Mesa Boogie Amps For Jazz

[Stringswinger]

Considering a Mesa combo—.50 Caliber, 5:25 Express, Heartbreaker—for home practice level—looking for something in the blackface tone family. I’ve got tweed covered.

I am sensitive to boomy bass and hiss. Do the higher-powered Mesas hiss a lot even at low volume?

I like the full sound of 12” speakers but in my experience they can be difficult to EQ out the boominess of an archtop without detrimentally affecting the rest of the sound.

There are some used 1x10 5:25 Express amps available on Reverb. These amps use EL84 power tubes, which I don’t have any experience with, but some contributors to this thread seem to like them for jazz.

My Mesa .50 Caliber sounds great at all volumes, has very little noise at idle and is a surprisingly great amp for jazz. They are not very expensive and have fallen out of favor with the rocker/gainiac crowd as there is only one set of tone controls for both channels. I pretty much only use the clean channel in any case (the high gain channel would be of use for an electric blues gig where having the same tone profile on both channels would be fine).

[Greentone]

I used to carp that Mesa Boogie meant (M)idrange (B)ox. They are generally so midrangey.

Well, for jazz, that's good. Just stay away from the high gain. Run clean those amps really boogie...for jazz.

[Stringswinger]

I used to carp that Mesa Boogie meant (M)idrange (B)ox. They are generally so midrangey.

Well, for jazz, that's good. Just stay away from the high gain. Run clean those amps really boogie...for jazz.

Agreed that they are more midrangey than a scooped Fender, but IMO, that is in a good way and indeed they really do boogie for jazz when run clean.

My EL-84 equipped .50 Caliber sounds great with it's stock Celestion speaker for jazz.

My 6L-6 equipped Mark 4 sounded great for jazz with it's stock EV speaker, but when I tried a Mesa branded Celestion speaker, I was disappointed.

[Flat]

I also had a .22 Caliber Studio for years. It was a wonderful amp. Great at jam sessions, but they were more rock and fusion or sort of new age world music stuff.

But for chord melody jazz, I could never get it dialed back enough. The sound was always right there, too present, notes coming through the speaker almost before I picked them.

But it was so sweet in so many other ways. I miss it.

[Danny W.]

Agreed that they are more midrangey than a scooped Fender, but IMO, that is in a good way and indeed they really do boogie for jazz when run clean.

My EL-84 equipped .50 Caliber sounds great with it's stock Celestion speaker for jazz.

My 6L-6 equipped Mark 4 sounded great for jazz with it's stock EV speaker, but when I tried a Mesa branded Celestion speaker, I was disappointed.

I thought my Mark 4 was a great jazz amp, but just overkill (and way too heavy) for my jazz gigs.

I also had a .22 Caliber Studio for years. It was a wonderful amp. Great at jam sessions, but they were more rock and fusion or sort of new age world music stuff.

But for chord melody jazz, I could never get it dialed back enough. The sound was always right there, too present, notes coming through the speaker almost before I picked them.

But it was so sweet in so many other ways. I miss it.

Had one of those too, and agree that it's a very aggressive amp. Enjoyed it immensely but didn't use it for jazz either.

Danny W.

[Stringswinger]

I thought my MKIV was a great jazz amp, but just overkill (and way too heavy) for my jazz gigs.


Danny W.

The weight is why I no longer own my Mark IV, but it sure sounded great for jazz. There are days when i miss it, but then I remember that I am about to turn 63

[wzpgsr]

Haven't quite closed the deal yet, but looks like I will be trading a recently acquired Bogner New Yorker for a Lone Star in a custom aftermarket 1x12 combo cab. It runs 6L6 by default, and is switchable between 50 and 100 watts. It has an additional lower power "tweed" mode which runs ~60% of full power. It can also run it with 6V6s when it's in "tweed" mode, or even EL34s in regular mode. This was not all the direction I was planning to go—I've been looking at satiating my fix for blackface sound with a Gries 5 watter, for crying out loud—but it seems a bit fortuitous that this trade offer appeared out of the blue after I started asking questions about Mesa in here earlier today. So I may be stepping into the Mesa ring after all. The current owner of the amp says the master volume is great, that the amp sounds good even at home volumes, and that it doesn't have any hissing issues (I'm really sensitive to hiss, noise floor, etc.).

[Dennis D]

Does MB publish a price list ? Is this Rosette their only ss model and their least expensive ?

Thanks.....

