Mesa/Boogie DC-3 Combo

I bought this amp from a Friend . got a deal on it i think. excellent condition, never gigged, only used for practice and studio work. It even still had the original tubs on it. Fell in love with it especially the clean channel. the effects loop works great for me and the EQ is a real bonus, love what it dose to the amp makes it more versatile. this amp features two channels, a five band EQ, effects loop, individual Revebs per channel, and the EQ switch is great ( you can have the EQ on the clean channel or overdrive or both!! i have it on the overdrive to help scoop out some mid and boost the low to give it a more metal sound. great combo amp with a Vintage 30 celestion. VERY LOUD amp.

First of all, get rid of the factory tubes and put in some JJ EL 84's in the power and Electro Harmonix 12ax7 in the pre amp section.The clean is verry cleen and glassy tone. This amp has a very nasal sound with almost to much Mid range sound in it, especially the distortion channel. the good news is that the 5 band EQ helps scoop it and get rid of the fuzz because of the vintage 30. the fuzz is mostly heard at low volume. you cant really judge this amps tone a low volume. Crank this baby and you will know what im talking about. this amp is not to noisy and its variety in tone is a blessing for the combo it is. i love this amp. took me some time to get used to the tone but she is really singing!

This thing is built like a tank!! can really take a beating, has never let me down, at least in a gig that is. the only downside is like any tube amp, the tubs go from one second to another especialy in this amp because the El 84's burn real HOT and this amp gets veeeeeery hot. im considering installing a fan on the back to avoid any meltdowns LOL.

No warenty, ive tried to call a few times but never seam to be able to get a hold of anyone and their schedule....Monday to thursday? thats bull ****! cant tell me they cant afford to pay someone to be there till friday at least. have never returnes my calls. its a good thing thire amps are reliable!

I have been playing for about 15 years.
i have a Dual rectifier solo head (love it) and a Marshall jcm 900 half stack ( never use it, its not really mine, my Friend left to Amsterdam and told me to hold it till he was back. i have 3 Les Pal's one classic, a standard and a costume, a G&L Legacy strat type, a Seagull mini jumbo electric acoustic, TC electronic G system and a few peddals.

IF stolen i would Cry!! and try to get another one or get a mark IV.
i love the aggressiveness of this amp it can allow me to do almost any style. its louder then most 1X12 combos and can run a 4*12 cab like nothing. this amp is the ****!

Two channels, crystal clean on one, all the gain you could need on the other. Separate tone, master, and reverb controls for each channel, channel assignable or footswitchable 5 band eq, overall output level control so balancing channel volumes is easy. Effects loop, slave and recording outputs, 3 speaker output jacks - one 8 and two 4 ohm. Plus a silent recording feature that mutes the speaker and a headphone jack. Tube driven parrallel effects loop and reverb. Mine has a Celestion Vintage 30. More features than most guitarists need or will ever use, but since there are so many new amps with 3 or more channels, rectifier and variac settings, etc., I only gave it an 8. The only thing it doesn't have that I need is a solo boost, which I'll be using a pedal for.

Has 4 EL84 power tubes and 6 12AX7's. 35 watts, but the loudest 35 watts I've ever heard, and more than enough power for any gig. It's louder than my 50 watt Marshall JCM900 which I've gigged with for years. It'll push a 4X12 cab with ease.

I play rock and metal and use a stock Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Highway One strat with Lace Sensors. Both guitars sound incredible through this amp. The clean sounds are really nice, and the high gain channel sounds incredible. I wanted that classic Mark III or Mark IV Boogie tone, and this thing sounds very close. It's much quieter than the Mark III's I've played, and much more versatile since it has separate controls for each channel. The gain is very fluid, not fuzzy at all, which is what I wanted. Even at the highest gain settings the chords ring out with amazing clarity. Leads sound beautiful, each note cuts through with clarity. It doesn't hide sloppy playing the way a lot of high gain amps do, every note comes through clear as if you were playing on the clean channel. It has more sustain than any amp I've ever played. The 5 band eq is what really make the amp shine. I played the new Express and F series amps and liked this one much better.

Not sure, haven't had it but a couple weeks. So far it works perfectly.

Haven't had to contact them.

I've got a very good sounding Marshall JCM900 MKIII and a Mesa V Twin Preamp. I like this amp much better than both of them. I run it through my Marshall 4X12 cab with vintage 30's and it sounds incredible. I've never been this happy with an amp. The only thing I would possibly like better would be a Mark IV or Mark V. I've been playing amps for months now looking for a sound I'm happy with. I've played the Marshall JCM 2000, Peavey 6505, Bogner Alchemist, Line 6 Spider Valve, Soldano, and others. I like this amp much better than the rectifiers, Express Series, F Series, and Mark III's. And I LOVE every Boogie amp I've ever heard, so this one really shines imho. given the price these things go for used I have to give a 10. I got lucky and got mine in show room condition.

Ok. I've had this amp for about 10 years and always thought it was ok. I changed the speaker to a vintage celestion 12 inch neo speaker. But the main difference after reading the manuel and missing this over the years is that if you push the gain down to 2 or 3 on the clean channel you can play quietly and still push the gain nice with a pedal. The hiss is gone then and the volume manageable. You can put the master volume and other volume anyware you want. I now like the amp a lot better and have greater flexibility in all sounds. Still like most people the other channel is very boxy still. But who needs a two channel amp when one channel sounds great and you can still use the eq pedal for a boost.

It is better now.

I have eletro harmonic 12ax7 and jjel84's nice tubes.

I felt it had too much tube hiss. turning the gain down got rid of it.

You can download the manuel from Mesa.

Well it sounde ok with the vintage 30 celestion. I cahnged it to a neo vintage 12 inch celestion. It is lighter to carry now and has a more alnico blue kind of sound. It breaks up a little earlier on the clean channel and can be brought back to a clean sound with a twist of the gain knob. ( or lowering the mid). It also gives me a better controlled fedback on the higher gain channel. It just sounds better. I also switched to electro harmonix 12ax7 and jj el84s. I probably will switch to tung sol 12ax7's at some point.

bring extra tubes. Never broken down. Extremely loud amp.

Out of warranty.

Ive been playing 45 years and have lots of amps and guitars. This amp sounds good with all but humbuckers sound a little better. I play the blues rock. It now sounds better with the 12 inch vintage neo celestion and weighs less.

This 2 channel combo has been with me since it was new around 1995 or so. I bought it originally as a practice and back up amp to my Mark 4. I actually like the gain channel better on the DC than the Mark. More focused and a tighter overall tone. The footswitchable EQ is great for punching up the lead sounds and getting a sort of "Brown Sound'. Has a speaker mute that is nice but have never really had to use it. Has a headphone out on back as well as a very quiet and functional effects loop. Wish it was footswitchable like the Mark 4 is. The footswitch controls the channel and EQ. Has reverb controls for both channels but is rather weak. That is really my only beef with it.

I have spent many hours and $$$$$$$$$$$$$ on getting this amp JJJJUUUSSSTTTT right. First was the tube quest. I endded up staying with the Low Noise Mesa preamp tubes but am using JJ's for the power section. I went with a cleaner headroom tube and installed a variable pot so when I install tubes I can check and adjust the bias. If you keep Mesa power tubes in it this is not nessacery. I also want the clean channel to be cleaner and I found that the speaker was at fault as much as the power tubes. I tried many speakers and when I put an EV classic in my Mark $ the Black Shadow 90 watt Celestion that came out of it went in. BINGO!!!!! Just what the doctor ordered. Since this amp is loud and only rated at 30 or so watts I think the little 30 watt vintage celestion it came with just wasn't enough. I'm very pleased now and it gives me anything I need. You just need to go slow on the controls like someone else said the EQ on the channels and the graphic are very sensitive. I use a PRS custom with humbuckers, Gibson Les Paul with duncan pups, a Strat with duncans and a Tele with Lindy Fralins. They all sound great in it but some guitars may need some small tweeks because of output differences. This amp is also quite quiet for the sound levels it produces!

This amp is very rugged but like any tube amp you can't just toss it around and think that it will not result it problems eventually. Tubes can be very funny if not handled properly. I did notice that the top of the amp use to get rather hot and this began to bother me. I had a very qualified teck that I have used for years to install a small fan on the left side looking from the back blowing across the power tubes and this made a huge difference in the operating temp. I think it likes me more now!!! The only time it ever failed me was one night at a small christian coffee house I play regularly I thought I'd use my 4x12 marshall cab. After about 30 minutes it shut down. I FREAKED!!!! I unhooked the cab and after several minutes I got sound out of the combo speaker. Wheeewwww. I later found after thinking it must have been an impedance problem my switch on the marshall cab went south. Got another one and no problems since. ANY MARSHALL CAB USERS BETTER CHECH THESE REGULARLY WITH A METER111111

i HAVE NEVER HAD A BETTER EXPERIENCE WITH ANOTHER COMPANY THAN MESA BOOGIE. Even my nickname for years has been Boogie Bob! They are very helpful and always willing to do whatever to help you. I don't remember how long the warranty was on my amp. I think a year or maybe more but it has been out for so long that should tell you the build em' right.

I have played for over 30 years and I cannot find any other amp maker that I would switch to.If it were stolen I'd be up the creek cause they don't make this one any more. I love the compact size and the huge sound this thing delivers. Wish the reverb was more like a Fender. Then it would be the perfect amp!

This is a 30 watt all tube (minus the rectifier) amp run with 4 el84s. It also has- 2 separate channels, each with their own gain, bass, mid, treble, presence, reverb, and volume controls, an FX loop, and switchable boost.
I use(d) the amp primarily for practice, though I used it in small venues numerous times, and it had plenty of power for anything that I did with it.
The graphic eq was pretty cool too.

