Mesa/Boogie .50 Caliber +

I think this amp was made in the 80's some time? It's got both a clean and a dirty channel, but they share the same EQ. Its very basic: one basic eq section, reverb, graphic eq. Pretty easy stuff.

I play this head through an old Marshall cab. Its sounds fantastic. I'm in love with the clean channel in this amp. It's chimey and cuts through the mix just great. The built in graphic eq makes a major difference in overall tone. I know people will complain that the shared eq makes it hard to use this live, so I started using stomp boxes and prefer the versatility of the pedals to the amps distortion channel. I can get this amp to scream, using distortion pedals. It's avery basic amp, really. Not a lot of bells and whistles, just pure awesome tone. I have a mark 4 which I loved, but I did not utilize all the features. I always thought mesa should come out with a basic one channel amp, that delivers a great clean sound and a great distorion sound and thats it, nothing fancy, just a very usable, great sounding amp. Well, this one would be it. If I find a combo version of this amp somewhere, I'll definitely pick it up.

this is a REALLY old amp, but the previous owner has taken good care of it. Mesa has a pretty good rep when it comes to their stuff and I have a feeling that the older the amp, the beter the craftsmanship? It is a tube amp, so all the usual concerns are there, but so far so good.

N/A

I've been playing a long time and have had plenty of amps. Some great, some not so great. This one hapens to be my favorite. At the moment, it fulfills all my needs. I don't see myself buying another amp, unless of course I fine a 50 cal+ combo?

This is a very versatile amp. The addition of the EQ makes it even more so. If you now run and EQ pedal, you can sell it.

This amp is the best I have ever owned. I have an original Marshall jcm 900 2205. This mops the floor with it. I also use a Mesa 2:90 and Studio Pre. This head is as good. Just not as powerful.

This is the one area where Mesa truly beats other tube amps. The tubes require no biasing when you replace them. This saves time, expense and hassle. Plus the amp is tough and tubes last a long time. But the plug and play aspect of the amp is really attractive for people who play out a lot.

Unfortunately Mesa support is just ok. Not the best. They dont seem to have any record of serial numbers, when things were built, etc. Have never had to buy parts so no problem there.

This is the best sleeper amp out there. This thing blows away a Marshall, and any other wanna be amp companies. Mesa Boogie all the way. If you have a chance to buy one, get it. You will not be disappointed.

purchased used on ebay, 50 watts, all JJ tubes (6L6 in the power section), 2 channels (clean and crunch), 5 band graphic eq, effects loop - the usual stuff (and unlike new mesas, very easy to rackmount). at first it might not seem incredibly versatile with only 2 channels, but once you plug in you realize that the compleity of the tone makes it a very versatile amp.

there is one downside, though. because of the way the clean channel cascades into the crunch channel, it's hard to get a good balance between the two in terms of level. i have to compensate for it in my effects rack.

this amps sounds fantastic. i play european-style gothic/prog metal, and i prefer this non-recto mesa tone - pretty darn fuzzy but not so much that the playing loses dynamics. i use the crunch channel most of the time, and it has a shocking amount of gain for an amp built in the mid-late 80's, and while the actual volume doesn't change much no matter how hard i pick, i get lots of subtle changes in equalization and fuzz depending on how i play. despite the extreme gain, i never lose clarity, and when i play this amp i feel very connected to the guitar. (which, btw, is an all mahogany neck-thru custom job with a hardtail strat style bridge.) leads are very compressed and liquid, like jon petrucci. come to think of it, this amps reminds me a lot of john petrucci.

interestingly enough, i had the same model about 15 years ago in my old band (alt-country/roots rock) i used the clean channel a lot, and it was pretty much the same story: the amp was very responsive to my picking, staying jangly when i strummed light, bouncy when i chicken-picked, and got great power-amp punch with a dash of crunch when i strummed hard. that amp was stolen in 1997, and at the time there was no ebay, and i could not find another one. i bought a new mesa dc3 to replace the 50 cal, and while it's a great amp as well, the 50 cal was really my favorite. now that we have ebay, i was able to pick up another 50 cal and it was as great as i remembered it.

i haven't had my "new" 50 cal for very long, but i gigged with my old one for years and it never let me down. i'll rate it a 7 simply becuase i never had to test it under extreme conditions like roadies or airport baggage handlers.

the amp is long out of warranty, but the guys at mesa are very knowledgable and pleasant. the one downside it that they will not answer questions by email, so you have to call them. i might add, that mesa service centers tend to be higher quality shops with better training than a lot of amp service guys.

i've been playing for 20 plus years, have owned fenders, marshalls, and several mesas (still have a dc3 and a formula pre) and the 50 cal is the best one they ever made. i love it so much that when my first one was stolen in 1997 i bought another one (though i had to wait for the rise of ebay and the internet to find one for sale.) the tone in both channel is just amazing. i like that it's easy to rack mount and does not cost an arm and a leg (i think that when they were new they were considered mesa's "workingman's amp".)

i wish they a better way to balance the levels between the two channels, but i found a workaround, and for this tone it was well worth the trouble.

I won't bore you with repatition.. Read the other reviews or visit Mesa's web site..

Pretty straight forward 2 channel amp.. Small venues and bedroom rocking/pracice is my typical uses..

This is where I tend to differ with alot of the other reviewers and here's why..

OF COURSE THIS DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A MARSHALL!! It's a Mesa and this is a GOOD THING! Folks, If everyone wanted a Marshall then Mesa/Boogie wouldn't be in business! Not eveyone prefers that tinny gain of EL 34's that Marshall often utilises..(Plexi's and Super Leads)Hendrix and everyone else SETTLED for that wimpy sound because that was the heaviest sound of it's day.

ALSO, Before you plug this thing in, read the entire owners manual which is conviently available at Mesa's web-site.(ALL MODELS EVER MADE!!) This Mesa can cover about every sound imaginable. It has a very nice Clean,(Not a Fender or Roland Jazz Chorus, but very usable and recordable) AND
The Distortion/Gain channel handles Crunch to shred with no problem.
The whole key is taking the time to tweak this amp's controls.

Another key point to understand is watt ratings.. Their is Solid state watts, Tube watts then there is Boogie Watts and they are louder watts then any other amp on the planet.

And don't even think of complaining about ANY amp if you are using a $100 Squier or LTD P.O.S. 'Nuff Said

Like any piece of equipment, if you properly maintain it, it will serve you many many years..

Love their web-site, Very friendly service people..

playing 17years.
Guitar tech for 7 years
Been buying/selling/ trading Guitars and guitar equipment since '2000 (Kickaxeguitars)

I have sold over 800 guitars. I have owned 3 Mesa Combo's (Subway Rocket, DC-3,and .50 Cal +.. I have owned Marshall JCM 800 w/ Zakk Wylde mod, Valvestate, DSL. Crate 2X Blue Voo Doo 120 watt head, Mesa. Line 6 Flextone II, Peavey XXX,Fender Twin (70's) Soldano SLO And tried almost every other make out their.. I Love the non Rectifier Mesa stuff. It's very versatile and very reliable.
If I was a serious gigging/recording musician I would own several amps. Fenders for sparkly clean and Mesa's or crunch and Gain.. If I were still playing Shredd/Death metal i would stick with my Peavy XXX but it is a 1 trick pony and the Mesa is way more versatile.

I bought my 50+ head many years ago and paid about $900 new. It is an excellent amp for most any style, but the dirty channel is the powerhouse of the amp. Clean channel is very respectable.

Boogies have a certain sound you either love or hate. It does not sound like a marshall to me. It has a nice distortion channel that allows you to obtain anything from slight fuzz to shred. Clean channel sounds good, just not very warm or open. I much prefer the clean channel on a fender like the hot rod deluxe

Unacceptable. I've brought the thing in for many repairs such as bad caps and such and I just don't think with the amount of time this amp has spent 'ON' warrants the amount of costly repairs.

They will refer you to a local authorized repair person, who may even do it out of their house. Not much quality control over their 'authorized repair' folks

Even though I complain about its reliability, it is still a great amp capable of a variety of tones. Maybe I caught a lemon, who knows?

50w is enough power for most people. I use it to play metal, grounge and it works wonders for this. Don't know if it works for kiss, ac/dc and so on. If you like the sound of Metallicas masters of puppets then you like this amp. Meshuggah use one for many of thiere recordings so does Pepper Keenan in Corrosion of Conformity. The + on 50 caliber + means it's got a knob for lead master also. It is used for balancing the volym beetwen rythm and lead.

The distortion is Brutal! It's got that Metallica Master of Puppets sound (dead on). The clean channel is awsome but you can't have a great clean channel and great distortion (my opinion). That's why i use a Roland jc120 for my clean and my distortion with the mesa .50 caliber + head (i just love my distortion from this amp). My best tip for this and all other amps are! go by a MXR 10 band EQ, it makes all the difference in the world in any amp. I use one in the mesas effect loop, gives me better distortion (heavier and more clean)

It's like a tank with great quality! think this baby will last for many more years. It's a tube amp so some service is recuired.

Haven't dealt with Mesa Boogie staff. But one thing piss me off!!!! They don't got a support e-mail adress, and i'm not gonna call them from Sweden. Give me a e-mail adress.And the homepage suck in design. It looks like the homepages looked in Sweden 1990 or so.

Played on and off for 12 years. I use a Roalnd jc120 for clean, .50 caliber + for distortion, Whirlwind aby selector stucked in a Morley Hum Eliminator, MXR Blue box, Mxr Dynacomp, BOSS TU-2 Tunner, IBANEZ flanger, Electroharmonixs small clone, Rat.

I would by i again if it was stolen for the right price. If i don't find one i would probably by a Peavey 5150 2(6550).

Mine is a 50 caliber + head. A straight forward all tube 2 channel head with a 5 band EQ, etc. It is a very versatile amp if one takes the time to dial it in. Very freakin loud for a 50 watt head.

