It happened.

$800 for a near mint condition MESA/Boogie Lonestar Classic 2x12, 6 MESA 6L6 replacement tubes, 4 MESA 12AX7 replacement pre-amp tubes, a Shure SM57 studio microphone, and a Snark tuner. That's ~$2150 worth of gear... for $800. The circumstances in which this amp ended up in my possession are a bit unfortunate (guy stuck in a rut, homeless, needs cash immediately for damage deposit for a new apartment), but **** happens and our gear saves us, I had to sell 6 years worth of guitars and amps to go to school in 2011. I only had half an hour last night to play around with it, and at the lowest possible volumes while switched to 10W, clean channel, but even that was ****ing romantic. The clean tones on this amp are overwhelmingly beautiful, I've been desperately chasing '65 Deluxe Reverb tones since I got my Telecaster last year but couldn't bring myself to buy a Fender amp because, while I'm absolutely smitten with their cleans, I just can't get comfortable with their overdrive. The Lonestar is one of the only amps on Earth, certainly the only MESA/Boogie amp, that is entirely capable of producing nearly spot on Fender blackface clean tones, Fender tweed overdrive tones, and classic MESA crunch / lead tones, with no pedals or effects in the way. This is made possible by independently switchable channel power ratings, AC voltage control (for tweed tones), independently adjustable spring reverb settings for both channels, and two 12'' C90 Celestion speakers (slightly modified Celestion Classic Lead 80s). I need to spend a lot more time with it before I can really say it's the best amp I've ever owned and possibly ever will own, but with the new gear buzz raging inside of my head right now, I can't stress the beauty of this amp enough, it's insanely versatile.

http://i.imgur.com/byxZnQ8.jpg?1

Good score!

Most excellent!

Finally got a chance to do a side by side comparison of my Lonestar and Single Rectifier, as well as run the Lonestar through my external Laney IRT212 cab. I was very surprised at how well the Lonestar kept up in metal tracks, when you crank that thing and get the gain under control it has some serious beef to it. I typically dial my Single Rectifier back to vintage settings anyway so with the side by side comparison the difference wasn't even that big in terms of distortion / meat. However when you're pushing the Lonestar that hard it really does help to run it through an external closed back cab, really tightened up the bass response and projection. I think I might like it more than my Single Rec, even in a metal setting, it did a really good job and added a very significant boost in clarity & voice. The Single Rec doesn't do a whole lot of tone coloring itself, I've always liked how it allows my guitar's voice to really shine through the distortion, but the Lonestar takes that a step further, it's pure Fender tone at any setting.

http://i.imgur.com/6fTAVWA.jpg?1

Also went ahead with ordering a new bridge for the Tele.
After spending a lot of time with my other Tele's true vintage saddles I'm convinced that I like the modern ones more in terms of comfort.

I will admit that the vintage saddles win in terms of style, though, and there may be a bit more twang in there too.

http://i.imgur.com/mawH2tK.png

I still love the vintage saddles although I have not tried the new bridge. Just love the look and feel. I was afraid I would have trouble keeping it in tune but it's been absolutely solid. I don't want to change anything on my 52 reissue, it plays like butter and sounds amazing.

*has 3 saddle bridge with no grooves on his tele*

What is "In Tune"?

a = 440

Intonation is always the first to go for me.

3 saddle bridge all the way. Better sustain to me ears. And the compensated ones improve the intonation issues a lot.