I use primarily a Gibson Les Paul Std- with the stock Burstbuckers and a few effects, but I like to keep it pretty sparse.
This amp is great for clean. I loved the clean channel for warm, yet a glassy quality to open chords and slower leads. The DC-3's break up early (3 to 4 out of 10 on the gain side)- but that was not the amp's fault since you can't expect a great clean with humbuckers and a lower output, low(er) headroom amp. The plus side to that was classic bluesy breakup was fairly easy to achieve.
The gain channel was actually fairly disappointing to me, and it was the reason I ended up selling the amp. It has a buzzy/fizzy quality to the distortion, especially at low volumes. I ended up using the amp at a gain setting no higher than 4 or 5. This helped but it was never great. I think that though the distortion is thick- it lacks power and the ability to really cut through. I play anything from progressive rock/metal to blues to a bit of jazz. When all is said and done, the mids and the fizzy gain were my biggest issues with the amp.

The amp had a few glitches- but I think most of them were user errors. Never broke down.

Never talked to them. I've heard they're good but I wouldn't know.

I've been playing for 9 years, owned amps made by carvin, marshall, peavey and crate. This was probably the most durable and professional quality out of any of them.
I bought the amp because I fell in love with the sweet clean sounds, but when it comes down to it I am mostly a rock guy.
I sold it about a month ago and have been on the amp search ever since- still trying to find "that tone".

Dual Channels - clan and distorted. EQ's up the wazzu and a Graphic EQ to further shape the tone. Foot pedal to switch from rythem (clean) to distorted and to engage the graphic EQ in each setting. Rule of thumb on this amp is that the slitest moverment of any EQ knob or graphic EQ level will have big impact on the tone. It takes a lot of patience to figure out the sensativities of each EQ then to eventually get your sound. It took me a good 3 weeks to get the hang of it and i'm still learning. There are so many variations with the knobs and the graphic EQ that you can intermix that I think you can spend a whole life time experimenting.

I play Metal Metal metal.. you get the point right. I delve into a some blues solos and hard rock but, i'm mostly inspired to play thrash to metalcore. When I first got this amp i was dissapointed at the lack of distoriton but, that was just a stupid mistake i made by not knowing how to properly EQ this amp. Having a never owned a tube amp and mainly having played SS amps with digital and analog pedals, I never really gave great focus on EQ's. On digital and analog pedals turning the eq 1/4 one way or another will make a slight impact however, if you so much as blow on an EQ knock or slider on this amp you will get a completely different sound. I finally figured out the V combination on the graphic EQ which really made a difference but dont think its as simple just making a V. THe V configuration in iteslf has tons of variations which impact the treble,mid, huge bottom, and bass. I found that 2200 and 6000 slider up high dropping te 750 all hte way down and keeping the 60 and 240 slider below the middle gives a great balance of a scooping the mids while maintaining the high's and lows. The funny thing was that when I first played this amp I was thinking that this almost sounds like a metal zone or a Line 6 metal/ insane feature then It occured to me "hey stupid this is the real thing that that those companies were copying" lol

Very well made, the tubes are very exposed though so you do have to pay special care to the way you transport this amp. Definitely need a case for this amp to ensure its safety

Had some questions, called mesa and spoke with a rep who was very knowledgable and gave informative advice on how to maximize the tone.

I've been playing for 8 years, I started out late when I was 25 and am now 34. Initially got inspired to play blues and rock but, then that lead me into liking metal since in my opinion it brings about the most range for the guitar. This is by far the best amp i have ever owned. After buying the DC-3 i kinda went on a Mesa binge and also bought the Nomad but, the DC-3 is better. THe graphic EQ can cover most to any sound. I would also suggest using a tube screamer with this amp which really bring out the sharpness. I dont really hate anything about. I guess every guitarist spends their entire life searching for the ultimate tone, This is close, the only thing I wish it had more of is a little more smoothness and lush to its tone but, its a mesa which are known for the gritty bottom which no other amp matches. I can always add a pedal to the mix to enhance the tone so that doesnt bother me. THe core sound I want is in this amp. Its not a rectifier but, I can get those tones by manipulating this amp with my tube screamer and noise gate. I dont think i will ever sell this amp unless I get a great deal on a rectifier. Then again this thing is so compact and packs such a great punch that it would be hard to get rid of even if I did get my dream rig

Overal it has good features, but it really could use some other things. It is a 2 channel amp, I really wish it was 3, that would make my day. The reverb is independently on both channels, sweet. The fixed bias is wonderful. The EQ is one of the most wonderful things that Mesa has put on a few of thier amps, I dont see why they dont install it on all of their amps! If you are turned off of this amp because it is only 30 watts..... well iv got a surprise for you.... Its the loudest 30 watts you will ever hear. I have acually played in concerts where this will hold up against a 200 watt solid state half stack, and even in thoughs concerts, I never went past 5 for the output.

Ah the sound, this is where it gets very interesting. Both of the channels are great. The stuff I like is a mixture of lighter and harder stuff. The sounds I like to get are from groups like, Jars of Clay, Skillet, Alter Bridge, Dream Theater, Jeremy Camp, Rush, U2, Kutless... so ya, I really need something that can handle both ends of the spectrum well. Currently in a band called Chosen (www.myspace.com/chosenrock). The clean channel is very appealing. It can be set to have no break up or some break up. It is very nice to use in soft songs, specially when reverb is used. The distortion is great as well. It can deffinatly get into that heavy territory. It may be not as massive as a triple rec, but it is much more versitile then one. It has a nice saturated sound, has a nice ballance low end. The only problem here is that the lead channel isnt really good at not having that Mesa sound (if that makes sense). You kind of seem stuck with the heavish territory (changing the preamp tubes could probibly help here). sure you can turn down the gain, but, it still has the same characteristic. For me this really is not a big deal, but for people that want the vintage classic rock stuff, well this might be a problem. What even makes this amp sound good is the 5 band EQ, you can really tweak your sound. WHY DOES MESA NOT DO THIS ON THIER NEW AMPS !!! Another great thing about this amp is the output options. Each channel has a seperate output level, then there is another master output level, very helpful in a live setting.

It is preaty good. I had a problem with it once, something blew in it, and made it unplayable. However I think it was because of a surge, so it is not really the amps fault. And this is a 10+ year old amp, and who knows what the previous owner did with it. So I say this thing gets a 10.

Never really had to deal with them. I did make a call before about something and they were helpful, I was not on hold for long (that right there earns high marks)

Overall, this is a great amp that one can buy for 600 bucks. It is a great shame that Mesa stopped making these. The Express I think is suppose to be its replacement ( and the F series as well). Id does not have the EQ, which makes no sense, so therefor it is not a true replacment. It is very reliable, no problems on stage. The 30 watts is more than enough for me, it would be hard to use if playing in arenas or something, but I dont see that as an issue for me. Even at practice it gets loud, I usually stay at about 3 1/2, which is plenty, belive it or not. I think the only other amp that could truly replace this amp is a Mark IV (which has 3 channels). The amp can scream with high gain, but it can also dish out a very pretty clean sound (think Alter Bridge). I truely don't need another amp other than this. This is one of though things that I will keep forever becasue of the memories, quality, and sound this amp has.

I bought this amp for 500 bucks used, and it was the best deal i ever got. I mainly play classic and 90's rock, but a ton of blues mixed in. This amp has a great overdriven blues tone. Mesa's are not typically know for having a good clean channel, but this one is friggin awesome. The celestion v30 sounds great! One of the great features of this amp is the graphic eq. You can set it to be used as a volume boost, or to make it sound completely different. The spring reverb is a good thing to have and this amp has it, with an awesome set up too. It has reverb separate for both channels and it almost sounds like a fender on clean. It has an fx loop and a headphone jack...very handy! And sure, this amp is heavy, but dont be a wuss, its worth carrying to be able to hear it! This amp is 35 watts, and that may not sound like alot, but this baby is loud! I cannot stand to turn it up past 5 without ear plugs. The unique thing about its volume system though, is that it has an output level control and then two master controls for each channel. It also has the usual controls plus a great presence control for each channel. I usually put the output on 4 and the dist. on 3 and the clean on 3 1/2 for band practice and loud gigs. This amp will kick a marshalls ass any day. This amp is all tube power too! 4 EL-84's and 6 12-AX7's. This amp has it all no matter what style of music you play. I honestly have no idea why they stopped making them.

This amp is pure dirt. The distortion is incredible. It has an extremely high gain that is good enough to play metallica on. It sounds like a Mark IV, but has more growl in the distortion. I'm currently playing it through an '02 usa fender stratocaster with 3 single coils. That combo is great for blues and hard rock. However, if you want this amp to sounds its best, play it through a les paul. Holy Crap! This baby truly growls, and the eq only makes it better. I like to use it as a solo/ volume boost channel. The amp hardly buzzes at all, even through my single-coiled strat. This thing has great rhythm and an incredible soloing sound. The clean channel is great for any style of music, even at high volumes. True tube tone! And if you're a solid-state junkee, wake up, cause they suck!

This amp is like a rock, you can practically drop it off the roof and still play it. I've never had a problem with it and probably never will. Some people like to think that mesa amps burn out tubes too quickly..BULL!!!! They're just fine when it comes to the tubes. One of the most reliable tube amps out there.

No problems, never had to deal with the company!

