Mesa/Boogie Blue Angel 4x10 Combo

Tone, tone, tone. Lush tone, sweet tone, rich tone. Features enough! My Mesa Boogie Blue Angel is the 4x10" speaker model in blue tolex with wheat grill cloth made in 1994. Other reviewers here have amply covered the specs on these models, but suffice it to say it doesn't get much simpler than five knobs and single channel. I wanted one guitar amp that was simply a guitar/cable/amp arrangement (no pedals) and this answers that need well. Turn it and your guitar up and get natural overdrive/tube saturation. Turn down your guitar and it's clean city. Talk about getting back to basics! I also greatly appreciate the ability to switch tube types with the front panel control. To go from the 6V6 sound (Deluxe) at 15 watts to the four EL84 sound (AC30) at 30 watts to the combination of both together (Deluxe AC30?) is awesome. And because the speakers are grouped in pairs and run from separate jacks, I can set it at the 15 watt setting, disconnect two of the tens, and wail downstairs in the Smokin??? Lizard Music Lounge and not disturb my wife sleeping two floors above. Mesa should probably have named this one the Blues Angel because for the blues, it doesn???t get a lot better!

Part I: Tone, tone, tone. Lush tone, sweet tone, rich tone. Sound quality indeed! I play a 70s Fernandes Strat, a highly-modified PRS SE Custom (great guitar by the way and cheap...good as the fundamental building block to do your own thing) and a modified Parkwood Hybrid (jury is still out on that one) and this amp brings out harmonic richness I have not heard in other amps. Because of the EL84s, it???s closer to a thicker mids British sound than my clean and again highly-modified Fender Super 60. But hey, two great guitars and two great amps will likely be all I???ll ever need. Could I have gone out and just bought a brand new PRS and a brand new Boogie? Sure. But where???s the fun in that? Even if I had, in two weeks I would have been ripping those apart. It only took me lees than 24 hours of ownership to totally void the warranty on the SE. Imagine investing several thousands of dollars only to turn around and reinvest more. I got all of this stuff cheap. My thing has always been to do your own thing and I have.
Part II: OK, thought I was getting a great deal at $440.00. Guy said it was totally blown up. When I got it, I only need to replace one preamp tube. After a while though it started to noise up. My initial examination revealed a visibly cracked resistor. That is when I decided to take it to Doug Weisbrod at Music Technology http://www.musictechnology.com/. Doug, along with his partner Bill Thallman, know more about tube amps and design than anyone I???ve ever met in 40 years as a pro musician and did all of the mods on my Super 60. Bill has been keeping my vintage McIntosh audio gear running in top condition for 20 years. They were both former Conrad Johnson engineers. They design and market the Talos series of guitar amplifiers (and other peripheral electronics, PA stuff, stomp boxes, etc.) which are receiving rave revues in the musical community. Bill Kirchen (tele master) is a notable endorsee of the Talos amplifier. Doug put about 6 hours into the BA because he found multiple issues (resistors, capacitors, etc.) once he got inside. Now, take everything I said in Part I and multiply by two. I couldn???t imagine this amp sounding any better, but OMG, it does! If you read some of the other revues, people talk about some inherent noise issues. Gone! They talk about a lack of headroom. Gone!
Part III: ???OK???, you may well say to yourself, ???he got a deal then ended up spending more money anyway???. Fact is even with the repairs and mods, I still have less invested than any of the other BAs here or currently on the market. Plus, it???s been upgraded and is now probably the most perfect example around. Life is good.

Too early to say, but it???s built tough so should be OK for a long time. I would not hesitate to play out with it anytime, anywhere. In 40 yeas of playing professionally, I have NEVER needed a back up guitar or amplifier. I couldn???t have afforded one anyway during that time. But now I have two amps and guitars and don???t play out much. Kind of bass-ackwards. Go figure.

It's a 1994 amp. I think the warranty expired. At any rate, I must say Mesa has been really very good about answering my needs. When I first got it, I called to establish the date of manufacture and talk about some other aspects. The tech was gracious and did not make me feel like an idiot (I can take care of pretty well by myself) or hurry me along.

