Mesa/Boogie .50 Caliber +

Well this 50 watt head is quite the killer in almost all categories. It has a volume (gain) control, Master, Lead Master, standard eq, presence control, tube reverb, and the classic Boogie 5 band eq with sliders. This amp is all tube, 2 6L6 valves in the power stage, 4 12AX7 valves, and one 12AT7 for reverb. The only complaint I have about it is the fact that both the clean and lead channels share the same volume control. So if you like seaming high gain on the lead channel, and you switch to clean.......it isnt all that clean. Otherwise i'd give it a 10.

This head is quite amazing when it comes to tone. The clean channel is bristling with rich harmonics, and crispness. Like i was saying though, since both channels share gain settings, its hard to get a good balance of totally clean, and metal overdrive. Where this amp truly shines though, is its lead channel. Massive gain, saturation and drive, and you obtain this with the gain only on around 7! Higher than that gives you insane amounts of gain. Gotta love it though. You can get a total metal tone....a searing - smooth - liquid gain outta this amp with a little tweaking on the eq and high gain settings. Watch out though, with high gain settings at higher volumes, you'll get some raunch squealing. Find a good happy place in the middle by kickin down the gain a little with increased volume.

Well, i haven't had this amp all that long, but ill tell you this. Its over 10 years old, and its still in perfect shape. Sounds fantastic, and totally built like a tank. pretty reminiscent of a Mesa/Boogie product.

Mesa's customer service is really helpful (although theres only 2 guys and a secretary :) They are knowledgeable, and will send you a manual for your amp if you need it as well. Great service from what i've dealt with.

Well i'm using this head through my Marshall 4x12 cabinet, and playing a Fender vintage re-issue strat with a humbucker. Totally sounds awesome. Fat, grinding, and heavy. This amp is definitely high quality stuff....i wouldn't think of selling it. Oh, and don't worry about volume, this is the loudest 50w head i've heard in my life. This is the first Boogie i've owned to date.....and it was a smart purchase. Can't go wrong with this amp.

Two channels,50W from a pair of 6L6s,reverb,loop,two 4-ohm and 1 8-ohm speaker outs,direct out with level,5-band graphic EQ.Single 90W Celestion "Black Shadow" 12".Lots of features and PLENTY of volume in a small,light easy-to-deal-with package.The only thing I'd ask for that this amp lacks feature-wise would be seperate controls per channel,I guess that's why Mesa replaced this amp with the Dual Caliber series.I give it a 9 based on the shared controls.

I use a variety of guitars with this amp,mostly a '66 Sg Jr. and a new reissue Danelectro.I play a variety of stuff,from old school blues to Barkmarket type stuff,and while this is a great amp for SO many things,I think it's become a little to clean for my tastes,and I don't mean clean as if won't distort,it does that just fine,but rather it's too smooth.The clean channel gets somewhat skanky when pushed,and while the lead channel has tons of gain,it's very liquid gain which isn't really my bag anymore.I've never really liked the reverb,not that it sounds bad,I guess I'm just spoiled by early Ampeg reverb.This amp reacts very differently with different guitars-I used to use it with my Jr alll the time and loved it,but for some reason it doesn't get along with that guitar anymore.I will say,however that with the new Danelectro U2,it's a match made in heaven.Anymore,I really don't like that guitar or the amp unless it's those two together,for some reason the reissue lipsticks just work well with the Boogie.I will have to say,however,that my general disinterest in this amp began after I switched the tubes from the Groove Tubes 6L6s and Chinese first preamp stage tube to Sovtek 5881s and 12AX7wxt+.Don't get me wrong, this amp sounds great for a lot of things,it does country,jazz,and all sorts of rock/slick blues stuff really well,I guess it's just that my tastes have changed in the years I've owned it and the tubes that are in it now just don't do much for me,I'm thinking about putting some cherry Sylvania NOS 6L6s I scored but I'm nervous that they won't hold up in this amp,which is very loud when pushed,I've drowned out 100W amps with it all day long many times.The graphic EQ is so dramatic that the regular bass,mid treble and presence knobs don't seem to do much without it.Great amp but just not enough grit for me.I give it a 9 because the amp sounds fine,great even for so many things,but it just won't do Hound Dog Taylor or Shellac stuff.

