Mesa/Boogie Quad Preamp

For those who are interested I have the schematics of this preamp on my website, plus additional info on how the signal flow is and the tube layout.

Feel free to check it out to learn more about the Quad preamp.

Maarten van Helden
www.vanhelden.demon.nl/gear

It is all there. Knobs and more knobs. This makes it easier (for me at least) to find what I want to hear and this bad boy has it all. I love the clean to the bad ass lead. 4 channels from heaven to hell.

This amp kicks my ass every time I turn it on. I would recomend it to anyone. I can get Metallica to ACDC to Led Zepplin with the crunch. I can also pull some great Stevie Ray Vaughan out of the lead channels. Bottom line this is a great sounding preamp. I love it

I know this thing is never going to fail on me. It will take care of me as long as I take care of it, we have a great relationship. It is build like a tank and if worst came to worse I could throw it at a burglar to scare them out of my house

I have never had to get this amp worked on but I have talked to the mesa repair department. They where great.

I am influenced buy Metallica, ACDC, Led Zepplin, System of A Down, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Poison, Satch, Smashing Pumpkins and Van Halen and I can get what I need for all these guys from this preamp. I would not trade it for anything. I also use a Digitech 2112 for my other effects but the quad pretty much covers my clean and crunch sound. If this amp left me for some reason I would find a new one or I would whoever stole it and bloody their face.

I have now almost all schematics of the Mesa/Boogie Quad preamp on my website and an exact list of which tube does what and is where in the signalline !.

check it out if you need it,
www.vanhelden.demon.nl/gear

Maarten van Helden

I am currently using the following Guitars with this preamp live:
Jackson Custom Shop Korina King Vee's,Jackson Doubleneck Korina King Vee(Both with Seymour Duncan JBs),Gibson Historic 58 Flying Vee(PAFs),Jackson SL-2 Soloist w/Emgs,and a few assorted San Dimas Charvels from the 80s loaded with Dimarzio & Duncans.
For the Music I use them for these guitars are well suited to the Quad Preamp.
The Quad preamp is being powered by a VHT 2150 poweramp on output "A" and a Mesa 3 Channel Triple Rectifier head for output"B".
there is no external outboard FX or EQ being used in the loop or after the Quads outputs.
The Variety of tones in this preamp is very impressive being over 10 years old.The noise level out of this unit is very little to none,despite having 8 tubes and lotsa gain on tap.There is no need to dime out the "drive" on either the rythym 2 or lead 1 & 2 channels.
Theres mORE than enough gain on tap to get "happening" Metal Saturation and Harmonics at about 6 or 7 on the dials.
Another surprising feature is the ability to "blend" both the clean & Lead tones by stepping on both footswitches at once(for example; Rythym 1 and Lead 2)
This is a scream.......it actually sounds kinda cool with no phase cancellation occuring or extrenuous noise resulting.
I myself DONT have a use for this in a Metal situation,but the "Southern" Rock I sometimes play is able to benefit from this type of feature .Kinda Cool and certainly a well thought out feature for certain types of Music.I Downloaded the manual and it states right there that this feature is a "Hidden Treasure".Kinda neat.
The Clean channel has lotsa pleasing headroom(especially powered thru the FX Return of the Triple Rectifier)so clean tone freaks are covered here in spades with the right power amp.
I would guess that if you "push" the gain on the clean channel it'll get "grainy" but I haven't done that yet.
The Distortion quality is Very Cool and it'll do the Death Metal Grind with the right EQ settings and the Graphic EQ in the "scoop" setting.......Not my cup of tea but it'll do "Morbid Angel" & "Cannibal Corpse" with ease.
I myself am more of an "Iced Earth" fan-and this Preamp sounds BETTER than the tones they get on record or live(at least to MY ears).

