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Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

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  • #1

    Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

    A friend of mine has a near mint Studio .22 that he has offered to sell me cheap. I could use a small amp for around the house so I am pretty interested in this one.

    I will pick it up this weekend and try it out for a while with my guitars before I decide. This model does not have the 5-band EQ mind you. Was that an essential feature or am I okay without it?

    How loud are those 22 watt amps by the way and any problems or issues that I shoudl be aware of?

    Thanks!
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  • #2
    Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

    Great amps. The loudest 22w I have ever heard. The EQ is certainly a + and recommended but the amp is voiced from Mesa without using the EQ. If you want serious high gain metal you will have to add a pedal to it. Its fairly difficult (if not impossible) to balance a good clean tone and a footswitchable heavy tone because the amp really isn't a true 2 channel amp.
    To sum it up... the Studio .22 is one of the best 1 x 12 amps ever made.
    They usually sell in the mid $400.00 range. Try to get the footswitch for it. If you can't, just about any single button footswitch will work.

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    • #3
      Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

      One more thing. The early models have metal toggle on/off and standby switches. The later models have plastic ones. They are both great amps. Its just a design change.

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      • #4
        Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

        Thanks jgcable!

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        • #5
          Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

          I picked one up about 6 months ago - the older metal switch style with EQ. As jg said, it is basically impossible to balance volume between clean and distorted tone on this one. On the .22+ model with the plastic switches there are seperate volumes for the two channels. I paid 4 bills for mine, Ebay price is about $400-450. .22+ models with EQ are in the $500-550 range on ebay. Take off about $50-100 if there is no EQ. For the one your friend has about 300 or less would be in the "cheap" range (factoring in no shipping expense). $325 is OK, $350 is about market price.

          Overall, I enjoy the amp. I am by no means a tone expert. The gain amount is decent... but by no means high gain. Most of the time I use it with a DOD YJM overdrive pedal in front. With that I have all the gain I really need for Metallica/Iced Earth type stuff. I play at home at such low volumes that I don't need a noise gate with the overdrive on max. I honestly don't use the clean channel too much because it would require fiddling with the knobs. The amp is definitely usable without the graphic EQ, but I really like the feature because turning it on and off lets me switch between a super-scooped rhythm tone (EQ on) and a lead tone with more mids (EQ off).

          In the end, you will be able to try it out at your home with your guitars. You have nothing to lose and will be able tell without a doubt if you like it or not. To sum things up for me... If mine broke I would definitely buy another one. It fits my needs perfectly (low wattage home amp, decent gain, sounds good with overdrive, graphic EQ is cool).

          Good Luck,

          -Mike

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          • #6
            Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

            Wow, I thought the studio .22s were high gain. Mine sure were, I never boosted any of em, and had sustain for days. Guess the gain bar is being upped! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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            • #7
              Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

              [ QUOTE ]
              Wow, I thought the studio .22s were high gain. Mine sure were, I never boosted any of em, and had sustain for days. Guess the gain bar is being upped! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

              [/ QUOTE ]

              Pete, mine had good gain at bedroom volumes but when it was turned up it cleaned up a little. Mine had enough gain for early Priest ro Scorpions but not enough for the heavier later metal.
              Excellent amp.
              Noisy little sucker and REALLY loud. It sounded great plugged into a closed back cabinet.

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              • #8
                Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

                Sorry John, was more Iced Earth's comment about it by no means being a high gain amp. I hated the stock cab for anything but cleans - I had both of mine perched on a 4x12 for most their life.

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                • #9
                  Re: Opinions on the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 please!

                  [ QUOTE ]
                  Sorry John, was more Iced Earth's comment about it by no means being a high gain amp. I hated the stock cab for anything but cleans - I had both of mine perched on a 4x12 for most their life.

                  [/ QUOTE ]

                  Yeah, I guess the gain bar has been upped. When I think of high gain amps these days my studio doesn't quite keep up, although it does have more than the Marshall TSL 601 that went out the door as soon as I got the Studio.

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