This is the best amp I have ever played through besides a triple rectifier. I will never get rid of it, and will gaurd it with my life. I love everything about it except its weight, but its well worth it. If you want a great sounding amp, its going to be heavy! All tube amps are. The only thing I wish it had was more reverb cause i like a load of it, but there is still plenty. I garuntee this is the best deal you will ever see unless someone gives you a recto for free!

Covered.

Amp's used, older but mint. Doesn't look like it ever left the 'basement'. ;- )

Super versatile amp for the money and portability!

1st channel reminds me of a nice Fender Twin and can get the light-clip tone for great rhythm base or new country clean. Can get a really warm sizzle with a nice crisp edge for that neck clean jazz tone...killer!! Also gains up nicely for a smooth blues tone!

2nd channel is nu-metal/90's-00's rock (typical Mesa + PRS tone). But, gain can be rolled back for a nice crunch rhythm. Also, with the use of the 5-band EQ, the amp can really soar into the fusion gain-meets-clarity/articulation tones.

Nice, usable Accutronics reverb and V30 speaker - great!

Overall, very versatile amp - quite surprised!!

Will say the stock Mesa tubes are typical generic tube tone - buzzy, cold w/o character. Throw in a set of JJ's (eurotube.com has a couple complete DC-3 retube kits available at great prices for a quick solution) and the amp really came to life!

It's a tank! Very solid. No worries at all.

Called Mesa to find out the age of the amp based on the serial #. Received a return call less than an hour later with helpful info and a brief but pleasant chat with the gent (Michael Taylor). Nicely done folks! One of the best mfg interactions I've had in a long, long time and MUCH appreciated!

Playing for 28 years. Fulltime pro musician.

Own Dr. Z, Vox, Fender, Mesa amps; G&L, Fender, Gibson, Danelectro, Seagull, Yamaha, Ibanez, Blade guitars; Keeley, Fulltone, Boss, Ernie Ball, Line6, ProCo, Seymour Duncan, Digitech, Ibanez effects. Like great tone, great mfg'ing, great quality, reliability and versatility. Had a Triaxis/2:90 rack rig once-upon-a-time but wasn't crazy about it. After hearing several folks get great tone out of their MK series and Blue Angel amps I decided to reinvestigate Mesa amps for their non-rectifier models. Glad I did...but it's still nice to have that rectifier channel there when studio or sub-date gigs call for it.

Great amp!

You could almost call this a four channel amp, since - it has a footswitchable clean/OD, plus a graphic EQ for both channels. The Graphic can morph this bad boy into a brand new beast.

It has two sets of knobs for the clean and the overdrive, which is a HUGE improvement over the caliber/studio series (they had paired controls for both channels, so you either had to compensate crystal clear cleans for mildly dirty, or compensate heavier gain to keep it clean on the rhythm channel). However this is NOT a Caliber or a Studio upgrade, it's a totally different amp. It's closer to a Mark than a Recto, but it has plenty of sweet spots.

Master volume, four EL84s, and six (count 'em) 12ax7s tucked firmly wayyyy back in the amp. Is it versatile? Depends on what you're looking for. I think it's quite versatile.

The clean (rhythm) channel has a very clear sound to it. I would rate it pretty close to a Twin or a Bandmaster but a few shades darker. Mesa is known for that dirty, dark tone, and I LOOOOVE it! It definately favors single coils. If you have a Strat or a Tele, this thing will eat it alive. That's not to say that if you have an SG or a Les Paul it will be a stinker. They both sound exceptionally good, but there's more feel, more bite, and more blues with a single coil guitar. I have a 70s Strat and on the neck pickup, it's the most beautiful blues clean you have ever heard. Mmmm!

The overdrive is pretty moody. It's really dark, really dirty, and VERY midrangey. It growls more than it bites or sizzles. This amp WILL NOT achieve Marshall-esque sounds. It will achieve Boogie sounds, because that's what it does best.

This amp will not sound like a Recto either. It simply does not have enough gain or high end bite for that. As stated earlier, it's much closer to an early Mark-series amp than a rectifier or a stiletto.


So what about the graphic EQ? What does this have to offer?


For one, you can use it as

a) an extra channel for a different flavor of overdrive or clean

or

b) a solo boost (or cut, depending on how you set it).


I personally opt for choice "a", because I typically don't need a boost when it's solo time (this amp screams loud enough as it is). It really does add a different flavor to your distorted tone, so it's kinda like having an extra channel built in. Will this graphic EQ scoop your sound so you can do metal? Nope. It might permiss you to get in the ballpark, but unfortunately it doesn't have nearly enough gain for 7-string chug-a-lug.


On the other hand, Weezer tones are very easy to achieve with this amp. With the right guitar (I use a 70s Stratocaster - my '57 doesn't exactly cop it as well), I can NAIL Weezer's blue album tone. Abra Cadabra. Easy peezee. Considering Rivers used a Mark I on the blue album, and this amp closely models it, I would say that makes sense.

Both channels are great. I give an A+ to both of them.





HOWEVER!!!!


Turn this amp past 2, and your ears will bleed. Not only is it loud, but the MIDS DO NOT DIE. And these are not gentle, warm, soothing mids. These are ear-piercing-make-you-squirm-in-agony mids. I felt raped when a tone that I spent a half hour developing just totally disappeared once I decided to crank it a little. I spent literally three hours (in two different segments) trying to get a LISTENABLE (not even desired...but just a listenable tone that didn't icepick your ears to death) clean and distorted sound. I felt cheated.

I thought, tube amps are generally supposed to sound good cranked, right...? So WHY am I getting anally raped of my tone by having it masked in honky mids that make me involuntarily $%^& my pants?! It was that bad. I know this is a love/hate positive/negative thing, but this amp is not the same cranked as it is when it is quiet. It feels like the speaker is not engaged, and the preamp is the sole contributer at low volumes, then when you brush the volume knob, it kicks in and about blows your head off.

So this amp gets a solid 10 when the volume is at 2 or below; it gets about a 4 when the amp is turned up. I'll average it at about a 7.

VERY solid. May I say it again? VERY VERY solid. Drop it out a two story window. I don't care. I'm positive my Boogie will still be up and running (after you replace the tubes of course) after the drop.

At least double the durability of Marshall amps, and pretty much more reliable than any amp built these days. Solid.

This amp is excellent if you're into that dark Boogie sound but don't always need to crank it. Like I said, it sounds like a monster at low volumes, but it sounds like a failed lab expirament on anything past 3.

So if you're looking for a gigging amp, this is probably not the best amp for the situation. It's SUPER LOUD however... 35 watts? You have got to be kidding me. Multiply that by ten! Class A watts are typically much louder than Class A/B anyhow, but wow DC-3...with the volume at 4, I shook $%^& from my walls and had dogs barking outside! No joke!

Whether this is the amp for you or not, is completely your decision. I like this amp for what it is, but I'm afraid if I start gigging out again I'm going to have to keep looking for an amp that will remain true to its settings even at loud volumes. As they say, the quest for tone is a neverending one - but still I search!

Kudos.

Somewhat diverse. I have grown to really like this channel. Its pretty dirty for a clean channel, but i like grit even in my cleans. EQ knobs dont really have a wide range here, you can assign the graphic EQ too but that doesnt really change the sound that much more. Reverb is quite nice. not as deep as a fender but still nice. For the real dirty stuff, the lead channel is pretty good. You can effectively get 3 channels out of this amp by having the clean, dirty/knob eq channel, then dirty/graphic eq channel.

Ive had this amp for about 6 years now so this is a follow up review i think. I use a HB equiped godin telecaster and les paul. Contrary to what a lot of people think, I say that this amp can really show off the differences in guitars, its just some work to get that going on. I can hear the coilspliting switch on my Godin TC very well on this amp, on other amps, that option on my guitar is a waste. This is not a metal amp. It has TONS of gain but things really get mushy above 8 on the gain knob. I leave my max gain at 7. When you do this, the notes and guitars have a pretty damn good character clarity. The channel is very dirty for a 'clean' but its still a very nice, warm clean channel. Reverb is good and deep on this channel. Reverb on the high gain channel really colors the sound a lot. Gain at 7 and reverb at 0 and this amp smokes. The amp is overall very midrangey...that can be a plus or minus for you, use the knob channel at treble 10, mids 0 and Bass 10 and its still very midrangey. Personally I like midrange so is something thats not an issue. The graphic EQ channel can really cut those mids out though. You can get a really scooped sound with gain at 10 but i still think it lacks some clarity...again this aint really good for metal, its got more than enough gain for that, its just that it doesnt sound like scooped recto...I play hard rock mostly (stooges, turbonegro, QOTSA) and its a pretty damn good amp at that.

This amp is a LOUD 30 watts. I had a 100w JCM900 before this and it is just as loud, but not as thumpy as the marshall.

im still on the first set of tubes with it (6 years later!!...though they could definitely be replaced), i used to play in bands way back with it, even the tolex on it is tough. think is built like a tank so they say.

no opinion here...never dealt with them.

Very good amp with little to complain about If you like your gain upto hard rock type Gain. I give it a very critical 8

2 channels (rythym and lead) reverb and 5 band eq, tubes, effects loop etc...