I have used this amp without backup tons of times,it's built like a brick shithouse.Very very clean wiring throughout,very sturdy with the SUS4 shockmount chassis.The only thing that has ever happened to this amp is that the volume knob is a push-pull pot(for channel switching) that has a plastic shaft,once I left the knob pulled out and put the amp in the trunk of my car,and after a near-death,brake-squealing experience,the shaft bumped something in my trunk and broke.The amp continued to work great,I just couldn't switch channels or adjust the volume for the three days it took Boogie to get me a replacement.Very solid.

As noted earlier,Boogie got me a replacement part within 3 days at no charge,and I bought the amp used!!!I've dealt with Boogie several times and every time they have been very cool,very helpful and generally nice people who do seem to honestly care about tone.Compared to some of the other companies I've dealt with,Boogie is the best!

I've been playing seven years and own a bunch of different stuff,and having run a guitar shop for the better part of my adult life,I'd reccomend this amp to just about anyone except those looking for the raw Skeleton Key,Brainiac,etc tones I find myself going for these days.Much smoother and a little louder than my 50W Marshall JCM800,and a lot smaller,easier package,too.If I lost it,I might get another Boogie,but I'd probably go for something like a 4X10" Blue Angel or a Dual Recto-something that does one or two things REALLY well,this amp does a lot of things well but it's just not gritty enough for me!!!If anyone out there has something cool they may want to trade for a Boogie,let me know!

Year: Mid 1990s, All tube (4x12ax7, 1x12at7, 2x6l6). Standard Boogie features (5 band eq, direct recording out, reverb, fx loop, etc). Excellent build quality. Very versatile - GREAT for blues and hard rockNroll.

I use a G&L Legacy with Duncan singles and a Pearly Gates HB in the bridge for my main guitar and a Gibson LP Special RI (P100s). I have also played a PRS custom 24 and numerous stock Strats and LPs though this thing and they all scream through it. I also use a Marshall Guv'nor (main dist pedal), or a Pro Co Rat or a Boss OD-1 to bump it up a bit for super high gain stuff. You don't really need it as this amp has all the gain you could reasonably ask for but my main sound is more of a bluesy - half distorted sound so I use the pedal(s) to get me over the edge.

One word of caution though: If you are gonna test drive this thing do it at gig volume and not at practice volume. Although you can get some excellent low-volume sounds out of it - it is a little fuzzy sounding at extremely low volumes HOWEVER >>> When you turn it up a bit it turns into a tone-dripping gain monster. All the harshness goes away and you get the greatest hot-preamp + 6L6 power amp distortion anywhere on earth! Also, the stock speaker sounds acceptable but this amp LOVES any decent Marshall 4x12. I currently play it through my Marshall 1936 2x12 with original Celestion "black-back" 30 watters and I am loving this setup. When I bring it to rehearsal studios and whatnot I usually try to get in a room that has a Marshall 4x12 in it just to keep my sound consistent.

It also gets a nice clean sound - kind of Steely Dan'ish if you throw a good compressor on your guitar signal. I use a Boss CS-3 for this sound.

Peace,
--
Frank Silano
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FrankenCat Productions
http://frankencat.lovd.net
Rockin' for Jesus!
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The .50+ Caliber rules. I have played this amp for about 5 years now and it NEVER fails to sound better than everything in the room! Worksmanship is excellent and it is built like a tank. I toured with this thing for a year without_a_road_case and it never failed EVER. I have since put it in an appropriate road case. I actually sold this thing and bought a nice lizard skin covered DC-2 to replace it but after playing on it a bit, I traded the DC-2 to the guy I sold the .50+ to and got the .50+ back. So now it's back in my posession and it is not leaving (I struggled for 2 years without it and it was quite a chore getting my bud' to give it back!).