This particular Preamp was assembled and dated March 1990.I was NEVER aware of this Preamps versatility and TONE until I was bored one day and scored it REAL CHEAP from a guy who saw me bid on one on E-bay,and after being beaten out he e-mailed me offering his at a Substantial discount over what I've seen em going for.
The Versatility factor is really impressive as it has 4 channels and they all have a graphic EQ(or should I say Two pairs of Channels)
They are Rythym 1 & 2 and Lead 1 & 2.
The Rythym 1 and 2 can be set clean and Blusier/Dirtier,or Clean and HEAVY Crunch/Lead type tones.
Lead 1 and 2 are Really "Deep" and can run from Heavy metal Crunch/gnarly to high Gain Saturated Lead ,and then Way More Gain and Harmonics....so the preamp can cover alot of sonic territory alone.
There are 2 Graphic EQs on this Preamp.one for each pair of channels.
You can footswitch Rythym 1 & 2 and Lead 1 & 2.
I Play Mostly Heavy Metal,Heavy Rock and occasional Southern Rock type stuff(Think Skynyrd and Molly Hatchett)so this is a Great Preamp for All those types of tones-and the Gain is especially Incredible.
It has 4 channels like mentioned,footswitch included and there is a Stereo FX Loop with 1 send and 2 returns.
The Master Volumes govern the send level on the Loop but more on that later.I really dont need a loop on a preamp so that feature is kinda ignored on My applications.I use this preamp in a very elaborate rack setup that is full of other tube preamps and power amps.
It has 8 12AX7 preamp tubes in this unit with a very neat and professional circuit layout and wiring is very well done.Mesa has always used top notch components in thier products and this is no exception for workmanship or time consuming/Neat wiring layout.
It also has reverb in it that is pleasantly deep and wet.
I dont use it too much but it works fine for a little"ambience" in a dry hall/club/venue.Never hurts to have it though.
This unit will see alot of live use for "Metallica" type tones that I need in our tribute band.Its one of THE main pieces that Hetfield and Co. used for the earlier albums which was my main reason for looking for one in the 1st place.

Dependability......well I've only had it for a few weeks now so I cant comment on the reliability factor for MY applications,but it's already 11 ears old and still sounding great.I bought it with New Chinese tubes in it already,and it sounds fine.

I am using it along with a Bogner Fish and a Custom Audio Electronics/Bradshaw 3+ preamp so I have the "back-up" scenario covered(The Bradshaw/Bogners were already in my Rack)
To be Honest this Preamp WONT replace either the Bogner/Bradshaw preamps,BUT My Tri-Axis is Now resting comfortably at home(and will stay there).
I Like the organic tones from the Quad Better than my Tri-Axis.

No Warranty as I bought it used.
Never needed repairs on my end(and hopefully it never will)-but I'd be able to service it Myself with little difficulty.
Mesa has a fine reputation for service,customer help/relations,and support.

Been playing for 15 years now.The other gear I Own has been reviewed prior to this posting(VHT,Bogner,Custom Audio Electronics,Mesa,PRS and Jackson)
I have never compared it to other Mesa Preamps prior to buying it.It looked like it might fill a certain situation and tonal niche and I was lucky to score it cheap enough to take a chance.I'm very pleased with it(So Far....So Good)
It would NEVER Be stolen as I Keep My Eyes on MY Gear.My Insurance Policy is from COLT and it's 185 Grain Hollowpoint Companions.
(ATTENTION THIEVES:Nothing I own is worth your life!)

I got the quad because I wanted the same tones that I heard on CD's. Stryper, TNT, Iron Maiden, Yngwie, Lukather, Van Halen, Santana to the fastest shred. I can get every single one and then some. This thing gets every (I mean every) Marshall sound you can think of. I use Seymour Duncan pickups on all my guitars and the thickness is unparalled. Even modern music will benefit from the Quad. Offspring, Blink182, Veruca Salt and Alternica. You can get any of their guitar sounds without having to spend $1500 for a Dual or Triple Rec.

Now for the clean sounds. Turning on Clean1 and pluggin my G&L Legacy into the quad makes all Fender turn and look. Though not as "bright" as a Bandmaster, I dare anyone to tell me it's not when you hear the clean sound live or recorded. Did I mention versatility?!