I use a strat , a gibson, depending what sound I want. The amp gets a little noisy at louder volumes. I play mostly rock and blues and some heavy metal. The clean channel is the best on this amp. It does tend to distort at higher volumes but what amp doesnt. The lead channel, well just isnt very satisfying to me. Without the eq it sounds so boxy and too midrangey. Even with the eq its hard to dial in a good lead sound. There is a lot of distortion but not really enough for heavy metal. My Crate g130cxl 2x12 combo has a beter lead channel.
It has more base, more treble and more saturation. Its sad to say a solid state amp sound s better, but it does. The dc-3 is too midrangey. Cant get any good squealing highs like a Marshall and it has no low end. It is plenty loud enough and cuts thru well in a band situation, but the tone just is'nt there for me even with the eq set in the "v" pattern and the mid at 0 and treble at 10. Oh yes every guitar sound about the same thru this amp.

its reliable

n/a

I bought this amp from guitar center used for $500 and tried it for
3 & 1/2 weeks and could'nt talk myself into keeping it. I took it back. My old Crate 130 watt solid state amp sounds better and not just to me, to several people who heard it. Compared them side by side. I dont know why so many people rave about mesa's. I played a Mark 3 and it sounded great but so damn heavy. Mesa are very loud amps though. The mark series are the best mesa's. To me the dc's and the .50 cal's just dont have the tone.

I've owned this amp about a month now, so I believe I can give it an objective review after using it on MANY gigs.

It has a TON of features. 2 channels with parallel controls for each channel, reverb for each channel, assignable graphic EQ and VOLUME!!!! Lots of volume!! Plus- the tone controls really work. I mean-what else could you ask for?

The only problem is(was)- the chassis gets REALLY hot. Class A amps get really hot. i mean REALLY hot. I fixed that problem with a $5 desk fan from Wal-Mart. I set it behind the amp and blow on the chassis. Now it stays nice and cool. No problems now.

This amp sounds great.

When I first got it, after I would play it a few hours it would start making some weird, LOUD static noises (like the tubes were shorting out). It did this at the gig- and that aint cool. Then I realized it was getting really hot- so I bought the fan to blow behind it and that cured the problem. No more static noises. In fact, no noises at all. This amp is really quiet- especially for all the tubes it has in it.

One of my favorite set-ups is to run a Dan-Electro Daddy-O and a Dan-Echo in front of the clean channel, but the O/D channel is great too. I'm just too lazy to run the extra cords to the FX loop from the Dan-Echo~

It's by far the most versatile amp I've ever owned (I have two other Boogies and a couple Fenders and Marshalls). I can get a cool scooped-out Marshall sound on the clean channel and a great clean sound or a great, versatile Boogie O/D sound. LOTS OF TONES!

Four sounds I've learned to get right off the bat are:
1) Clean, fat, fender-ish tone (low gain on the clean channel).

2) Fat, overdriven, clean/crunch sound (high-gain on the clean channel, and adjust the tone controls). What a great tone this is. No other amp I've ever owned has nailed this tone so well.

3) Wide-open Marshall sound (with the scooped mids via the graphic EQ, and punch up the treble and bass) I actually like this sound BETTER than my Marshall stack!

4) Fat, overdriven Boogie lead sound (and I dont mean that weird, boxy O/D like a MK-4, but more like my MK-1)

I give them a 10.

I thought I was going to have problems after I first bought the amp. Class A amps get HOT! Thats the only negative. Like I said- I fixed the crackling noises with the small fan blowing behind the amp. No problems at all.

Good quality switches and pots and vinyl covering. Plus- Boogie was thoughtful enough to include a little bag made in the back of the amp to carry extra tubes/fuses. Thanks, Boogie. If I had to gripe about something it would be the cheap-ass PLASTIC power cord they put on it. Why did they do that? My MK-1 has a nice RUBBER power cord. That's the only hint of cheapness on this very nice, solid-built amp.

I love it.
I give them a 10.

Their C/S is the best. You can't get anyone on the line from Marshall or Fender. Forget about it. Mesa/Boogie has always been helpful any time I have called them. I give them a 10.

This amp is definitely a 10.


I feel that you can get a variety of great different tones (if you tweak the controls-it's in there!) the tone controls really work too!

The build-quality is great. Workmanship is great. Quality of materials is very good, and the tones are really great.

It could definitely be the one amp that you would choose if you could only have one amp. Like I said before I have two other Boogies(a MK1-reissie and an '85 S.O.B.) and I can cover those tones with the DC-3.

Read below. Thanks

My guitars are a Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top and a Parker Fly Deluxe.
I got rid of my Boss GT5 and only play with a few pedals now: Boss DD3 in the loop; Ibanez Tube Screamer straight in the amp.
(And sometimes Fulltone Choral Flange and Fulltonne 69 Fuzz)

I mainly love Blues, Jazz & Rock. Sometimes bossa.
I can get all the sounds I want.

This amp is very versatile. Difficult to get a crunch sound but adding a Tube Screamer to the rythm channel gives you a 3 channel combo. It's that easy.

Do not underestimate the power of the eq. (I sound like a Jedi master)
It's just fantastic. And please: not that "V" shape that's won't allow you to cut through a mix!

I've had lots of amps. This one is so far the best.
Better than the dc5, which is too brutal.
Better than any digital crap as Fender Cyber twin, Line 6 whatever, or Hughes & Kettner Zen Terra...I've had some and tried most.

The original tubes are still on. I need to replace those. Mesa tubes suck. It should be even better after the replacement.

I trust my amp.
I have a Pod xt as a back up , "just in case", but I'm pretty sure I'll never have to use it.

I've had it for 6 month now. Bought it used on Ebay.

I'm not trying to sell you one. I don't work for Mesa/Boogie but here's my advice: if you can lay hands on one: buy it. I bet you'll love it. If you don't you won't have any problem selling it!
It has everything I want and nothing I don't.

I bought this after my beloved Carvin X-100 combo exploded onstage in a shower of flame and smoke after 10 years of amazing sound and rugged service. Sure that looked like a cool onstage but I wanted to cry!!!

So it's off to the store I go to find a replacement (on my limited limited limited budget). I took this amp out on rental to get through some gigs until I found something to buy - and fell in love so I just kept it and bought it outright.

It's features have been listed to death elsewhere so I wont bother listing them - suffice to say they are numerous for such a small all tube amp. This amp is used just about weekly onstage in large size clubs (and occasionally even in stadiums)in an 80's hard rock/metal band.

I uses it with my trusty '83 Strat with Fury ZP-20 humbucker in the bridge, Seymour Duncan HB in the neck and stock single coil in the middle. My current setup is simply the guitar into Korg Tuner pedal into the amp. Live, I front mic the amp with a Shure SM57 into the P.A.

For a little 30 watter, this thing howls - what a great sound for hard rock. The tone is hot and thick and cuts right through the mix. My only gripe is I might wish for just a bit more presence - however I'm planning on picking up a 2x12 cabinet to give it what i'm looking for. Overall a solid 9.

After a year with it, the only trouble I've had was when Channel 2 crapped out for the last song of the night at a gig. However on inspection insed afterwards, it was found that the tubes sort of wiggled themselves loose (must have been a particularily thumping set). So the tubes were reseated and the amp was back in business. This thing has stood up to tons of use at stage volumes and still screams.

Have had no need to deal with Boogie (besides I bought it used)

I've been playing for 28 years, 17 of them in professional touring bands and have owned a JCM800 fullstack, Marshall MOSFET (yech) fullstack, and my aforementioned beloved Carvin x-series combo. I miss the sound of my JCM800 stack - but I dont miss lugging it around. That's why I downsized to combos - and as combos go - for the price this one kicks ass. If it were lost or stolen I would probably try to track down another one. Of course if I won the lottery- I'd pick up a Road King Stack or TSL100 stack instead lol. But until then - this is my amp and I love it!

2 channels read the others.

ok. 1st off I got this about 5 years ago used and as usual it sounded great in the store and a little disappointing at home and out.Well a few weeks ago I put 2 amperex bugle boys and 2 rca el 84s. Talk about a change. the tubes mesa uses are el stinko. I also put in some ei 12ax 7s big difference. more glassine and growwllly. more vox marshal. Nothing about anything on this is fender I have a fender.The sound is great but anyone tells you it sounds some what like fender is nuts.

its mesa. tubes come and go.

well see no provlems yet.

I would prefer a victoria victorilux or a matchless spitfire, bad cat cubII. Its good. Just not one of these. All these people who say that good sound comes from their hands are nuts. A great amp sounds great, a good player can make any amp sound good.

clean/high gain channels
fx loop
a reverb tank , none of that digital reverb shit
5-band eq
4 el84 tubes , 6 12ax7 tubes

sound

that's what it's all about

if you serously care about your sound this is the way to go.
but dont get the wrong idea and spend half a grand if your just going
to plug it up to a epiphone and hit power chords all night, your better off spending 30-40 bucks getting one off these heavy metal pedals,if you enjoy that buzzy high gain type noise
(which i do occasionally)

i run it real hot and lower the volume a good deal with my hotplate (if you dont have a annuator get one)
never blown a fuse (totaly fried some tubes though) still works like the day i got it

never delt with
dont think i will ever have to

i really wanted to give this amp a 10
but i belive nothing can be perfect and that if jesus played guitar
it would be a les paul, strats suck

All the bells and wistles.

I love the way this amp sounds, and if it starts to sound weird to me as my taste changes. I just tweak some nobs or the eq and I can always get to where I want it. I use a '60 Gibson es-330 with two p-90's. Cant beat the p-90 sound through this amp. Although sometimes I have to hide from the amp because the full hollow body guitar starts to sound like a rocket taking off. FEEDBACK I put some NOS russian military 6p14p (el-84) in it and it seemed to help sustain a little better. They made it sound a little spankier too. When gigging I add another mesa 12. Perfecto

Bought it used and haven't had any problems yet

Downloaded the manual when I first purchased it and that helped me considerably to understand the way the controls act to your tone. It also has a handy tube diagnosis section.

I love this amp. If I lost it I would probably try to find another one. I wish mesa still made them. I might try a dc-5 too.