I have had some limited contact with Mesa-Boogie over the years (this is my third Boogie) and they have always been very helpful and courteous. Kind of a small company vibe that I hape they continue to support in the future. They ROCK!

I have owned every kind of amp and gadget imaginable and currently have a Fender '62 Vibroverb and a Boogie DC-2 as well as access to all kinds of other groovy gear like Matchless, etc.

I LOVE MY .50+ :-)

Jesus is Lord! God bless.

I bought this amp used. It was in excellent condition. All original except power tubes had beed replaced by Sovteks.
The front panel includes: input jack (only 1), foot switch jack (Lead/Rythm channel select), Volume (gain), Master Vol., Lead Master Vol., Treble, Bass, Middle, Reverb, Prescence, 5 band E.Q., E.Q. control switch (3 pos.), Standby switch, Power switch.
The rear panel includes: Fuse, ground switch (3 pos.), Direct Line Out Jack, Direct Out Level, Effects send & return, one 8 ohm and two 4 ohm speaker jacks, E.Q footswitch control jack.
There are 5 preamp tubes (four 12AX7's and one 12AT7 for the reverb) There are 2 power tubes, 6L6GC's.
It is equipped with a 12 inch, 90 watt, celestion speaker.
I generally play country rock and classic rock. This amp is well suited for both. I basically, play at home and small gigs.
This amp has plenty of power, the internal speaker is very loud and sounds excellent. The sound really fattens up when another 12 inch speaker cabinent is connected.
I like the features. I wish it had a Reverb footswitch control. Also, like everybody else, I think seperate gain controls for the two channel would at least double the usability of this amp.
The tone controls are very sensitive allowing an almost endless combination of tones (this can be good or bad!) I'll admit, it took me a couple of days playing every night to figure out the tone and E.Q. settings on the amp.
I really like the size vs. performance of this amp. It is small and light enough to be very portable, yet extremely powerful.
Only because of the lack of seperate gain controls (which I consider a significant omission), I rate features at 7, otherwise, it would easily be a 9.

I play a Zion guitar with 3 Lawerence mini-humbucker pickups in a standard 'strat' scheme. This amp has no noise problems at all.
I bought this amp for the clean channel. The tone is very full and powerful. This is 'an in your face' amplifer. It is very easy to dial in tones that sound like a 'Fender turned up all the way' even at moderate volumes. The amp sounds good at low or loud volumes. To me, sounds of classic and southern rock come natural to the amp on the clean channel. This is a rock music amp. It is not the cleanest amp, but it will rock.
The lead channel is another story. When I dial in a good, slightly overdriven sound on the clean channel and then switch to the lead channel, I suddenly am in heavy metal land. I don't really like this extreme shift in the tone. Don't get me wrong however, the lead channel has great drive and superb note definition, even at insane distortion levels. But, it really contrast the sound of the lead channel. I really can't see the two working very well together. (It's like SRV playing a verse, and then EVH playing the chrous). The lead channel will crunch, and the lead will sustain forever if you want it to (I'm not joking). I'm not a head banger, but the lead channel seems to be suited for head bangers.
I may call Mesa and see if the lead channel can be modded so that it isn't so hot.
Overall, the sound is great.
The two channels sound great, just not very compatible with each other.

I've had the amp a couple of months. The original owner had no problems.
Based on what I have heard and experienced, Mesa amps are very reliable. I feel the amp is very dependable.
Like others have said, it is built like a tank. Cabinet is real birch plywood. This amp has no rattles. Switches and knobs are metal, tube sockets are military grade.
In short, this amp feels like a piece of equipment, not an appliance.

Have not needed customer support.
I called Mesa and asked for a manual. They promptly sent me one. The manual is the most informative and helpful manual I have every read. (Puts Fender, Marshall and Peavey manual to shame).
Customer support is very good.

