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!