I think it is a 98-99 model. It has 2 channels, Rhythm (Clean) and Lead (OD). It has a 5 channel EQ. Its a combo and i dont use any extra cabs.

Im using it with a Epiphone LP-100, with crappy stock pu's, but i have tried it with a Ibanez RG-550 briefly too. I play mainly Rock, and some metal, but i like an amp to be able to do "everything" becuase my musical tastes are changing all the time.

First of all, id like to say that this amp is loud and it only sounds better as it gets louder. I have played it at almost full volume and it sounds amazing but it also felt like my house was gonna fall down. At low volumes (bedroom volumes) it is poor. The distortion is weak, and has no real drive, and the clean channel doesnt seem to cut through in the way i would like it too....

I have played many solidstates before but this is my first all tube amp. The difference shows. This is the most versatile amp i have ever come across. I can get those beautiful thumping distortion sounds with a V type EQ and then an even better sweet solo tone (almost Steve Vai like) wih a lower bass, a bit more mid and high treble. If i mess with the presence and the EQ a bit i can get a Marshall tone (except its even better than the Fender tone). (All at high gain)... At lower gains it didnt impress me too much. Theres no middle ground really. It CAN sound like a Marshall, but its a Marshall at high gain. And its no differnt for any other sound you want.

On the Rhythm channel, if i set very high treble and very low everything else and gain at around 2 i can get that really nice twangy sound. A tad more bass and i get Red Hot Chili Peppers. If i turn the gain up and tweak the EQ again i can get the Jonny B Goode Crunch (that is a very difficult sound to emulate on most amps). A bit more gain and more Bass and again it turns in to an old style Brit-rock amp. This is the low gain sound missing from the OD section. Can make things a little difficult though.

The EQ is the most important thing about this amp and it wouldnt be even half the amp it is without it. It makes setting up the amp to get a really nice sound easy and quick.

Overall this amp is defintely the best i have ever played but i cant compare to other Mesas or any other tube amps because i've never played any. I think it sounds brilliant. Small but brutal.

Looks and feels rock solid to me. Im worried about all those tubes though. If i accidentally switched it on unloaded it would cost me a fortune to replace the blown tubes. Havent gigged it, but carried it around a lot. Its been banged about a bit and its stil going.

No idea....
No warranty for me either coz its second hand...

Nothing better that i've come across. At #650 it must be the best bargain on earth. It sounds better than any Marshall TSL/DSL (although it is completely different sound).

This amp has everything I need. I like simplicity, but I am very into tone. This amp has 2 channels, with completely independent controls, reverb on each, a footswitchable graphic eq, fx loop, jacks for external cabinets, and a vitage celestion speaker. Dual footswitch for channels and eq. Very nice

This category is all that really matters. The clean channel sounds way better than my fender hot rod deluxe, and my stage 100. The contols, along with the eq give you a very versatile pallete of tones. The lead channel is great. Really over the top stuff is what it does best. This has probably the most gain you will find in a 1 12" combo. It is very clear on both channels, and also very tweakable. The graphic eq helps alot, and can really give you a totally differnt sound on each channel. Alost as if it is a 4 channel amp. As someone stated earlier, there is no middle ground. It goes from clean to hi-gain. A little difficult to get a nice mild overdrive. I just throw my Keeley Blues Driver in there, and problem solved. There is not much noise at all. The master volume lets you rock even at bedroom levels. I run this into an old mesa 1 12" closed back cabinet with an electrovoice speaker. This relly gives it that extra thump. I use a Fender fat strat, and a PRS ce22. I have owned many amps from fender, marshall, and from mesa, I have owned the tremoverb combo, and the nomad 100 head, which supposedly replaced the DC line. I like the dc3 better than any amp I have tried.

Mesa stuff is well made. I hope I wont have problems. I didnt with any of their other stuff I owned.

They are very helpful on the phone, especially Tien.

I,ve been playing over 10 years, and have spent thousands on gear. I usually love stuff, then get sick of it, like alot of guitar players. I am keeping this one. For a quality 1 12", it is loud enough, ballsy enough, and light enough for anything. My chain goes like this. guitar-boss tu-2 tuner-Fulltone clyde wah-keeley blues driver. I run a line 6 dealy modeler in the loop. I found this one on ebay for $600. It took awhile to find one, but I am glad I waited. This one is in GREAT condition. I highly recomend this amp to anyone who needs a 2 channel amp with very versatile sounds, in a simple combo form.

You know the drill, 2 channel, 5 band EQ, effects loop, master volume, separte 3 band EQ for each channel and so forth... The same as all them reviewed here.

All it doesn't have is effects, but I don't believe you can buy an amp that has great effects built in.

For what it is (i.e. not a Fender, not a marshall) it sounds amazing. Only a Fender REALLY sounds like a Fender and only a Marshall REALLY sounds like a Marshall, but this thing covers a ton of ground and even comes close to both of these landmarks in amplification.

Using PRS's, Strat's, LesPaul's, Tele's and everything in-between it sounds great. No amazing. It doesn't sound like a Fender amp or a Marshall, it sounds like a very versitile Boogie.

I've been through 5150's, Marshall's, Soldano's, Fender's, other Boogies and a dozen Line6's (there's a reliablity issue!) and I think I've found MY amp after $1000s spent on others.

As with all Boogies there's a lot of tweaking involved to get YOUR sound, but right from the get go it sounds great and can sound amazing if you take the time to tweak. Like all Boogies there's a lot of people out there with "OK" tones cause they don't take the time to tweak.

Clean sounds on channel 1 can go from Sultans of Swing to SRV to Keef and Jimi. Here the reverb really adds a lot, it's not a Fender reverb, but one of the best I've heard on such a small 1x12.

Channel 2 goes from classic rock to the most modern metal and grunge tones. Here I find the reverb sucking tone, but some people can't do without reverb.

The 5 band EQ can be used on either channel and is a great boost, tone tweaker or as a 3rd and 4th channel.

Personally I find myself unpluggging my effects 90% of the time and just using channel 2 and the volume pot on my guitar. The amp just sounds so good on it's own I find effects and reverb only robbing tone, it sounds that great. Clean, dirt, heavy and metal it does it all.

It is one loud mutha! For most applications, including playing infront of 100's I can't turn the amp up past 2 1/2. Any more than that and the soundman wants to kill me.

Is it noisy? Not as noisy as some of the tube amps I've owned and when you see how close those tubes are to the transformer and speaker it's quite amazing.

It's a Boogie! But of course it's a tube amp so keep some spares handy, especially with such volume coming out of a 1x12. Your tubes do a lot of dancing behind that speaker. Let's put it this way, for a tube amp it's a lot more reliable than any Marshall I've owned, even some Valve-states.

A couple years and a couple hundred gigs, most with me and some when I've loaned it out and all that it's needed is new tubes. The thing still looks fairly new, just 1 or 2 dings from falls in parking lots. It's heavy, but that's only because the cabinet is built so good.

When I bougth it used there was no pedal, Boogie rushed one off to me and I recieved it in a few days, can't beat that!

Like I said I think I finally found MY amp.

Everyone I've played with has instantly gone on a search for their own and a few people have found them and are as happy as me. Some of them play in jazz bands, in rock cover bands and metal bands and all have been happy with their own or when they borrow mine.

If I had the cash on hand I'd buy a couple more and hide them away, I think this amp is a hidden gem that is going to become much sought after.

Does a second 1x2 cab add demension, yes, but for a portable 1x12 that covers so many bases it's an amazing value.

Dual Channels are totally independent, and footswitch goes back & forth between them perfectly. add the footswitch for the Graphic Equalizer, and you have a 4-channel amp!

Using humbucker with split coils (yamaha sg700s) sounds beautiful.
Effects loop makes my modulation/delay effects really come alive in the mix.
Love the Lead Channel - the crunch can easily be controlled by the volume knob on your guitar. many people like channel 1 for rhythm - really, what I do is keep it on channel 2 (lead) most of the time, and adjust the tone with guitar knobs...incredibly responsive!
one other thing - as others have stated, this thing is LOUD!!!

no problems with the amp - had it for 3 years with multiple gigs/practices

mesa's customer services is legendary:
when i re-tubed it, mesa shipped the tubes to the wrong address - they figured it out first, called me to let me know, and got the tubes to me quickly.

They don't make these anymore - the new mesa combos in this size just don't have the same vibe. these are great values-grab a used one for under $750 (I paid more).

I think that some of the reviewers here are getting little bit excited and giving this amp a ten for sound. I owned a DC3 for 4 years and gigged it constantly. I have subsequently sold it for a Cornford MK50 stack and an Orange AD15 combo.

The DC3 is a superb amp but ultimately it began to sound very one dimensional to me. To get the best fron this amp you absolutely MUST get a 1x12 Boogie extension cab with an EV driver in it ... your sound will improve 100%. The point is though it didn't seem to matter what guitar I put through it, PRS, Strat etc etc, it always just sounded like a Boogie. If that's what you want, great. But please try some other stuff before you buy.

That said, I loved mine while I owned it (still got the extension cab!) but it isn't the Holy Grail ... it's just a very good, if a little inflexible, working amp.

Addition to earlier review

These folks were incredibly helpful!.. Called and indicated what was wrong with my amp generally and in less than a week, they shipped me the parts. The price was actually low for the parts (EQ inductors were missing... I bought it used and the previous owner had done something to the amp).

It is not working and back to normal thanks to the folks at Mesa. Up in Canada, we are used to lously help from local music stores so it was a real treat to get superb assistance!

