What's the deal with Boogies?

[ModestCargo]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

Hm, thanks for the responses.. I'll have to see if I can't just come over and tweak it a bit more.

It was a 1x12" combo through a 4x12" Boogie cab. Looked like this.

The EQ was set very similar to what you see here.

 

[firebirdVII]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

Hm, thanks for the responses.. I'll have to see if I can't just come over and tweak it a bit more.

It was a 1x12" combo through a 4x12" Boogie cab. Looked like this.

The EQ was set very similar to what you see here.

It will take a while to learn how those things work. Like I said, my dad knows his Mesas and can get great clean and distortion from a few whirls here and there. One of his doesn't even have an EQ.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

I basically set my Mark IIIs up using the "sweet spot" settings in the Boogie Manual--no tweaking needed. I use my foot switches for all three channels. And gee, no, it doesn't sound like a Fender or a Marshall! DOH!

I would not call Mark III tone compressed, unless I'm using the 15-watt Class A setting; then sure, it doesn't have a lot of headroom. The Simul-Class setting is explosively punchy and dynamic. The 200-watt Mark III Coliseum Head is TOO dynamic--most of the time I use the half-power setting.

Boogies are some of the best made and reliable amps around. Their cabinetry work is top-notch, and the circuit boards are heavy, double sided boards. Usually, if you have a problem with a Mesa, it tube-related. Good tubes are critical in a Boogie.

And these are some of the very, very few amps that I have ever played that make any guitar sound great. Single coil, HB, P-90--Gretsch, Ric, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, G&L, Music Man, Peavey, DanElectro--every guitar I've had plugged into the Mesa sounded fabulous.

I could see owning a Marshall again, because a Marshall has a different sound than a Boogie. But for the material I do now, with this particular band--my Boogies are the perfect amp. I could not be happier.

Bill

 

[Guitarist]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

Mesa's can be thunderous, aggressive, smooth, sweet, focused, loud, compressed, muddy, boomy, dark, bright, and annoying to tweak...talk about versatility!!

Though my favorite qualities of the amps are the gobs of sustain and harmonic richness in some of their amps. That, and the "crushing" factor.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

I've owned a few Mesa Boogie amps over the years, including a Mark IV combo, a Quad Preamp, a couple of 2:95s, a 2:90 and a couple of Triaxis preamps. I have found that they can be more tempermental than many amps but thats due mainly to players not having patients with them coupled with people perceptions on how an amp should be dialed in.

My JCM 800 is easy to dial in, just crank it and go. If you want less gain you dial it down. It really only does one thing but it does it very well. Mesas are different. If you crank up all the knobs you get crap for tone. You rarely get great tone from a Mesa amp with any setting over 7 and most settings are best in the 5 range. For a Marshall or vintage amp player, not having the amp cranked to get your gain is confusing. Also, with all that gain and control there are often many different and great tones from warm clips to outragous searing lead tones available depending on how good you are at digging them out.

Mesa Boogie amps do take a little longer to master but it's well worth the effort. They aren't for everybody but lots of folks from the Stones to Metallica seem to make them work.

 

[BigDreamer]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

SH!T! if i owned a mark III i'd be playing that and the paula not a fricken blues jr. Maybe he knows something is screwed up with it?:lmao:

but really there are too many factors to consider on what (if anything) was wrong. including the fact that these amps take patience and that you just might not like boogies.

 

[ParameterMan]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

With the EQ being pre-distortion, it gets used for shaping the character of the distortion, then the graphic is used to shape the tone. On my Quad Pre, I end up with the treble and bass knobs pulled out, and the EQ something like 8/3/4 (high,low,mid). The graphic then gets shaped to a slight mid scoop with low-end boost. That keeps the lows tight, with just enough haze floating around, then the graphic smooths out the shards. Also, twiddle the relationship between the clean(far left) gain and the lead gains. They cascade, so changing the first can effect the entire response. I normally run the first gain at about 6.5, which is Boogie's original suggestion for that control. Too much lead gain, and all you get is mush. I keep it between 3 and 7.

Anyway, hmmm... I hope I didn't get too carried away...

 

[Mincer]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

boogies don't all sound the same. my Blue Angel has the most gorgeous clean sound ever mixed with awesome reverb, doesn't have any distortion channel at all, and still has 'dual rectifier' on the front of it.
their amps have too many different sounds for sweeping generalizations.

 

[vinterland]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

boogies don't all sound the same. my Blue Angel has the most gorgeous clean sound ever mixed with awesome reverb, doesn't have any distortion channel at all, and still has 'dual rectifier' on the front of it.
their amps have too many different sounds for sweeping generalizations.

My rectoverb has an awesome clean sound as well. I get some weird looks occasionally saying that but, I yet to find a more deep and lush clean sound from any other amp. Like what has been said, its all about the tweak factor.

 

[DesertRose]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

I played a MESA F-30 and a markIII simul-class
They are good amps .. but what is good ?? The clean is fabulous to my ears I should say, the stock distortion of the mark III can go without a boost. The EQ from the simul-class helps

 

[Brow]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

A friend of mine has 1 of those overzized MESA 4x12 cabs and a Dual Rectifier head.

I've tried playing with that amp for ages and I just cannot get a sound out of it that I like! I've tried different EQs ettings, different speaker cabs, different guitars etc and to no avail. I just don't like the sound of the amp when I play through it.

When my friend plugs into it it sounds awesome! He gets a very sweet sounding clean sound out of it and a smooth Overdrive tone that's great for rhythm or leads.

I think alot of it comes down to the way that you play and how you perceive (sp?) sounds.

Something like my Orange AD30 or a Vox AC15/30 is perfect for the way I play, and they're alot easier (imo) to dial in than Boogies and even some Marshalls

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: What's the deal with Boogies?

boogies don't all sound the same. my Blue Angel has the most gorgeous clean sound ever mixed with awesome reverb, doesn't have any distortion channel at all, and still has 'dual rectifier' on the front of it.
their amps have too many different sounds for sweeping generalizations.

Yes, Boogies and Recto's may come from the same company, but they are very different designs, and very different sounds. The basic Boogie design is much like a Black Face Fender with the two channels run through each other in series. When this is done, they become hyper sensitive to EQ settings, because you have a lot of gain before, and after, the EQ stack(s) in the preamp alone. The Recto designs differ from the Boogie in the configuration of the tone stacks, and where they are placed in the circut. With the Recto type designs the EQ is mostly post gain and some have more and some have less gain.