I also have a Martin HD-28, and Gibson F5-L. This amp is very good, but seperate gains would probably have made it almost perfect. If stolen, I would consider Mesa again but would look at other models. If I found another used one this clean, for this price or less, I would buy it.
From personal experience, this amp has blown away several comparably rated 2-12 inch combos. (no joke).
Portable, loud, versatile, reliable, priced resonable, looked great, sounded even better. That's why I bought it!!

The head has volume, master, lead master, treble, bass, middle, reverb ( real three spring reverb) a five band eq, eq in, standby and power. It uses five preamp tubes and two power tubes. From blues to metal like that. It also has auto biasing so you can change power tubes yourself.

I play heavymetal and use a american made strat with a gibson 500T. And a lespaul with a gibson 500T. No hiss, no noise. Really nice rich sound. with the eq cranked down, it has a great heavymetal sound. You can even get a great heavy sound at low volumes. I hate amps you have to turn loud to get a good sound. It has a really nice clean sound, which you surprising because of how heavy it gets.

I've never had a problem, it has never broke down. The only thing i've replaced is the tubes

I called the company to ask a question, and they were great. They answered my question and sent me a free catolog the next day.

I bought this amp new in 1990. I played everything and was hooked on this head. I bought the four twelve mesa cab with it. I think the marshall cabs sound a little heavier but I have no reason to change cabs. I love this head, it sounds great!!!!! from blues to heavymetal. Lots of tone, great sustain a very nice buy. I wish it had two channels,it is only a single channel amp. I think that is what the DC5 picked up on. I would love two have another Boggie, but i don't really have any reason to buy another one.This one hasn't failed me yet. If your looking for a great amp, spend the money and get a Boogie, they are the best.

This 2 channel amp is quite versatile.F or what I play(Robben Ford type stuff and some jazz,it is great. As one other reviewer pointed out, this amp definately has it's own sound. I played a studio 22.+ before this one(great amp that I regretted selling!) which had EL34's and this amp has 6L6's and to my ears the sound is brighter and more gritty(but grreat).The clean channel is very rich and sweet.I use it with delay and love the sound.The amp has more than enough overdrive and I usually have the gain between 4 and 6.One feature I really like is the direct out level control(using the amp's clean channel for recording via the direct out is truly a sweet sound).The most I've ever had to crank this ampup to in a live situation is 4 and usually around 3(it's loud.)

I'm using a PRS CE with this amp and can get a lot of great useable sounds(the prs is very versatile).It's a quiet amp and is great for home recording as you can get great sounds at low volume.

I have no doubts about this amp and dont think I'd ever need a backup but carrying spare tubes never hurts

I bought it used and retubed it with mesa tubes that I got from their store on sunset in L.A. Then and on the phone they were very helpful.

I ve been playing for over 20 yrs. I use this amp ,the PRS and an Ibanez harmonizer/delay.I'd definately buy one again although I might go for a higher end boogie.reliable ,intelligently built,great sounding amps.

Lots to play around with. I like the graphics eq.'s were you can turn it on or off.

Crunch city!!. Its every were! Dont try to look for a sound that wont be crunchy, its inpossible! Great for blues and heavy classic rock! average for clean. If wont clean headroom, buy a bassman.

dependable. Blows lots of tubes and fuses. Carry any extra tube with you just in case.

Never talked with the mesa/boogie people.

Great amp, its a mesa/boogie! However, I was expecting a little bit more clean sound.

all tube 50 watt 2 channel amp. it's got plenty of features, but.....
as another review stated, the two channels share EQ and, more importantly, gain controls. the EQ is no biggy...this amp has both rotary controls (located before the distortion) and a 5 band graphic (located after the distortion, marshall style). thus it is possible to set up the EQ's seperately (though both rotary and graphic controls work when the graphic is on). but the gain is still shared. i'd love a seperate control, it'd make this amp so much more versatile. but i'll live. otherwise, there's a parallel effects loop with loop mix control, all tube reverb, presence control (which don't seem to do too much, BTW), an 8-ohm and two 4 ohm speaker outs, a 75 watt celestion 12 inch speaker, and nice big knobs with big numbers.

