danger uses? I can't remember his name. He plays an Ibanez Strat basically.. With Dimarzios. Sounds great and I love those laces too! The best are those Suhr pickups you have in your yellow strat though.> God those are just too cool.. 🤟🤘❤

[@LeonTodd]

Andy Timmons! Yep :)

[@kutsbothways]

Iove the Ionestar, not sure why they have discontinued them. Before the Special came along I sat down to the Ionestar in a music store and was blown away by the clean and miId overdrive sounds...then I tried to Lift it and the 2x12 modeI was easily in the territory of my oId Super Reverb weight wise. A Special 1x12 might be answer, though I don't suspect used prices wiII go down anytime soon,

[@cchavezjr7]

I believe I read somewhere they said they are having issues with getting the right parts now for it. Supply chain is crap for many things now.

[@peterpigna9505]

Mesa Numbers one

[@brucesguitardemos8197]

❤

[@1911american]

Are the rhythm licks at 8:52 and 9:14 improvised or are they from a song?? Great playing. That strat tone is everything I want 🙌

[@LeonTodd]

I wish! That's Day of the Eagle from Robin Trower

[@1911american]

@@LeonTodd awesome thanks!!

[@scottagar6061]

Do these amps get noisy..hiss and hum even at low volumes? Every Boogie I've had was very hissy.

[@markholmes2665]

Question, if I may....right off the bat, in the clean channel, with the gain at noon and the master volume of the channel at around 10 o'clock.....how are you getting any signal at all with the master output at zero?

[@LeonTodd]

You can disable/enable the master and fx loop seperately

[@markholmes2665]

@@LeonTodd Thank you! I was a bit confused looking at your settings! I have a Nomad 45, and it has a similar configuration of gain/volume for the channel with a global master volume....I was loving your demo, but thinking "how the hell is he doing that??" Great sounding amp!

[@LeonTodd]

"it's so loud it just leaks out maaaan"

[@jonholland6067]

Day of the eagle. Mr trower, very nice Leon!

[@LeonTodd]

Trower is life!

[@dantahoua]

What is life without feedback? ... :)

[@LeonTodd]

:D

[@neilmcleish9014]

❤❤❤

[@LeonTodd]

Such a great amp!

[@hansgrayman4809]

Yeah I love that amp. The tone we hear is of course the culmination of all the variabies. The amp, the tubes that are in it, the speakers, the mic/s used to mic it. The preamp it was run through, if there was one used,.. etc, etc.. But that's one of the best sounding amps ever made to me. And I love EL84 tone. I also have no use for anything above 50 watts anymore, and even then there too loud. The WGS speakers are fantastic, but I have fallen for the Retro 30's these days. They would likely make the tone out of the amp a bit tighter and more articulate. But that base tone is still great. You and I have very similar tastes in tone Leon. Not exact but similar. My Mark V rig gets almost exactly the tone I want in combination with the Line 6 HX Effects I use. And what it doesn't is due to the HX Effects actual effects being really good for me, but not completely perfect. It does all the effects I need and makes overall use with being able to set up and switch between the refined snapshots you can't get with analog pedals, but the true analog pedals still sound a bit better to me. But only a little, making it not worth the difference there. Andy Timmons gets some amazing tones out of the Lonestar's he uses and I could definitely see myself getting one down the road. I've decided to leave Fractal and other amp modelers behind since I really only use the Mesa mods and when it comes down to it, the real thing is the real thing. This 2-12 combo is way too much to lug around for me anymore though. I would buy a 1-12 combo with a matching 1-12 cab to add on when I want it. If I could find it. The gain on this is actual fine for me. I never set my gain above 4 and change on my Mark V and use overdrive pedals for that little extra for rhythm and leads. With the gain very low, mainly using the voicing to refine the tone. I don't know if you have one around still, though I've watched your review of it, but I would really enjoy seeing you use the HX Effects with the Lonestar and work up some good snapshots to really push the tone you can out of the amp with effects. Because as good as the amp sounds on its own, it's still just the foundation of tone for rock players like us. To then refine and shape with effects to get that greasy tone we love. If you don't have an HX Effects, than just pushing the tone you can get out it with the effects from everything else you do have is still great. Thanks for another great video. 👍

[@hansgrayman4809]

Wow, that was a long comment. This is what happens when you review a Lonestar and I watch it over morning coffee, still waking up. 😁

[@LeonTodd]

I enjoyed every second of it!