I can play any of the Eagles guitar solos with a Tele, or play George Benson with a 335 and you would think I was using a Line 6. The clean sounds break up perfectly at a loud volume or stay tight and focused all the way up to 10.

I almost forgot. I have the Quad coupled to a Mesa/Boogie Simul295 power amp. It's really obvious to hear that these 2 pieces of gear were made for eachother. Once they mate, those other "M" amps made by Jim will run for cover. This seems to be the same setup that lots of players have used and when you hear those 20 tubes cooking, you'll know this ain't your daddys Fender!!!

I'm giving this a 9 because it really does depend on the pickups and cabinet. I have this rig banging 2 Peavey 4X12 stereo cabs. I plugged the same rig into a pair Recto cabs and started saving. Sounding equally fantastic is a pair of Marshall 4X12 with the 30watt greens. As always, try all combinations to find the one that suits you the best.

My Quad is dated 1987 and I got it used. The tubes that came with it were old Sovteks so I put the 12ax7 that Mesa recommended. There is a nice array of knobs and push/pulls on the face of the quad. It was a bit overwhelming when I first got it. Once I downloaded the manual of the Mesa site, I had fun doing a great deal of twisting and pulling to get literally hundreds of tones.

The FU2 controller is a must for any quad owner. Just the ability to switch between the 4 channels is enough to shadow any Marshall. Add the EQ buttons and all of a sudden you have 8 different sounds available. The effects loop is so quiet that you'll notice if your rack effects color your sound. You'll hear every sound that comes out of your effects including noise so make sure you ground/lift/shield all your effects.

The input jack is on the back of the unit. This is great if you're patching a tuner or eq, but Mesa shoud've given another jack on the front for those more traditional users.

The controls are set up just like the MarkII and MarkIII series and it is obvious that the Quad was the father for the newer amps like the Dual Rec. The 8 12ax7 tubes glow nicely and allow for all the tone in the world. Versitile! The Dual Rec needs to take some lessons from Papa Quad.

This gets an 8 because, without the manual, it takes some time to figure out. The knobs don't react the same way as you would expect. The Treble pull effects the mids and the bass affects the treble if it's shifted and the lead gain affects the effects loop level.. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Once you get past the learning curve, you'll be able to hear "HOW" the knobs compliment the other knobs. Be prepared to do some reading.

I've change the tubes twice. Not because they were bad, but because I wanted different tone. I rammed 8 Mesa 12ax7 tubes into it when I first got it. About 18 mo later I put 4 Sovteks into channel 1 for clean sound. About 6 mo ago I put the Mesa tubes into channel 1(my clean channel) and GrooveTubes(russian) into channel 2 for the greatest tone I've ever heard coming out of a Quad.

The only problem I have had is that all the inputs need to be cleaned regularly. The contacts get dirty very easily. This is bad at a gig and you can't figure out why channel A isn't working. This is the only rig that I've never brought a backup. Then of course when you bring it in, the tech tells you that there was build up on the channel A contacts. Keep a can of Radio Shack contact cleaner with you at all times and use high quality cables. The Quad doesn't like cheap parts.

So far, I've never had to call Mesa for any type of service.

This setup had been my mainstay for the past 6 of my 16+ years of playing. I've layed all over the US and had only minor problems with the Quad. I was really weary about taking tube gear out on the road, which is why I used solid state stuff on shows and used the tube stuff in rehearsal. Once I got into Mesa stuff, I lend out my solid state stuff and gave away(really!!) a Marshall JCM900 HiGain Dual Reverb head and a Marshall JCM800 50watt head.

I have lots of amps. My Peavey 5150 is a coffee table. My Crate Stealth 50 Tube is a shelf, my ADA if filling up a space in my retired rack, My Peavey Classic 50/50 tube power amp is sitting on the floor covered in dust, my Fender Bandmaster head is only used for recording, my Peavey Stereo Chorus combo was lent out a year ago and my at home practice amp is my Marshall combo.

