Mesa/Boogie Nomad 55 112

I love my Mesa Boogie Nomad 55! This is the best club amplifier I've ever found, and I've been through a lot of them. None of the crackle and fuzz of Fender DeVille or Deluxe amps, and much better sound than the Marshall club amps.

I love the 3 independent channels ... and w/ vintage/modern switches on each channel, it's like having 6 separate channels. (I typically like the vintage side of all 3 channels, but that's just because they suit my style better).

Each channel has Gain, Volume, Presence, Reverb, Treble, Mid & Bass controls. It also rocks that the amp's Master Volume is totally independent of each channel's channel volume, so you can set very heavy gain/distortion but keep the volume down if you need without losing any of the drive or sound quality as would happen with most other amps.

Plus there's a solo switch for extra volume or leads, and you can also adjust the amp's power from 5% to 100% on the back, which gives the amp more or less punch or volume.

Separate outs on back for effects loops, another speaker/cabinet, to a slave amp/head, direct to board/recording (or headphones for practice), AND you can swap the 6L6s out for EL34s (w/ bias switch) to get different response type of distortion if you prefer EL34s, but I find the 6L6s kick in quickly at low Master volume because you have separate channel volume and the power adjustment on the back of the amp so you can push them.

Are you kidding, ... in this class of amplifier, nothing beats it. All my friends that play Fenders, Marshalls, Vox, and lots of other brands are constantly wanting to play through my amp instead of theirs.

I set up Channel 1 clean, Channel 2 with a good amount of distortion (but not too much) --
and then I adjust them until I get the relative volumes on both channels to be equal. I use both channels for rhythm - either clean or distorted, depending on the song.

I then set channel 3 up lounder and heavily distorted for leads.
I also use my Tube Screamer over Channel 1 or 2 for leads.
Or you can use the Solo button on footswitch over Ch. 1 or 2.

So LOTS of great sounding options that are incredibly easy to access.

This is also a great studio amp for recording - particularly because of
it's ability to deliver great sound & distortion at low Master volume
and/or through or in combination with the direct recording out

I've never had a problem with the amp's performance or sound quality.

I did bust the 6L6s once when putting the footswitch in the back of the amp
(which is my only very minor complaint about this amp since there's not a lot
of room to squeeze the footswitch into it's resting case in back of amp),
but they are easily replaced. Went to Guitar Center, out in less than 5 minutes.
Now I just carry extra two 6L6s (or EL34s) and the channel tubes (four 12AX7s)
with my normal gig stuff.

Have never had an issue -- I've heard that Mesa Boogie is pretty good about standing behind their products.

This really is one of the most incredible and versatile club amps ever built.

Great clean tones for jazz & blues, or with a mild distortion for blues or rock,
or with the grunge, heavy rock or metal distortion - with nice squealing overtones.

Great versatility for almost any type of gig or situation with lots of tonal options.

3 channels with independent voicing for each. solo boost. reverb. effects loop. Exactly the features I would want in an amp.

Channel one (clean) Decent sounding. Not as sparkley as a fender, but with enough reverb and a strat it sounds alright. use the pushed feature to get kind of a tube screamer tone but the volume increases drastically with this switch.

Channel two (rhythm) I prefer to use this channel as the high gain lead channel. It sounds brighter and more full. Pretty versatile tone. Make sure not to turn the gain, mid & bass all of the way up. Becomes way too muddy and sounds like just noise. Its hard to distinguish different chords. Setting Suggestion: Gain-330, Master-8oclock, Presence-130, Treble-4oclock, Mid-1oclock, Bass-12oclock. with the switch turned to modern.

channel three (lead) Best used as a rhythm channel. Too much gain makes it muddy sounding. Setting suggestion: Gain-11oclock, Master-1oclock, presence-2oclock, Treble-4oclock, Mid-2oclock, Bass-3oclock. with switch turned to modern.

Not the exact tone I am looking for but I can work with it and all of the different features make it very convenient for me.