[@hansgrayman4809]

@@LeonTodd Well that's good. 😁

[@777james777]

How about making some Helix presets based on this amp?

[@LeonTodd]

Soon!

[@Shakesbeard1]

Awesome! What riff is it at 13:55? killer!

[@LeonTodd]

RATT - Lay it Down

[@alexdenton6586]

That or a boss katana ?

[@clemkelly2159]

Why the frig did they stop making these

[@LeonTodd]

It's the perfect amp for anyone who doesn't need insane high gain

[@chrisosborneband4941]

you should try the road king - it has the lone star circuit in channel 1

[@LeonTodd]

The very first recording Ragdoll ever did we tracked guitars using a Roadking. I wasn't that into it for the material we were doing at the time and we ended up re-tracking those songs with an old marshall that worked way better. I later tried a Roadster that sounded AMAZING and really got me into Mesa's properly.

[@Jalliams]

Have read / heard the same thing about the Mesa Multi-Watt Dual & Triple rectos. Not sure it’s the Road King that has that circuit, could be wrong!

[@stevecastor4298]

Never owned a Mesa, but in the market just the same...looking to grow..is this a tune amp? Have been looking at the Mark 5 for sometime...and recommendations for a little over beginner player, right now I have a code50, but haven't been using any amp at all..know this is wrong of me, looking to change??

[@LeonTodd]

Mark V or Lone Star would be amps you could play for the rest of your days and never get tired of. Amazing amps.

[@stevecastor4298]

@@LeonTodd Is the Lonestar a Tube Amp

[@what1864]

voxy goodness ....

[@Intense011]

stating the obvious but channel 2 strat on the neck sounds like Andy Timmons. Listen to AT for tons of stuff with the Lonestar, tone for days

[@philby8]

The Lonestar Special is indeed "special". I bought it almost one year ago and it still surprises me in many ways. First of all, the EQ knobs are extremely sensitive an can really transform the sound. A little trick for y'all : If you think you're lacking gain, just turn up the treble knob (you'll hear the difference)

[@darwinsaye]

Mmmm… Lobster Special…

[@kevinmitchell8340]

I had one of these years ago. Great amp which got stolen in 2010.

[@LeonTodd]

Shame :(

[@CeyhanCaglar]

13:40 that should be illegal

[@LeonTodd]

Ch0nky hey

[@scottlevine5030]

Theres more gain available in this amp too. I can see you aren't using the effects loop because you have the master volume and boost all the way down. If you kick in the effects loop, you get another gain stage controllable by the effects send knob on the back. Point it to the "+" and it sounds fantastic. Also, the drive knob can be modified to be footswitchable. This makes it effectively 3 levels of gain and two levels of volume available at all times. Its a great old school gigging amp.

[@javierthewish]

How is that drive knob to pedal modification?

[@scottlevine5030]

@@javierthewish I had it done by a shop, but essentially, you switch the reverb footswittch jack under the chassis to a stereo jack and wire the reveb back up to it. And the you just take a wire from the drive switch and hook it to the unused contact on the stereo jack. Plug in a two button footswitch, and now you have footswitchable reverb and drive.

[@javierthewish]

@@scottlevine5030 thank you for the info. I have that amp, the 1x12 version. I am looking forward to do that mod.

[@Victor-tl5eg]

I have own one since 2008, does everything, great clean sound, BUT I wish I would have purchased as a head, the second channel bass is too much, it will mechanically damage the power tubes when loud, speaker too close to tubes, not a fan of combo amps.

[@LeonTodd]

Yeah if this was the ehad version i'd buy it.

[@nbmadison]

I may be selling the head version of mine soon, if anyone is looking.

[@dakotajennings8009]

😢his amp was discontinued and is increasing in price every dsy

[@dlpasco]

squee

[@frankquinn1296]

Why do you have the output at 0