A late 90's model DC-3 with a celestion vintage 30. Simple yet all inclusive is the best description. Each channel has 4 rotary EQ's, plus reverb and a 5 band graphic. The foot switch is a really useful addition as you can switch in and out the graphic EQ as well as channels. From the two channels I can get this amp to range in sound from a crystal sounding Fender Twin to a howling Peavey 5150. I can't imagine any amp giving a greater range, with power to spare...

Tube amps can't be beaten for tone or volume per watt. I use a '95 Strat Plus with a Seymore Duncan hot rail in the bridge and an Epiphone Les Paul Custom. I play blues, rock and some modern POP (only the good stuff). To cover the full range of tones I use an Ibanez TS9 and a Boss CH-1 chorus. Without doubt this amp can deliver any sound you want at volumes you can't believe possible from a 35 watt combo.

Only had the amp a few months but who ever owned it before me cared for it like a vintage car. It is in absolute mint condition. I intend to take the same good care of it. I don't expect any troubles. Mesa have a great reputation and you don't get that from making duff gear.

When you need them they're there...don't have any worries on that score.

This amp came before the Nomad 45 which has been a problem amp for Mesa (too many gadgets on it). The new F30 is the replacement but it's too early to tell if it's as good as the DC-3.
I've been playing for 20 years and never hear a better sounding amp. Some as good...but none better. I always wanted to own one and now I wish I'd spent the money 19 years ago!
If you're prepared to buy a good guitar (Fender, Gibson, PRS etc.) do yourself a favor and get an amp that will do it justice.
I've owned Fenders, Marshalls and Peaveys...they're all GOOD but the Mesa is GREAT!!!

I bought this amp used so I haven't found out the manufacture date yet. I have played everything from the Allman Bros Band, through Van Halen on this amp. Extremely versatile. This is a dual channel amp, footswitchable from rythm to lead channel. Has effects loop and you can control the mix of effects from the amp, slave, extra speaker inputs 4 ohms and 8 ohms. This is an all tube amp, 4 el84's for power and 6 12ax7's in the preamp. 35 watts, loud enough for what I need, the Mesa Dyna-Watt thing freakin cranks. Has a five channel eq, dual controls for treble, mid, bass, presence, reverb, gain and one master.

I have a 78 Custom Les Paul, a 90 Ibanez RG 760, two Raven RP350's one with Dragon II pickups and one with Ibanez V7 and V8 pickups. All wail through this amp. My style is Classic Rock, Bluesy rock, Hair band rock, shred meister rock. This amp hanndles all of these very well.
Amp can be very noisy, but it's tubes, thats what give you the screaming power. Sounds range from a diesel train to the smattering of rain against a window. Anything you want you other words. As far as the clean channel, I don't play clean that often, I have no use for Fender amps. This has all the clean I infrequently need. The distortion is perfect. I have heard other people here claim that the distortion is so brutal it's unuseable. To them I say practice your technique, and learn proper muting. I freaking love the distortion on this amp. I use the clean channel for a totally different crunch and overdrive than the lead channell, but it's still distortion nonetheless. Of course you can get pristine clean if thats your bag.

Bring extra fuse and tubes if you don't have a backup, it's a tube amp. Tube blew up once. Other than that the tubes have been fine. I change 'em often though. The chassis rattles a little bit. Crank it up and you can't hear it anymore, but I'm going to have find out why some day.

I have been playing for 30 years. I also own a Gallien-Krueger 250 ML 100 watt solid state combo. If it were stolen I might look for a 2X12 mesa amp. Or I might buy this one again If I could find one. I am going to have to buy a 1X12 speaker cab for this. There are a few amp companies out there that make fine amps, my brother swears by Fender, I sold mine to avoid have to plug in all those effects. This amp I might use a wah pedal and that's it.

The features are already coverd by everybody.
I play experimental rock on a band...writing new stuff everytime.
It has quite everything i need...it's a very cool amp...35 very impressive watts of pure tube sounds.
I only wish it had a footswich for his nice reverb...and this is one of the reasons i dont use reverb much....except in studio situations...i guess it's built this way maybe because u have one reverb dial for each channel right?...cool?

This amp is perfect for me...it's a very sensitive amp but once you get your settings ....u can trust him ...i feel it fits every playing style from jazz to metal...very versatile and very musical.
My band includes two guitar player..me..and another guy who ones a JCM900 stack...we've been playing live and this amp cuts just as good...cause it's impressively loud for is size...
i'm using a PRS style guitar made in France...and one old but very gooood souding strat copy from ibanez..

I only have this amp now...bought it 6 years ago..and only needed to change tubes...

Just needed some info about tubes and they answerd me very very fast...i believe that if i need them to help out on a major problem...they would help me out.

I have 15 years of guitar playing and this amp helped me out a lot...it can be sweet as a baby and rugh as a beast...
it's very portable and that's realy important for jams or gigs...when u need to carry him yourself...but its still a heavy son of a b###.
I only wish it had 2 speakers for thickness( like those 30watts vox combos) ...and maybe 50 watts just for confort .
In the future i will buy a box with those 2x12" speakers on... and use this amp as a head....maybe! :)

The amp was made on 1997 and came with a footswitch and a slipcover. It could do with another footswitch for the EQ and the reverb to be honest. It has two channels but given that the EQ can be independently assigned to both channels or to neither it is effectively a four channel amp. There is an FX loop which seems very sensitive; there's no headphone jack but this is no bedroom toy. There is a mute switch. It's powered by 4X EL84's and five 12 AX's. The Boogie tubes are crap; I've replaced them with NOS MUllards and they sound great. The reverb is only average and I prefer to use an old copycat anyway; that or a decent digital delay. (Boss DD5)

I use an American Standard Tele and a Strat; single coils sound fine but a HB really does growl some! I play Classic Rock and this amp has what it takes. It is incredibly loud for 35 watts! The Boogie Dyno-Power thing really puts it out. However as with ALL Boogies you have to hunt for the best sounds and they exist where you would least expect them to be. Trust your ears and look for subtle settings; unlike Marshalls for example you will not be able to max everything and get a great sound. It will stink! There is loads of sustain in the lead channel but it can be a little "in your face" at higher settings. The rhythmn channel breaks up early to give a good Stonsie keef Richards crunch but there is a clean sound in there. The bespoke Black Shadow speaker is very, very, dark. I replaced it with a Celetion Vintage 30 which is brighter and single notes carry much better through the mix. It really does make a hell of a difference so I would recommend this. Do some DC3's come with V 30's fitted!
The distortion is very, very brutal so be sublte with your settings and ther are some great sounds in there. I use mine with a Boogie 1X12" extension cab with a 200 watt EV. This seems to move plenty of air and the amp sounds like a killer stack!

never ever let me down.

never dealt with them.

An excellent amp for the rocker in us all!

Bought it used... See features in other posts.

Use a strat and a LP and play mostly rock. Clean can get quite crunchy with the mids set high and sounds very good. The clean clean sound is better than the Marshall TSL I had. Distortion is what I love as it is very liquid and sustained! I had a TSL122 and hated the distortion. No sustain, very buzzy (hey, it was 100 watts and I could not use 1/10th of the power). I hate the marshall TSL sound.

I had Peavy's, Marshalls, Fenders, Line 6, Rivera and lost a bundle trading them in for other amps. I had a Boogie Nomad and traded it in for the TSL and regretted it within a few days. For me, the DC3 is the perfect blend of power and tone. Does it sound like anybody? Yes, ME! I chuckle when folks say they sound like (pick a person). I can pick up a guitar and amp and sound like me! Anyway, if you like smooth distortion with tons of sustain, this is a great amp. It sounds like a Boogie, very different from a Marshall and Fender.

Too new to tell

I've dealt with Mesa in the past and have no concerns.

It's perfect for my style. I traded my TSL straight across and probably lost a few hundred in the deal. The Marshall was not usable and I did not like the sound as it was too one dimentional. Had GAS and that's been cured by my wife.....

Two Footswitchable channels, Footswitchable EQ, all tube 4 EL84's and 6 12AX7's ...Independent gain, treb, mid, bass, volume, reverb and presence controls for each channel.

I use a Fender custom 72' tele with a joe barden bridge pickup and a stock fender humbucker in the neck. I play in an original band that also plays some covers like sting and SRV. This amp has an wonderful clean channel it is sparkling and full with a great reverb. I love this channel. The distortion channel is a bit hard to dial in, it's pretty harsh and at first seems a bit boxy sounding, but with some tweaking in will go away...and you can get some nice blues sounds but you have to crank the gain way down. Over all a great channel.

This is a mesa boogie. Don't question it.

Again this is Mesa Boogie

I think this amp will spend the rest of it's life with me, at least I hope so. If it was stolen or lost I would cry, then quickly go and find another one. I have been playing for about 13 years and this is one of the best sounding amps I have ever played, and all the ones I would compare it to are boogies too.

Two channel tube amp, features as mentioned below. Seperate eq for each channel, which is important to me. Has effects loop and recording out. Footswitch for channel switching and switchable graphic eq. 35 boogie watts, which is loud. I play classic rock, and it is loud enought to gig with.

I use this with tele, G&L Legacy,both with single coils, and Musicman Axis Sport with humbuckers. When I got this amp, it sounded pissed off. Loud and harsh. I changed all the tubes from boogie to JJ, and it mellowed to usable. I channged the phase inverter tube to a GE 5751 and managed to score some used Amperex EL84's. Wow, the clean sounds like an old fender, approaching blackface clean. But with the clean gain up and driving the amp, you get a stonesy grind, like Brown Sugar. The distotion channel is like a cross between dual rec without the scooped fizz sound, and a Soldano. It rocks. I have the switchable eq set for mid/lead boost, so I can get four distinct sounds and volume levels. Much versatility for a two channel amp.You do have to tweak a bit to get the sweet spots, and they aren't where you might think you would find them. The mid and bass on this monster are incredible. If it sounds a bit boxy, then fool with it a bit, and turn the volume up. This is not a bedroom amp.