Mesa quality and reliability. No problems with the amp functionally.

Overall this amp is user friendly and convenient. could be considered the lazy mans amplifier. Once you dial in your tones, which isnt the easiest, its nice to have the 3 channels to choose from, a solo boost, reverb all in the 5 button footswitch & an effects loop.

Great set of features - just can't be faulted

Sound quality is amongst the best you will ever hear from a combo with a single 12" speaker

Had a few problems with the pots, they would basically fall apart, however Mesa Boogie replaced all pots free of charge! - Apparently there was a design fault with some pots - so to avoid problems Mesa changed them all, can't ask fairer than that

First class!

I play in a live covers band, lots of styles from floyd to reggae to rock to country and this amp does it all, most happy with it, there are some samples of the versitality of this amp on our web site http://www.storydogs.com, check it out!

55 watt tutto a valvole 6L6 finali,3 canali eq separata reverbero separato per ogni canale,molto versatile fornito di una bella pedaliera per il cambio dei canali e l'inserimento del reverbero
cono celestion da 90 watt che fa un ottimo lavoro uscita cuffie e direct line per il mixer o il recording...direi che ?? fatto molto bene e ha tutto il necessario per le pi?? svariate situazioni,il peso e l'ingombro sono nella norma (intorno ai 20kg +/-) quindi si trasporta senza eccessive difficolt??.
Il volume ?? soddisfacente per lo studio a casa(non tanto per il condominio con pareti di cartone),veramente buono per la sala prove e per i piccoli e medi club,attaccato ad una 2X12 il suono si apre alla grande e microfonandolo diventa adatto anche a situazioni di palco impegnative,tutto sommato un combo molto versatile ed un ottimo strumento di lavoro e di piacere.

La qualit?? del suono ?? eccellente,ma dobbiamo sempre considerare che un amplificatore molto versatile come questo perde qualcosa in carattere,la dinamica comunque ?? sorprendente ed ?? picevolissimo da suonare quanto a morbidezza e risposta al tocco.

CANALE VERDE(CLEAN):
Ispirato alla serie Mark ?? un ottimo pulito ricco di armoniche e pieno ,ovviamente non ci si pu?? aspettare il clean di un black face
ma sicuramente molto buono e utilizzabile

CANALE VERDE PUSHED:

WOW ...da sballo veramente molto bello si riescono a ottenere ottimi suoni blues e sonorit?? SRV,?? chiaro che non ?? lo stesso suono,chiunque suoni un minimo sa benissimo che per il suono di Steve ci vuole un Fender spinto da un overdrive,comunque il risultato ?? molto buono e apprezzabile...GRANDE!

CANALE GIALLO (CRUNCH):

Anche qu?? c'?? poco da dire un crunchettone della madonna sia nel modo vintage che modern si spazia molto tra suoni hendrixiani o ac-dc style, ma spinto molto diventa un ottimo lead sia dolce (santanoso)che molto rock

CANALE ROSSO (DISTORTO):

Qu?? sono rimasto contrariato,ho venduto la mia road king e mi sono comprato il nomad proprio per motivi di comodit?? e portabilit?? ed alcuni rewiew precedenti mi hanno stupito parecchio.
Infatti alcuni utenti reclamavano una certa mancanza di gain....MANCANZA DI GAIN???
L'ampli in realt?? di gain ne ha da vendere e ci si pu?? fare praticamente qualunque cosa,non ha il timbro della recto sono d'altronde ampli diversi, ma ci si f?? quello che si vuole con questo canale senza tanti complimenti.
Tutto sommato un bell'8 non glielo toglie nessuno, perde un punto giusto sul pulito,che naturalmente non ?? fender o hiwatt e un punto sul distorto che non ?? il classico dual rectified ma comunque un gran bell'ampli con ampia scelta di suoni.

Non lo so e spero di non doverlo scoprire.

Come sopra!

