Mesa/Boogie DC-3 Combo

This is a 35 watt, all tube, 1x12 combo. It has a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker and two footswitchable channels (rhythm and lead). Each channel has controls for gain, treble, mid, bass, presence, master volume, and you control the volume of both channels with an output level knob. It also has a 5-band graphic EQ which can be applied to one channel or both. It has output jacks and an effects loop. Basically, this amp comes with the works right down to the nifty little storage pouch built into the inside of the open back cab. This amp has an unbelievable amount of power, it packs the loudest 35 watts you'll ever find.

I play a G&L S-500 strat model with the G7L magnetic coil pickups it came with. I mostly play rock so I want a good clean sound with heavy distortion potential. This amp really delivers both clean and dirty. The only thing that I would like is for the distortion to be a little more progressive. It's fairly difficult to dial in a good mildly distorted sound. Of course some of that may be user error... Anyway, the amps a little noisy but nothing to get real excited about. I want to replace the tubes that came with the amp with Sovteks. For some ungodly reason, Mesa Boogie builds incredible amp and then puts crappy Chinese tubes in them. Everyone I've talked to said these amps sound MUCH better with decent tubes. This is a sweet amp to begin with so I can only imagine how great it will sound with better tubes. Hopefully it'll give me an even better clean tone, more progressive distortion as you turn the gain up, and it'll probably lose some distortion altogether but that's OK, this thing has plenty to spare. As you can see from reading what I wrote in the "Features" category, this amp has plenty of goodies to play with. If you can't find get a good sound out of this amp, it's not the amp's fault. Like I said before, this amp is LOUD. Frankly, it scares me. I'm afraid that one day I'll accidentally bump the output level knob up past "3" and it'll blow my eardrums out when I take the amp off standby. This amp is really too loud for a lot of people. You can easily drown out other guitarist just getting this amp up to an output level where it sound good.

I've only had this amp for a few months so I can't really say. I bought it used so I don't have a warranty but the owner of the store says that if I have any problems with it, he'll fix it for free. So, obviously he thinks it's pretty tough. It's built solid and I don't foresee any problems.

n/a

I've only been playing guitar for a couple years and I haven't even played electric that whole time. I'm no expert, obviously, but I did a lot of shopping around and asked a lot of questions before I got this amp. I'm really happy with the DC-3 and I'm finding new sounds almost every day with this thing. Between the tone controls on the amp and the pickup combinations on my guitar, there's unbelievable potential soundwise. I wish it had better tubes but that's only because I want to know just how much sweeter it could sound. If I had it to do over again, I would probably buy a DC-2, but only because it's less money. I wouldn't miss the EQ too much and the amp would still be plenty loud with 10 watts less power. No complaints though, it's a great amp.

This is the follow-up I mentioned in my previous review. All of the features are mentioned in other posts. One feature I would like to see is a half power switch. Even at 35 watts the DC3 is still one loud little mother. As you may or may not know, to get the full benefit of a tube amp you have to make those tubes work a bit. This means turning up the master. Yes, a half power switch would be a useful option.

My main guitar is a PRS CE22. We play light rock and blues, nothing loud and crazy. The amp tends to hiss on the clean channel. The amp has a very complex set of tone controls. It takes some time and experimentation to find YOUR sound. Sometimes, turning a tone control just a half number up or down can make or break you. Then there is the EQ to fool with! As I said it takes time and effort to dial in YOUR sound. The amp tends to be midrange heavy. It took me awhile to find just the right amount of midrange. Don't get me wrong, the DC3 is WORTH the time and effort to find your sound. It truly is one heck of an amp. I do not use the Lead channel very much. It too takes time and effort to set to taste.

I have used it hard for about six months. No problems yet.

