Only Mesa/Boogie would release an amp
with such versatility that the manual would
be bigger than the amp itself. There’s a clear
trend toward building lunchbox-sized amp,
and Mesa makes no attempt to hide the fact
that they are late to the parade with their
TransAtlantic TA-15. But unlike many of its
competitors, Mesa brings more to the table
than just shrinkage.
Sizing It Up
 | Download Example 1 HI1 Setting, 5W |
| Download Example 2 HI2 Setting, 5 W |
| Download Example 3 Top Boost Setting, 5W |
| Download Example 4 Tweed Setting, 5W |
| All samples recorded with a Gibson SG (bridge pup) and matching Mesa/Boogie 1x12" cabinet. | |
From left to right, the TA-15’s control panel features two rugged input jacks—one for your guitar and one for the single-button footswitch. Scanning Channel 1’s knobs, we have Volume, Treble, Bass, and Cut/Master, the latter of which is the only push/pull knob on the amp. When pushed in, the knob functions as an inverted Presence control (the sound gets darker as you go clockwise). Pulled out, it functions as a master volume for Channel 1, allowing you to drive this “clean side” of the amp into delicious overdrive. The Treble and Bass knobs furnish a pretty wide range of EQ attenuation, however, if you’re really into midrange you may find that it’s a bit trickier to dial it in without a dedicated control. Channel 2 dispenses with the push/pull knob and gives you a straight Master knob, in addition to Gain, Treble, and Bass knobs.
The TransAtlantic also features 4- and 8-ohm speaker outs, and the exceptionally well-written manual illustrates numerous cabinet configurations. I tested the TransAtlantic with a matching 1x12" Mesa open-back cabinet. Loaded with a 90-watt Black Shadow speaker designed for Mesa by Celestion, this nifty cab easily accommodated the TransAtlantic’s wide variety of tones. The amp head also comes with a padded gig bag. Sweet!
Meet the Toggle Switches
A bank of five mini toggles separates the knobs for Channels 1 and 2. Two switches are dedicated to Channel 1, two are dedicated to Channel 2, and one toggles between channels or allows footswitching. Each channel has a toggle to select a voicing and wattage. For Channel 1, the voicing options are Normal and Top Boost. Normal yields a good, standard clean tone with lots of headroom. Top Boost provides us with our first TransAtlantic journey to the UK, home of Vox amplifiers. Much like the fine AC30, this channel is crisp and articulate, and boasts an open low end. This setting allows your fretting technique to shine by preserving every subtle, touch-sensitive nuance as you glide and slide over the strings. Top Boost also delivers that faithfully dirty crunch that may become harsh if you’re not paying attention to your EQ settings. A simple tweak of the EQ allows those singing midrange tones through. Playing with this Top Boost voicing, I found myself losing track of time under the influence of infectious pop songs from Liverpool.
Each TransAtlantic channel also has a three-position toggle to switch between 5-, 15-, and 25-watt operation. It’s not often guitarists get the chance to clearly experience the sound power tubes make when they approach their limits. Even a 35-watt amp can pummel your eardrums to the point where your ability to discern the subtle effect of power-tube drive is diminished. One way to experience the effect is to record at high volumes and listen on studio reference monitors at low volumes. But most guitarists know there’s no substitute for the direct, speaker-to-string-to-pickup cycle to make an amplifier dance.
With the amp still in Channel 1’s Top Boost voicing, I switched to the 5-watt power setting (which doesn’t require powering down or hitting standby). With the Volume at 10 o’clock and the Master/Cut knob pulled, I was able to use the Master volume to put the power tubes to work. As the Master volume goes up, the sound changes from subtle compression to limiting, and finally to a gentle overdrive at about 2 o’clock. What I’m trying and inevitably failing to describe is my favorite TransAtlantic setting: Channel 1’s Vox-inspired, low-watt, power-tube drive. It breathes, it’s responsive, it sustains, and the touch sensitivity inspires musical expression. This multi-watt design adds tons of flexibility to an already capable amplifier. A cool feature I’d like to see is multi-watt selection and voicing selection via the footswitch.
Now that I’ve admitted to my favorite amp setting, let’s not pretend that it’s a downhill slope from there. The three-position voicing toggle on Channel 2 selects between Tweed, HI 1, and HI 2. Mesa’s intent is for these to sound like a tweed Fender, a Marshall, and a classic Mark-series Boogie, respectively. Channel 2 sends us back across the pond to Southern California, where Leo Fender’s game-changing amplifiers were unveiled in the late 1940s. With the amp in the Tweed voicing, I definitely heard that unmistakable Fender spank and thud. Tweeds and early Bassmans are known for their amazingly punchy dynamic range and the smooth, chiming overdrive they emit when you push them, and these Fender amps birthed most rock-and- roll guitar amp circuits. It’s a daunting task for a lunchbox amp to recreate this, and while the TransAtlantic’s sound is fabulous, the voicing sounded more like a Bassman than a Tweed to my ears.
