The pick up hieght was probably the contributing factor, as opposed to any of the other changes. But I know a good set up goes a long way toward the perceived quality of the overall experience.
They are very nice amps. I tried to get a Trident for a few years that sat at my local GC, but they just would not come down on it. It sat there for years, rusted iron in the back, at $799. My favorite thing about it, the FX loop with output level control, so it could be used a strictly a power...
Sorry, I but I run all digital now, so I guess I should stay out of it. :)
I believe the Mesas were hand picked 5th and 7th gen Sinos or Shuguangs, but even the modern SPAX7 are pretty good.
The best I have ever heard though, are by far NOS RFT (Telefunkin?) ECC83, but they are a risk as are...
I always turn off speaker res when using a guitar cab, regardless of power amp, especially at high volumes. To me, it makes the rest of the parameters act more amp like in the rest of the amp block. Some people think it sounds like a "blanket" over the cab, but it sound natural to me, just add...
The economics in Japan has changed over the years, it costs more to produce instruments there now. I wouldn't pay full price for one either, but at least you are pretty much guranteed to get a near perfect guitar, as opposed to the Indo/ Korean lottery. Of course if you can do the work on the...