I believe in Mesa quality, but I always bring a backup on gigs.

I haven't had to contact mesa, got this baby used, so no warrantee.

I have been playing since the early 60's. Love the sound, versatility, power and it is on the light side for a boogie. They are just built so heavy duty, made to play and play. If there was anything I could wish it had, I wish it had a motor, some wheels and a saddle, so I could ride it around. Buy it again? they don't make em anymore, but maybe they should reissue it, like they have on some other models. I also have a Nomad 55 combo, a Marshall 2x12 silver anniversary cab and a peavey supreme head. Some bass stuff too.

I think everybody before me covered the features pretty well .It's the common Boogie formula for a combo amp. 2 channels with seperate eq for clean and dirty and one master eq . With all the little extras,effect loop,direct out ,footswitch etc .

I use different array of humbucker guitars and single coil stuff.PRS,G&L,FENDER ETC.
I've owned many Boogies and they seem to require a lot of tweaking to find your sweet spot .This one is no different. I bought this as a backup/practice amp (used) at a price I couldn't refuse. At first I thought is was a little boxey sounding but after I brought it home and really started tweaking it I found some really useful tones in it.
I recently picked up a Boogie 1x12 thiele cabinet to go with it and it really opens the amp up and gives it some bottom .I may actually start to gig with it .I took it took band practice and it really cuts through everything .
As everyone has said the amp is loud and capable of some very high gain heavy metal tones .I use it mostly for the clean channel but I do enjoy the lead channel as well .You can get some really great Santana type tones .I used a DC-5 for many years and this amp
is very similair just with less power and features .
I only run floor effects with it righ now. A chorus and delay pedal.
I'm currently looking for a nice distortion pedal for an "in between" sound .Any idea's ?

Like I said I've had owned a few Boogies over the years and they are built like tanks and don't break down .Tube problems is the only thing I've ever encountered but that's common with any tube amp .
I never gig with a backup .Too much to lug around .Take care of your gear and do the preventive maintenance stuff and you won't have problems .

I haven't dealt with Boogie recently but I have had to call them in the past and they were really helpful.I don't know what they're like these days.My local dealer is dropping them because they haven't been happy with the dealer support .Boogie has a lot of rules dealers are to follow and because they're amps are basically hand made it's hard for music stores to get product .But that's another story .

I hate this amp because it's making me want to look into the more expensive boogie stuff again .I just sold off my big Boogie rig a few years back .I had a rectoverb half stack and DC-5 .Both great amps as well .
I've been playing guitar for over twenty years and have gone through tons of gear .Mesa stuff has always been very good and reliable .I jumped on the modeling amp bandwagon a few years back and do enjoy those amps as well but this Boogie is renewing my love for straight ahead "real" tube tone you can only get from the real thing .

No idea when it was made. Handcrafted in USA. Iplay metal and it fits my sytle very well. good clean as well as overdrive supprisingly. it has 2 channels.reverb, footswitch, 6 12AX7 preamp and 4 EL-84 power tubes. 35 watts but very powerful. enough for small venue. slave, speak out and select between 4, 6 and 8 ohms speaker input. effects loop with wet or dry knob. Celestion Vintage 30 speaker.

i used an esp 7 string and washburn 6 with stock humbuckers in the washburn and duncan in the esp. sounds great with the esp.makes great clean and dist. the dst especially. clean stays pretty clear even at higher volumes.

very dependable but as with all tube amps always carry extra tubes. never broken down. Doesn't need biasing so tube changes are easy.

e-mailed them and got a reply the same day with a number to call for help so i'd say they're very friendly.

Overall great buy and would recommend it to anyone who could get their paws on one. but they stopped making it so its hard to find now.

Two channel,independant bass,treble,presence,mid and reverb on each channel with a shared 5 band eq. Piles of features for one of Boogies intro level amplifiers. Also has Boogie typical slave out and their less common speaker mute,which is a great feature for me,as this amp is basically my practice amp.This amp uses 4 el-84 power tubes to produce 35 watts. Like most Boogies,there is so much design put into a small package, I find the six(yikes!more to go wrong)preamp tubes quite unaccessible because of their fold down tray,jammed together as close as you can get together without generating hum kind of layout. All in all, a fantastic amount of features for the price..By Boogie standards.

I use mainly Godin guitars,but in all cases h/h pickup configurations,so I cannot comment on single or split coil sounds. Most Boogies are not terribly noisy,or particularily silent either. Some hisses etc., are quite common for high gain amps and Boogie is no exception. The sound of the el-84's are a refreshing change to that of Boogies typical 6l6,el-34 affairs, so expect a more nasally upper mid tone from this amp. Do not expect the scooped mids of a rectifier,even if running through a 4/12 cab. Variety of tone is fantastic for a high gain amp, no fender jangle here,but a unique clean to itself. The lead channel has characteristics of both the rectifer and the mark series,but still retains a unique voicing,probably in most part due to the el-84 configuration. Imagine a Marshall 800 with high gain mod on it,combined with the compression of a typical Boogie.I will not rate the "brutality" of the distortion as the bullet in the review lists. It tends to be the player that makes the "brutality",not the gain.(And i've heard some pretty brutal players playing Boogies of late.he he.)

Ive only ever experienced tube failures,blown fuses and the odd filter cap go on any of my Boogies.Generally normal for tube amps.The chassis builds for these amps are among the best.My best friend is an amp builder and he always marvels at Randall's layouts. Great reliability,but for the price they should be as reliable as an anvil.

Perhaps one of the highlights of your Mesa purchase (new OR used),is the availability of their staff to help you with your purchase.They are top notch,bar none. They bend over backwards for their customers,and with the amount of amplifiers they have/will sell,that is no easy task.

I collect Mesa amps,and this is one of my hidden jems. Not quite loud enough for an unpredictable tour schedule,but a really great sounding amp in a little(and lighter than most Boogies!)package. These little DC-3 combos are getting harder to find for sale,and I have been watching the used prices climb higher and higher in the last year. Definately a steal for anywhere between 600-900 US. It will not replace my mark iv,but has about equal playing time with my dual rec.

If you want a small amp with two great sounds, this heavy little combo fits the bill perfectly. There are two channels, a low-gain and a high-gain. Both have seperate gain controls, treb, mid, bass, reverb, presence, and master volumes. There is also a Output volume - basically a master for both channels. This is a surprisingly great thing; you can set the volumes of the two channels relative to each other with the masters and use the output to turn the whole amp up or down depending on your performance situation. There's also a five-band graphic EQ that can be switched on or off. The front-panel controls are extremely intuitive and useful. Tweaking the knobs produces a wide range of useful sounds, especially if you're playing rock or metal. I rarely use the graphic EQ, but it is a very powerful tone shaping tool. For example: if you want a scooped mid sound for rhythm playing and a mid boost for soloing the switchable EQ is perfect.

On the back there's a parallel effects loop, a few outputs for external speakers, a surprisingly good recording output, and a switch to cut the power to the speakers. The amp comes with a high-quality Celestion 12 inch speaker housed in a very heavy birch plywood cabinet. All the tubes (4 power tubes and 6 preamp tubes) are easily accessible from the back, but due to the high number of tubes back there this amp can get very hot! I really like the little details Mesa has put in: the bag for the footswitch and the brackets for rolling up the AC cable.

And one more thing: like most Boogies this is a freakin' LOUD amp! You will be hard pressed to find a 35 watt amp with this much sheer volume.

If you play classic rock, alternative, punk, grunge, hard rock, or metal, you will get down on your knees and thank God for this amp! The high gain channel is thick, fat, and huge. The tone controls can get you a sludgy grunge sound, a scary scooped-mid thrash, and everything in between. The gain control on this channel covers a huge range of distortion sounds, the best being between 4 and 8. Even better, the sound is excellent at low volumes (set the channel master to 4 or 5 and keep the output down between 1 and 2).

Boogies are famous for their overdrive sounds, but what sold me on this amp is how great the clean channel is. Unlike the dry, sterile clean you get with most high-gain amps (Marshall comes to mind here), this clean sound is actually quite warm and "Fendery". The gain control is less effective here, but you can still drive this channel into a modest crunch if you want to. I set the gain to 6.5 for a best of both worlds kind of thing: warm clean with a single-coil and a bit of a bluesy crunch with the bridge humbucker all the way up. As with the other channel, the tone controls are very expressive.

Bottom line: this is the perfect sounding amp for any genre of rock.

I put this amp through a lot of abuse: cold garages, smokey clubs, falls, spills, and countless hours of playing. Not once have I experienced a problem. Mesa has put a lot of work into making sure this is a solid, dependable piece of gear. Everything looks and feels 100 percent solid, and I have total confidence in this amp.

I have never dealt with Mesa/Boogie other than through their website. They make all their user manuals available online, which is great because I bought this amp used. I wish every company would do that. There are several authorized service centres in my area.

I've been playing for almost ten years now. This is my 5th amp, and unless it's stolen or I start playing really big venues I won't be buying another. If I do buy another amp, it will certainly be another Boogie. Back when I bought it, I played it against comparable amps from a bunch of manufacturers (Marshall, Fender, Laney, Line 6, and others). The DC-3 won hands down. If you can afford the extra expense of a Boogie then I definitely recommend it. It's the perfect little rock amp. If you want three or more channels and dozens of built-in effects, get a Line 6. If you want two excellent sounds out of a sturdy, well-built amplifier, then this is your machine.