I have played professionally since 1964. I was part of a California band in the 60s that charted at #10 on Billboard. I have been signed to three major labels, one major Hollywood movie company, and a major TV network. You may have seen me riding a Honda motorcycle, drinking Folger???s coffee, or heard me sing on a brassier commercial. NO, I WASN???T WEARING THE DANG THING!!! I have owned pretty much everything and regret selling most of it. If someone stole this amp from me, I would hunt them down and remove their reproductive assembly with dull tools, sell them overseas to resell as human body parts, and use the money to buy another BA. I also play bass and have a few basses and bass amps. Plus, I sing so I have some PA and recording gear. This truly is the coolest darn amp I???ve ever had. Most of the older musos around here gravitate towards the vintage Fender stuff. One relatively famous guitarist I jam with on occasion brings his 1966 Fender Pro Reverb and original 1952 Tele along. I???d be the first to agree that the Pro may be the ultimate guitar amp, but he was totally knocked dead by my BA (and the Super 60???and the SE BTW). ???Lush??? was the term he used. But by far the biggest plus in this whole affair was the work done by Doug Weisbrod at Music Technology. If this sounds like an over-the-top endorsement, good! It should be. In these days of cheap ass crap and major musical gear makers releasing less-than-production standard crap, it???s really nice to know there are still some folks who take this stuff seriously???so seriously in fact that playing and technique aside, you can not get better audio results anywhere. Believe me, I???ve tried.

This amp is not about features or extensive tweaking and that is the intention, and beauty of it. It's all about tone which begins in the fingers and this amp is the canvas on which to paint a few particular styles of music. The BA is known as a big round warm and smokey blues amp and nails what I have heard in my head for many years, but it will do classic rock just fine. A few of the subtle features worth noting are the fat/bright toggle switch and the mid control. The fat side of the toggle is much more than a eq boost. It has a wonderful tone enhancement that is very complex with overtones and a slight bump in gain. It really brings out the EL84's creamy stinging tones. The bright switch is more of a lightener of tone and is nothing like the crappy bright switch on most other amps. (It takes the muddy edge off higher output humbuckers). The mid level adjustment is nothing like any other mid from any other amp I've ever played thru. It's is more of a subtle tonal/gain voicing than an eq and I seem to run it pass the noon setting but too much will muddy the voice. The single volume is also something to behold. It's not about volume really. More like a master voice. This is difficult to describe but Mesa seemed to invest alot of research in the volume control and succeeded. The reverb is right up there with my highest expectations and may soon become my favorite. The tubes appear to be the originals from Mesa, which was '01, I believe. The rectifier, 5AR4 appears to be more worn inside and out than the other tubes but this is where a lot of chasis heat is generated. I'm giving it a rating of 9 because "if" you use the features as "intended" and compare to something very, very similar, you will experience what Mesa Engineering intented.

I play loud (relative term) and tend to set it at about 2:30 to fit my room and style. Guitars used were many, vintage, re-issues and new. It sounds great with all types of pick-ups. Effects were not tested. Open tuning and slide souded like liquid swamp tone to die for. Like any great pure class A tube amp, it's not about thrashing. For me, it's like using the accelerator on an exotic race car going around a road course and allowing the breaks to last thru the entire race. Warm up, settle in, dig in, speed up, let up, go slow and so on. Lean into this amp for some great EL84 modern blues tones but don't forget to play some lower volume clean stuff on the 6V6's. In other words, use of playing dynamics is a must on this very touch senstive amp that is not forgiving to unintended sloppiness. This amp is tonefully beautful on the 6V6 setting at lower volumes and I have never heard ANY fender amp of any vintage sound this good. This amp has it's own sound, tone, tibre, voice, whatever. The Progressive Linkage is yet to be fully enjoyed however. I understand it's purpose but either I am in the mood for some blistering blues or I like to play nice and listen to indivual strings warmly ring out during chordal passages. I need to use the guitar volume more on this combined setting to see if that is the inherent secret to using the Progressive Link. It still sounds great linked, I just need to explore more as a rule. The reverb again is sublime. LUSH! (No, not my ex-wife). Great for swampy slide stuff. The 4x12 open back cabinet has some natural airyness but the whoomph of the alnico's are a perfect blend. I appreciate not having the higher SPL's of a closed back cabinet sometimes. Use a footswitch to turn off the reverb before going on standby is suggested. Turning the volume down may also me a good suggestion due to the noticable pop that comes from going to standby with the volume up and the reverb on. Tone wise, the BA is easily a 9 in it's intended category. Perhaps a Bruno Cowtipper is close to a 10 and more complex in tone and gain features, but I can't afford one (most musicians can't) and the BA has a different voice any way. Yeah, yeah. It all subjective. And for those that whine about the idle noise; just shut your pie hole or get some souless new modeling box and listen thru your polite, and politically correct headphones. The idle hiss is not an issue and all rectifier based tube amps should have a fan so get over it. If it doesn't move me and move air, forget it !