Tutto sommato un gran bell'ampli,la Mesa lo ha progettato considerando le esigenze dei musicisti e ne ?? venuto fuori un gran prodotto.
Unisce infatti versatilit?? e grande volume a leggerezza e trasportabilit??,i tre canali offrono una bella variet?? timbrica pur mantenendo un ottima dinamica e buona risposta al tocco.
Buono per provare a casa,eccellente per la sala prove e locali piccoli e medi ed infine attaccandolo ad una 2X12(nitrocab con coni vintage 30) si ottiene un miglioramento esponenziale sia della qualit?? del suono che del volume,trasformandosi in un ottima bestia da palco.
Di solito ci suono con una jem ed una PRS ottenendo risultati eccellenti,con la mia strato custom shop invece devo smanettarci un po di pi?? per sistemare il suono.
L'unico difetto che gli si pu?? imputare ?? la mancanza di un carattere preciso,lo si pu?? definire come il classico ampli di mezzo adatto al professionista che cerca una buona variet?? timbrica in un'ampli che rimane comunque un high gain,un classico jolly da tirare fuori per tutte le stagioni sonore possibili ed in tutte le situazioni.
Venduta la mia road king l'ho preso pensando di tenerlo un p?? di tempo e poi liberarmene,ma francamente con la versatilit?? che si ritrova devo cominciare a risparmiare perch?? la testata me la devo ricomprare senza permutare questo gioiello che credo far?? parte del mio permanent rig

Circa 2001. I've bought this amp used 1 year ago, I always used it in the gigs in clubs and open air show. I play folk-rock west coast music and I set channel 3 in this way: the gain control at 4/10, vintage type, other controls at half way with little more bass; channel 2: gain at 3/10, vintage type, other controls at half way with a little more high; channel 1: gain at half way, clean type, other controls half way with little more middle and bass.

I use it with a Fender Stratocaster Ultra (with Lace sensor B-G-RR) and another one american standard 2004. I can say that the sound is really good for each channel. This amp gives a full range of tones, so you need to spend some time to find your own sound.

No problems in 1 year. Now it needs to change the pre tubes for the first time.

I've been playing guitar since 1983 and I've got too many tube amps as Fender the Twin, Hughes & Kettner Triamp, Soldano Reverb'o'sonic, Fender Hot rod De Ville... so I can say that Mesa Nomad 55 is one of the best amp I've played and I could change it only with another Mesa Boogie.

After reading the reviews for the nomad, I noticed a big gap in opinions. It seems people either think this amp is perfect or absolutely terrible. In fact, the truth is somewhere imbetween.
This amp is loaded with features, and you can read other reviews to see what those are. Mine is a 99 I think. The amp is fairly versatile, but always has certain nuances to its sound that are either a curse or a blessing. Chaneels 1 and 2 are fantastic, channel 3 needs some work. Very bright and brittle, with a certain amount of drive that you can never get rid of. Channels modes are very nice, but with only one mode that gives a decent clean sound, you're often left with alot of overdrive tones that vary in usefulness. Other than that, this amp's pretty much got all the features you could ever want. Independent controls per channel are great, but constantly having to tweak them to suit your guitar can be a problem.

My setup: 1999 Jeff Beck Signature Strat through analogman ts9 into mesa boogie nomad. This amp is actually very quiet. The amp definetely has a "personality" to it, regardless of how many knobs you can tweak. Like many Mesa/Boogie's the bottom end is typically very, very loose. This creates a great "deep" sound, but in the overdrive channels the bottom end can be very difficult to tighten up, often leaving you lost in the mix. That is the first sonic issue with this amplifier. The drive is increwdibly meelow, fat and warm of channel 2 and 1 pushed, and actually sounds quite nice, but don't think you can get a fender-esque tight bottom end out of these channels. No matter how much you tweak the knobs, the drive personality is still dominant. Channels 3, in my opinion, is almost a complete waste. I'm the type of player that likes mild overdrive and being able to dial in a sound where how hard you play is how much drive you get. In channel 3 there is always a ceratin amount of drive that you can't get rid of. The tone is edgy and trebly, with a fast attack that I found to be rather unmusical. They should have just put another channel 1 or 2 in it's spot and this amp would become twice as good. Its frustrating because you buy a 3 channel amplifier assuming that you're going to have a use for all 3 channels, but when you can't get a good sound out of channel 3 to save your life you're really jst using a 2 channel amp.