I play a Peavey XP mahogany archtop w/ stock humbuckers thru it. I play heavy doom/stoner rock to metal and the lead channel sounds good without the EQ engaged, but it sounds incredible with it engaged. This head has more gain on the lead channel than anyone needs. I dial it back to about 3-4 and scoop the mids some and viola, I get the crunch/chug from hell. The clean sounds great as well, though I don't use it much. Some people don't like the type of gain Mesa Boogies put out (almost too much?), but when reigned in a tad It has a very rich textured tone, with a lot of depth. I love the sounds I can get with it.

I believe its a mid 80's model and I play it daily. I've had no problems at all(so far)

No need (yet)

I've been playing for 20 years (seriously for 10) I've owned just about every brand of amp there is. various Marshalls, various Randalls, Ampeg VT40, Hughes & Kettner, various Laneys, Carvin MTS, Trace Elliott, Orange, and many, many others. and with tweaking this amp can replicate just about ANY of these amps signature sounds. Of all the amps I've owned I'd rate this one up there with the Orange, and the Ampeg as the best I've had. Right now my other amp is an Orange Rockerverb. and I A/B'd the two side by side and the it took me about 3 minutes to dial in the Orange sound on the Mesa. Bottom line is the 50 caliber can sound like a Marshall, etc. but a Marshall will never pull off the Mesa Boogie sound. If you see one of these at a reasonable price get it. A tremendous amp for the price.

Mine was made in 1991 the best I can tell. The features have been described but I will rehash a bit. The amp has two channels, rhythym and lead. The EQ can be turned off, turned on, or put in Auto where it is only active on the lead channel. It has a 3 spring reverb, an effects loop, presence, 3 band passive eq, pre gain, lead volume, and master volume. The preamp uses 4 12AX7's and the reverb uses another. The output tubes are 6L6GC's. The speaker is a 12" Celestion Black Shadow. The cabinet is thick plywood and is very sturdy. It is covered in black tolex and has steel corners. It is pretty basic by today's standards but that is OK with me. I am happy with a decent sounding single channel amp usually. It has plenty of headroom for club gigs and can be easily mic'd for larger gigs.

The tone on this puppy is phenomenal. No, I am not a neophyte who is getting all excited at a new gear purchase. I have owned several of the 50 cal+'s and have recorded and toured with them. I recently sold my Marshall JCM-800 because this amp is my tone. If you don't crank the gain way up and turn up the master the amp is very responsive- like an expensive boutique amp. Crank up the preamp and you go into Metallica territory, especially if you turn on the eq and get the scooped "V" going on. Back the preamp down to 4, turn off the eq, turn down the highs and put the mids on about 7 and the bass on 3-5, crank the master volume to 5 and you get a reasonable facsimile of an old Marshall Bluesbreaker. Go to the rhythym channel and twek it and you can get a decent Fendery clean sound. Mess with the preamp volume and go into Stevie Ray territory. Better break out the TubeScreamer.

It is a tube amp. I have had to do repairs over the years. But that is to be expected, it is the nature of the beast. I drop this to a 7 because the dang thing is hard to work on with the printed circuit board. And it does not have a bias pot. I've read your white papers Randall Smith, and I'm still ot convinced. But damn, you have made some good amps over the years.

They are usually helpful when you call. Some of it depends on the individual you talk to. Sounds like a real everyday workplace, huh?

I have been playing since 1982 and have had Marshalls, Ampegs, Carvins, various Mesa Boogies, homemade amps, Fenders, Silvertones, a VHT, and some I can't remember. I like the old non-Rectifier Boogies as well or better than any of them.

I believe my .50 Caliber + is a late 80's model. Features are fairly basic for a 2 channel amp- 5 band eq., reverb, effects in/out, etc..I pretty much use all of the features. For 50 watts, its sounds full and I believe is plenty lound. 6L6s (Electro Harmonics) and 12AT7 is my current tube set up.

Played with one of my 70s Gibson Les Pauls, it sounds freaking great-no idding. I also have some other Mesas-Mark II and Mar IIC+, however, I can't believe some of the bad comments I have read about the 50 caliber written by others. You have to spend a little time tweaing in the 5 band eq, and treble, bass, mid and volumes know-then magic! Distortion is great for vintage rock and AC/DC type rythm and leads, as well as yes, Santana. When played with my 76 LP Custom fitted with a DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup, the damn amp sustain just keeps going,,,and going-think Black Magic Woman and you got it,,,,

It is a Mesa-hoe could there be a problem. I am alos an electrical engineer, and looking at these pieces, they are built with miltiary quality electronics components and mounting techniques.

Mesa is great, very repsonsive and helpful whenever I had a question or wanted to order anything for this or other my Boogie amps.

I have to give it a nine. If it had some additional features, it could be a ten. However, I also forget it is a late 80s amp, and often compare to a newer amp like a Mar IV that also cost several times as much. So, it is a very gret sounding 50W 2 channel amp, with great vintage distortion and sustaaaaaiiiiinnnn :> Regards, Joe

Ok features...nothing really cool, but equaliser helps. Great amp if you use pedals to get your overdrive, because to me, this amp has one of the best cleans. Very harmonically complex, intense really. Very rich, what a beautiful sound. Lot of people complain about sharing the same eq for both channels and I agree...but you can set your clean the way you like and use the eq to fine tune your overdrive but is a hassle because your switching 2 pedals to get your drive.

Some other reviewer said harmonically rich or sumtin, and I agree totally. It is capable of Fender clean but three dimensional. One of the best cleans I heard ever, however it doesnt have much headroom and starts breaking up a little after 3 and a half. Add in some of the Calibers rich and sensitive reverb and your in clean tone heaven The drive channel is that boogie sound you expect.

This amp is so beat up but working like a champ.

I ended up getting a Nomad 55 instead because the clean is still very good (not as good as the caliber) and the 2 SUPERB drive channels. The Nomad also has a footswitchable solo boost. Nomad reverb not as good as the Caliber reverb. Man, if I can put the Caliber clean in the Nomad clean channel and have the Caliber reverb...it would be perfect.

Whatever, this is a Caliber reveiw and in conclusion, this is a tone monster amp. I think every tone head and guitar tube amp collector should have one, especially because they are cheap too. I just can't afford having it and the Nomad.

The graphic equaliser on guitar amp is great idea, but real bad is absence of separate gain for rhythm and lead channel.

I'm playing Epiphone/Gibson LP with EMG-81 and 85, through Randall 4x12 box. Pickups are strong, so clean channel is quite crunch, but I like it, because the rhythm channel sounds near perfectly. Lead tones are really howling, it smells bit of 80s, but especially with graphic equaliser you can set bass hight and all sound "seat at butt". Also the reverb sounds are amazing, god bless Boogies. THE GRAPHIC EQUALISER IS THE BEST REASON!

I buy it used, so I can't judge, but yeah, it need service sometimes.

...it's used...

I have this head about two years, but it was made maybe in 89-90. It's great amp for funky rhythms and heavy sounds.

I LOVE THIS AMP! HERE'S WHY;

I bought it new in 1989/90 I think. 50watts 2 x 6LC/5881.
2 Channels - Gain, Rhythym Master & Lead Master. Reverb, Presence and 5 band EQ. All Pretty Good. Just enough knobs. I run it with a Marshall 4x10cab. A Fralins equipped 88' Srat and a 88' PRS Custom 24.

The Clean channel has plenty of low end, with robust mids and shimmering sparkling highs. It goes from spanky, sparkling clean tone to a lovely, lush, smooth, bluesy overdrive on the clean channel. It goes from clean & tight to very spongey and lush around 6 and starts overdriving alot past 7. Depending on where you set the input gain. It can get a slight crunch to it, if you crank and tweak it just right, but it's really nothing like a proper EL34 marshall type crunch. Just a very vague approximation at best. This is all this amp really lacks. A nice gggraaaunchy crunch tone. Everything else totally rocks.

P.S. I'm saving for a Hot British Tone Bone.

The Lead channel can sound a little fizzy at low volume, but the distortion is very complex and sweet. The EQ works a treat. No foot pedal or amp modeller can touch it for complexity and 3D tone. Once you get used to it, this amount of complexity in your sound and you end up trading all your fuzz boxes in, cos they sound like cardboard. Turn up the master volume and the low end kicks in and it smooths out into to a lush, creamy, soulfull, really saturated distortion. That's total gas to play solos and crunch rhythym. It cleans up really nicely too. Into a nice, moderate overdrive with a little complex hair on your notes. It will do a pretty decent scooped 80's heavy metal sound, mated to a 4x12 cab. But it's too creamy and lush to sound exactly like a Marshall to my ears.

The reverb sounds pretty good to me. It's level drops back when you switch from clean to lead, just right. It can get quite deep, like your in a train station type surf sound. I usually set it at about 2-3. just to add a little realism.
In my opinion this amp isn't all that loud. It struggles to compete with a drum kit. The lead master volume channel is really loud though, but it gets too messy and muddy when you max it out.

It has broken once. I was putting effects in the loop and stuffed it somehow. Got it repaired. For comparsion, I also own a Marshall 8080 Valvestate 'beer glass rattler'. It's rather bland by comparison. The Marshall is much newer (but cost half the price) and it's knobs sound all scratchy and cut in and out, when ya turn 'em. It needs to be repaired, all the Boogie operations remain as new. It's over 12 years old!

It's never needed help from anybody. N/A

I LOVE THIS AMP!!
It's quite compact and petite. It sits perfectly on top of my Marshall 4x10. like what the other guy said you can make a Boogie sound roughly like a Marshall, but can you make a Marshall sound like a Boogie...Clean. Think not.

The overall sound and quality are excellent. Sweet, robust and complex, not quite Class A, but still pretty good, dynamic and spanky. If a little too polite to cut it in a band mix.

It's a very versatile and musical amp. It has a very sophisticated, classy, rich tone. That's great for pop, blues and jazz/fusion and 80's type metal. It's perhaps a little too creamy and classy and 'polite' to do the aggro rock thing with any credibilty (atleast to my ears anyway). You would argue that it's too 'polite', too 'musical mummies boy', which I guess it probably is. It doesn't always cut it in a band mix. I have to use an Boss EQ pedal and clean boost it a bit to give it bit more cut and slice with the band at times.