I play daily regardless and for hours when I have the energy or stimulation. I play loud. I dig in all the way and hit bottom and love the smell of electronics and tubes getting hot. If I can't smell the amp when I am done, I didn't play long enough or hard enough. (I even play nice and pretty sometimes). This amp seems to take it and like it but the "Blue" in Angel is not about metal or ice pick clean. Any way, I'm still using what appears to be orginal tubes and will have to decide if Mesa or NOS tubes are in order for a change out. Tonally, there is no reason to change them yet and I am guessing that the last owner babied this amp. As for playing out with this amp, I normally take my Lee Jackson/Ampeg VL amp (EL34's)out to play with the boys and will probably leave the Blue Angel at home for some superlative melody making and recording. It' too nice to abuse that much!

There has yet to be a need to contact Mesa Engineering but I hear they are good to deal with, even with used purchases. Amp appears overbuilt (whatever that really means?) so no worries. I would like to get an ATA case on wheels before I do take it out. It's nice to share great tone.

I've been playing too long and yet not long enough. No muscian ever stops learning no matter how old you get, unless you stop playing, then you save your hearing. Anyone who steals from a musician should be publicly flogged or worse. Other questions? I do have some tweak heavy tube amps. One is a Rivera Quianna Studio Head (6L6's) on a K212 Vint. 30 closed back cabinet. All in Ruby Red. Yeah, it's heaven too. I don't get the reference to Marshall for the EL84's btw. The type of tube has less to do with how an amp it voiced and more to do with what a great amp designer can do within the tonal and wattage range. Extract from within as a platform. Tubes are PART of the signal chain. (So is everything else that is connected). Good tubes in a piece of crap like Fender Hot Rod, Crate, etc. won't make them sound better. Sorry. I can apprectiate the EL84 reference however, since I like the old (real) Brittish/classic tones that now cost an arm and an ear and unless you are spending really big bucks for a hand wired Marshall, you won't get close to what you hear on recodings. Plus, where are you going to play a stack, jack, and I like loud. I wish people would stop comparing other amps to Fender and Marshall. True vintage is not re-issue anything and boutique, which I think the Blue Angel is, doesn't require starvation. There are many amps these days that exceed vintage platforms and for far less cost and are far more reliable. The Blue Angel is a standout but I can see why Mesa/Boogie stopped manufacturing this amp. Builders, even great ones need to design equipment for the majority, which I never want to be one of. Mostly, I just like to sometimes plug straight in and play, and have great tone fill the space without tweaking or fiddling. The Blue Angel will one day be a true collectors amp, if it isn't already.

I purchased this amp used in absolutely mint condition. The amp was originally sold at the Guitar Center where I purchased it and they bought the amp back from the original owner who purchased it the last year it was made 2004. The tone from this amp is made for those who appreciate the beauty of minimalism. I would call my style/influences "bluesfunksoulrock". It has one channel and frankly if you don't believe that tone starts with the hands and the notes are an extension of your imagination and creativity, then you're not ready for this amp. Plenty of power and tone, features are as good as any Matchless, Bad Cat or any other Class A boutique amp made. If you want to color your tone add a Roger Mayer or Fulltone pedal and you're on the way. If there is a downside... it doesn't get "Fender Clean", but then, nothing does.