I happen to own a late-’60s Bassman, and I love everything it has to offer. Bringing up the Bass on the TransAtlantic’s Tweed setting edged ever closer to that elusive Bassman punch. With the Gain at 2 o’clock, the TransAtlantic sounded like a boosted mini Bassman. Without a midrange control, I wasn’t able to exactly dial in my Bassman, but I never expected the TransAtlantic to get this close. Very impressive—and we’re only halfway through the voicings.
The TransAtlantic takes us back to the UK with the next voicing, HI 1, which pays tribute to the Marshall legacy. My instinct was to dime the gain and see how far it would go. In this setting, the attack was quick, the mids sliced, and the lows were slightly compressed, with plenty of dynamic reach. You’re not going to get all the way to modern metal tones, but you’ll definitely achieve early shred tones. While my fingers reminisced on some of Kirk Hammett’s earliest riffs, my ears soaked up the capable EL84 power section. These power amp tubes pay an excellent tribute to the EL34s typically found in Marshalls. I liked this setting dimed, with flat EQ and the output switched to 15 watts. This delivered that signature British low-end tightness and allowed my speakers to reach their full range of motion.
Our final TransAtlantic voyage takes us back to Cali for the HI 2 gain setting. There’s a lot to say about this setting, but I can sum it up with a question. Who does Boogie better than Mesa? HI 2 is a slightly modified version of Mesa’s own high-gain design pulled from their legendary Mark series. It shouldn’t surprise you that the TransAtlantic is not going to produce enough bass to crack plaster and induce tinnitus. Low-wattage amps that attempt to deliver too much bass will inevitably sacrifice important high and mid frequencies— it’s physics.
What’s important is that Mesa successfully scaled their signature sound into a unit that will give Mesa fans a chance to experience this lush distortion at room volumes. For players who want an authentic Boogie tone onstage and in the studio, you’ve now got a comparable tool for practicing and writing. I liked pairing the HI 2 and 25-watt settings, a combination that yielded extended headroom.
The Final Mojo
With the TransAtlantic, Mesa set a lofty goal—make a tiny, lightweight, sonically excellent alltube amp that’s capable of many popular voicings. And they succeeded. The TransAtlantic is as versatile as most other amp makers’ full-sized heads. While it doesn’t attempt to sail into uncharted sonic realms, it packs a ton of tones and features into a tiny footprint. And that makes it an amazing tone machine for practical guitarists of many stripes.
Buy if...
the idea of an all tube, multi-voiced, multi-watt practice amp excites you.
Skip if...
you have no volume constraints and/ or someone else schleps your gear.
Rating...
Street $899 - Mesa Engineering - mesaboogie.com |
Effects Bakery MECHA-PAN BAKERY Series MECHA-BAGEL OVERDRIVE
Konnichiwa, guitar lovers! 🎸✨
Are you ready to add some sweetness to your pedalboard? Let’s dive into the adorable world of the Effects Bakery Mecha-Pan Overdrive, part of the super kawaii Mecha-Pan Bakery Series!
🍩 Sweet Treats for Your Ears! 🍩
The Mecha-Pan Overdrive is like a delicious bagel for your guitar tone, but it’s been upgraded to a new level of cuteness and functionality!
Effects Bakery has taken their popular Bagel OverDrive and given it a magical makeover. Imagine your favorite overdrive sound but with more elegance and warmth – it’s like hugging a fluffy cat while playing your guitar!
Resistance to digital amps might just be futile at this point. Many tunes you hear—and an increasing number of live gigs—feature a bit of faux-tube tone somewhere in the mix. But while the sound of pro-level modelers can be nearly indistinguishable from their analog counterparts in a mix, the feel and simplicity of a real amplifiers remain appealing and even indispensable to many players. That said, modelers that make usability, convenience, and price priorities can convince even die-hard tube users to see what’s on the other side of the fence. IK Multimedia’s TONEX ONE is one modeling device that might make the cut. It’s likely the smallest, most portable modeler out there. And at $179, it’s easily the most affordable.
Big Tones, Tiny Controls
The TONEX ONE isn’t designed to put a million different options at your feet, and that economy may be the unit’s strongest feature. It features several different modes, but the primary operating mode allows you to either switch between two different models, or simply use the unit as a stompbox. Each model can be an amp, an amp and cab, a pedal, or a pedal driving an amp and cab. Judging by how deep the online repository tone.net is for user-created presets, the options are nearly endless, which speaks to the already sizable user base. It’s a little strange to consider a modeler in a package this small with so few controls. There’s a large main knob that controls volume and gain (when you’re in ALT mode), and above that are three illuminated mini knobs that control the 3-band EQ, gate, compression, and reverb. You can also plug your headphones directly into the pedal, which makes it a dynamite silent practice amp.