Definitely try out the Quad. I give this a 9 because some people are over charging for one of these puppies. I would go as high as $450 - $500 with the FU2 controller. You also need the right power amp and cabs to get the most functionality and versatility. You plug this into a Marshall poweramp and you'll eat any Marshall alive. You plug this into a Boogie power amp and you'll eat other Boogies as well!!

This was my mainstay preamp during most of the 90's when I played in hair metal and thrash bands and did session work in the local studios [all types of music, including clean country and pop]. I used it with both the Boogie 295 Simulclass and Boogie 2:90 power amp [sounds even tighter with the 2:90] and with ADA than MArshall and than Boogie recto cabs.

It has a great Boogie type clean/not as bright, ringing as a Fender clean but still very good, especially for rock and hard/heavy rock. However, what puts it over the top and made it a mainstay pro preamp is Channel 4. The 4th channel is where you'll find the agressive Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth distortion.

I have personally talked to Michael Sweet of stryper, and he said that both of him and Oz Fox [of Stryper] used quads for years their heavy sounds.Kirk Hammett used a quad for a lot of Metallica's early stuff. Although Dave mustane and Dimebag darrell currently use bradshaw preamps and Randall amps, respectively...... the quad definitely can reproduce those types of sounds.

It was a "10" in its day, literally the benchmark for years that every manufacturer who came out with a multi-channel preamp was trying to go after in versatility and tone. Of course, when you are the leader and have everyone gunning for you, you will eventually get caught and surpassed - Soldano X-88, Bogner Fish [have the Soldano, getting the Fish]. Thus, I can't rate it a "10," however, if you are looking for a Boogie sound (other than Rectifier buzz) or a preamp under $500. This is definitely a "10" to get.

4 channels & footpedal to engage all. See other reviews below

Never had a problem and bought used to begin with. Moreover, two of my guitarists friends have or had Quads. Put us together, you have 3 Quads with close to 20 years of collective use in bedrooms, studios, churches, bars and indoor and outdoor stages and not one problem. TOTALLY PRO UNIT.

Dealt with them to buy tubes. Easy to get through. I also own a Boogie 2:90 preamp and Boogie Rectifier Cabs. Never had to deal with them to fix a problem. This is the true test of customer support so I have to put No Opinion. Otherwise, it's clearly above average and just as the Quad was the ORIGINAL PREAMP that created the hi-end, hi-gain preamp market [w/ ADA, Kasha, Soldano, Bogner, Egnator all coming after], Boogie was the ORIGINAL BOUTIQUE company, which created the idea of a small company to the stars that treated everyone nice, who called them.

The Quad was the ORIGINAL PREAMP. IT CREATED the hi-end, hi-gain preamp market - Soldano, Bogner, Custom Audio, Egnator all came after, all sought to be the next Quad among the Studio or Pro Rock musician, rack user.

A Lot, and I mean a Lot of top music was made with Quad's from the late 80's to early 90's [TriAxis did not come out till 94/95 I believe].

I have since moved on to playing Soldano's and have a Bogner Fish coming. Thus, this is now just a back up and I am looking to sale it, but not at the rediculous prices that people have let things things go for.

As Bogner Fish's have become rediculously overpriced on the used market [I got a steal on mine, otherwise, would not have got], the Quad is going for rediculously less than what it is worth. I can only figure is that many people forget when Quad's ruled and were priced for pros.

If you see one for $420 or under, definitely don't hesitate to get it, you are definitely getting a unit that gives you pro rock/alt rock/hard rock sound and versatility and will last a lifetime.

If you are interested in mine, go ahead and contact me, it's been well taken care of and tuned. However, if I don't sale it, I won't mind either. I still expect my Quad to fire up just the same in 2011 as today and lay down that thick Boogie sound, when I need it.

You really have to hear this thing to believe it. Fender clean to Marshall crunch to Mesa's punishing distortion. It has it all... and all of them sound too goo to be true. The clean stays clear throughout. The crunch gives a great array of mids and lows to give that great Marshall tone that I had before with my JCM 900. But what puts this over the top is the unbelieveable gain available. I really just can't put in into words. I have 6-strings and 7-strings with emgs, dimarzios, etc. and it sounds great with all of them.