[Gitfiddler]

Haven't quite closed the deal yet, but looks like I will be trading a recently acquired Bogner New Yorker for a Lone Star in a custom aftermarket 1x12 combo cab. It runs 6L6 by default, and is switchable between 50 and 100 watts. It has an additional lower power "tweed" mode which runs ~60% of full power. It can also run it with 6V6s when it's in "tweed" mode, or even EL34s in regular mode. This was not all the direction I was planning to go—I've been looking at satiating my fix for blackface sound with a Gries 5 watter, for crying out loud—but it seems a bit fortuitous that this trade offer appeared out of the blue after I started asking questions about Mesa in here earlier today. So I may be stepping into the Mesa ring after all. The current owner of the amp says the master volume is great, that the amp sounds good even at home volumes, and that it doesn't have any hissing issues (I'm really sensitive to hiss, noise floor, etc.).

Lone Stars are great amps...but like many Boogies, are heavy. 72 lbs according to their spec sheet.

https://www.mesaboogie.com/amplifier...x12-combo.html

[wzpgsr]

Lone Stars are great amps...but like many Boogies, are heavy. 72 lbs according to their spec sheet.

https://www.mesaboogie.com/amplifier...x12-combo.html

This one is in a rebuilt pine cab with a neodymium speaker. 40 lbs.!

[Danny W.]

Mesa just came out with the Mark V 25 in a combo version (previously only available as a head). I have the Mark V 35, and I like it a lot!

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Attachment 70815

I swore I'd never own another tube amp when I sold my Mark 4 17 years ago, but that Mark 5-25-10" keeps calling to me.

Danny W.

[helios]

Lots of tone shaping in that pint-sized 24 lb combo! With a little trial & error, you'll get some great tones Danny, an you won't injure your back toting it either! Jeff

[starjasmine]

I have a IIC+ simul-class combo with EV 12" speaker that is capable of a nice clean jazz tone or the Larry Carlton saturated distortion tone. However, if you want really saturated distortion, you have to run the gain high enough that you will have a little dirt in the clean tone when you hit the strings hard. And if you want a really REALLY clean tone, you have to turn the gain down enough that you won't be able to dial in endless sustain on the distortion tone.

I should mention that it is totally stock; instead of doing the plate-current resistor mod, I paid big bucks to stockpile five matched pairs of Euro-made Sylvania 6L6s when GE closed their USA plant. The Sylvanias don't have quite the warmth and bottom end of the USA-made GE 6L6s that this amp was designed around, but they are close enough. I think that nowadays you might be able to get NOS GE 6L6s a bit more easily than you could back in the 80s or 90s when I purchased my Boogie power-tube stash :-)

That said, I don't gig with this amp any more (aside from the fact that nobody gigs any more!) for a number of reasons that include wanting to avoid f--ing it up for some dive-bar rock gig. The other reasons include the fact that I actually get a better jazz tone more easily out of any of a few other amps I have, such as a couple of Fender tweeds or the custom eq'ed patch that started life as a fender emulation in my multi-fx unit.

Make no mistake, you can have my IIC+ simul ONLY when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers... but it is not my first choice as a jazz amp. It is one kickass amp in every way, but there's that inherent compromise between dialing in the saturated distortion vs the mellow jazz tone. You CAN have the best of both worlds by dialing in enough gain for saturated distortion and then backing off the volume control on your guitar (or via a master vol pedal) and picking less aggressively when you want a clean tone.

This amp was designed before the canonical "modern rock" tone, too, but that's pretty easily obtained from any number of pedals or fx units. Like the Boss ME-XX boxes...

HTH

SJ

[Zhahn]

This one was recorded live a couple years ago with 335 through a Mesa Mark I RI loaded with Jensen Blackbird.
Pinch of delay (MXR Carbon Copy) and tremolo (Oceanfx Tremalicious) at times.
No tricks, no rehearsal, just a good ole improvised set. (shameless plug)

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/zach-hahn/1491446301

[patshep]

I recently got a used 50 caliber plus, and it has a great jazz tone, not as classic as a Fender, but with more control. you can turn the mids up, or keep it blackface, I don't use the distortion on it at all... i do use a Tube Screamer in front of it for just a little breakup, and warmth... I like it as much as a princeton or deluxe reverb, and way better than a solid state, but less portable
I'm thinking of getting an Eminence Deltalite 12 to put in it which will make it a tad lighter, and probably sound smoother than the celestion

[blackcrowe311]

Come with foot switch pedal ( I don't use )

Attachment 35940Attachment 35941

Do you still happen to have this footswitch, and would it be for sale?

[supersoul]

This might be a little weird but I used to plug my guitar directly into the effects return of my 50 Caliber plus, which bypassed the preamp section entirely. It sounded great that way; clear, full, and without the hiss from the preamp.

The only control that worked was the master volume (i forget if the reverb was post effects loop).

I sold it about 10 years ago so maybe I'd have a different opinion today.

[Stringswinger]

I swore I'd never own another tube amp when I sold my Mark 4 17 years ago, but that Mark 5-25-10" keeps calling to me.