I just can't wait to try it out with a Tonebone HB on the clean channel. ooooeee! that's gonna rock.

I can have my cake and eat it too. Sweet, but robust sparkling bluesy cleans, graunchy crunch from the TBHB and stonkin' sweet, saturated, soulfull Boogie leads. Just gotta mike the little sucker. Rock steady brothers.

Just a plain tube amp. It's probably the most simple amp that I've seen. However, I do like the simplicity alot.

Im using a Gibson Les Paul with it and the tone is killer. The clean may be kind a dirty, but the lead is unreal. The high gain sound is so unique. It has a classic Mesa tone and I love the sound that I get from this amp. Once I tried this amp i didn't want to play anything else.

I would definately rely on this amp. I cradked a tube once, but that was my fault.

Great service.

Mesa is a solid company and the proof is in this sick amp.

This amp was made in like freakin' '89 or something. Old as crap. You've read enough reviews of this amp by now so you know what it can do. It was versatile enough for what I play, but the 50 watts just didn't seem to cut through a live setting like how I wanted it to.

I play through an ESP les paul body guitar..M-100 or something like that. It's super cheap but i've totally re-done it and nothing is the same anymore except for the wood..I have two EMG-81's in it. It has amazing distortion, pretty damn brutal, and if you use it just for a practice amp, it's great. loud enough to hear what you're doing but doesn't hurt your ears. One major problem I have with this amp is there is an incessant ringing all the time. It's pretty nasty but overall, unless you're recording on a weekly basis(like I am) it isn't really an inconvenience. The distortion is plenty brutal, just not loud enough. It naturally distorts past 3 and takes away some of that death metal crunch that i've been looking for, for so long.

I have had a few problems with this amp, but nothing that was anyones fault but the person who sold it to me..and my own. When I recieved it, the tubes were put in backwards or something and it ended up blowing. I had to have it re-tubed AND put in 200 dollars worth of work into it(which you could say it was totalled, because I only bought it for 300) but that wasn't Mesa's fault, or anyone associated with. This thing is pretty much built to last, even though it looks rickety as hell. I don't know if it was a fault of mine, or what but there was a rectangular shape cut into the bottom of my head for no apparent reason. It looked..well, stupid. It served no purpose and it was just another way for the tubes to get damaged. Which is another thing, I would always take a backup because there isn't a cover on the back of the amp. The tubes are totally exposed and if something bumps into any of that stuff, your fried.

Never worked with. Can't say. No warranty because I bought used.

I have been playing for about 6 years now, but I played about 7 hours a day. The main criticism I have of this head is that it doesn't get loud enough for the settings that I play. I love the way it sounds, but sadly you can have the most crushing tone in the world but it won't matter if no-one can hear it. This blows away any Rectifier I've ever heard but I don't think that's saying much since the Rectifiers are overpriced garbage. I have a 5150, and a VHT Pittbull, and I myself think the 5150 blows them all away. It has INSANE low end and pierces through the live mix better then anything else. Save up the few hundred more and go all the way with a 5150. Way better than anything Mesa has ever made.

See the other reviews for features list.
My experience with it was that it was simple - easier to dial in a desired tone than most amps.
The 8 is simply because there's no real extras except the 5 band EQ.

10 all the way. I played the .50 cal + as my primary amp from 1999 to present. I sold it and bought the combo version I like the sound so much. The thing about Boogie amps is the clean tone. With a pedal or two you can make most amps produce any style distortion you want. But getting a good clean tone is more difficult. The character of an amp comes out in the the clean channel. That's why I chose this over several Marshalls, a Rivera, and a truck load of Fenders. All the other makers were too bright, to edgy on the clean channel. I like a mellow, rounded clean tone. The other makers were just too thin. Of course - the amp distortion is Mesa all the way. You can run into problems with your levels depending on how you use the EQ. Some owners have had a separate Lead Volume installed ($100 or so) - probably a good investment.

Overall - 10+. I have played through this amp with an Ibanez AS200 (stock Super 58's), Epiphone Casino (stock P-90's), cheap Fender Squire Strat with a SD Lil '59 at the neck and Invader at the bridge. All guitars sounded great through this. I've been able to play everything from Pantera to John Scofield - all using little more than a chorus or overdrive.

Uh...Mesa...that about says it. Five years, several states, indoors, outdoors, in cars-trucks-planes. Awesome. The only issue I had is that the spring reverb crackles a bit when the amp gets vibrated. One drummer I used to gig with plays like an earthquake at all times, and I noticed it then. Never got a good diagnosis. Some thought bad spring, others said it was normal. Most times it would be fine so I left it alone.

p.s. I bought it for $425 and sold it for $450 five years later, only replacing the tubes in that time. Mesa's are a solid investment. Like a good car - buy it used to save the depreciation, and with a littl TLC it should gain in value.

I called them about the reverb question - got instant help (though they couldn't do much unless I shipped it...which is expected).
Otherwise no dealings.

I guess this is the ego portion where I tell everyone how great I am...

I've been playing 20 years. Self taught, so less than half of that time is worth anything as far as guitar playing goes. In the last 6 years I have gigged regularly, mainly for enjoyment. I have no aspirations for a music career - I just love to get together and play.

I currently play a 1981 Ibanez AS200, Mesa .50 Cal+. My effects train is: Guitar >>> Boss TU2 tuner >>> Boss OD3 overdrive >>> DOD chorus >>> MXR M133 Micro Amp >>> Dunlop Wah >>> amp.

I actually use the overdrive distortion on the clean channel most, as it has a more unique sound with the AS200. With other guitars I used the Mesa distorion more. Some form of gain boost pedal is a good investment, and a cheap way to simulate a lead channel. Your sound man will thank for saving him extra work leveling your leads.

I don't have any negative comments about this amp. When I recently decided to move to a combo, I actually considered a Peavey Prowler - Yes I said Peavey. I heard another player use one (he removed the Peavey name plate), and was suprised at the tone. I borrowed it for a few weeks and found that it's basically an early 70's Marshall. I was considering it to save a few $$, but I am so confident in the .50 that I bought the combo version of it instead!

I believe my Booge .50 Caliber plus is from the late 80's. I find the amp to be almost "perfect". Everyone knows the features: 50 Watts, Two Channels (lead/clean), Pre Amp Vol., Master Vol., Lead Volume, Treble, Bass, Mid and Presence knobs - Reverb, 5 band eq, effects loop etc, etc... Not to mention the amp is very light.

The amp is very dynamic with great harmonics. It also has a tight bottom end - it never seems to fold on itself like some of the Rectifiers I've played. The lead channel is one of the coolest sounds I've ever heard. Notes will sing when pushed and the amp will "clean" up when you roll your volume knob on your guitar. And did I mention for 50 watts this amp screams.

I do wish the amp had seperate EQ's for the channels though. It's impossible to dial in a clean tone and not compromise your dirty tone. And it would have been nice for the 5 Band EQ to been in the post stage.


My main guitar is a 335 Studio w/ a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a Alnico in the front. The guitar seems to react well with this amp. It's a great combination for what I do. Effects wise, I've trimmed down my pedalboard and now I'm down to the essentials: Cry Baby Wah, Line Modulation for Chorus, Tremelo, Vibrato, Line 6 Delay for it's loop function and then straight into the amp. In the loop I have a Boss Delay and a new MXR noise gate. I need to go from a pretty clean sound to extremely dirty and over the top and this set up works. Am I 100% satisfied ? No. But pretty damn close.

As I mentioned before, I wish the 2 channels didn't share the same EQ and pre amp settings. This would make my life easier but if your me, nothing comes easy. The dirty channel is extremely noisy as well - this is where the MXR noise gate comes in. A definite life saver.

The music I play is reminiscent of the Pumkins "Gish" record and the Cult's "Love" era. I needed an amp that would do clean and dirty and the Boogie comes very close. I was a Marshall JCM 800 user for years. I would plug into the low input channel and use a box for crunch. It was cool but my Boogie kills that sound. It's a bit more lush and 3D. I belive that's due to the 6l6's.

I also suggest using a cab rated at 8 ohms to get the full potential of this amp. I have a 16 ohm Marshall 4x12 w/ 25 Watt Celestions. The sound is not quite as focused as my Marshall w/ Vintage 30's that has been split for 2 8 ohm outs. Scary good...

This amp in particular has been pretty consistent. This is the 3rd one I've owned. You know how it goes - You don't realize what you have until it's gone.

I recently played a show in town and there was a rented back line of Line 6 and bad Marshall's. Knowing that clubs rarely know what they're renting I took my head with me. There were 5 bands that night and everyone used my head. It took the punishment of 5 different sets and still remained intact. What really impressed me is that everyone sounded like themselves when they played through the Boogie. I know all the guitar players in town and have a pretty good idea of everyones tone. Some played direct into the amp - others used pedals. But the one constant thing was great guitar tone. So reliable ? Yes. And quite functional.

Ok not to be a shit talker but Boogie has been no help to me with this amp. The guys at the Hollywood store are cool but didn't really have any words of wisdom for me. "Just retube it and you'll be fine...". Funny thing is, after I did retube with Boogie tubes the amp lost it's vibe. That kind of pissed me off.

So I did a little homework. Here's what I found. The following is taken from an email from Eurotubes in Oregon. I had asked if using a set of NOS RCA's or KT 66's would improve my amp. Here was the response.

"Your Mesa 50+ uses a matched pair of 6L6's, four 12AX7's and one 12AT7. The 50+ amp's are fixed bias at a pretty cold setting so I would go with a hot matched pair of the JJ 6L6GC's which would be plug and play, four JJ ECC83S and one ECC81. There are no real KT66's being made and the only ones available are the russian and chinese tubes which are a far cry from the
original Genalex KT66 but these are quite expensive ( 250.00 to 400.00 a pair ) and I would not recommend running these in your amp unless the bias was modified from fixed to adjustable. The JJ tubes will get a better and more vintage tone like the RCA's than the sovtek tubes that Mesa sells".

