View other reviews for this product:
fab hammett « Incredible power, jaw-dropping clean sound and the Mesa Boogie distortion I love »
Published on 02/28/11 at 07:1450-watt tube amp
2 6L6, 4 12AX7
Two channels
Clean
Gain
+ Contour mode for solo players
Spring and tube reverb
Bright control for the clean channel, to get a Fender-like sound
Insert loop
Speaker bypass switch
Direct recording output
Footswitch for the clean and gain channels, contour and reverb
USE
Simple configuration
Easy to dial in
SOUND
Very versatile, from jazz to fat metal
Clean sound worthy of a Fender class A
The distortion is MESA BOOGIE, there's no sound like it!
It's great for anything
It truly respects the guitar and the dynamics of the guitar player
OVERALL OPINION
Three years
I tried out the Dual caliber, a mark IV (much more expensive), an express (a real disappointment)
I've had an all-tube marshall jcm900 (clean sound without punch, it stinks, although it was okay for ac/dc with my sg, but the clean sound was really bad!)
marshall valvestate
fender hot rod deluxe (nice clean sound)
vox ac 30 (very British but without a fat distortion and the clean sound was shitty, especially to play ballads and switch to distortion, not practical at all)
What I love about this amp is that it's very powerful, the clean channel is fabulous and well separated from the quite violent gain channel: Two master controls, two gains, two EQs, the Contour mode to cut better through a mix during solos, the natural-sounding reverb. There's no need for a single pedal, a plug is more than enough. It practically makes no noise at all, compared to the power it delivers if you equip it with good tubes.
I paid for it new what an Express costs today and I don't regret it at all.
You can get it secondhand for about $1000, and you can't do any better for such a versatile and recent amp.
If I ever sell it, it would be to move on to the category above, but after having had other legendary amps, what I like about this one is that it can do anything (it's a bit annoying to have a Fender hot rod and a Marshall jcm to change channels, it's not very practical...)
2 6L6, 4 12AX7
Two channels
Clean
Gain
+ Contour mode for solo players
Spring and tube reverb
Bright control for the clean channel, to get a Fender-like sound
Insert loop
Speaker bypass switch
Direct recording output
Footswitch for the clean and gain channels, contour and reverb
USE
Simple configuration
Easy to dial in
SOUND
Very versatile, from jazz to fat metal
Clean sound worthy of a Fender class A
The distortion is MESA BOOGIE, there's no sound like it!
It's great for anything
It truly respects the guitar and the dynamics of the guitar player
OVERALL OPINION
Three years
I tried out the Dual caliber, a mark IV (much more expensive), an express (a real disappointment)
I've had an all-tube marshall jcm900 (clean sound without punch, it stinks, although it was okay for ac/dc with my sg, but the clean sound was really bad!)
marshall valvestate
fender hot rod deluxe (nice clean sound)
vox ac 30 (very British but without a fat distortion and the clean sound was shitty, especially to play ballads and switch to distortion, not practical at all)
What I love about this amp is that it's very powerful, the clean channel is fabulous and well separated from the quite violent gain channel: Two master controls, two gains, two EQs, the Contour mode to cut better through a mix during solos, the natural-sounding reverb. There's no need for a single pedal, a plug is more than enough. It practically makes no noise at all, compared to the power it delivers if you equip it with good tubes.
I paid for it new what an Express costs today and I don't regret it at all.
You can get it secondhand for about $1000, and you can't do any better for such a versatile and recent amp.
If I ever sell it, it would be to move on to the category above, but after having had other legendary amps, what I like about this one is that it can do anything (it's a bit annoying to have a Fender hot rod and a Marshall jcm to change channels, it's not very practical...)