This is the most versatile amp I have ever had the pleasure of playing. It has 4 channels. I use rhythm 1 for clean, lead 1 for an Kill 'em All type speed metal sound, rhythm 2 for Sabbath-type stuff, and lead 2 for anything require unbelieveable Boogie searing distortion. You have to fiddle with the knobs a bit, but once you figure it out, oh man. The great thing is these are very independent, also. It is like two preamps. It has 4 preamp tubes for rhythm 1 and lead 1 and then 4 preamp tubes for rhythm 2 and lead 2. Also, I don't have to fiddle with knobs to go from clean to a heavy distortion because there are different knobs for the different channels. There are also 2 assignable equalizers. Versatility isn't the word for this bad boy.

Well, I bought off a guy that said the footswitch was messed up. Yeah it was messed up, I was perplexed at first when I was looking at it, so I sent it to my tech and he thought it would be an easy fix. Well it ended up being a fried chip. Also, the power switch was replaced. But the amp is over 10 years old... what do you expect?

Mesa sent the chip with no problems and I got it in 4 days.

The only thing I can compare this to is a Triaxis. They have the same versatility and smae great tone, the only difference is I would say this is easier to use. So if it's between the Quad and the Triaxis... do yourself a favor and pocket the $1300 you would spend on a new Triaxis and get a used Quad preamp for $400. I've owned a Marshall JCM 900 and have played on so many amps it isn't funny. I wanted a Mark IV, but once hearing this thing... I went for it. This is probably the best bang for your buck out there...

I use an Ibanez S4720 into the quad which goes into a Rocktron Velocity 150 into Mesa/Boogie 1x12 3/4 back cabs. The preamp can give you great clean, great crunch, great over the top, and much more. Very versitile. It gives Fender clean, Marshall crunch, and Rectifier distortion, how could you go wrong? It is only noisy on the lead 2, which is the super high gain channel so use a gate. The eq's work wonders and the reverb is great.

Made in late 80's. Has 2 channels that are old school mark 2c+ anc 3 style so you have 8 sounds with the graphic eq. It uses 8 12ax7s to produce the tone. Wish it had build in midi but it has midi switching jacks so you need to get a patchbay. The effects loop should have the mix nob, but the low/line level is good. The footswitch controls everything except the reverb.

I have had it for about half a year and it is fine. I am only 15 so I really dont have any money for a backup but for a 10+ year old amp it works fine. Even better than some new amps. Just hope I will never have to change the 8 tubes because that will cost some serious money.

Boogie is the best. They are friendly and do whatever you want.

You need this preamp. The people who sold it to me were very stupid to only charge $200. People will buy it for around $600. I would definetively try to look for another one if it were stolen, but they are hard to find. More likely I would get a Triaxis because of the features. I only have been playing for around 2 years, but I am a gear freak. All I do is find stuff on guitar gear. I know more about the stuff than my teacher and I feel this is the best value of all amps ever. It kicked the ass out of my old Line 6 Spider and I even had to pay more for the spider. Do your self a favor and buy a Boogie.

Well, It's kind of difficult to get a really good sound out of it, simply because you can do almost everything and 90% of it sounds like a marshall or even worse:-) BUT if you go to the Mesa/Boogie homepage you can find settings, which really blow your head off. You can get any distortion you want out of it (It doesn't have any effects, axcept for reverb) It has a footswitch (the FU-2) with it and that lets you set the gadget to four different sounds, and each of its EQs on or off. Some Quads have a Midiupgrade (mine doesn't) but all of them have normal jackplug inputs on the back, allowing you to switch everything it has via normal footswitches or additionally combine too sounds at the same time to give you more definition and still have the high gain Sound. All of the Quads have an effects loop.