Upon their suggestion I switched out the tubes and the amp got even better. The new tubes seemed to give the amp more balls. It was also suggested, if I wanted to go a step further, I should have a Bias pot installed for more tweaking. Which I'll be doing in the future. I would love this amp if I could dial it in just a hair more.

I bought my first .50 plus in 1990 and recorded and toured with that amp for 5 years. I bought my 2 most recent ones about 6 months ago and realized just how great these amps were. I've owned Hi Watts, Marshalls, Fender Bassman's and the Line 6 stuff and I have to say that this by far my favorite amp. They are so simple and yet have such complex tone.

I'm starting to think twice about leaving this review. My luck I'll check Ebay next week and see that these amps have doubled in price...

My 50 Caliber + head is the "Long Chassis" version. This choice was made since I didn't really like the idea of all those tubes crammed together without room to breath. My head has 2 channels plus a 5 band EQ. You can switch the EQ on/off with a switch on the head or remotely via footswitch. It has an effects loop, direct recording line out. In essence a pretty standard head configuration.

This amp sounds great! The only problem is that both channels work off the same "pre-gain" knob which can be problematic. My personal solution for this problem was to introduce a tube pre-amp with its own pre-gain & master volume. By using this preamp with the clean channel set at 3-4 I get a "dirty clean" sound. When I click off the preamp then I have a Fender type clean sound. The lead channel then sounds nice & gritty for solos, etc... It took some experimentation but I have a "3 channel" set-up now. ***Note: My 50 + has been used by friends & fellow musicians for over 10 years. It's amazing how every individual sets the controls on the head! All kinds of guitars have been played through it without compromise. Some people use it without EQ, with radical EQ, different treble, mid & bass settings, etc... Everyone is envious of my 50 + which is a tremendous compliment!

Very reliable although one time a resistor blew out & took a preamp tube with it. My tech informed me this was not a common problem & not to worry. Things happen no matter how well designed & built.

Excellent. They're busy people over at Mesa but they return my calls the same day & are very helpfull.

Overall this is the amp that I would never let go of. Ever. If it was stolen I'd need lots of antidepressants to get over it. Then I'd search for another. If you see one...buy it. You won't be dissappointed.

circa 90-92(what rep at mesa said)shorthead version.this amp nails the tone and sounds that i desire. i use it in 2 bands one being a ska/raggae(clean channel nice and bubbly w/slightly scooped eq.to get neo fender sound)other band radio rock and emo(jawbreaker,fuel,bush,the clash,knapsack,jimmy eat world,social distortion,etc), distortion channel is simply amazing!!more on that later..
2 channeled amp and NO, YU CANNOT SET GAIN KNOB ON TEN IN DISORTION AND GET SPARKLY CLEAN ON RYTHMN CHANNEL!!yu have to make up mind beforehand, it's a compromise, at first i was dissapointed; however, i'm not 15 trying to peel paint off walls insearch of the ultimate amount of gain while not having any amount of note clarity ; muddy is out, in fact less is more,i personally set my gain at 5 allowing me to access to the killer clean channel this amp has to offer. in fact this situation forced me to clean up my sound which is a good thing..
i use mine on a regular basis, giging touring basis, i've had amp for over 2 yrs and she does fine and this little 50 watt diamond will shred w/the best of them.have not had problem yet w/ lack of power,i usually have master knob around 3-4, 4x12 box miked
and then i call it a day. i also use 5881's instead of 6L6,the 5881's have less output than 6L6, this results in a more warm compressed rounded sound than the higher trebely oriented 6L6, try the switch, yu might like it.

my primary fiddle is the gibson les paul clasic w/ the hot stocked pu's. on the woodplank's a dunlop wah,voodoo lab sparkledrive(sounded awesome atraight out of the box, take that yu remodified ibanez tube screamin playin faggots!!ha! ha!)compression pedal and old boss chorus pedal. the 50 cal+ suits me just fine , in fact it is my sound. as far as my stlye,from blues to classic rock to radio rock this amp does exactly what i need it to do, it's very versatile,a matter of tweaking.. . one needs to know this because every room, bar,etc. will not sound the same and yu gotta know how to tweak those knobs for any given situation. this amp sounds killah!!my distortion channel's set up to be warm and punchy w/ clarity and attack, think metallica black album and tool, this is what i aim for at least anyway, smooth w/ the roughness..
clean channel-very bubbley and works very well w/ 5 band eQ, very fenderish sounding, once again tweaking is the key, very last page in mesa's manual located on line is good place to start w/ decent settings.
the 5 band eq is incredible one slight movement makes a world of difference whether you're in clean or distortion mode

hasn't failed me yet..don't do anything stupid and yu should be fine

still call mesa boogie on regular basis to pick their brains about tubes,speakers,etc. very helpful every time and they don't make yu feel as if you're asking dumd,obvious questions

i've been playing for 15yrs plus and so far this amp is the zenith, bottom line. i can get a wide spectrum of sounds out of mine and i trully love it. was going to get it modified but have grown to love it just the way it is.take advantage of the tone and volume knobs also on the guitar. in combination w/ amp set up to taste, i have my volume knobs on les paul pulled back to 5, tone knobs rolled back to about 6-8, this gives me AC/DC, social distortion, etc. amp cleans up very nicely to me. as i roll volume knobs forward on guitar, amp opens up from overdrive to nu-metal sound, totally gorgeous!!
would definitely replace if stolen.
compared it to marshall and to me i CAN GET A NEO MARSHALL SOUND OUT OF THE MESA BUT ONE DEFINITELY CANNOT GET A MESA SOUND OUT OF A MARSHALL!! also can't get a fenderish sound out a marshall either. the 50 cal+ is no one trick pony.
spend time tweaking,right down fav. settings(for pedals also) and you also will worship at the shrine of mesa, and remember it's not the arrow that kills you, but the indian, no one piece of equipment will make or break you,no matter what strat hendrix played, he always sounded like hendrix, soul cannot be duplicated, so find and do what works for you, if you don't like it sell it and past it on so some one else who can discover mesa boogie

Not very many features just standard clean and lead channels. Plus a really handy 5 band EQ. Simple but great!!!

I play a a wide range of guitars through this amp and they all sound awesome. You can get a huge lead tone which in my opinion destroys a rectifier or a crystal clear and bright fender sounding clean tone out of it.

I bought this amp used for $100 it looks really beat up but i had a mark III that was in perfect condition which just blew out on me and this amp is still going strong. Never have had a problem.

This is probably one of the best sounding amps i have played and it packs a huge punch. This was possible the best deal you can get except maybe getting a Mesa/Boogie TriAxis for $200 which i also have :).
-Mike Big

This is a 1989 Mesa/Boogie .50 Caliber+ head. It is an extremely versatile, hard working TONE MACHINE. I use it to play mainly Blues/Rock, but also it can easily be used for Soul, Classic Rock and much more. It is a split channel unit with an effects loop, DI, and on-board 5-band eq, which is controlled by a unique, footswitchable system. I use this with a Johnson Amplification 2-12 Cabinet, loaded with Vintage 30's. It is used to gig in medium to large sized clubs.
It has a 12ax7 front end, and uses two 6L6's for the power section.
This sucker is LOUD.

I use this amp with a '91 Les Paul, '92 Lucille, and a '74 Tele Deluxe. It sounds great with the humbuckers. It can sound as clean as any Fender, or as gritty as a Marshall. For the Blues numbers we play, I run a Snarling Dogs Blue Doo, and in essence, I have a third channel to work with. This amp is capable of much, but like anything else, you have to work on tweaking it to find what you're looking for.
I use an outboard eq pedal, and set my clean channel to taste. Then I dial in the Lead channel, and set the on-board eq to my liking.

I've never had a problem with it. I bought it used, and it looked like it had been rode hard, and put up wet. But I simply re-tubed, and was off like a rocket.

I have talked to the company a couple of times, and they were very helpful. They have a great web-site, and if every amp company had their owners' manuals available on-line, the world would be a better place to live!

I've been playing since the mid '70's, and have played through Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, and a Johnson Millenium. I bought this amp, because I'd bought my father a Boogie .22 Caliber Combo that I really liked. I thought that a similarly featured amp with 6L6's would be a good match, and I'm very pleased with this one.

This amp was made in 1990. I think honestly this is probebly the best amp Mesa has made to date. So far it is the only amp that has given me the sound I want. I play everything from church music, to Punk, funk, rock and metal, I play alot of Ska, and it accomadates them all. My only ploblem isit's obviose limitation of having one chanal. This makes for alot of messing around. I think Im going to have to buy an offboard preamp to acomadate maby. It has alot of power for a 50 watt amp, but sounds good at low levels. I mostly play it in my poom but I Jam with it somtimes, plan on playing it in my Church. Im sure it will work in all those places. I sure wish it had a clean and od channel rather then one for both because that is a pain ajusting and theres some cool stuff you can get from the clean chanell when the gain is turned up, but that caulses the od to go awall. I like the eq allot. It is the transition bettween pretty bluesy sounds good for church, and emotional soloing to grinding and evil tones when you crank the base and highs, turn down the midds

It sounds Amazing. Ive tryed the dual rec. befor and I don't get it. My freind has one and it sounds great but when I tryed it it sounded like doodoo. It seemed muddy and flubbery. It did'nt have any harmonics at all, it got worse as I turned up the gain. Maby it's just me. However this thing sounded great. It had a tuby punch, beutiful harmonics. When clean it sounds like a fender. It is totally surfy, great for ska. When you turn the OD on it sounds so good. Unlike the dual rec I tryed the more gain I use the more dynamic it sounded. I always admired the Tones of bands like the decendents and all, madd caddies, millincolen and I knew they played mesa boogies. I always wandered how they got it out of a rectifier, because I couldent. Now I know, that they did'nt. Im sure this is what they used. Don't get me wrong it's not just a punkrock amp although it does it quite well. You can play anything with it. it just has so much tonal charictor that it Sounds good with whatever. It is totally expresive and toney for all you Blues players out there that think your the only people who can appreciate good tone. My only problem with it's tone is that It is a tad on the trebley side and is harsh at times. I think that might be partialy because of my guitar which has realy bright Invador pickups in it.