Seems reliable, but tubes can always fail. Weighs a ton, so I hope its indestructable.

I have been playing for 12 years semi-professionally and have been on a quest to find the perfect amp for a while now. That quest will have to continue because while the nomad is flashy, expensive, and very deep it has some sonic flaws already mentioned that drag down the whole package. I just sold it to buy a cheaper, lighter, better sounding amplfiier. In my opinion these nomads are more hype than substance, and really don't deliver in flexibility and practicality like it should for its cost and reputation. Good mellow sound, but rather inflexible given the number of knobs that are on this thing. Channels 3 needs work. Channels 1 and 2 are very good, yet loose with a sometimes fizzy top end. I would buy this amp for 400, 500, but not for 1000. You can get better, lighter amps for less money.

Not sure what year the amp was made, but the serial number is below 50. If anyone knows how to date a Boogie please contact me!

This thing is extremely versatile for an all tube amp. 3 discreet channels, with 2 modes per channel, blendable effects loop, seperate EQ/reverb for each channel, direct line out, and a rugged footswitch to control most of the features.

I wish the footswitch had a button to turn the effects loop on/off like my old Marshall pre-amp had, but other than that I think it might have too many features!

Also, the amp has plenty of power. I've never had any problems keeping up with other guitarists/my drummer/or my bass player.

I play a PRS SE Soapbar II and a Fender Strat equipped with Texas Specials. The only pedal I use is my trusty tubescreamer. I usually run a Marshall 1965b 4x10 extension cabinet to fill out the sound.

I normally run the clean channel on the regular mode, and dial in an approximate Fender sound. I have found it sounds a whole lot better if I run it through my friend's open back Avatar cabinet as opposed to the stock Celestion Black Shadow. It gets a lot "fuller" sounding, and a lot closer to a typical "Fender" clean. This channel sounds great with my tubescreamer, which is one of my main requirements when amp shopping.

The orange channel is probably my favorite if I had to pick one. Very smooth gain, but when I kick on my Tubescreamer it gets raunchy as hell. I usually play with the TS off while my singer is in verse, but kick on the TS for leads/riffs/heavier parts. With the volume cranked up and the power tubes cooking this channel gets an awesome lead tone.

I don't use the red channel very often because of my single coil equipped guitars, but on occassion I will grab my friend's Les Paul and wail. The lead channel has a LOT of gain on tap in modern mode, and can pull off the "scooped mid" sound without hesitation. I play in an Indy rock style band so that's another reason I don't really use this channel.

Seems to be built extremely well, the footswitch is sturdy, no scratchy pots, nothing rattling loose from excessive volume, and overall I'm impressed.

I had a tube go out the first week of owning it, but it was my fault for trying to pull it out without releasing the clips that hold them in. Complete stupidity on my part.

Never dealt with them.

This is the jack of all trades amplifier. Not the best on any certain channel, but damn good nonetheless. Plus it's like having 3 amps in one. I hate amps that have common EQ's for different channels, because what may sound good for a clean sound might sound awful with gain on top of it.

Amp is one of the last 100 made. 3 channels,EFX Loop,Master Loudness, Comes with 2 6L6'S and 5 12AX'7s. I play this amp for all styles of music,PLENTY of power,,Loudest Darn 55 watts you wil ever hear.Mesa quit making their (IMHO)their best all around amp.This amp has tone for weeks,can tweak it to ANY sound stage you care to..and built like a Panzer Tank,,I dropped mine twice,,had the usual beer baptism,,no problems of any kind.