I use Fender Stratocasters and Gibson Les Pauls and get awesome tones with either type of guitar. The beautiful aspect of this amp is that if you push it via the volume and tone controls you can get a creamy distortion that is colorful and natural. If you understand your instrument and how to make your amp work for you, you can make the Blue Angel sound like any Super Reverb or any Marshall. But remember it starts with the hands. The Blue Angel is awesome in small and medium club settings and if you're in a large venue and don't have a good soundman for the entire band, you're better off not doing that gig anyway... so if you mike this amp you'll be just fine.

I would use it without a back up if it was a local gig. If I was on the road and had the space, I'd love to have two of them and run them in stereo!!

I've spoken with the folks at Mesa Boogie and they are responsive and helpful even with products that are no longer in production. So... if you take care of your equipment, both the manufacturer and the amp will take care of you.

I have been playing for almost twenty years and first tried this amp out in 1992 while in college. It was out of my price range then, however, now that I am a grown ass man... well I got one. If it were lost by an airline, I'd be crushed and then I'd get them to re-imburse me for both the amp and the pain and suffering. I'd shoot anyone trying to steal it, need I say more? If you compare this to a Fender Super Reverb or a Marshall half stack you'll find it somewhere in between with a twist. Class A amplifiers have a unique sound and this gives you a lot of room for experimentation... If You Can Just Get Your Mind Together, Then Come On Across to Me..But First Are You Experienced???

The best amp for the money I have ever played or owned. It is a crying shame that Mesa no longer makes this amp.I play all handwired point to point amps. I play rockabilly, blues, jazz.I would buy another one today if they were availably.

I play a Fender custom shop nocaster, A Gibson CS 336, and a L.p. standard and deluxe.I love the clean,and the breakup on this amp.I have had the amp for five years ,so it is not just a honeymoon phase.This is truly a tone machine.I use a Hughs&Kettner Replex ,on all the time.I also use a Klon, or a Banzai Fireball II, or Fulltone Univibe.

Never had any problem with the amp.Very reliable!

I have called Mesa on many occasion, and someone always calls me back.Very helpful

This is one of my very favorite amps .Great tone.If lost or stolen, i would be combing Ebay for another.I love this amp.I use various pedals to get different sounds. It takes pedals extremely well.i know this is a glowing review,but I have no problem slamming an amp that I think is no good.The only drawback is the weight it is very heavy.For the price ,I have found nothing that comes close .

Single channel, class A, no gadgetry, gimmicks, no 30 knobs to "nail that sweet spot" you can't seem to find. Just Volume, bass, treble, mid, and....the option to switch between 6V6 power section, EL84, or both. The feature freaks who feel the need to dial everything in would rate it low, but I'm going to give it an 8, because the power tube selector really give me some great one options.

I'm using the baby with a 1974 Guild S-50 (maghogany SG style with one humbucker in the middle position) and a G & L Asat Semi Hollow with MFD's. Between these two great guitars, and the power tube selection feature, I have all the tones that I look for. With the Guild, the humbucker has that harmonically rich clean sound that inspires me to play longer and forget about sleep. When you increase the volume on the 6V6 section, you get that spongy, Deluxe tone. Then switch to the EL84 section, and the bottom fills in and the highs swirl around. When you crank it on this mode, it gives me that great power tube overdrive, dripping with harmonics. Back off and it's the "brutal Clean" that I love. I have owned all tube Marshalls, Fenders, Ampegs, etc., and this is the amp that does it for me. I wouldn't say that the sound is saturated at all. It's open, airy, and big. I also run a Homebrew CPR compressor and it sustains until I say uncle. Also run a Homebrew Germania treble booster, and then she sings. She's a big one, I don't love luggin her around, but it's worth it.