I play a samick guitar (one of the better ones though, tuned down to a B, like a seven string) through the Quad which goes into a Mesa/Boogie simulclass 395 Stereo Poweramp, driving a 4 x 12" Stereo Cab. With the Quad set right I sound like Metallica on their ealy Albums. Megadeath, Ironmaiden, anything is possible. It sounds extremely good if you get the hang of setting it correctly, If you doen't you might be very disapointed. The EQs work wonders, you can cut out all the mids and get a furious, bonebreaking disortion out of it (that's the one i like :-), but you can also get marvellous singing clean sounds out of it with a very smooth round tone to them. I would give the correctly set Sound quality a 12 if I could:-)

Mesa/ Boogie. What should I say? Don't drop it (Only because of the tubes though!) But evenso: Built like a tank, after 8 years of use, the pots still don't crackle, nothing is loose nor has anything needed a repair.

I think the homepage could be better, you can't get access to discontinued products, but you can still get all the manuals for free, which is very good otherwise I wouldn't have known exactly how to tickle that divine tone out of the Quad. But I've never really needed to contact any tech or dealer about it.

I play mainly heavymetal and have been playing for four years, the quad is older though, I bought it used. It's rather light to carry around whitch is very good. I wish setting the Sounds were simpler, but on the other hand, if it were easier, then you couldn't have the variety of things you can do with it. As I said, their is no problem to get any dreamsound you want out of it, but You have to know what Pot really changes what (They do actually interfear with each other). If you are a Quad owner or intend to buy one, it's worth all the money you have got. (that's what I paid:-). But try to get other tubes into it like Groove tubes or Ruby tubes. Mesa even Admit that their own tubes are inferior to many other ones!! For the price i Paid It's absolutely smashing!

the range of sounds is impressive :) all of them are boogie, but you can tune it to anything from a 'shimmering clean' to a 'searing lead'.

each channel has a slightly different character with rythem 1 being the cleanest, rythem 2 best suited for crunch, and lead 1 & 2 covering a hell of a lot of turf. in classic boogie tradition, the lead channels add an extra gain stage on top of the corresponding rythem channel, but unlike the mark I i used to own they have enough gain to produce a great lead even if you've got a clean rythem sound going.

the thing would be great as is, but the graphic eq adds a whole other dimension. it's after all the tone-producing stages, so can't be used to change the character of the signal much, but is great for adding dimension and 'space' to the sound. ofc, you can also use it to scoop your mids and sound just like Metalica (yes, the used this pre before the digitally controled triaxis came out)

the mesa quad combines 2 boogie preamp sections in one unit, producing 4 channels (plus eq) of tone. footswichable options include each channel, eq (one for each half of the amp) reverb bypass and reverb boost.

the unit features a sterio effects loop (mono send, sterio return) but the manual (available in PDF from the boogie web site) discourages using it, as there is no real send level control, other than the master volumes on each channel. instead they recomend placing the effects between the pre and power amp in your chain.

there are also a set of recording (line level) and poweramp outs, both of which are controlled by the output level knobs on the front of the unit.

the one thing i'd like to see that's missing is reverb level. there's a mix knob and a 'boost' footswitch, but that doesn't give you much fine tuning.

in addition, you need some kind of footswitch to make the thing work at all -- when you turn it on, no channel is selected. I purchased it with a rockman midi octopus, so it's cool, but if it ever dies i'm screwed.

have only had it a month, so can only go on reputation here.

well, it's at least 10 years old, so the fact that mesa still supports it at all is pretty amazing. you can download the manual in PDF from the web site, and their customer svs department will return your call within a day.

the reverb boost option on my amp produces a weird hum, so i called them and the guy had obviously never even seen one of these units, but as i said, it's 10 years old, so this is quite fogivable. i'll take it down to my local amp shop as soon as it becomes annoying enough for me to get motivated

overall, i rate it pretty high. it's got depth and warmpth unavaliable in some silly 'one 12ax7' digital pre, but it's got enough range of sound that i still can't figure out what to do with both lead channels.

it's got the typical boogie eccentricities- interactive tone controls, fixed bias tubes, etc, but as i happen to like the sound they produce i'm cool with it. if i didn't like the way randall smith thinks i should sound i'd have bought something else.