See above

I have been playing for about thirty years. My other amp is my beloved 1966 Princeton Reverb. In fact the way I finally found my sound on the DC3 was to place it beside my Princeton. I turned knobs and compared for over an hour. In all honesty I would not buy it again. I say this ONLY because it is proving to be too loud for my situation. If I were in a louder playing band, I would recommend it in a heartbeat. It is a great sounding amp. But, you have to goose it to make it sound it's best. A half power switch would be the ticket. I would like to share the fact that I finally found my sound on the regular channel when I lowered the mid range to two and turned the treble up to six and the bass down to four and the presence up to six. I run all three volumes at three. And I set the EQ in a modified V formation.

See above postings

The amp sounds better and better every day. I think it is still burning in. I play in a band that does the 60s right up to the 90s. Good quality sound at low volume was my main goal in selecting this amp. I had a Marshall JTM30 so I knew I wanted to stay around 30 watts. The Marshall sounded good cranked but did not do the clean Fender thing very well. The DC3 seems to do both very well. It tends to hiss on the clean channel. At the low volume our band plays it is not noticeable. This amp can keep up with the best of them. Very loud. Sounds good all the way around. As someone said earlier the lead channel is fairly aggressive. You can work with it though. The clean channel is very happening. Lots of versatility here. I play a Nighthawk and a PRS. I looked at and listened to the DC5. I felt it was too loud and it did not have the clean tone of the DC3. Maybe it opens up as you turn the volume up but in our band I am not afforded this luxury. So, I bought the DC3. No regrets so far.

It seems very sturdy and rugged. It is still new, no problems yet.

I would buy it again. I like its power and compactness. I like the EQ although I did not think I would. I am still getting to know it. Perhaps I will write a follow up in six months to let you folks know how it is holding up. I just want to say that I looked at a lot of amps. From Fender to Marshall to Randall to Peavy. I bought the Mesa Boogie DC3.

No need to list them. Has everyting I need and then some (see below).

I play a PRS CE guitar. I really really like the clean channel. I find the distortion channel pretty much useless for my style of playing. I like and use distortion but the dirty channel on this amp is hard rock/metal city. I've been unable to dial in a usable distortion tone that wasn't too heavy for my liking. But, with that said, I love this amp. The clean channel is just punchy and funky enough, and I use distortion boxes (Rat and tube screamer) to get the sound I've been searching for for a long time. I originally got a DC-5 but found it flat and wrong (someone else described it as making it really hard work to play, that's just how I felt). The DC-3 is great, fun to play, and the tone is amazing. I also think that it's plenty loud (that's why I got the DC-5 to begin with).

No problems yet.

No problems yet.

I would buy it again. I intend to use it as my only amplifier, and the only complaint I have is that the distortion channel will never get used. If they made the distortion channel the same as the clean channel, with a bit more drive, it would be perfect.

Most versatile amp around, in my opinion. Two channels, Rhythm and Lead (clean and distorted). Each channel has three EQ's and presence, and a built in extra five-band EQ that one can play with or without. So basically one has four switchable sounds at any given time. Comes with a footswitch to switch the five band EQ on or off, and to switch between rhythm and lead. Tons of recording features, etc.

This amp has so many different sounds, truly I would have a hard time believing one couldn't get a jazz or blues sound out of it that one wanted. The clean channel is great for anything from sparkling clean to crunch to dirty blues, with everything in between. The distortion is really brutal, with four EL-84's driving the thing. The clean channel is extremely clean at high volumes (i.e. 3 to 4 on the output knob). The bass end is somewhat muddy, but the top end is amazing. I use an Ibanez RG470 with it, which has a somewhat thin sound, so I may not get the type of distorted sounds with it. I know a fat sounding guitar would probably sound really good with the lead channel. The only real limiting factor with this amp is the guitar. So once again: Positives: extremely flexible for playing styles, unbeatable clean channel, reasonably loud. Negatives: slightly muddy bass end. The reverb is great on the clean channel, and unobtrusive on the distored channel, sometimes too much so. But other than that, the most versatile amp soundwise out there! (Except for maybe other, more expensive Mesa Boogies. )

About as reliable as they come, so I've heard. (I've only had it several months.)

