Mesa/Boogie DC-2 Combo

25 watts (dyna-watt power) powered by a pair of El-84's, one 12 inch vintage 90-watt Black Shadow speakers, 2 channels (lead/rhythmn), all-tube sring reverb, parallel effects loop, silent speaker mute, recording output jack. The preamp has six 12ax7's in which two different sets of tubes are used for the lead and rhythm channels. It basically has everything I need. Other reviewers didn't like it cause' it does not have a head phone jack but fuck it, I hate playing through head phones.

This amp's sound capabilities are very versatile. The clean channel is really really clean and has plenty of headroom and with a strat, it can give great blues sound when over-driven. The lead channel is more on the metal side than on hard rock(ala VH). It's got too much buzz which I don't really like. I like distortion as clean as possible and with lots of sustain and harmonics. But I use it with an Boss OS-2 and can get exactly the sound I want, sustain without extreme buzz. But on its own It can only do Fenderish clean, to ala clapton blues sound, and Heavy/Death metal (James Hetfield sounds on And Justice... and Black Album). But with a pedal, this amp can suit any style. But there is something really wierd about this amp. I don't know if it is a natural tube amp phenomenom or it's just my amp but my amps sound seems to constantly change. When I first bought it, I was really pissed about the sound cause it didn't sound so good. The amp seemed to have an extremely boosted mid-range which gave a really boxy, nasal, and muddy sound even on clean. The mids just coudn't be sooped out even with the mid control at 0. When I played palm-muted metal riffs, it sounded like ' chag, chag, chag' and not like ' chug, chug, chug'. But the more I used it, The mids seemed to slowly disappear and metal riffs started sounding right. And right now, that annoying mid range is starting to come back. It's not like I hate mid range but too much makes everything muddy. It made my Fender US Standard strat sound muddy(now can you imagine how much mids this thing had). I still don't know if its the tubes which are causing this phenomenon.

I think this amp burns out tubes prety quickly especially at loud volumes. I remember the day after I bought it, I used it for 6 hours straight and a funny crackling sound started and I say one of the El84's arching. So whenever I jam, I always need a fan pointed at the back of the amp to cool down the tubes which an extra hassle. I now limit my practice sessions to 2hours straight at most.

I've never dealt with the company because I stay all the way here in the Philippines. But by just reading the owners manual I can tell that the people at mesa/boogie are Class A. They seem to treat you as a new member of the mesa/boogie family. And they got a very good reputation when it comes to sound and reliability. So even if I've never dealt with them, I'd still give them a 10. When I thought I blew my boogie's speaker, I was told by the store wher I bought it here in the Philippines that they had authorized service centers that could repair boogie's but I was really dubious about that because there's no authorized dealers of Roland, Marshall, Fender, Mesa, etc. here.

If it were stolen or lost, I probably buy it again. It's great value at it's price range. I think the only draw back of this amp is that it is way to heavy for a 25-watt combo. Heck, it's even heavier than my 160-watt peavey solid-state combo. I was choosing between a Fender Blues Deville and the Mesa/Boogie DC-2 and I chose the Mesa cause' it was more versatile. I also wanted the DeVille because I loved the blues and I thought it would loog good with my Strat Plus.

The DC-2 more than covers all the bases that I need. It is a 2 channel amp with 3 footswitchable sounds: rhythm, lead, and contour. Parallel FX loop, headphone, line out, speaker out, two totally independent channels and an excellent reverb. My previous amp were a 100/60 watt 1x12 Boogie Clone(4x6L6c power tubes) by Mitchell and a 100watt Vox Solid state top with a 2x12 cabinet. The El-84(such as those in the DC-2 power section is thought of by many people as the best sounding tube for rock n' roll. Tube tone definitely rules! The only thing missing is EQ which would be useful for really dialing in specific distortion tones. But the DC-2 gets the sounds I need.

I play classic rock and blues with an American Std Strat and a 79 walnut SG. I generally play for my own pleasure and occasionally jam with friends. The DC-2 provides great tones at the low volumes that I need to play at most of the time yet it is plenty loud in a group situation. It is dead quiet with humbucking pickups and buzzes with single coils(big surprise-yeah). I am a long time Pete Townshend fan and the clean channel really can do justice to Sparks, Pinball, etc. With the gain fairly high on the clean channel, it is very touch sensitive and is wonderful for blues leads that break from clean to dirty. The dirty channel has a lot of harmonic character as well. Its sound definitely is dependent on how much gain your guitar pickups have. There is a BIG difference between single coils and humbuckers on this amp. Humbuckers deliver a lot more distortion. Certainly enough for anything from Albert King style blues to Cream. Like I said I am a retro player and this amp delivers for me.

Bought this amp on Mesa's legendary reputation.

Waranty is a "liberal one year." Bought it from a reputable dealer that's been around for 25 years and is a Boogie Service Center. I don't anticipate any problems.

I've been playing guitar for 28 years and it is only the third amp I have owned. I bought a used Boogie clone 17 years ago and it finally failed. I was pretty happy with it so I wanted to know what it was like to own the real thing. I would buy another Boogie but probably a different one. Every amp has a different personality and I would like to explore the sounds of some of the other amps in there line

I mainly play classic/alt rock in a Contemporary Christian (i.e., Church) setting. Be sure to look at the other reviews under "Studio Caliber". It took me a while to figure out where they were.
This is a 1-12, class A/B, dual EL-84 (about 20 watts I guess), SS recto, parallel effects loop combo.
Two channels, completely separate controls for each (YES!) with Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, Reverb and a sub-master volume controls for each channel.
Mesa says the clean channel is voiced like the MK IV 's Clean channel and the Distortion channel is voiced like the Dual Recto's distortion channel.
There is any older model (like mine) and a newer model with a 3rd footswitchable sound similar to what the Subway Rocket offers.
I hate to give anything a 10, but this amp is extremely versatile in the features department and very user-friendly.