My experience with modelers is that high-gain tones and clean tones are relatively easy to achieve and typically very good. After unboxing the TONEX ONE, I loaded up a slightly dirty Vox-style amp to evaluate the edge-of-breakup tones. I paired the pedal with humbuckers (with a coil split option), Stratocaster single coils, and P-90s in a T-style solidbody. With each one, the Vox-style amp was punchy and clear but could also range to very nice higher-gain sounds. Naturally, each version of a modeled amp offers different gain structures, so it pays to experiment. Combining the humbuckers in a PRS SE DGT with a few hot-rodded Marshall emulations and the growl offered tones nearly as good as those from much more expensive modelers. In a blind test, I’m not sure I could hear—or feel—much of a difference. As I explored further and fine-tuned things a bit more, the ToneX One felt more alive in my hand,s and sounded much less shrill in the top end than other digital solutions I’ve encountered.
One of the most obvious tone fixers in a modeler—and maybe one of the most underutilized—is the EQ section, and kudos are due to IK for placing those controls at the fore. Being able to adjust the most immediate tone-shaping options without having to dig through menus or touchscreens is a pleasure.
There are many possible uses for the TONEX ONE. It can serve as a high-quality direct solution on your pedalboard, a portable recording interface, and a plug-and-play practice solution when high volume is a no-go. One handy setup I tried was disabling the cabinet emulation in the pedal and then plugging into the effects return of a combo amp, in this case, a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I immediately imagined many backline amp headaches being a thing of the past. You can always plug directly into a flat-response cabinet or PA system too.
Because it has such a small footprint and streamlined controls, harnessing the unit’s full potential, and accessing all the different modes, takes a bit of effort. You can store 20 different presets within the pedal and assign them to any of the three active slots (two for dual mode and one for stomp mode). And although doing this on the fly is handy, I found it much easier to program the presets via the easy-to-use desktop editor.
The Verdict
TONEX ONE benefits from a rather singular focus and its biggest advantage is that it’s not shrouded in unnecessary layers of tweakable options. You can simply load up a base sound or two, drop it at the end of your pedalboard, and go.The included software allows you create your own models and makes swapping presets easy. I did find the multitude of modes, and their color-coded indicators, a bit confusing at times, but IK’s documentation was very clear and got me through any trouble spots. The TONEX ONE would serve well to those who want to explore digital modeling but still hold on to their analog pedalboards, and at $179 it’s a steal.
If 3 Were 6
With six times the controls found on the 1 and 2 versions (if you discount the original’s on/off slider switch,) the LPB-3’s control complement offers pre-gain, boost, mid freq, bass, treble, and mid knobs, with a center detent on the latter three so you can find the midpoint easily. A mini-toggle labeled “max” selects between 20 dB and 33 dB of maximum gain, and another labeled “Q” flips the resonance of the mid EQ between high and low. Obviously, this represents a significant expansion of the LPB’s capabilities.
More than just a booster with a passive tone, the LPB-3 boasts a genuine active EQ stage plus parametric midrange section, comprising the two knobs with shaded legends, mid freq and mid level. The gain stages have also been reimagined to include a pre-gain stage before the EQ, which enables up to 20 dB of input gain. The boost stage that follows the EQ is essentially a level control with gain to allow for up to 33 dB of gain through the LPB-3 when the “max” mini toggle is set to 33dB
A slider switch accessible inside the pedal selects between buffered or true bypass for the hard-latch footswitch. An AC adapter is included, which supplies 200mA of DC at 9.6 volts to the center-negative power input, and EHX specifies that nothing supplying less than 120mA or more than 12 volts should be used. There’s no space for an internal battery.
Power-Boosted
The LPB-3 reveals boatloads of range that betters many linear boosts on the market. There’s lots of tone-shaping power here. Uncolored boost is available when you want it, and the preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.
“The preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.”
I found the two mid controls work best when used judiciously, and my guitars and amps preferred subtle changes pretty close to the midpoint on each. However, there are still tremendous variations in your mid boost (or scoop, for that matter) within just 15 or 20 percent range in either direction from the center detent. Pushing the boost and pre-gain too far, particularly with the 33 dB setting engaged, can lead to some harsh sounds, but they are easy to avoid and might even be desirable for some users that like to work at more creative extremes.
The Verdict
The new LPB-3 has much, much more range than its predecessors, providing flexible preamp, boost, and overdrive sounds that can be reshaped in significant ways via the powerful EQ. It gives precise tone-tuning flexibility to sticklers that like to match a guitar and amp to a song in a very precise way, but also opens up more radical paths for experimentalists. That it does all this at a $129 price is beyond reasonable.
Electro-Harmonix Lpb-3 Linear Power Booster & Eq Effect Pedal Silver And Blue
