Mesa Boogie Good Deal?

[Rock3r]

Hey, I was looking for a good tube amp for gigging & recording. I've played mostly the traditional amps like Fenders & Marshalls. But this amp got my attention. So is this a good amp, & for that price? http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/msg/2725824565.html It's a 60 watt Mark IIb combo.

[Rock3r]

By the way, I'm quite ignorant in the Mesa Boogie brand of amps. So any info would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[Reeltarded]

Nice for clean. Umm.. smerges for dirty. I like Mk1 and III+. II is the odd bird out.

[jestaudio]

By the way, I'm quite ignorant in the Mesa Boogie brand of amps. So any info would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Mesa have there own sound, if you like it there a great amp, i have a DC5 and would,nt sell it for anything but its a one trick pony, it sounds like a mesa and thats as far as it goes, for recording my personal fav is a fender twin, it takes pedals well and most engineers i,ve worked with like them, its up to you every one has diffent taste and opinion

[Rock3r]

Nice for clean. Umm.. smerges for dirty.

how well does it take pedals? I play alot of different styles that demand nice clean & clear tone at times & then high gain shred tone at other times. Would a good analog overdrive or distortion pedal work well with this amp for higher gain tone?

[jestaudio]

Nice for clean. Umm.. smerges for dirty.

how well does it take pedals? I play alot of different styles that demand nice clean & clear tone at times & then high gain shred tone at other times. Would a good analog overdrive or distortion pedal work well with this amp for higher gain tone?

My DC does,nt like pedals , at least not the ones i,ve got but i saw a mate recently with a MK3 using a GT10 and he certainly got good tone

[Rock3r]

Nice for clean. Umm.. smerges for dirty.

how well does it take pedals? I play alot of different styles that demand nice clean & clear tone at times & then high gain shred tone at other times. Would a good analog overdrive or distortion pedal work well with this amp for higher gain tone?

My DC does,nt like pedals , at least not the ones i,ve got but i saw a mate recently with a MK3 using a GT10 and he certainly got good tone

Jestaudio, I guess I'll probably have to save up for a good Marshall. I think a JMP combo would be the perfect amp for me. I also love the JCM800s, but I can't find any of the JCM800 heads with more than 3 filter caps. Which is just not enough for a 100 watt head, IMO.

[ampmike]

Thats a great amp,a few year earlier might have been better,I would grab it.
I had a bunch of boogies and still have 3 ,They are great amps in my opinion and that is an older one ,You wont loose your money on it.

Good Luck Bro,Mikey

[rdjones]

It's probably worth the asking price, but if you're just going to run clean and put pedals in front you kinda defeat the whole purpose of the Boogie tube distortion.
That being said, my opinion is that they didn't quite get the channel switching thing sorted out until the IIC+ and later.

rd

[xtian]

I also love the JCM800s, but I can't find any of the JCM800 heads with more than 3 filter caps. Which is just not enough for a 100 watt head, IMO.

I have an '83 2203, which has six 50/50uF cap cans. While it's true that the later models ('84 or '85 and onward) have fewer cans, they have the same amount of filtering (100/100uF cans). Some people think they sound different, but I've only played the one.

[xtian]

I also love the JCM800s, but I can't find any of the JCM800 heads with more than 3 filter caps. Which is just not enough for a 100 watt head, IMO.

I have an '83 2203, which has six 50/50uF cap cans. While it's true that the later models ('84 or '85 and onward) have fewer cans, they have the same amount of filtering (100/100uF cans). Some people think they sound different, but I've only played the one.

[Rock3r]

I also love the JCM800s, but I can't find any of the JCM800 heads with more than 3 filter caps. Which is just not enough for a 100 watt head, IMO.

I have an '83 2203, which has six 50/50uF cap cans. While it's true that the later models ('84 or '85 and onward) have fewer cans, they have the same amount of filtering (100/100uF cans). Some people think they sound different, but I've only played the one.

Yeah, but I heard the 3 cap jcm800s don't sound as good when cranked up. I'd rather have the six 50/50uf cap cans, such as in your 83' 2203. But what do you think about the JMP 50 watt combo? Would it be versatile enough for just about any genre?

[xtian]

But what do you think about the JMP 50 watt combo? Would it be versatile enough for just about any genre?

No experience. But there's a lively thread going on: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... p?t=988178

[Gibsonman63]

I have an '86 Marshall JMC800 4210, which is basically a 1 x 12 combo version of the 2205 head, minus presence control. 50 Watts, two channels with reverb, an effects loop and a direct out. It was my regular gig amp for about three years, playing Classic Rock, Southern Rock, Blues and a few heavier things. For rock and blues it works great. You won't get Fender cleans out of it, but the clean channel sounds good. By the same token, you won't get Marshall crunch out of a Fender.

Some of the early eighties two channel Marshall amps had problems with channel bleed but it was corrected around 1985.

Prior to this amp I gigged for a short while with a Marshall DSL-401 and the 800 is head and shoulders above the DSL in tone. And it weighs twice as much for the same size amp.

Such is life
Weight = Tone
Fat = Flavor

[Gibsonman63]

I guess I jumped the gun. You were referring to the JMP and not the 800 combo. I have only played JMP heads, but I like them a lot.