Fact: Mesa Boogie is the best:

[Endrik]

have you ever played with coliseum 300 ? those are like 78 ever made man... one of the loudest amps in the world... and definetly the most in your face tone I've ever heard


and yes I concider them GREAT.... because of their versality and the tones.... my fav. tone ever is on Whitesnake '87 where John Sykes used the same amps... and I can nail it... so it's definetly GREAT for me.... The Stones, The Who, Santana and Metallica who have used those rare ones don't complain either

[siggy14]

Well you have to look at it this way, mesa amps have not been used like crazy because they are cheap, they are used because people love the tone.

Unfortunaly in the music business right now there is a big back lash on the mesa amps. You still have the die hards, but so many people are trying to get away just because they have been over used in the last ten years. I cant even begin to tell you how many bands I have seen on stage using a recto, for awhile there every concert i went too, punk, rock, emo, screamo, metal etc.. at least one guitarist was using a recto.

It is such a shame too, because the stiletto's are such great amps for the british tone, but everyone just wants to get away from mesa so they wont even give them a try.

Now if you really want to get with the program and get an amp that will fly off your shelves, get yourself orange amps, everyone, and I mean everyone seems to be going to these. Why? Because they are so close to a marshall without the reliabilty issues, plus everyone loves the orange tolex, not to mention they are still under the $2000 mark.

Funny, today on stage in the punk, rock, emo etc.. you are seeing two amps, older marshalls that the not so well off musicans can still afford. And for the ones that can afford more you are seeing them use orange amps.

As to bogners, owned a ubershall, and currently own a XTC, great amps but they are both just copies of other amps. The XTC is a marshall with more bells and whistles and less upper mids. The ubershall is a recto with a tighter bottem end and a bit smoother. But the ubershall will never be as agressive as the recto, and with a pedal in front of the recto you can tighten up so it is just as tight as an ubershall.

Idealy the bogners should be the answer to everyone that complains about marshalls not having enough gain or options, and about mesa's being to loose. The only problem is they are so expensive that they are just out of reach of the average musican and that is the only reason you do not see them all over the place.

You like it that much? Boogie called me and is trying to get their amps in my store, I like them, but I have'nt heard one yet that just made me give up on Bogner or Hughes & Kettner. I also have a Hughes & Kettner Triamp MK II and I love it. Hmmm maybe I'll have to go somewhere that carries a large variety of them and try them all out! I checked them out at the NAMM show, they were good, but great.....?

[roodyrocker]

Mesa makes good stuff and I have a Dual Recto myself. However, the Bogner Uberschall is just in a class of its own. Its a smokin' great amp! So I bit the bullet over a year ago and plunked down the $ for it and have not regretted it, ever. Yes, I still own the Recto but when I play out I use the Bogner! I also have a Mesa 2:90 power amp for my rack setup and thats a great Mesa as well.

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com

[Endrik]

first of all... Mesa Boogies are meant to be the tools for the people who play in bands... I've heard all this talk that "my dual has this hiss and whatnot" blah blah blah... they never used them in a band situation.

sound engineers LOVE mesas because they cover a lot more frequencies than most of the amps... all these hiss or buzzy sounds wich some people hear are gone instantly when the whole band is playing... actually those "unvanted" freqs are making the whole band sound better because it "boosts" the necessary freqs wich the other elements (bass, drums, vocals, keys etc.) might be missing.

I've been in a million dollar studio in Czech wich had all the insane equipment (SSL boards etc.) and all the amps you can possibly dream of... let me tall ya... the Mesas (no matter wich series) were the most "in your face" and the whole band mix was a lot fatter with them than with the other amps.

you either love or hate the rectifiers but you cannot deny this amp is the true original when it comes to modern hi gain amps.
you can see them in MTV events where pop artists are playing... jazz players use them a lot... olds-school blues players use them... and not to mention tons of rock and metal players... you don't see other hi gain amps cover that much ground...

I personally like the old Mark series the most... because they are insanely versatile and have the sweetest lead tone. Not much into modern metal sounds and whatnot these days but if I had to choose I'd take Rectifier over any other modern hi-gain amp.

[siggy14]

I did the same thing for awhile and dont get me wrong, I think the ubershall is a great amp. However if you are going for the recto tone you will just not get it out of a ubershall, it is just too smooth compared to the recto.

The recto just has this aggressive side to it, or more of a raw distortion. You can tighten it up to the ubershall level too by putting a booster in front. But where the recto shines is the amount of options it has, you can play almost any style with all the different options.