plenty of gorgeous tones to be yanked from this thing. each channel really takes on completely different tonal characteristics depending on where the gain knob is set, which is why i wish there were seperate controls.
clean channel-almost inaudible until the gain is around 4. between 4-6, you get a nice clean sound...crank the reverb for surf...bright without being harsh, and full bodied. a little midrangey, esp. with humbuckers, but great with single coils. GREAT bottom, specially for a single open back 12. PAF style humbucker will distort very slightly with the gain at 6 if you hit the string hard. plenty of dynamics. gain between 7-8.5--nice, just barely grindy rhythm sound. however, the high end is more emphasized here, and the bottom seems a bit rolled off. adjusting the EQ or rolling off guitar tone is necessary, as it gets fairly harsh, regardless of pickup type or position. once you find the sweet spot, it's a great sound for strummin, but be careful. gain between 8.5-10--the bottom end becomes fairly muddy, but the highs return to normal and the entire makeup of the tone here is blues heaven. sustain forever (well the amp in general has great sustain), plenty of bite, incredible dynamics; go with a neck single coil for an "almost stevie" sound and a mid output humbucker for an "almost bb" sort of tone. lots of useable sounds, but not much punch with power chords and such.
lead channel--gain at 2--nice, low gain bluesy sound. see, this'd be a great lead counterpart to the clean channel's sound with the gain at around 7, but that is impossible. oh well. anyhows, good low gain sound, plenty of grind on open chords, good harmonics and sustain. a little thin and lacking on the bottom, but useful in a band situation where the BASS is for bass and the guitar is for guitar, know what i'm sayin. gain between 2.5-5--the distortion goes from bluesy to huge very quickly. you can feel it swelling while you turn the knob just a little bit. at 3, it is THE rhythm grind tone. keith richards on steroids. gorgeous. after that, it starts getting real big real fast. harmonics just leap out. it does justice to just about any pickup, really...retains the guitar's individuality but shapes the tone is an ummy way. gain between 5-7--starting to enter the realm of heavy crunch. the bottom end seems to get bigger the higher the gain control is set. with the graphic EQ not in use, the lead channel gets awfully midrangey regardless of where the rotaries are set; te graphic does take care of this nicely, though, allowing you to scoop the mids slightly without losing that fat tone. gain between 7-9--good hard crunch and screaming leads. compression becomes very obvious, though. roll off the volume for a less distorted but almost equal volume rhythm (cool) and then kick the guitar back up to ten for a saturated lead. very nice. gain at 10---the coolest fully saturated sound i've ever heard. not harsh at all...in fact it seems to roll off the highs just a little and emphasize the bottom and lower mids...toying with the graphic cna yield a very marshally upper mid bite, though. this thing will sustain any guitar forEVER (seriously, i've got a floyd equipped samick strat shaped bolt on that just WILL NOT QUIT on any note). very musical feedback and harmonics. neck pickups in general display a huge bottom and fullness of tone...bridge pickups, as expected, add a nice bite to it. huge compression at this point, but the guitar still shines through.

had it for several months now, never let me down.

never needed 'em

love it. as said, i wish it had seperate gain controls...i can live with the shared EQ, but there's some combinations that'd just go PERFECT together that i can't get. but it's perfect for what i need. one tiny thing...i wish it weren't so touchy on the master, it's tough finding the right volume in any situation. built like a tank, though, and it gets great tone at any volume (though like any tube amp it begs for more than i can give it at bedroom levels). got it cheap, looks great, built to last, sounds killer and pumps out the decibels big time.

