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Well, this is early days as the thing's been here for an hour now, but I've been playing it and...I dunno.
It's very cool and all, but I'm not sure if I'm just so used to my old Boogie, or the old Boogie is really 'all that', cause while I haven't made a final decision yet, right now I'm not totally digging it.
First up, the controls: On the front panel, left to right are the power and standby switches, then a three way "Bias" switch. The three positions are marked L,M, and H, which I assume to mean low, or cold bias, medium, and high or hot bias. My ear tells me this is the case, and the three positions make for powerful changes.
Next we have a three position Bass Boost. Position I cuts a lot of bass, II and III are similiar with just a slight low bump in the III position.
Bass, Mid, and treble follow, each with a mini switch which seems to slightly change the range in which the controls operate. The sweep of the knobs is wide and there is a LOT of tweakability available here. And of course, they are interactive as heck...
Master Volume is next, and I figured that one right out...
Gain Level...I'm on this as well. Nice range...good sweep and taper.
Last on the far right is the Voicing. This has four positions. I'm gonna cut-and-paste from the Peters site here, cause the description is perfect (edited for hyperbole, however...):
Voicing 1 - The voicing with the lowest gain and distortion.
Voicing 2 - Take Voicing 1 and add some more gain, snarl, and growl. This is a very authentic classic rock (late 70's to 80's) type of gain voicing...
Voicing 3 - The "mid to high gain" voicing. Very much like Voicing 2 but with more gain and distortion, a bit more full and rich sounding.
Voicing 4 - Another preamp gain stage is engaged, and Voicing 4 starts where Voicing 3 leaves off.
The Back panel controls include a "Shallow/Deep" switch, kind of a "bold/loose" type of thing, and a four position Output Drive, which controls the last preamp stage and how hard it hits the power amp.
From the Peters site again : Output Drive - This switch controls the level of gain at the last gain stage of the preamp. Using higher settings makes for a punchier sound which is very useful at lower volumes or medium gain settings. Clean sounds become powerful and it becomes easy to get that "on the verge of breakup" sound. Classic rock sounds become deep and punchy. Using lower settings helps even out the dynamics.
So, how's it play? Well...like I said at the start, I'm kinda on the fence. It has enough gain, that's for sure, but it feels as if the gain is happening deep in the amp, whereas I'm used to a Mesa front end where the gain happens right at the input jack. Voicing wise, it's voiced with an upper mid emphasis and has ample top end. If you look at the pics, you can see where the Treble control is set...
It came with a JJ EL34 and JJ Chinese 12AX7s. I tried EH 12AX7s and my trusty JAN %&%! in V1, but it really didn't respond well, so I put the JJ's back in.
I'm also trying a Groove Tubes KT66 right now, and so far I like it better than the EL34, but...it's early days.
The mids are great, cutting without being harsh, and the bass is...OK. The very bottom is fine but I'm longing for more lower mids, more "girth".
Now, the big question for me is, how's it compare? Well, I plugged the Mesa back into the Avatar 2x12 and realized how dark I had it set up. After brightening the amp up and playing it, It seems as though the Mesa lacks presence, in the literal sense. It's as if the Mesa is in another room, while the Peters is Right In Your Face. Gain wise the Mesa seems more gainy, but still smooth, whereas the Peters seems like I have to dig in harder, yet it's seriously gained out. The Mesa carries better when I'm on the front humbucker and flying, doing my best shredder impersonation, while on the Peters it seems more difficult.
So, is the amp at fault? Is the Mesa sloppy and covering my mistakes and the Peters is being dead honest? Or is the Peters stiff and unyeilding? Some of this is playing style. I use a lot of muting and can get away with a ton of gain and not sound all messy, whereas someone like Pete, who plays clean and open, could really make this amp sing, I'm thinking.
I haven't explored the clean and low gain settings much yet, so can't really comment on that area of the amp yet.
My conclusions have yet to be drawn, but if you were to hold a gun to my head and make me choose right this instant, I would keep my Mesa.