I just got it and I guess the Preamp tubes have yet to be changed after 10 years so there is alittle bit of noise. It's anoying but it can be fixed so I think I will get those changed soon

I couldent imagen playing another amp, and belive me Ive tryed alot. I like all sorts of music, this has been the only amp Ive found that Im able to play all sorts. I don't know why mesa got rid of this modell. In my opinian it is leages above there new stuff like the f series, so on. I wish it had another chanell, I gues thats what the DC seiries are so maby somday Ill invest in one of those. I think if it were stolden I would go crazy and cry in my basment.

The 7 is purely for TONE and QUALITY. This amp is very versatile but you can only really dial in one sound at a time as the channels are not independant.

I have a 50w head and 2x12 cabinet which blows 100W Marshall 4 speaker cabs off the stage (no sh*t)

I have played the new Nomads from Boogie as well as a couple of others...the lead tone on this little amp surprasses all of the boogie 'rock' amps. But them I am biased towards the full-gain metal sounds :> If you want a Vai, Satriani tone this amp will do it, a Nomad will not.
7 is simply because there are boogie amps that do a lot more that deserve 10. Don't think this is anything like a Fender though - this is no one-tone pony. It will do amazingly clean, jazz whatever (I have never been fully satisfied with the in-between sounds however, these require a fair bit of knob tweaking to get right), but it will only do one or at best two great sounds at a time due to the single set of tone controls.
Apart from that this is Metal Heaven

10 is deserved but however it does not mean perfect. Valves wear out, pots go scratchy in time etc.

I have emailed them twice. The first time they took 2 months to respond. No response yet from the second one.
I give it a 5 as I am still open-minded about their service, it is highly regarded normally. Also a lot of the service just goes in to building amazing amplifiers.

Awesome amp I will probably never sell, unless I buy another boogie that can do the exact same lead sound and then more (like a triaxis).

Two channel valve head with Graphic EQ and reverb. Shitty effects loop (that's why it get's a 9) and direct out with level.

I play a blend of funk, jazz and rock. This it is perfect for. I see no limitations in the sounds that are achieveable with this amp. It can suit any style. With or without the GEQ I can achieve a good balance between the clean and dirty channels. I use this head with a two twelve box with Altec Lansings (the same speaker that Santana uses) and a Strat style guitar. The cleans are sweet and complex and the distortion is sweet, complex, singing and harmonically rich. It can sound like a Mark 1 Boogie or a beefed up Marshall. For me, it can do any sound I want and do it amazingly. It can make you cry or it can completely destroy you.

No probs yet

Never dealt with them.

For my tastes and I'm very picky, It is the perfect amplifier, apart from the effects loop. That wouldn't stop me getting it again. If you find one snap it up. Just remember you could spend mega bucks on an amp, guitar or any other related guitar gadget. Don't waste your time with it! I have wasted enough of my time. I know that there is probably something better out there but that is not going to improve my playig, is it. My advice is to find something that works for you, even if it's not exactly reproducing the sound in your head, and just play the damn thing. Don't waste ridiculous amounts of time searching for the latest and greatest gizmo or that holy grail of tone- you'll never find it!

This amp is a 50w, two channel amp, but with only one set of knobs. There's preamp volume, master, lead volume, treb, bass, mid, presence, reverb, and a five band EQ (with an EQ switch - in, out, or auto). The preamp volume knob pulls out for the overdrive channel and stays in for normal/clean. The EQ was great, and many sounds can be tweaked out of it in conjunction with the standard controls, more than I took the time to achieve, I'm sure. The problem with it however, although I rarley used the clean channel, is that if you want to you use the clean channel and get a good sound, you must change all the settings because they're completely different from the overdriven channel, and only one set of controls. Not so much a problem for me, but for others not having independent controls for both channel can be a pain.
I used this amp in various small time gigs from clubs to auditoriums to vfw halls with a sovtek 4x12 and got all the power and loudness from this little head that I needed. The higher the volume, the better the gain.
For those of you that care, it has an effects loop. I had it tubed with 2 mesa boogie 6l6's, 4 12ax7s, and one 12at7 for reverb or effects loop I guess, I'm not sure. I just wish it had independent controls.

I used this amp with my Epiphone (don't laugh) les paul studio equipped with a gibson 500t bridge pickup (a very hot little number as you may know). The amp sounded very good I thought. It is a relatively inexpensive head from 450 to 550 bucks that gives you that mesa boogie crunch. If you're willing to change all the knobs on the clean channel you can get a great clean sound that stays clean when cranked if you back off the preamp volume. It's not as warm, round, or bright as a marshall or some other amps, but you get that mesa boogie sound. It didn't have the low end responsiveness and fullness that I wanted (possibly ahcieved with a higher class mesa) so I traded it for a sovtek mig 100 and some cash. However, for its price, it is a very good sounding head with that killer gain and crunch that mesas are known for.

Another plus about this head is its reliability. I played with tons of times - never with a back up, and never with a problem. This thing is unstoppable.

N/A

I've been playing for 4 years or so, but I know good tone when I hear it. This isn't the best I've ever heard, but it sure as hell ain't bad. If it were stolen, I'd probably be pissed, but I'd move on and get something else. I love the versatitily and wide range of sounds I could get with the EQ. I didn't really hate anything about it. It'd be cooler with separate controls. That's about it.

Everything you read here already. I have been intruiged/wanting this amp ever since I read a great review on it in Guitar Magazine about 10 or 12 years ago. they said it sounded like a Marshall on Steroids!

I have owned now 4 Boogies )A Studio 22 without EQ (Great for home recording) a 100 watt SOB, (Great with a Boss Distortion pedal into the clean input only) a Tremoverb Combo (Hated the upper mids on this amp, great thru a 4x12 bottom though for chunky rythem playing)and a Mark III full size 100 watt head all features including Simuclass. I was at Guitar Center today in chicago and went there to audition the Triple channel Recto Head...I was not to impressed with it. Sounded Buzzy and Flabby at "low volume". Think it was aroundf 1799.00 also. I saw the 50 Calibur Plus sitting next to it and a used Soldano Decatone. I had a soldano 50 Plus and it was a GREAT amp (Traded it even for the Tremoverb. Like I said, I always wanted to check out the 50 Plus and let me tell you...I was amazed at it's gain structure! It has a better distortion in my opinion than any other Boogie (I never heard a IIC+ though). It seems to have taken the little Studio 22 calibur and pushed it into a new area. Great clean channel, then (here is the gripe I see from other owners) re-structere it for what I like in a Lead sound. WOW!!! Harmonic CITY!! I have only ran my 79 strat with EMG 81 and SA90s thru it, but damn..I have at least 15 amps (2 Marshall 2205s, a Silver Jubilee short box head, Kitty Hawk Grand Lead (If anyone has a fottswitch for this email me!!..I have never heard the lead channel), Fender HR Deville, Carvin X-100B, Peavy Bravo (Cool little amp), Egnator 100 watt 2x12, many others and a whole rack of stuff including a Rocktron Voodu Valve (Nice!) a Halfler T2 preamp and a Digitech 2101 (Bought one of the first ones..traded my Marshall 30th aniversary for it).ect.. Have about 25 guitars including a LP 77 Cherryburst, ES-347 (The pickupus on these are increadible!!)Schector with EMGs from factory, several Kramers such as a Nightswan, Carvin, a Guild AVIATOR(Have any of you ever seen one of these?, factory EMGs, neck thru, and Ibanez reverse headstocks (Not many of these around either!)

We will see!..It is a brand new amp to me...but on my Boogie SOB, I had a input jack burn out and Boogie sent me one in 2 days!!!

If it is like any other Boogie I have owned, I could probably bounce it off Randall Smith at 20,000 feet and it would still fire up. This amp seems to have Studio .22 Calibur beginnings modified to modern needs (At the time since this amp is probably from the late 80s/early 90s. It took me over 10 years to purchase one and I would like to get another to run in stereo. In a side by side comparison with the triple, this thing "out=sustained it". The triple probably has no doubt a "beefier" low end when cranked"..Santana shopuld check this amp out!! I would snap these suckers up if I were you guys! I am looking for another on the web as soon as I submit this!

The Mesa/Boogie .50 Caliber+ (19" rack edition) is a very suitable amp for almost every style of music. Mesa is mostly used for metal, due to its very good distortions. Can't argue with that statement. This amp has a rythm and lead channel, switched with the pull lead knob, or of course a footswitch (which is very recommandable). Knobs in order (l-r): Gain, master volume, lead volume, treble, bass, middle, reverb, presence, 5-band equalizer, 3-way equalizer switch, standby button and power switch. Only problem with this amp is that you can't switch to the clean channel without having a little distorted sound. This can be solved by decreasing the output level of your guitar, making sure your master level is higher than your lead level to avoid decreasing volume when decreasing output your output level.
The amp definately has enough power for onstage, however it is recommandable having a good PA system and sound engineer to make sure the sound gets through.

I use a Kramer guitar with S/S/H Seymour Duncan pickups and an old Stratocaster. I drive it through a 4x12" Marshall speakercabinet. This amp even makes the strat's lousy pickups sound suitable for metal. In normal conditions, this amp should not be noisy. The amp can produce a very nice and smooth clean sound, a slightly overdriven rock sound or a big fat metal distortion. Problem is there's no easily switching between sounds. You really need a volume pedal and a footswitch in order to switch to clean. Outside this slight inconveniance, the sound of this great amp sounds killer. It sounds Mesa, and that alone is worth purchasing this machine.

It's Mesa. Needless to say you would not need a backup. Only get a good flightcase for your 19" edition. Transporting this amp could be dangerous without one.