I have to many guitars to mention,,except to say i have been playing over 30 years,,all giutars sound great,,some you have to fiddle with,,but hey,,that's any amp..I must admit my Washburn HB 35 with seymore duncan jazz pickups just kills..but any style of guitar plays well,,just spend a few minutes to dial it in.

Being dropped,,soaked in beer,,road damage,,not a thing needed repaired

Have dealt with Mesa about tubes,,were most helpful,,just one hint to those like me who are tone freaks,,Nomadd 55 does not like JAN 12AX's.
I have fiund electro harmonix 12ax's along with winged "C" sed 6L6's do just fine

playing 30 plus,own a couple marshall's,,use them for recording,,ownn a old old Vox AC30,,I keep the Mesa because in overall terms i have found no amp that does so much so well, it's not perfect,,,but comes damm close

No sense repeating specs over & over again. The ?recording out? works pretty decent, but it?s no match for an SM57 into the board.

My Setup = Fender US Special Fat Strats > Dunlop 95Q Wha > Boss TU2 Tuner pedal > Boss OC-3 Octave > MXR EVH Phase90 > Nomad 55 + Mesa 1x12 Extension cabinet both with Celestion Black Shadow 90?s.

I find the Nomad Reverb to be fine. It does get progressively weaker as you go towards more gain, say from Ch1 where it?s very strong to Ch3 where it?s hardly there. That?s OK because, a high level of distortion with a lot of (pre-production) reverb sounds crappy.

If I really want to crank it out, I?ll use the effects loop to go stereo out to the clean channel on my Peavey Bandit 1x12. There I?ll have the Effects Loop at approx. 50% Mix, with a ART SGX T2 Multi-Effect Processor for your usual time-based effects like, Stereo Chorus, Delay, Reverb, Flanger. This setup is so addictive. Sometimes I?ll go for hours and not even realize it!!!

Word of advice ? spring for the $130 bucks for the NEW footswitch!!! The old FU2 has buttons that are spaced so close together that you need to wear cockroach killers to change channels in the heat of jamming

Ch1: Normal ? I use for when I play with my Country fellows. Otherwise I?ll turn up the Gain, back off the Master to compensate when I need a little more FAT (check out the manual for some excellent settings like Twang or ? Hyper Clean).

Ch1 Pushed ? Like an angry little ?champ?, personally, I don?t use it much. I prefer Ch2 with the volume rolled back to achieve this kind of a sound.

Ch2 Vintage ? Definitely my most heavily used channel. Nice ?gunka-chunk? well rounded, excellent sustain. Punch in the Solo button and this thing rips.

Ch2 Modern - I don?t use it much.

Ch3 Modern ? Ultimate heavy sound, back off the Treble and Mid controls to reduce the fizzy nature and it really sings. I love doing drop-D stuff, and add a little delay + wha, and it?s my pseudo Joe Satriani solo for days vibe.

Ch3 Vintage ? definitely NOT a clone of Ch2 Vintage, again I haven?t needed to use it.

As you can see, it?s like I?ve only tapped into half of the Nomads potential. You can spend hours finding new sounds. Personally I enjoy that kind of tone tweaking whereas other players may not. If you want plug and play, this may not be the amp for you (check out the F30 or F50, they kick ass too, and have a very basic front panel layout ? but - no solo button which is why I went toward the Nomad) I?ve found some cool stuff using the manual as a starting point and then experimenting from there.

I?ve done a bunch of gigs with it and haven?t had any problems. Hey ? it?s a tube amp - you must keep some track of the last time you?ve changed them. Was it last year, 6 months ago???? When your sound starts going in and out, or tones begin to sound flat with no changes in EQ ? swap them out. That?s the other beautiful part of a Mesa - you can really do all of that stuff yourself, and not have to worry about biasing.

Mesa Customer Service is the best !!!!!! 5 Star***** I always get to speak to someone, and if they?re not there, they WILL return your call. The receptionist sounds really hot too....