It's very cool and all, but I'm not sure if I'm just so used to my old Boogie, or the old Boogie is really 'all that', cause while I haven't made a final decision yet, right now I'm not totally digging it.
First up, the controls: On the front panel, left to right are the power and standby switches, then a three way "Bias" switch. The three positions are marked L,M, and H, which I assume to mean low, or cold bias, medium, and high or hot bias. My ear tells me this is the case, and the three positions make for powerful changes.
Next we have a three position Bass Boost. Position I cuts a lot of bass, II and III are similiar with just a slight low bump in the III position.
Bass, Mid, and treble follow, each with a mini switch which seems to slightly change the range in which the controls operate. The sweep of the knobs is wide and there is a LOT of tweakability available here. And of course, they are interactive as heck...
Master Volume is next, and I figured that one right out...
Gain Level...I'm on this as well. Nice range...good sweep and taper.
Last on the far right is the Voicing. This has four positions. I'm gonna cut-and-paste from the Peters site here, cause the description is perfect (edited for hyperbole, however...):
Voicing 1 - The voicing with the lowest gain and distortion.
Voicing 2 - Take Voicing 1 and add some more gain, snarl, and growl. This is a very authentic classic rock (late 70's to 80's) type of gain voicing...
Voicing 3 - The "mid to high gain" voicing. Very much like Voicing 2 but with more gain and distortion, a bit more full and rich sounding.
Voicing 4 - Another preamp gain stage is engaged, and Voicing 4 starts where Voicing 3 leaves off.
The Back panel controls include a "Shallow/Deep" switch, kind of a "bold/loose" type of thing, and a four position Output Drive, which controls the last preamp stage and how hard it hits the power amp.
From the Peters site again : Output Drive - This switch controls the level of gain at the last gain stage of the preamp. Using higher settings makes for a punchier sound which is very useful at lower volumes or medium gain settings. Clean sounds become powerful and it becomes easy to get that "on the verge of breakup" sound. Classic rock sounds become deep and punchy. Using lower settings helps even out the dynamics.
So, how's it play? Well...like I said at the start, I'm kinda on the fence. It has enough gain, that's for sure, but it feels as if the gain is happening deep in the amp, whereas I'm used to a Mesa front end where the gain happens right at the input jack. Voicing wise, it's voiced with an upper mid emphasis and has ample top end. If you look at the pics, you can see where the Treble control is set...
It came with a JJ EL34 and JJ Chinese 12AX7s. I tried EH 12AX7s and my trusty JAN %&%! in V1, but it really didn't respond well, so I put the JJ's back in.
I'm also trying a Groove Tubes KT66 right now, and so far I like it better than the EL34, but...it's early days.
The mids are great, cutting without being harsh, and the bass is...OK. The very bottom is fine but I'm longing for more lower mids, more "girth".
Now, the big question for me is, how's it compare? Well, I plugged the Mesa back into the Avatar 2x12 and realized how dark I had it set up. After brightening the amp up and playing it, It seems as though the Mesa lacks presence, in the literal sense. It's as if the Mesa is in another room, while the Peters is Right In Your Face. Gain wise the Mesa seems more gainy, but still smooth, whereas the Peters seems like I have to dig in harder, yet it's seriously gained out. The Mesa carries better when I'm on the front humbucker and flying, doing my best shredder impersonation, while on the Peters it seems more difficult.
So, is the amp at fault? Is the Mesa sloppy and covering my mistakes and the Peters is being dead honest? Or is the Peters stiff and unyeilding? Some of this is playing style. I use a lot of muting and can get away with a ton of gain and not sound all messy, whereas someone like Pete, who plays clean and open, could really make this amp sing, I'm thinking.
I haven't explored the clean and low gain settings much yet, so can't really comment on that area of the amp yet.
My conclusions have yet to be drawn, but if you were to hold a gun to my head and make me choose right this instant, I would keep my Mesa.
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