I've been playing for about 3 years, mostly playing progressive metal. This is my first real gear, besides my 10watt combo with a Boss pedal (no offence to Boss, it suited very well for some time). If this amp were stolen, I probably couldn't find the same one, but if my budget would allow me, I'd definately go for Mesa/Boogie again. As I said, I wish it had seperate gain knob for both channel. That might help to easily switch to clean sounds without having an overdriven sound.
This amplifier is just great, eventhough I think Mesa's Triaxis/Simulclass 90 combination is the best there is...for those who can afford it, and of course for those who like the Mesa/Boogie sound...

2 Channels: Rythym and Lead; 8 Controls: Gain (Pull Lead), Master, Lead Master, Treble, Bass, Middle, Reverb, and Presence; 5 Band Graphic EQ; Effects Loop; 50 Watts; 2 6L6 Power Tubes; 4 12AX7 Preamp Tubes, 1 12AT7 tube for the reverb. I gave it a 6 because the built-in 4-band knob EQ comes before the distortion, so it's effect is limited, the channels share the same controls.

Metallica's "Master of Puppets" and "...And Justice for All! " in a box! I play thrash/death/black metal. I use a setting with scooped mids. I use it into my Marshall 1960A cabinet. I mainly use a Fender Standard Strat, ESP LTD MH-300, or BC Rich Bronze Series Warlock into it.

Rhythym Channel:
This is clean. When I want a good clean tone, I put the gain at 5. With the Gain at 10, you have to really roll back on your guitars volume to prevent it from distorting.

Lead Channel:
Insane. It can get a bit muddy. I love Pantera, old Metallica (beofre the Black album), Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Sepultura, and a TON of other thrash/death/black metal bands. This channel has the thin but full tone. Unlike the Mesa/Boogie Rectos, this isn't extremely muddy. You can add a lot of bass and have it sond clear. It sounds more like the Mesa MK series (which I prefer) as opposed to the Recto series. My only problem with the sound is that the built in 4-band knob EQ comes before the distortion so it has very little effect on the distorted sound. If it came afterwards, I could get an even more killer scooped-mids thrash sound.

I bough this amp used in mint condition. Mesa stopped making this amp in 1989 I think so it has held up for 12+ years perfectly. This amp was made back in Mesa's glory days before they started mass production, so I won't worry about it.

Never dealt.

I've been playing for three years. I bought this amp for an extremely good price. I'm gonna retube it soon and hopefully get better tone. I'll post my results then. If it were stolen, I'd do my reasearch and find that motherfucker. Next, I'd peacefully recleaim the amp. Finally, I'd grab my ESP, plug in, turn it up to 10 and make the dude go deaf.

One of the reasons for me to use this amp was because i could use it at allmost anything. You have 1 channel 50 watts head, where you switch between gain and clear sound with a Push/Pull switch. In addition to the Bass/Middle/Treble controller there also where a 5 band EQ. With this kind of sound options i felt i got alot back for a small prize. I used it at live gigs as well as practising, and i ran it trough a 4*12" Marshall cab. This Amp head really forfilled my wildest dreams. I have sworn to Mesa/Boogie!!

I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio and i was allways happy with my sound. The only thing i can point my finger at is that the clean channel gets distorted at high volume. But if you flip over to gain channel you wil get a shock. The distortion there is WILD!!

This amp has never taken a service ore gotten broken.. EVER!! i ahve changed tubes but thats all:) I wouldn't think twice aboute taking it to a gig without backup.

The only thing i dont like aboute Mesa/Boogie is that they remove old models from their internet page. They should make a "Oldies" page for the good old ones. And they never answered my mails so.......

I wish my amp had two channels that i easily could control. Thats all!

This amp was made in 1989 or 1990. The amp is ultra versatile. I play everything from country to western......and quasi-blues to full out metal and shred. The amp has two channels, it has a switch with an LED that lights up when you are in rhythm mode. It has an effects loop, and it has fifteen headphone jacks so you and your friends can all plug into it...no it doesn't even have one headphone jack, it's a professional amp. I wish the amp had a demon in it, so when other people are playing through it it would make them play great music.
I use this amp everywhere, from clubs to parties and jam sessions and in the studio and at home in the living room. It's loud enough to ruin your hearing right quick..
It's all tube and it has a 12 inch Celestion(Mesa Boogie brand)Black Shadow speaker, good for 90 watts. It features 4 12ax7s a 12at7 and 2 6L6/5881 power tubes. It's rated at 50 watts, but it's as loud as a Marshall Plexi.

I use all types of quality guitars with it. The usual brands, Jackson, Gibson, Fender,Charvel. I use Bill Lawrence, Shadow, Gibson, Duncan,Aero,Barden,Evans, and Anderson pickups. The amp rocks, it can play everything, from country clean to Pantera type metal.
The amp is quieter than a mouse, execpt when you have the master up around 8 and the gain up around 10. The amp will distort at the output stage if you crank the amp, but at quite usable volums it remains very clean and loud. There is so much you can do with the sound of this amp. You can go from a Fender Blackface clean to a MarkIV type distortion to a VHT type distortion. Most anything but that diode driven Marshall sound, and I bet if you had a Marshall JCM 900 to set up along side it, and had a reference to shoot for, you could probably get it pretty darn close to sounding like it. The amp sounds great.

I've run the thing on the wrong tubes, on one output tube, just about everything, even once had the speaker cord yanked from a cab, when someone tripped over it, blew the fuses and ruined some great tubes, but the amp was fine. It fell over in a van and fell about 2 feet to a steel floor during a hard stop, and played just fine at the show that night. The only time it didn't behave perfectly was when I put cheap National brand tubes, made in China and India in it, and they were mislabeled, and it worked, it sounded good, but it buzzed.

I never had to get it serviced

I've played forever..I own everything. If it were stolen, I'd let the guy run with it a while, and then, when he was just about to collapse, I'm stomp his thieving head. If it were lost, I'd look for it...but it's just an amp. I'd be happy to get it again, or even two more of them.
There's nothing to really hate about the amp, most complaints about equipment stem from bad players who need something to blame for them being too lazy to practice enough to make any amp sound good.

50 watts classic Mesa power eats up most Marshalls. Make no mistake, this amp is really loud!! Handmade in late 80s to early 90s in California. The head is full size long chassis version. Five 12AX7s power the pre-amp, matched with two 6L6s in the power section. Controls for this dual channel head feature gain(pre-amp), master volume, lead channel volume, bass, mid, treble, reverb, presence, and 5 band graphic EQ. A second gain knob would add to this amp making it tons more versatile for channel switching.
Rear panel features include three speaker outputs (8ohm, 4ohm, 4ohm), direct out with independent output level knob,EFX loop (send-return), and ground switch.

I use a 92' Fender(USA) Telecaster Deluxe Plus with 3 Fender Lace Sensor pickups and run the head through a Mesa 2x12 Rectifier enclousure. The amp has the best clean channel I've ever heard. Graphic EQ definitley helps out there. Very versatile in diff sounds it can produce, however channels are not independent. Lead channel is fantastic for high gain tones. Ever heard of Limp Bizkit, Creed or Blink 182? It makes those sounds. Without the EQ though you get more of a older Santana sound. My personal recommendation for modern high gain setting is Gain:5-7 volume:loud Bass:7-10 Mid:2-3 Treble:4-5 Reverb:0-2 Presence:5 and a hard "V" shape on the EQ maxing the lows and minimizing the mids and leave the last eq switch in the middle. This will give you sounds comparable to the newer Mesa Rectifier heads. Only drawback is that it has no middle ground in distortion. It's either really clean or heavily distorted therefore making it very difficult to use as a channel switching amp. This is where a second gain knob would come in handy.

change the tubes every so often depending on how much you play and you should be fine. I had bad buzz one time and it was the 6L6s. Popped two new ones in and it was gone. try not to drop it that helps too!

Mesa is awsome however for the right price. I've never had to deal with them directly but I've heard that they will take nearly anything they have made and fix em up. I've seen some killer custom jobs as well. If you're not in California get ready to spend some $$$ on shipping though

Great amp. Only downfall is lacks versatility in the channel switching department. Its great for playing live in either channel alone but very difficult to use both in one sitting. However both channels sound phenominal there's just no middle ground. It's either sparkly clean or heavily distorted. If you're looking for an amp with a sweet clean channel for country, blues, or rhythm...this is the one! If you want an amp where you can use 2 or 3 channels with ease then you may want to look elsewhere.

This amp was made in 1992? Bought it used at a second hand music store for $470.00. I can say that this is one of the best amps I have owned over the last 15 years. I use this amp in two different projects: Project 1 is a modern rock cover band that does some Creed, Godsmack, Etc.....
Project 2 is a classic rock cover band that does anything from Stevie Ray to Van Halen Etc.....

The point is: This amp works great for all of the styles of music I just mentioned, you just need to know how to use it effectively. All in all is a very versatile amp and a great workhorse.

I'm playing a PRS McCarty and a Gibson Les Paul Standard. This amp suits all of my styles of music. Very quiet most of the time. Sometimes Florescent light fixtures in clubs make it a little noisy, But this has happened with other tube amps that I have owned. This amp sounds really ballsy when you turn the gain on the clean channel to about 8 and then step on an Ibanez Tube Screamer. Sounds very Stevie Ray... Now if you back that gain down to about 3, you will find your cleanest of cleans... The lead channel sounds killer! You can use this channel along with the volume/tone knobs on your guitar to get a wide array of tones. This is a very loud and clear amp that does the job well. I get compliments about the tone often.

I use it without a back up, but I always carry extra tubes, fuses, Etc... This amp has not failed me once.

Company very helpful over the phone. I had questions because I picked it up used. Tech called me back within an hour and answered all of my questions.