Extremely good from what I've heard. (Not needed it.)

I would buy this baby again in a second! Expensive at the price I paid, but worth every cent. Probably the last amp I'll ever own. Every time I decide to mess around with the EQ and gain settings, I get a whole variety of new sounds that I like. Like I said before, the bass end is a bit muddy, and the amp is a bit heavy to carry around, but other than that, it's great! I compared it to a friend's 50 Watt Marshall JCM, and it was louder and about ten million times more versatile (that's just an estimate), and my friend told me that it costed him $800 US on sale. I wish the clean channel were not quite so muddy, but with some EQing on the thing, one can almost eliminate that muddiness. A great amp, I would recommend to anyone who was looking for a good loud amp between $700-$1000. (Past a grand, check out the other Mesa Boogies.)

35 Watts, two channels (one clean, one very aggresively dirty). 4 El-84 power tubes, effects loop. graphic equalizer that is foot switchable, slave input, one 12 " celestion vintage 30 speaker, very simple tone design and control set up.

If you can't find the tone you are looking for with this amp, I am not certain if the tone exists. I'm playing a Yamaha AES 1500 through this unit and by splitting the humbuckers I can go from ultra clean to total metal grunge. This is the first amplifier that allows the use of tone control on the guitar. The clean channel has a unique feature that allows the mid control to be used as an additional gain control that can bring the clean side around to a very warm blues tone. I traded in a Fender Princeton Chorus and I have not regretted my decision in any form. I would agree on previous post that the lead channel is definitely too "dirty" for my own taste. I am a recreational guitar player that usually plays in the confines of my own small living room. This amp also sounds great in the clean channel with my Gibson Hummingbird acoustic plugged into it.

I have only had the amp for 1 month but I''m well aware of Mesa''s excellent reputation for durability and quality.

The store I picked the amp up in provided me with the wrong foot switch, one call to Mesa and they sent me the correct foot switch via UPS second day delivery. They sent out the foot switch before I even got the warranty card in the mail. The tech had lots of advice concerning amplifier set up including how to go bluesy using the mid control as a gain increase in the clean channel.

The only reservation I had with Mesa is what seems like a noticable difference in price as compared with other amplifiers out there. I was all set to pick up a Fender Blues Junior for the limited use that I have for my electric guitar. By trading in my Fender Princeton Chorus, I was able to get a phenomenal amplifier that meets my every need. This is one of the first amplifiers that I have used that sounds great quiet in the living room or cranked up in a school gymnasium.

Features: 30 watt, tube ( EL-84's ) channel-switching ( w/separate, controls for each channel ) Reverb 5 band EQ Effects Loop Slave Out Record out

This amp is very clean in the clean channel, and is very adaptive to a number of differnt types of guitars and pickups. I have six different main axe's that I use. 2 Les Pauls,( one with P-90's) 2 Tele`s,( one with P-90's the other is active) and 2 Strats ( one Strat is active), and I find it extremely easy to "Dial In" the sound that I am looking to get out of each guitar. All of my playing is done in small to medium size clubs ( Rock and Blues) with the master volume at about 3. If master volume goes above 5, chassis rattle begins to occur, but by that time your way too loud any way. I really like the "record out" feature. I use this rather than putting a mic on my amp, and it sound great through the board I give this amp a "9" only because the dirty channel is a little too dirty for me, but I feel it would be well suited for "metal" or the like. It also has that "lack of character" boogies tend to have, as opposed to something like old tweed Tremolux.

I have used it for about 3 gigs a week for the last 4 months and haven`t had a single problem.

NO AMP IS PERFECT, so I`ll give this amp a 9.667
Overall this amp great. Versitile and portable. For a Boogie this amp is very light. It's great when I can walk into a gig with my guitar and cord bag in one hand, and the amp in the other.