Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

[MGW]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

There are some MESA/Boogie amps that are better than others.
There have been three amps that pretty much seem like the same thing but they are from different timelines and have different circuits.
The Dual Calibre (DC-5), the F-50 and the 5:50.
They are all 50 watt, two channel 1x12 combos.
The first two are really good amps but the last one is only so-so by comparison.
It's not exactly a bad amp, it's just that the two that came before were better.
The DC-5 has a better clean channel than the F-50.
The F-50 has a more rocking crunch channel than the DC-5.
Both have better cleans than the 5:50 and both have less fizz in the dirty side which some have commented can be a bit noisy.
Again, it's not a bad amp, just that the first two were better.

Another amp, the LoneStar Special, a 30 watt 1x12 combo has a great bluesy dirty channel and also has Boogie's Progressive Linkage for power scaling but the clean channel has almost no headroom.
For what it does best, it is a smoking little amp but it's kind of a one trick pony compared to other Boogies that have lots of different sounds on tap.

I can't seem to think of any other MESA amps that sometimes get complaints.
Mostly the 5:50 and the Lone Star Special and neither of them are actually bad.
They're just not as versatile as other Boogies.

[Despair]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

Mesa has had a few terrible mistakes from what I've heard. Failure rates on the Nomad series were abysmal, to the point they killed the line. When they worked, barring noise issues or outright failure, they still sounded great, though.

Their hit rate seems far better than any of their similar scale competitors.

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???





I will say MESA has models that never interested me but i wouldn't say they were "good" or "bad". Just different i suppose.
I will say they escaped me in da 80's because i was the working poor & couldn't afford them. Plus my Marshall JMP had all the bases covered.
I wanted Brad Gillis' MESA rig so bad in the 80's that if you were to tell me back then i could have those amps if i cut off my right arm you'd be looking at a one armed man today.

[Dave Locher]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

"Bad"?
I don't care for their overall sound - too compressed in the case of every band I have ever seen live that used them*. I am sure some of them sound wonderful but not the ones I have heard.

*Dozens, not hundreds. But totally consistent. And I have never had that reaction to bands running Marshall half stacks or stacks. So in my head Boogie = overcompressed.

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

"Bad"?
I don't care for their overall sound - too compressed in the case of every band I have ever seen live that used them*. I am sure some of them sound wonderful but not the ones I have heard.

*Dozens, not hundreds. But totally consistent. And I have never had that reaction to bands running Marshall half stacks or stacks. So in my head Boogie = over-compressed.

Not if you roll back the gain. When i see a player that uses a compressor pedal with an overdriven amp i know that person either doesn't know thier gear or have the proper amp for the job.
A great amp will compress on its own when cranked & overdriven.
Any amp can sound "over-compressed".
Case & point the Peavey 5150 series .... Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Mincer]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

Most Boogie amps are used with some sort of gain, and a lot of people just dime the preamp gain on them so no doubt it sounds compressed. My Boogie only has 1 channel, and no master volume so there is no preamp gain.

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

Most Boogie amps are used with some sort of gain, and a lot of people just dime the preamp gain on them so no doubt it sounds compressed. My Boogie only has 1 channel, and no master volume so there is no preamp gain.

The gain on my Dual Rec is rarely past 1/2 way up. I do hit it with a clean boost to make it pop and it does. My MK III has more gain than my Dual Rec IMO but the gain structures are not the same.

I do now understand the hype of the Mark Series & it is justified.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

Yeah, they make killer amps for sure. Not for cheap, though. One of my dream amps is still a Rackto or a Tremoverb.

Not an amp, but they did have the cab clone thing which didn't get very good reviews... to say the least.

[Silence Kid]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

‘I’m a Triple Rectified-ass son of a *****.’ My dream amp for years. I had an eye on some of their more attainable combos (F100 etc.) but eventually decided when I ‘graduate’ to one it’ll probably be a Mark and I’ll go all out.

[NegativeEase]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

You suckers are way behind.... I'm like quadruple-rectifying these days.

Thinking about quintuple-rectifying tomorrow.

[Blille]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

You suckers are way behind.... I'm like quadruple-rectifying these days.

Thinking about quintuple-rectifying tomorrow.

That’s a lot of rectifying. You must have messed up a lot in the past.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

You suckers are way behind.... I'm like quadruple-rectifying these days.

Thinking about quintuple-rectifying tomorrow.

Sextuple rectifying is better. Is has to be. It has sex in the name.

[Chistopher]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

While we are on the subject, SS rectifying > tube rectifying for metal rawk tonez.

[Cynical]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

While we are on the subject, SS rectifying > tube rectifying for metal rawk tonez.

The tube rectifier option always seemed to be more of a gimmick in the Solo Head than anything else. There were other amps in the Dual Rectifier series where it made sense (such as the Maverick or Heartbreaker), but an SLO-based high-gain amp wasn't one of them.

[Mincer]

Re: Mesa: Do they make a bad amp???

My Blue Angel is in the Dual Rect series...although I believe it uses both tube & SS together- you can't switch between them.