I have been playing for about fifteen years and I am now 28 years old. I have owned Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, and some others. Bottom Line: This amp rocks! By the way, don't forget to use good cables with any amp you use. Try some monsters. you will notice a big difference in clarity. Why not take advantage of all that "Class A" power?

same as everyone else stated........... graphic eq, blah blah blah

im using a esp seven string, an old 80's washburn v with emg 81's and a 86 fender hm strat. now that you know what i am using .......

when i first got this amp, it was quite cheap and i couldnt pass, i was very skeptical about it being practical for death/grind. well, i ran it into a bbe sonic maximizer to clear it up and and now i am quite convinced that this amp was made to destroy everything. i spend alot of my free time trying to get different sounds, here are some results.

clean - beautiful tone. flip a the eq switch and is very full, punchy and clear. the reverb isnt the greatest but will defiantly do. i am able to get some great some jazz cleans out of the fender and the esp. the 81's are too much. sounds very fenderish if tweaked right.

distortion - brutal. i have dialed so many great tones out of this thing with the graphic eq. i use the bbe to clean it up and give a little more punch. i have gotten the infamous master of puppets sounds, a very reign in bloodish sounds (lounds of prescence and treble), some good morbid angel sounds, and the most accurate anthrax sounds. the way i use it my band however is for extremely rich and gained up distortion. i have got the closest sound to carcass' heartwork and i am not touching my dials right now because the tone is so sweet. they use marshalls but with the right tweaking i pulled it off. note on this amp ........ tweaking is the key. it takes time and knowledge to get good tone. dont hate something because you have neither patience nor the skills to sit down and explore all the sonic possibilities.

it is very old and looks brand new. it was well taken care of and if i am correct about boogie, it should last for a very very long time.

dont know, dont need them. web site is very useful however on locating old manuals for it.

great amp. anyone that states this thing would not be suited for metal must not have a clue about good tone. two of my friends own a rectifire and a new marshall and both offered to buy this thing from me because of its absolutly beutiful tone. the gain is killer and so is it wattage. if you can find one, get it. it is closer to master of puppets and carcass than most amps you can find on the market right now. tweak tweak tweak .............. out

This amp is not too bad although I wish it had separate channel settings. In addition, by itself it lacks a certain continuity between channels - workable around through the effects loop. Kudos to its graphic eq as it provides additional flexibility. This is a very very loud amp, almost unusuable if you rehearse in a tight space. Just the right volume in ample amphitheatres, improved once plugged onto a separate 4x12 cabinet. Oh I could use a couple of side handles as the thing is so bloody heavy it would be easier to haul it around by two blokes.

I use this amp as an extension of my Les Paul Standard.

Channel 1: Crystal clean though bodied sound evolving into brown overdriven tone once pushed. Good chord definition if you are into more complex jazzy structures. The right blues attitude if you are in the mood. Yes, it is a nicely responsive channel.

Channel 2: Hard preamp overdriven tone (typical Mesa trademark). Once into its 6L6 saturation it does scream almost up to the unbearable... which starts far below its valve squeal threshold. Either short rock soloing or thrashmetal rhythm work. You do have that latitude.

Bottomline this fiftywatter works wonderfully with my Les Paul humbuckers. Unfortunately I have to resort to an external EL84-based custom-made amp for the extra crunch. Just the right Brit touch for a typical US Fender-on-steroids amp. As with all loud sounding combos, its volume does not allow exploring its full sonic potential in, say, a garage. BTW everyone uses earplugs during reherseals...

Mine was a demo amp so given a 30% discount it was a take it or leave it situation. I suppose the thing was tossed around before it landed on my hands. Never failed on me although its valves now do sound sort of middleaged. Overall score: One dodgy pot knob and a faint cracking background noise I can live happily with. I played brand new Marshalls sounding worse than this. Sorry Jim...

Never needed it. This amp seems to be quite robust and proved reliable on the road.

This is what I consider a good decent amp - period. No, it won't be a classic, simply a workhorse and that's what most of us need. Reliable and flexible enough for a combo, idiossyncrasic in its very own Mesa way - IMHO I consider it a serious amp for serious amateur guitarists.

2 channel tube amp with footswitch. Reasonably good effects loop (lot's of players don't like loops, personally I do). I use this amp mainly in garage band jams, getting too old to play out anymore. Fairly basic feature tube amp with EQ sliders. Plug and play.

Bear with me here, because I'm no expert and I'm moderately biased. This amp is powered with Sovtek 5881's. It's a head running through a 2x12 loaded with vintage 30's. The 5881's give this setup more breath and creamy tone as opposed to any "6" tube. I'm pretty dumb about some things. One thing I'm not dumb about is that Mesa/Boogie amps are very loud and powerful. I've owned every dc-series amp and this old, crappy looking beater sounds better than any of them. Probably the tube/speaker combination. Too bad I wasn't smart enough to fool with tubes with the dc-series, they probably would have sounded better. I'm a little tone deaf, but I think that no matter what you do with the EQ or tubes/speakers, the 50cal.+ is pretty much going to sound like a boogie. It's just a creamier boogie with the 5881's. In a garage/band situation, it can't be turned up past 2, I can't imagine how good it would sound backing off the pre-amp and using volume for tone with this beast. It's portable, light-weight and can rock & roll for any decent guitar player. I actually prefer the sound of Marshall amps, but I'm nit-picking. This particular amp/speaker/tube combination delivers mondo rock & roll sounds. Currently I'm using an Anderson swampy guitar; it's ok but I'd prefer an old beater strat or maybe a Les Paul Standard. Sounds great at low and high volume. I just wish I could crank it to the max.

Disclaimer: anything with tubes/circuit boards/wiring can be unreliable. Boogies seem to hold up better, remember I've owned quite a few. There are always lemons in the bunch, no matter what manufacturer. This unit has never broken down. I don't play out anymore.

I suppose if boogie had e-mail, they'd never get anything done. As it is, their voice-mail is swamped. However, if you've ever dealt directly with them, their customer support is fantastic. They'll generally bend over backwards to help you out. Musicians need this kind of support because musicians are usually broke.

Well, first the bad news. I'm 50 years old. How depressing. The good news; I've played or owned most guitars and guitar amps. I won't qualify myself as an expert on tone or sound and I suck as a player, however of all the amps I've owned boogies are the most dependable and loud amps I've ever used. I can't imagine why any broke working musician wouldn't enjoy success using an old beater 50 caliber +. Bottom line, it's a work-horse and a good one. I tell it like it is, or at least how I think it is, so if you have questions, go ahead and send me an email.

I had a 1988 model. It had reverb, 5 band eq, effects loop, direct out, Celestion Black Shadow speaker. Previous reviews have it covered, this amp had everything I needed.

Awesome. You can back off the pre volume, bypass the eq, and crank the post for an awesome power tube distortion a la Marshall Plexi or back off the volume and crank up the pre for the richest smoothest pre amp overdrive I have ever heard. Add in some eq for all kinds of control. The clean channel is very Fenderish. I wish I could hear it clean with some 10" Jensens.

It does have a printed circuit boad which had a couple of traces burn out on. But I was gigging heavy and really pushing the amp hard. The reverb never worked right, so I never used it.

A call to Mesa Boogie can get most problems solved quickly. They even sent a spring reverb unit based on my phone call. It turned out not to be the problem but doggone it they were not going to let me go away dissatisfied.

It is the amp I regret selling over any other. I miss it terribly and will get another soon!

50 watts all-tube power from one 12" Black Shadow Celestion speaker, 1 input jack, lead master knob, master knob(clean), presence knob, reverb knob, bass knob, mid knob, treble knob, 5 band EQ, standby switch, power switch, direct PA output jack that goes from poweramp rather than preamp, direct PA output level knob, 1 8ohm speaker input, 2 4ohm speaker inputs

sounds great, the distortion is sick, and with the 5 band EQ you can get many kinds..i like the heavy shit (Metallica!) it's great for heavy metal and hard rock

very, just gotta change the tubes whenever they wear out..but's that only twice a year, the feedback you get from having the distortion gets a little annoying but with a wireless pack it's better

never needed any

i've been playing for 4 years, best amp ever..it has 1 12" speaker but it's so much louder than the Marshall VR100..if you can find this amp, get it..i recomend Mesa very highly

Amp was made in 1988 and has two channels, graphic EQ, reverb and 50 of the loudest 'Class A' watts I've ever heard along with endless tone! This version has the 4 El84 power tubes which I perfer over the 6L6 version because they have a wider range of tone with that sparkling high-end sound!

It's a very quiet amp with very clean headroom, crunch and the famous boogie distortion! A Rickenbacker sound great through this amp.

Built like a tank - the only problem I've ever had was the speaker flaked-out on me once. Also had to replace the tubes but they were original from 1988.

Always helpful and responsive!

Right now this is my favorite amp for giging and recording!