I?ve been playing for close to 20 years and have tried a bunch of stuff. I am partial to 6L6?s so please consider this when weighing my comments. This is the amp I?ve always wanted, that fits my playing and power needs at this stage in my ?so called? career. If I did hit it big, then it would be nice to have stacks of Dual Rectifiers in my back line, but for now if I need that much more I?ll just use power amps off of the Nomad to run 4x12 cabs. I?m currently looking for another Nomad (maybe just the head version) as a backup.

Not sure what year the amp was made. I had it for about a year. I do jazz, funk/rock fusion jazz, pop, classic rock, etc., but I mainly used it for praise and worship events in large and small venues. Also took it to a studio once to overdub guitar tracks for live recording. I think this amp suits blues, rock/classic rock or background guitar for contemporary pop pretty well. Three independent channels with separate controls per channel is a big plus. Effect loops have a level control and sound allright. I think it has direct recording or headphone jacks (not sure) but they are by and large useless in IMO. I can't really think of any major features that you need for serious channel switching that it doesn't have. 50W is adequate or probably too loud for the praise and worship venues that I play where guitar is not really the center of the band chemistry. All tube preamp and power amp sections.

I've recently down-size my rig a bit so right now I only have a light weight custom-shop LP with Seth Lovers, a cheap but awesome sounding ES-175 style jazz box and a strat that I put together. Somehow, my LP sounds really thin through this amp especially for solo work (probably due to the pickups). Stock 57's on LP sounded really nice and full on clean, but I thought they were a bit muddy on distortion, but now I'm starting to think that Seth Lovers are on the opposite end of the spectrum. So I need to find something inbetween. The jazz box doesn't sound good through this amp either. The clean sound from this amp is a bit narrow and focused in the mids for a nice full ambient hollow-body sound. But Boogies are not generally known for the Fender-style big, full, light clean tone anyways, so this is no surprise.

Anyways, because of the above, I always used the amp with the strat. My strat has an original Fender neck with a maple board and extra superlight two piece ash body, custom-ordered from Warmoth (this is a deadly combination). The bridge is L.R. Baggs x-bridge with piezo saddles. The acoustic sound from the L.R. Baggs piezos doesn't sound real/good enough to my ear so I barely use it, and also you sacrifice a little bit of Fendery snappy "quack" due to the piezo saddles that strings sit on, so I don't recommend this. For pickups, I go back and forth inbetween S-S-S and S-S-H but I'm using S-S-H format more nowadays. I used to have 250k pots for both volume and tone becuase I thought the amp was a little on the high-end side (from playing through the LP above and also compared to Heartbreaker that I used to have), but I recently switched back to 500k pots and the amp sounds pretty good. I'm using two Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups (blues model in the neck/regular in the middle) and a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge. Humbuckers are generically darker sounding than single coils, but JB's have enough highs to be compatable with the two Dimarzios.

Overall, the amp sounds really good with my strat:
- The clean on channel one lacks responsiveness and a bit focused in the mids, but with proper EQ, is decent enough for clean rythm works. The headroom is adequate and the breakup point is reasonable. The pushed mode gives you more of tweedy slightly overdriven sound, which I think the blues players would enjoy.
- Channel two is more of an extention of the pushed mode of channel one. The tone is very barky/fat/full/round while the sound opens up and projects more on the modern mode.
- Channel three is for high gain application and definately has the British flavor with a tiny hint of 80's compressed distortion sound. It has tigher bottom, more compressed, crunch and definition than channel two. The vintage mode softens up/rounds out the edgeness a bit. Right on the money for rock, classic rock, heavy blues, etc. The distortion can get pretty heavy & think, but not as much as the Rectifiers.
- The amp is generally quiet. Spring reverb sounds ok.

Never had any problems with it.

They usually return calls within the same day you call and are helpful.

I'm a live/studio musician and have tried/owned various amps in the past. Some old-time Marshall fans don't like Boogies, but Boogies definately have earned its own place in the guitar amp world, and Nomads certainly have that signature Boogie sound (fat-honky-syrupy etc). If you're looking for a channel switching blues and rock guitar amp, give this amp a try.