Steve’s amp search 2004 had bled into Steve’s amp search 2005. At last count, my super amp to end all amps, my purple Divided by 13 boutique amp wasn’t quite the right fit for the band. It does have the best clean tone I think I have ever heard, but the gain channel is just a little too focused in this one frequency to mesh just right with Dave’s sound. I have been thinking about getting a more standard setup of a 100 watt head with cabinet by a non- boutique maker and see how that goes. Since Dave is playing his Marshall, I am trying to find something different (even though I love Marshalls) so we have some separation.

After the NAMM show, I went to the Mesa Boogie store in Hollywood and gave their new amps, the Stilletto and the Lonestar a try. The Lonestar had a great clean sound, but the gain sound wasn’t right for me, but the Stiletto sounded great. Wasn’t quite sure about the clean, but the dirty channel was sweet. Tim at Mesa let me try a rental of a Stilletto, a Lonestar, and their most popular amp, a Dual Rectifier. I had never even thought of a Recto, because I just assumed that it was a Nu-Metal amp, and not for me. After playing all 3, I found that I really liked the Recto. It is so much more than a super gain Nu Metal amp. The clean is really good, and the variety of dirty tones is wonderful. Also it has 3 separate channels, which is really cool, so I can have dirty, clean, and a midway dirty/clean. I have settled on the Dual Rectifier. Ordered a blue leather one. Would have gotten purple, but the purple was a little light, and the blue looks to be a really dark indigo color, almost purple. Should be ready in a few weeks. I have to say a really big thanks to Tim McKee from Mesa. He answered all of my questions and dealt with my search and was extremely helpful. I am keeping the rental Recto until the new blue amp is done, I used it for our showcase last Thursday, and will be bringing it to the studio for tracking this week.