Everything you could want on this amp..channel switching..nice 3 spring tube reverb..rythym and lead channels..outputs for 1 8 ohm and 2 4 ohm cabs..direct out with level control..4 band EQ presence..push/pull dial for channels..and more

OH MY GOD..I've been a Fender fan for 30 years and this is my first Mesa/Boogie. I'd trade any one of those vintage amps even up for this amp..it has incredible sound..awesome is the word that fits it best. I play rock based and traditional blues with mainly an old Strat (that is in itself mindblowing) and this amp hits it right on the head. Great bell clean sounds and terrific butter smooth overdrive..it doesn't get any better than this! I bought it with no speaker and put a Jensen reissue C12N in it..wow...so quiet that sometimes I have to look when I'm not playing to see if it's on

Built 3X better than any Fender I've ever owned..I don't think there's anything to worry about

No idea

If this amp was stolen I'd search down the dirty rotten bastard and hang him by his nuts from the highest tree with a B string..if I lost it I'd go crazy..either way I'd get another one as soon as I could. I love everything about this amp..small and relatively light..balls of an amp with much more power

Well I lucked into this little monster when i was working at a music store, and i gotta tell anyone who will listen it rocks!!! It's not the most versatile amp, actually i had a Mark IV boogie that was VERY versatile but just didnt have that spongy loose growl this .50 has.Everyone would love to have a separate gain for each channel, but hey its a great amp, reverb footswitch would be great too

I usually play a Les Paul, and for that it is perfect. I usually set the gain on 6 or 7 which gives me a clean channel that is just broke up all over in such a great way and a lead channel with Alot of distortion, this amp is a gain freak!!! I have never seen 6l6's overdrive so well!!!!! i use it as a 1x12 combo alot which sounds fantastic but as with all little combo it can be real tunneled across the room so i use a sunn 2x12 or a marshall 4x12. this amp is very very loud, even though the controls can be very limiting in sounds available on the fly it makes up for it by just doing it's thing sooooo well. My old Mark iv was very very versatile but it didnt have the creamy smooth character of this monster

I have never had a problem in 3 years i use only boogie tubes and they last pretty good, about 4 months playing out or so, of course the pre amp tubes last practically forever, i changed a couple months ago just because i figured it was about time

look i hate to be so devoted to a company, but anyone who has called boogie knows that as soon as the receptionist (we love you Georgia)answers you know you are dealing with a top notch company THese guys will bend over backwards to help customers, and remember i sold these things for a couple years so i've heard some tales

I spent 500 dollars on this thing!!!!! Sometimes i cant believe the deal and i've got some 60's fender stuff had some marshalls until i heard a boogie and sold my boogie mark iv when i got this gem if i think about all the great playing i've got out of it and will continue to get for the rest of my life, i think damn what a good deal!!!!!! If someone out there has one to sell please e-mail me because i'd love to have two a-b connected together then you could adjust the gain and eq's for at least 6 unreal tones!!! also keep that master up!!!!!

The features have been covered adequately in the other reviews. I'm just posting some observations on how to get the most from this particular model of amp, because it seems that everyone, myself included, has had some trouble negotiating the clean and overdrive settings this amp is capable of. I've had the amp over ten years now, and have some thoughts on its seemingly one-dimensional controls.

I have used a wide variety of guitars and effects with this amp. It is a VERY versatile piece of equipment, but to get the most from it, you have to decide ahead of time what kind of sound(s) you're asking it to provide. To my mind, this amp's best feature is its big clean headroom. It's not in the same league as a twin or a JC120, but I've never liked either of those sounds for what I do. But that's the starting point--the master volume. After you've warmed up the tubes on standby for a few minutes, put the master up as loud as you think you'll be playing, and put the gain on zero. Keep the lead master down to zero as well. Turn it on, and nudge the gain knob to around 1-2, just until you get an audible signal. Essentially, what you're doing is giving as much juice as possible to the 6L6 stage, and nudging in just a little 12AX7 flavor with the gain knob. Now, without touching the gain level, switch on the lead master channel, and adjust it so that the overall volume is in line with the clean channel. You'll find that by just nudging the gain knob a hair, the lead master will come alive with singing sustain, but too much will take away string definition and get very crunchy. By emphasizing the power stage, you'll also notice that the presence knob adds some real character to the EQ. If you're using a lot of gain, the presence knob's utility will be negligible, as it doesn't seem to have any effect on the preamp.

One drawback on this amp is the crash of reverb you hear when switching from lead master back to the clean setting, but unless you use a lot of reverb, this is a small price to pay for such a harmonically detailed sound.

Setting the amp this way gives you a very warm, manageable overdrive sound, and both clean and dirty settings will react really well with stompboxes that provide overdrive or distortion. It also works well with slight adjustments of the guitar's own volume knob. If you're into higher-gain music, like metal or hardcore, you'll probably want to set the gain knob higher, but if so, you'll probably be leaving the lead master on at all times, and just use that one sound, which is also a very good way to use this amp. It's just not as versatile. My approach gets a more traditional sound, good for blues, jazz, rockabilly, rock n roll, and so forth.

Replacing the tubes is a cinch. No need to re-bias the amp. I've had it over ten years, and have never had a problem, even though I was gigging with it non-stop for about five years.

Last year I converted the head into a boogie 1X12 combo. I'd previously used it as a half-stack with the boogie 4X12 cabinet, which I can still do by simply unplugging from the combo cab and plugging straight into the big one. It's a nice option if I ever want to piss off the neighbors. The guys at Boogie, though very busy, were incredibly helpful, and sold me a beautiful "heartbreaker" cabinet, which sounds better than the external 1X12 I have, and tighter than the 4X12. Very reasonably priced, given what they charge on their amps. I was very satisfied with the level of service I got.

I've been playing more than half my life. I've played through most of the big name amplifiers. This is the amp that I've stayed with. It's versatile, and is perfect for what I do. I think of it as a nicely hot-rodded fender amp, which I guess was the whole idea behind mesa boogie in the first place. The main thing to keep in mind is that this amp gives you the ability to get that overdriven power tube sound without cranking a bassman full-blast and getting yourself evicted. Even in the manual, boogie's own sample settings don't really take advantage of this. So, be conservative with the gain stage, and use the lead master to drive the power tubes, and you'll have the best of both worlds--an amp with great clean headroom, and a beautiful, fat, singing overdrive that is highly adjustable. It's too bad they don't make these anymore. If you see one used for a good price, get it.

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.

Two channel combo amp which is switchable between the clean and overdrive channels. 12" 90 watt Celestion speaker. 5 band eq which is also switchable with a foot switch or toggle. Pre-amp out with volume control. 2 four ohm outputs and 1 eight ohm output. Effects loop, reverb, presence control as well as a seperate volume and gain control.

This little Boogie is quite versatile and can reproduce warm clean tones as well as very overdriven ones at low volumes to moderately loud volumes. I am into classic rock and play an '88 American Standard Tele fitted with active EMG pickups. My other guitar is a newer Hamer Studio model fitted with Seymour Duncan JB and 59 humbuckers respectively. I found this amp sounded much better after switching to the active single coils, and it LOVES the humbuckers as well. The distortion can be dialed in from bite to metal and I find that it sounds the best on the clean channel with the gain around 8 and the master volume also at 8. Mind you, at these settings, the boogie is very loud and becomes more of a hinderance than an asset. The reverb is very nice for an amp in this price range and all of the controls only need slight tweaking to achieve different tones. Can run with a full band scenerio as well but is a little too directional in it's sound staging. I run an extension cabinet with a 12" 70 watt Celestion which cures this problem somewhat.

So far so good. This amp has dropped off of a 3 foot high stool once while being played and the suspension mounting system Mesa employs for the amp soaked it up no problem. I find that keeping the tube sockets clean is essential in keeping the sound at it's purest.

Haven't used this.

Yes I would buy this amp combo again due to it's versatility in such a small and portable package. It's full of volume and the tone is consistent day in and day out. I chose this amp mainly because the headroom was really impressive and it is quite touch sensitive as well. For the price I feel it was a good deal and should satisfy a fairly wide variety of styles.

2 channels, footswitchable. both channels share EQ, but there is also a graphic EQ which can either be on, off, or on for the lead channel. all tube, i believe 5 12AX7 preamp tubes and a pair of 6L6GC power tubes, tube driven reverb, effects loop, 4 and 8 ohm speaker outs, direct out, all that. enough features that you can do all you'll ever need to do with it, but not so many that you get confused with it and have to keep the manual around (like the myriad push-pulls of say a Mark IV).

this amp's sound is amazing. the manual says that it's designed to get sweet tones at low volumes, and it does...it's still touchy with the volume knob, to be sure (what 50 watt 1*12 combo isn't?) but it sounds tres cool low, nice and fat, you can get a good crunch, a beautiful clean, or some decent shred without bothering anyone in the next room, and this thing gets LOUD. sounds nice with single coils or humbuckers, VERY resposive to guitar controls and playing style. you can do basically anything with this amp...if you want a loud clean, just keep the gain down and crank the master, if you want shred then drop the mids on the graphic EQ and turn the gain and the treble up, as would be expected. gotta be careful with the mids, when you turn them up you get a really REALLY hard punchy sound, but well all you gotta do to fix that (if oyu don't like it, some do) is keep the mids in check (between 3 and 5). it is pretty quiet, and it don't make noise until you're playing so loud that you can't hear the damn noise anyhows, really. again, very versatile, sounds great low and better cranked, couldn't ask for more.

i really don't know, i haven't had it for that long, got it used.

again, no idea, ain't needed them.

this thing is perfect for me. loud enough to play anywhere i'm actually going to play, but sounds amazing even at low volumes, and tonaly it can do anything i am actually going to want to do, from funky clean to bluesy crunch to grunge and metal high gain. and it looks cool, too, creme with brown grill...i played some sovteks and yeah they sounded great, but weren't very versatile, and toyed with some of them hot rod fenders...NO GAIN. and nothing sounded like this at low volumes AND could cause severe ear-bleeding volumes needed to keep up with a hyperactive drummer who insists on keeping mics inside the bass drum and right on top of the snare...

2 channels, graphic eq.

lots of nice sounds, some bad sounds. it takes time to dial these up.

the reverb would not work. i had it repaired, but due to the design, it just kept giving up the ghost.

i bought it with a roadcase. these amps are fragile. eq buttons snap off, grill cloth gets beat up quickly, etc. great clean sounds, difficult to deal with, and very midrangey. i found i was always tweaking it at a gig. the evm 12-l is an amazing guitar speaker! it also made this amp about 20 lbs heavier.

2 channels (lead/clean). Both channels sound very good. Both channels share EQ controls (unlike the newer DC5). Graphic EQ is assignable to either be on, off, or only on for the lead channel. It's 50 watts is perfect for stage use because it lets you get sweet tones without blowing you off the stage.

Incredible sound, especially the lead channel. I've used this amp for over 6 years in many different professional settings from a touring top 40 club band, to progressive death metal and grunge bands. It kills in every situation and never fails to make all my friends jealous.

I toured with this amp for two years straight with it spending a majority of its time in a hot and humid equipment trailer and it never, ever failed me.

Mesa is real cool and real easy to talk to, but I never had any trouble.

I will never part with this amp, and I don't think I'll ever need another for what this one covers.