Which Mesa build?

[Willybomb]

Gudday all.  Just thinking I need to build a Mesa Boogie style build.  Which one do you guys think is better?  The Triple Wreck, or Doctor Boogie?  I'm leaning towards the Triple Wreck with a different boost component...

(Speaking of Wampler, I just built the Sovereign on vero.  What a great circuit).

[sonnyboy27]

If you do end up building the triple wreck then just be warned that it is prone to some high frequency oscillation. Brian has talked in the past about how he had to go through a bunch of PCB revisions in order to keep the noise down in the circuit. I know that a bunch of folks who have built the vero versions have had that issue which is the only reason I bring it up.

[ShredderNemo]

I've built both the Triple Wreck and the Dr. Boogie, and the Dr. Boogie has much more gain on tap. I prefer JFET distortion, as it gets a lot closer to tube preamp distortion than op amp circuits do (in my experience). I built the Triple Wreck on vero and had no issues; it sounds great, but it doesn't get that 'saturated overdriven tube tone' that Mesa is renowned for.

[287m]

another mesa? like this?

[Matt]

I would try the Dr Boogie with a different tone stack.

[impycat1]

BSIAB

[WormBoy]

I would try the Dr Boogie with a different tone stack.

Which one would you advise and why?

I built a Triple Wreck some time ago on a FuzzDog PCB (voltage doubler on board and option to change the boost into an SHO), and no oscillations. There is noise, but not more than you would expect from a high-gain pedal, I guess. The Dr Boogie is on my wish list  .

Edit: the only 'issues' I have with the Triple Wreck is that it is heavy on the bass-side of the spectrum (all of the useful action of the bass knob is, for me, very close to zero), and it has a typical 'character' that you cannot get rid off (but if you like that heavy sound, it's great).

[JackSkellington]

I built the circuit of the Triple Wreck, sounds good. I could use the same noise gate part of the Tight Metal, but the noise is not so loud and it's pretty normal at high gain setting. I'm gonna replace the booster with the MXR Micro Amp, on front of the main circuit. It encreases the distortion without change the tone.

Or you can build the Tight Metal. I didn't try it, but it should have a lot of gain.

[Matt]

I would try the Dr Boogie with a different tone stack.

Which one would you advise and why?

I built a Triple Wreck some time ago on a FuzzDog PCB (voltage doubler on board and option to change the boost into an SHO), and no oscillations. There is noise, but not more than you would expect from a high-gain pedal, I guess. The Dr Boogie is on my wish list  .

Edit: the only 'issues' I have with the Triple Wreck is that it is heavy on the bass-side of the spectrum (all of the useful action of the bass knob is, for me, very close to zero), and it has a typical 'character' that you cannot get rid off (but if you like that heavy sound, it's great).

I just know that for me the doctor Boogie tonestack was overkill.
Can't say which one would be best. You'd just have to experiment. Maybe a simple hi-cut?

[Muadzin]

+1 for the Triple Wreck, if only to save yourself the pain in the ass of sourcing and matching the right JFET's. Just forgo the original boost and go for something else. Anything placed in front will sound a lot better. And I highly recommend the FuzzDog PCB. Which allows you to do exactly that.

[WormBoy]

+1 for the Triple Wreck, if only to save yourself the pain in the ass of sourcing and matching the right JFET's. Just forgo the original boost and go for something else. Anything placed in front will sound a lot better. And I highly recommend the FuzzDog PCB. Which allows you to do exactly that.

The FuzzDog PCB has the boost after the distortion, which is fine for boosting volume for a solo. But, you could probably mod it to have it before, if you want to get more distortion at the same volume.

Edit: it would not be too hard to mod, as the FuzzDog PCB has separate ins-outs for the distortion and the boost. But you would have to wire the footswitches yourself instead of using the daughterboard for the switches.

[JackSkellington]

Just forgo the original boost and go for something else. Anything placed in front will sound a lot better.

If someone had tried some boost before the disotrtion I ask to let us to know. I found in the Micro Amp a great replacement, it gives more gain. And at minimum setting doesn't cut the volume, on the contrary it would be an odd thing.

[impycat1]

I'm going to try that. The triple wreck boost sounds strange like a muffled fuzz. Your idea makes more sense.
Thanks for the info.

[JackSkellington]

If you have to use the Micro Amp before the Triple Wreck maybe you can benefit reducing the original 500k rev log, else it will be effective only on the last half. Not a big deal but you could make some test. I have to do it, too, but I have to wait a long time.

Let us to know your progress.

[Willybomb]

Someone here has done a triple wreck PCB with a tubescreamer as the boost.  Thier name fails me right now but I have the files for it...