I'm not much of a "shred-head" and don't really care for some of Mesa's "vintage" offereings like the Trem-O-Verb or Maverick. I would describe my ideal tone as "atmospheric." I play a 57 RI strat, PRS Standard 22 and a G&L ASAT-3.
I have to say, I'm just blown away by this amp. I couldn't believe how musical it sounded when I first tried it. The Clean channel is not the austere super-clean mesa sound, but rather a little "grindy" around the edges. The distortion channel is very musical and yields a nice "blannggg" tone when you turn the guitar volume down.
One word about settings, this amp is designed to sound good with eveything set to about 5. My experience with other master volume amps is that they sound best with all the sub-masters and tone controls more or less dimed (set to 10). It's a huge mistake to treat this amp like that. The tone controls are very interactive. In fact, diming the channel sub-master volumes will mudddy the effects loop; so much so that I called Mesa because I thought I had a problem in the effects loop.
The overall Distortion tone is a little midrangy for bedroom playing (can't REALLY get scooped death-metal tones). However, this midrangy vocal-like quality really shines when playing with a group. You need some midrange to cut through and provide some body for leads. Sometimes I'll be soloing with this amp and it feels so good to just hold a note ans let it sing that I find my playing is more melodic.
I always mic my amp and run it thru the PA. This amp is replacing a Peavey Classic 50-212 in my rig. My sound man loves the DC-2 and so do I. It's a VERY loud 20 watts and sounds great mic'd. I usually set the overall master to 2 or 3. The Presence controls are great for dialing in the sound to the room/stage.
The effects loop is VERY high quality - no tone sucking here. I'm using an Intellifex LTD (itself a very high quality unit). I don't use the effects loop in parallel mode because I use MIDI continuous controllers to control various levels and parameters on the Intellifex. It's too hard to do this with a parallel loop.
I'm about to pay this amp a supreme complement - it feeds back (sings, not squeals) at absurdly low volume levels. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the distortion has a "buttery" quality that just I just can't get enough of. Some of this could be due to the fact that this amp has American EL-84s in it. They've got the Mesa stencil on them but are also clearly etched "Made in America" right on the tube.
So far my favorite guitar with this amp is the PRS. But the strat and G&L sound great as well. I don't have to change tone settings to change guitars. Each one seems to have a unique personality.
Oh yeah, I'm not a big Celestion fan, but the Celestion Black Shadow speaker is a perfect match for this amp. I was all set to change it out, but I really like it. I'll say it again, the whole package is very "musical."
I suppose, I wish the Clean channel had a little more personality. My standard for great clean sounds is still a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Good thing I have one of those.
Once again, I can't give it a 10 (It's not a Top Hat, Dr. Z, Bogner), but I will give it a very high rating for a production PCB amp.

Haven't looked inside. So far, no problems and I don't bring a backup.

Mesa can be hard to reach by phone. Call early. However, once you actually talk to someone, support is fantastic.

Value is important to me. For what I paid for this amp, this is an incredible value. It sounds far better than any $300 amp has a right to sound. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. Mesa is doing really great things with small EL-84 amps (e.g., Subway Blues/Rocket, DC-2 and DC-3).
One small deduction. The resaon I got such a good price on it is because the vinyl covering was badly ripped in several places even though the rest of the amp was dead mint. It's unusual to see this kind of covering wear without some other indication of abuse (broken knobs). I have to concude that the covering just isn't up to snuff. It's a naughehyde type vinyl, not Tolex. Mesa should go back to Tolex. I like this amp so much that I may pay to have it recovered.

For a two channel at this price, no other features can be expected. Try to find an amp under $700 that has two complete sets of controls for gain, EQ, presence, reverb, and volume...plus a master volume. It has a great effects loop and recording capabilities. Only drawback, slighly heavy for 25 watts and not Class A (but then, the price would be at least $300 more).

Everyone knows about the MESA lead channel and how it shreads. But dial the gain in to 3 or so and push the volume to five or so, and you get good vintage gain, perfect for roots rocking like the Jayhawks, Wilco, Uncle Tupelo and etc.. The clean channel is indeed that, clean. Don't try to dirty it up like a Matchless, it sounds muddy. I'm told that putting a Celestion 30 will solve that problem though. As far as noise, it's always been very quiet. I use a Strat with Texas Specials and I get a great buzzsaw sound with it at 8 and then turn it up to 10 for lead work. Finding a good clean sound can be some work but it can be achieved. Don't expect a fat tone a la a Matchless or a Bassman. It has a thinner, roomier sound great for Tele's (I sold mine dammit). I also have a '57 reissue Les Paul Special with P-100's. The clean channel gives me the good, cleaner CCR sounds whereas the lead channel goes from more dirty sounding CCR ("Fortunate Son" and "Up Around the Bend") to AC/DC to uncontrollable distortion, but not as good as a Big Muff.

I've had it for a year and a half and it hasn't even thought about breaking.

Never needed to find out.

Would I buy it again? Absolutely! No other amp in the price range came close to offering it. The Fender sounds were not all tube, Marshall didn't have the tone, and everything else was either too expensive or too big. If you're thinking about this amp, you should look at the DC-3. It's more expensive, but it has a fatter tone. Dynawatt Power does give you a lot of volume (two visits by the local authorities) but you may want to check out Class A sweetness.