Feature wise, this amp is very cool, but also annoying. While you do get channel switching, switchable EQ, effects loop, 8ohms and stereo 4 outputs, you cannot get two good sounds at once, because you don't have a separate gain control for the other channel. What I mean by this is you can't get a sparkling clean sound and then switch to a massive overdriven sound, because the gain is always the same. It's all tube, with 5 preamp AX7's, and 2 6L6's for power. Lovely, I really prefer the 6L6's over it's cousin the EL34. It's a very versatile amp, but as I said, one sound at a time. There is also a studio out, which is not bad, and is useable in the event of you blowing your speakers, whatever they might be. The Graphic EQ is very nice and really shapes the tone well. I really appreciate the switches they make for these amps, handy as a weapon if you get in a fight, they're made of solid metal, and make a very satisfying click. The power of the amp (50 watts) is a bit frightening. Fenders and Marshalls seem overrated wattage wise next to a Boogie. Thankyou for using large dials with big numbers and slanting them, so you don't have to bend down to read them. I hate amp companies (most of 'em) that use cheap plastic rockers and dials. Boogie is not one of those companies.

You can get a lot of sounds out of this. Sparkling clean lines are easily dialed up, the distortion is massive, you get that wild Boogie singing tone on either channel, and the sustain of your guitar will be enhanced. The amp is super quiet with the setup I have, no need for a noise gate, at the highest levels, only a bit of hiss was detectable, no humming at all. The clean channel tends to make a bit of a "brawk" at high volumes, but I very rarely turn this amp up above 3 on the master volume, I need those ears for other things. At a level of 3 is easily equivalent to an 8 on a Marshall or Fender. PLenty of headroom. Buying a 100 watt Boogie would be insane.

Never had a problem. I have used it for the better part of a year, dragging it around to various parties, jams, and outdoors, and never had a sniff of a problem. I have done several things I shouldn't have, like running it through shielded cable instead of proper speaker cable (I know, I know, ouch, but I didn't know any better, it was my first real amp) and it still rocks like a beast.

I have dealt with Boogie twice. Both times they called me back (long distance!) within half an hour. They sent me a catalogue with some cool stickers (hey, I live for stickers) and the fact that their products wipe their competitors was only mildly affecting my decision to continue with Boogie.

I can't bitch too much about the channel switching/gain problem, because that's why Boogie introduced the DC series, which more than rectifies (little Mesa joke there) the situation. I find that it is less "Boogie" than some of their newer amps, which is good for those people who want Marshall and Fender sounds. I would sell most of my other stuff to find another .50 Caliber+, so that I could switch between two incredible sounds.

Very high gain 50 watt combo with channel switching. The tone circuits are shared between the clean channel and lead channel, but the plus has a switchable 5 band EQ that is (after) the distortion just like a Marshall. The tone circuits are before the distortion like a Fender amp. It has an effects loop, and reverb.

Crunch, crunch and more crunch. This amp will crunch up like a Marshall but with the smoother mid sounding Boogie tone. The amp that replaced it, which I also owned at one point (DC-5) just will not crunch up like this amp...but it does offer more features such as two totally independent channels. The DC-5 also sounds more like the Dual Rectifier series amps, which are voiced with more of a scooped midrange ( SORT OF SOLDANO/MARSHALL COMBINED SOUND), but is very soft in response which helps in hidding mistakes.

Bullet proof.

The best

I've been through many amps, and I sort of graduated to the higher end Boogies like the Tremoverb. The 50 caliber plus however is a cool amp with a particular sound of its own....and it does crunch up. Since they don't make these anymore, you can get them used for about $600. I probably would get one again if i found one for about $450 any cond.
I'd mostly want to play it at home because this amp can get a death metal tone at a very low volume...I really miss being able to do that.
I still prefer the Tremoverb for live use, but at $2500....it took awhile to get the green together, and i also have to worry about the amp when I leave it overnight at a bar.
Incidentally,
This amp also has a very good clean channel if you keep the gain below 7, with medium power humbuckers (10 K Ohms). With a high powered Dimarzio (14K and up), I don't think clean is what your after, but the amp has plenty of gain.....and just plain PAF humbuckers will sing through this amp and sustain forever.