We'll see, but Boogie's are known for reliability (aren't they) Craftsmanship does look top notch. However, it's a tube amp. Bring spare tubes and fuses and forever hold your peace (or breath)

Don't know

The blue angel is a single channel vintage-style amp as far as controls - volume, treble, mid, bass and reverb. The standout feature is the "progressive linkage" circuit that lets you use 2 6V6 tubes for 15 watts, 4 EL-84 tubes for 30 watts, or all 6 combined for 38 watts. It does have an effects loop and a slave out. The reverb sounds really good - almost like an outboard. It has a foot control that is handy for switching it in and out. I don't need the various bells and whistles found on most modern amps. What I was looking for was a class A amp to get "the one" great tone.

This where it gets tricky. I play rockabilly and traditional country. I was looking for an amp to use with my home made 5F6 Bassman to give a little more class A chime and attack. As you may know, the Bassman has probably the best all-around tone of any amp ever made. Near perfect clean, near perfect dirty. I was thinking this amp would somehow be "more." The tone, though not bad, does not have he complexity of my Bassman. The tone is narrower - not the low lows or the high highs of the Bassman - more confined in the midrange category. Though this helps overdrive the amp, it's hard to get a loud clean tone without some midrange grit. This may be a great blues amp for some folks, just not my cup of tea. Not a lot of clean headroom. The fan, though a needed feature for a class A amp, does make some noise.

So far, so good.

When I called them the tech seemed to be more of a salesman for MESA than a tech. Very friendly though.

This could be a good blues amp for the right player, just not me. The tone is pretty one-dimensional for what I do. It doesn't have the same kind of complexity as say, a vintage Vox AC-30, tweed Deluxe, or Bassman. I will probably just stick to the classic amps from now on.

This is a bit of an update to my earlier review- I had said the 6v6 mode sounds mushy with humbuckers- I actually replaced the stock Gibson alnico humbuckers I had with Duncan Alnico II Pros and it made quite a difference, these p/ups cut through much better and don't push the amp into a flubby-sounding overdrive in the 6v6 mode like the Gibson pickups did. Another thing I have also tried is replace the 6v6s with 5881s. This adds another sound and dimension to the BA, in this amp the 5881s sound like you might expect the "combined" tube setting to sound like, plenty of bottom end yet with the top end of the el84's, none of the mushiness of the 6v6s, and a sweet sustain when pushed. According to to tech at Groove Tubes who frequents the amp forum, this won't hurt the amp at all.
Unfortunately the amp has now been discontinued which really sucks, I can't beleive more people aren't playing these.

I have owned this amp for a year now. I bought it barely used.
The features are well known.
Those buying an amp for it's made to do, rather than buying an amp unknown and whining that it doesn't meet their strenuous demands, should be satisfied.
This amp does exactly what it says it will do, and does it quite well. I use this amp constantly in clubs, and it has more than enough power to achieve very sweet, well articulated clean and distorted timbres (sorry, not 'tones'). I suppose those playing at ear-splitting, brainless volumes might have problems.

I play Blues in a trio. My guitars are Parkers, a Deluxe Single-2 and a Classic. This amp is supurb at responding to my softest touch, as well as handling my hardest whacks. It plays as musically as I can, and I don't think I have reached it's limitations.

I no longer use a back-up amp, though I carry a set of backup tubes. But what amp would not require this from a prudent player.

I have only called once for an informational answer. I left a voice mail, and it was responded to promptly by an extremely courteous, knowledgable tech.

In the year I have had it, this has become my sole amp.
I have been playing for 39 years.
If it were lost for some reason, I would most certainly get another.
I currently own a Marshall DSL-100, and a RI Super Reverb reworked by Don Butler.
Despite all the hype by the so-called 'tone queers', apparently seeking equipment to subsidize their musical deficits, this amp rivals any of the grossly over-priced, ptp handwired, totally 'acceptable' amps available, not to mention the old stand-bys from the majors.
For those looking for an extremely musical, responsive amp, I can't recommend the BA more highly.