Danny W.

I sold my 45 pound .50 Caliber and replaced it with a 24 pound Mark V 25 combo.

The mini Mark is a great jazz guitar amp.

[jim777]

I've got an early Mk IVa combo with the EVM12, and external Thiele cab with another EVM12. I know it's a 3 channel amp, but I only ever use the clean channel and the Tweed half power setting. It's a great sounding amp. I recently retubed my old Acoustic G100T-112 (a MK 2 clone), which is another big wattage combo with an EVM12, and I prefer that sound a little bit more. They are both insanely heavy, but they both sound stellar. If I were to get a regular gig somewhere, and I feel I'm 2 years away lessons wise from that, I'd just add a Fender Tone Master amp. But a high quality tube combo is a beautiful if heavy thing.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

The weight is why I no longer own my Mark IV, but it sure sounded great for jazz. There are days when i miss it, but then I remember that I am about to turn 63

I used my original Mk 1 hunree on most gigs for about 30 years. It covered every base and venue, and even did huge auditoriums, ballrooms, and stadiums on top of the EVM-loaded Thiele I bought with it. At 65 pounds, it was tolerable until I passed 60 - and I finally but regretfully sold it when my age reached its weight.

I miss it every day - just not enough to buy another one

[ccroft]

I used my original Mk 1 hunree on most gigs for about 30 years. It covered every base and venue, and even did huge auditoriums, ballrooms, and stadiums on top of the EVM-loaded Thiele I bought with it. At 65 pounds, it was tolerable until I passed 60 - and I finally but regretfully sold it when my age reached its weight.

I miss it every day - just not enough to buy another one

You mean a Mark1 hundred (watt)? I got a 100 watt with the Altec in '76. I thought it weighed way more than that! I sold it when my age reached what I thought was about a third it's weight :-)

I still have the Studio 22 I replaced it with. Don't use it much anymore, but I'm fond of it.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

You mean a Mark1 hundred (watt)? I got a 100 watt with the Altec in '76. I thought it weighed way more than that! I sold it when my age reached what I thought was about a third it's weight :-)

I still have the Studio 22 I replaced it with. Don't use it much anymore, but I'm fond of it.

They called the 100 watt Mk 1 with reverb the “hunree” when it came out. The stock original Boogie weighed 61 pounds with their 12” in it, and there was another 4 pounds or so in the bigger magnet of the EVM. Mine also had a 4” Rotron Whisperfan in it, which is probably one reason it went 30 years without a failure. The fan probably weighed no more than a few ounces.

I still have the Boogie-branded EVM in the Thiele cabinet, although I haven’t needed it for years. It’s been posted in the JGO “for sale” pages for several weeks, but no one’s bought it yet. That cab weighs 35 pounds loaded. I can’t believe I dragged 100 pounds of amplifier around for so many years!

[Stringswinger]

They called the 100 watt Mk 1 with reverb the “hunree” when it came out. The stock original Boogie weighed 61 pounds with their 12” in it, and there was another 4 pounds or so in the bigger magnet of the EVM. Mine also had a 4” Rotron Whisperfan in it, which is probably one reason it went 30 years without a failure. The fan probably weighed no more than a few ounces.

I still have the Boogie-branded EVM in the Thiele cabinet, although I haven’t needed it for years. It’s been posted in the JGO “for sale” pages for several weeks, but no one’s bought it yet. That cab weighs 35 pounds loaded. I can’t believe I dragged 100 pounds of amplifier around for so many years!

My Mark 4 with the original EV speaker weighed about 65 pounds and in my 50's I attempted to lighten the load with a Mesa Celestion speaker, but I did not like the tone, so the EV went back in. Eventually I sold the Mark 4 and got a first generation .50 Caliber which sounded great with the stock Mesa Celestion speaker. At 45 pounds, I dragged that amp around for a couple of years but last year I sold it and this year I bought the Mark 5 25. It uses a Celestion Creamback speaker (10 inches) and while it lacks the bass response of the earlier two Mesa amps that I had, it sounds great in small venues and at 24 pounds, I am thinking that when this amp is too heavy to carry, it will be time to stop gigging.

[rpjazzguitar]

I used a Mark III on jazz gigs for several years. I once had a player come out of the audience and offer to buy my entire rig.

There were two problems. One was weight. The other was adjusting it on the fly. If, in the course of gig I wanted just a bit more treble, or something, I might have to adjust every knob on the amp. I'm probably exaggerating, but the controls are very interactive. Once dialed in, it sounded great. Arguably, there was a third problem. I never liked the reverb that much. I wanted an old Ampeg reverb sound and the Boogie just didn't have it.

[jim777]

And the Mark IV has the reverb knob on the BACK, which is just plain nutty.