In the end i kept my rec and sold the uber, just to much money for the uber to get one sound while playing live with a crappy clean.

Mesa makes good stuff and I have a Dual Recto myself. However, the Bogner Uberschall is just in a class of its own. Its a smokin' great amp! So I bit the bullet over a year ago and plunked down the $ for it and have not regretted it, ever. Yes, I still own the Recto but when I play out I use the Bogner! I also have a Mesa 2:90 power amp for my rack setup and thats a great Mesa as well.

Rudy
www.wickedrocks.com

[Racerx2k]

Played tons of Mesas. the only ones I've ever really cared for are the Mark series.

[diffrent strings]

I love my Stiletto Ace combo,my 750xl sounds fantastic through it

[beachjammer]

My only problem with Mesa's is deciding which one to have :O)

I've had a 50 caliber+ head as well as a Lonestar and now a Rectoverb. I played out with the Lonestar once and the sound engineer came up to me after the show and told me that the Lonestar was the best sounding amp on the planet. I just love everything they make!

[cookiemonster2]

I just finished putting some time on my Mark IV. Not that there aren't other great amps out there, but I think Mesa is the only major manufacturer that can say it competes with the best with a line of amps that can be used in any style of music.

I'm surprised at how much little appreciation there is for the Stiletto on this website. I've tried one and almost everything I've read elsewhere is very complimentary. Vintage Marshall, to hot rodded and high-gain tight El34 tones.

[Axewielder]

I have a Mesa 20/20 amp. It's a great lower-wattage stereo rackmount amp, and there aren't a lot of amps like it.

[roodyrocker]

I did the same thing for awhile and dont get me wrong, I think the ubershall is a great amp. However if you are going for the recto tone you will just not get it out of a ubershall, it is just too smooth compared to the recto.

The recto just has this aggressive side to it, or more of a raw distortion. You can tighten it up to the ubershall level too by putting a booster in front. But where the recto shines is the amount of options it has, you can play almost any style with all the different options.

In the end i kept my rec and sold the uber, just to much money for the uber to get one sound while playing live with a crappy clean.

I'm not trying to get a Mesa tone out of my Uberschall. I have the Mesa for that I also don't personally find the Uber's clean channel to be bad. The Dual Recto isn't exactly known for having the greatest clean channel either but I like it as well. Just personal taste I guess. Anyway, one thing Mesa needs to do is learn how to ship tubes with their amps. They tape the Rectifier tube boxes inside the chassis when they ship them new. Problem is the box opens and the tubes roll out and break during shipping. When I bought my Dual Recto 6 years ago, I personally opened the boxes on 3 Mesa amps (two Dual and one Triple Recto) and had to find two unbroken tubes out of the whole bunch to fit to mine before I could take it home They need to tape the end of the box that opens if thats how they are going to ship them. Anyway, I've played my Dual Recto live in my band but still prefer the Uberschall. I also have a Tri-Axis in the rack but haven't messed with that much. When GC was blowing out the Stilleto a few months back, a friend of mine picked up the Trident. It sounds good too but needs more gain. He even did the Hollywood mod on it, he is an authorized Mesa tech, but ended up returning it back to stock because it sounded better that way. I haven't heard the newer versions of the Stilleto yet.

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com

[Axewielder]

Anyway, one thing Mesa needs to do is learn how to ship tubes with their amps

Very true! They put these fishnet plastic things on them, and not much else. When I opened the box to my 20/20, one of the tubes was rattling around loose in the box. Kind of a joke if you ask me.

[akoch]

Out of all Mesa's I tried and played (larger part of them I guess), I only kept Mark IV and I admit I like it. Nevertheless, my VHT CL50 seem to get the most use, Soldano is the close second, then Marshall TSL122, while the Mark being the least used. Don't take it that I don't like it, I do. But this is the pattern. I admit - some other amps I am using/or used in the past - H&K, Tech21, some older Marshalls, other Mesas (still have a RoadKing and for a long while), Mig, Fenders - all either gone or sit collecting dust.

[roodyrocker]

Very true! They put these fishnet plastic things on them, and not much else. When I opened the box to my 20/20, one of the tubes was rattling around loose in the box. Kind of a joke if you ask me.

You're lucky they didn't break. The ones I opened up had broken tubes with glass all over

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com

[MBreinin]

I love my Green Stripe MkIII Simulclass Head. It really does it all, and it does it all well.

Mike