Low-powered tube amp. Unlike other Mesas this amp has few features and is very straightforward. The key is being able to get power amp
distortion at moderate volume levels compared to your typical 50+ watt combo or stack. The sound is meant to be "retro" "rootsy" or "vintage" sounding classic rock/blues distortion. The features are designed to give you quite a bit of control in shaping the tone and overall volume of that specific sound. Mine came with the Eminence alnico speakers.

Sound quality is very good, perhaps just as good as any other boutique amp available. It's a unique mix of Vox meets Fender tonal characteristics, both in the clean and overdrive. The 6v6 is mushy when pushed, for me best suited to single coils while the EL84 is tighter and brighter, sounds good with either single coils or humbuckers. I prefer the greater dynamics and enhanced definition of the Bright setting. Reverb is nice although unlike the surfy sound of a typical Fender's. I use it a bit for clean, and just a touch with distortion. I set the tone controls at 9:00 or one quarter up. This is where I think it sounds best although I may occasionally turn the mid control up a little for a boost. Tone tip: if you think this amp sounds harsh or barky, experiment with the tone controls, you can probably dial out any frequency you think there's too much up. The tone controls, fat/bright switch, tube selection are subtle at low volumes but very effective at high volumes. Tone Tip 2: Try the sweetest sounding pickups you can find in your guitar rather than high output pickups meant for high gain amp settings. The Duncan JB humbuckers I was using in my guitars were too bright for this amp. I switched them for more mellower sounding pickups and it made a very noticeable difference.
I use this amp at about half volume for cleaner sounds and 3/4 volume for distortion sounds, then control the amount of distortion using my guitar's volume control and pick attack, and I also use a pedal for a boost- V-Twin on Blues setting or Fulltone 69 fuzz.
I find the noise of this amp to be negligible.
I'd like to try this amp through other speakers and cab configurations- however the stock speakers sound really good and not harsh or shrill at all. It is a very specific "bluesy"kind of crunch with these speakers though.

This amp is much more well built than the typical mass-produced amps I normally see. I'm confident in it except for possible tube failure.

Mesa has been very halpful. I left a message on their machine with a few questions and a tech called me back a few hours later to answer my questions.

This amp is well built with amazing tone, I could use this amp for the rest of my life and be very happy with it. It beat out all other amps I tried and was on par with Fender's Vibro-King amp although the Blue Angel seems to be better builtas well as IMO being more versatile and less expensive.

This is an update on my previous review below.
First of all however, I'd like to advise anyone considering this amp, not to be misled by reviewers who have tested this amp in music stores(!), or just for a short time!
This amp takes a while to get used to, it must be given a chance to show what it can do, and that cannot be done in a store, or at home in such a short period of time!
The tubes, and the speakers needed changing on mine, which can be expensive of course, and the amp cost enough in the first place, but this is something that I can live with.
I have Weber speakers in there now, 10A125, and 10F150. This is a Ceramic/AlNiCo mix, which makes a huge improvement over the muddy and unharmonic sounding Eminence Legends that were OEM.
The 6V6's are Groove Tubes new 6V6R's from ElectroHarmonix, and the rest are all NOS items: 5751's, GE12AX7's and Philips EL84's.
Another trick I've found out is; using a Roger Mayer Crossroads active splitter, to run both inputs together. This takes the harshness of the top end a little, without changing the EQ.
I would also like to mention that this amp is easily capable of running almost any venue, it can get REALLY loud if you want.
The Blue Angel is also one of the most underrated roots/blues amps on the market, partly due to negative reviews from people who are actually suited to a different kind of amp, maybe............
I don't think this is a bad thing however, they haven't sent many of these to here in Europe, I've heard there are only about a dozen or so 4X10 BA's in Germany, so mine's pretty rare!
Quite a few professionals have been seen using these amps too......
By the way, I've had my BA 4 years now, and it gets played almost every day, gigged every now and then, and....NO blown fuses, NO tube failures, NO breakdowns whatsoever! Reliable-yes-sir!