This amp is the second series DC-3 with the three way switch in the back in place of the rotary switch. It was purchased in 1999 for $749 new (W/O Tax) It has multiple features (Dual channels, GEQ, Recording switch, FX loop, headphone jack, silent recording) For a 35 watt amp combo it is VERY LOUD, I have had this amp go up against Fenders, Ampeg, and others and had to listen to those amp user ask me to turn down - when I am on 3!

Custom shop Strat, LP Custom, Eric Clapton Strat (Old version)are used to play blues (Jimi and SRV) in small venues like the Hard Rock Hotel in Bali (Center Stage) when the management will complain and not let you back if you are too harsh - but not necessarily loud.
I use several different setups for my sounds... On channel 1 (Output level on 3)

Gain 7-1/2 7-1/2 8
Middle 8 6-1/2 7
Mid 4 4-1/2 7
Bass 5 2-1/2 3
Presence 6 2 2
Reverb 3 3 4
Master 8 6 3

No problem what so ever

Mesa Boogie is Mesa Boogie

Nuff Said

32 years + using Strats, LP Customs, Fenders, Mashalls, Crates, and Ampeg.

I would find another.

I do not like the heavy bass that sometimes occurs - this can be fixed by changing speakers or using a cabinet

I believe this is a 96 release, anyhow it has the switching upgrade.
The amp is plenty versitile if you can live without 3 channells as it provides you with two only. These are awitchable as is the onboard 5 band graphic but unlike earlier releases the reverb is not. Fx loop and headphone jack(why?)slave out(pramp out) one 8 and 2 four ohm speaker jacks.
It would be nice if it had the push pull gain boost that the dc 5 offered as this can be cutomised to be footswitchable providing you with post eq gain which can be great for in between tones.
I use this amp for local gigging in small clubs also at home for practice purposes. In either situation it is plenty loud, has a patented boogie power amp stage called dyna watt power wich really increases the headroom of its 35 watt EL 84 power section. other than the power amp the preamp is also all valve. 6 of the buggers, while this is good for tone as practically every thhing goes through the 12 ax7's even the fx return(though not the send) it equals 10 valve's to replace at a latter date which can be expensive

I use emg s pickups, guitar's vary.
The tone is abosultely fantasic. I love it. I have used heaps of amplifiers including a boogie dc 5 head (which I giged and played for 5 years)with four clestion 30's
and two celestion 75's.The dc3 sounds better, more spongy or something. Though make sure you have at least one semi new preamp valve in the start of the chain as the dc amps need the preamp tubes changed at least every 3 years.It can be a little hissy when idling but is unoticable when being played.
The speaker provided was a 50 watt vintage black shadow made for boogie by ev I believe and is incredibly dark, I mean really dark which made it very difficult to achieve a sparkling clean sound. dirty sounds are likewise very dark and anything but a lead tone requires the graphic eq. I have however tried an other speaker, a celestion 100 watt goldback and the sound completely changes!
The clean sound is transformed and all those highs that the black shadow speaker rounds off are there for all to hear, delicious is the only way to describe the sound, like wise with the overdrive channell which is just so big fat thick and liquid. Not like older boogies ie:mk2,mk3,mk4 ect.. It actually sounds like boogie meets marshall which is a nice combination I have heard a dual rectifier combo and the tone is similar in this channell.
You simply must try one of these amps through a marshall stock 4x12
and stand slightly of to the side to diffuse the sound a little.
Absolutely gargantuan!

The fellow who previously owned this amp gigged it solidly for at least four years and never changed the valves and never had a problem.
I have owned it for a short time and have only gigged a few times with it but I have swapped the valves with other that arent quite as old. It seems great, another reason I bought it was because of its previously reliable history.
My DC 5 blew up at one stage because of liquid spilt apon it in the travel van. Boogie amp are notoriously reliable and rediculously load.

Info, manuals are available on line and they answer to e mail.
I have not needed to contact them regarding repair.

I have been playing since 1988 and have owned several amps and assorted bits over the years though recently I have owned and sold
A boogie dc 5 head (great), a carvin t 100 power amp (also great), a marshall jcm 2000 a rocktron replifex and midi mate, a marshall 1922 two by twelve also a 4 by twelve with celestion 30's.If it were lost or stolen I would jump up and down and scream like a child in tantrum and mourn its unfortunate passing and hope that one day I would find another(they are a discontinued species and apparently highly sought after.) There is nothing that I dislike about the amp its great really! Rating 9 as it has only 2 channells and I have to get a replacement speaker becauase the black shadow ev is not to my taste.

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 baby has a very clean, clean channel, and adapts to a number of different types of guitars. I have played my Les Paul studio, a Strat and also a fake-japanese gibson copy...which thru my fender blues deluxe sounds...crap...but the mesa actually helps t omake it sound knida nice! The volume also blows me away - as does it's versitility...playing is done in medium sized clubs and churches with the master volume at about 3.

A good mate had it for 12 months, using it 2-3 times a week as well as playing full sixe (1000-6000 people concerts - thru a cabinet) and now I use it for about 2-3 gigs a week for the last month and haven`t had a single problem.

Asked for a manual - got it in a week (from the states!)
So great!

I'm kind of new to the amp thing...but after a great and reliable fender blues deluxe for 2 years...on and off...This amp is close to brilliant....I'd give this amp a 9.5.

Before purchasing it...i tried about 10 other amps and in my price range, the only other one was a second hand Vox AC 30, but it was in really bad condition....So Overall this amp is great. Versitile and portable...BUT BLOODY HEAVY!!!

This amp was made around '97. It has a lot of features that have been mentioned here, etc. It is very versatile and It can play anything from Jazz to Metal. You just have to tweak it.

I use a Ibanez JPM and a Hamer Mirage. I like to play Jazz, Fusion, and Progressive rock/metal. This is a relatively quite amp. This amp can cover the styles I listed above. The clean channel stays clean as long as you know how to use the Master Volume and Output controls right. The distortion is not the most brutal you can get, but it does a Dream Theater distortion sound very well. It is very comparable to the Mark IV's distortion (I've heard).

This amp has NEVER given me trouble in the 3 years I have owned it. It sounds better than it did when I bought it. I take good care of my equipment BTW.

I have never dealt with Mesa/Boogie, but their web site is very good.

I have been playing for about three years. I own an ADA preamp, but it sounds really bad compared to this amp. I think my review is accurate because I have had and used the amp for 3 years. I've tried it at all volumes too. I love this amp. It covers all the styles I want to play and it can give me almost any sound I want. It's too bad Mesa discontinued it. I don't think the Nomad amps (which replace the Dual Caliber line) are as good.

This amp is very versatile and will play eveery style you want it to. I play in my high school jazz band and we play everything from duke ellington to deep purple. The two channels are both worthy but I wish there was an in between the two extremes. The options are enless with the headphones, recordin out, effects loop and many knobs to tweek with.It is a very loud amp and I have never been over powered by other guitarists or bassists.

I use les pauls with this amp. It has a great sound, but I dont really have alot to compare it too seeing how before this amp I had a peavy rage amp. The thing I do look for in an amp is whether or not it will stay clean at high volumes and not distort out, this amp passes that test. The distortion is great but your have to turn it up to get the best sound.

This amp has never let me down in the three years I have had it. I don't have a backup. The handle rubber once tore on me. Sounds great on the original tubes.

Mesa/boogie is the top of the line in customer support. when the rubber on my handle ripped I sent them a letter asking for a catalog to buy another and they sent me a whole new handle for free!

This amp is great if I buy another I will probably buy a mark I IV or oone of the higher priced amps. this amp does take alot of tweeking to get the right sound which can some times be frustrating, however, sometimes the reason I cant get the right sound is probably not do to the machine but rather the controller.Best thing I would say to do when you buy an amp is try before you buy WITH YOUR OWN GUITAR.If anyone finds a great sound send me the knob settings please.

1998 DC-3 1-12 Combo. Dedicated gain, treble, mid, bass, presence, & reverb controls for 2 channels, a global volume control, switchable 5-band EQ, parallel effects loop with level control, variable ohm speaker outputs, headphone output, slave output. Very versatile!

Channel One is designed for a clean sound, or a "pushed" clip. I've found this channel to be exceptional for both a clean, round jazz tone, (without the EQ), and a cutting-through-the-mix rhythm tone, (with the EQ), and a dead-on replicant of the classic SRV "Cold Shot" kind of rhythm and lead tone. You would need to tweak the gain and master knobs to get this tone, (I put the gain at 7 1'2, the treble on 8, mids at 4, bass on 5, presence on 6, and master on 8, with the EQ engaged in the "V" shape to get this, but I lower my guitar volume for rhythm, and dime it for solos.) Keep in mind, these settings are what I normally use, and, working with my guitar volume control, I can easily achieve all 3 of these tones at a gigging volume, with the global master at about 4. Never before have I seen or heard of an amp that can do all of this from one channel. People who have dissed this amp have not experimented with the "power soak" capabilities of the individual channel masters. Maxing the masters equals undeniably good tone! Back down the gain, and you will have a ringing, Fenderish (kinda) type tone that will make the bass strings thump, and the treble strings ring forever! Tap on the EQ, and the amp sings like a Fender Super Reverb with a strat. (I use a Carvin Bolt-T Lefty, and the guys at Fender need to watch Carvin closely!) The individual channel settings for the EQ and the graphin EQ will make or break your love of this amp. It really takes some time to explore all of the possibilities of this channel. I am raving about Channel One because it is easily the most versatile of the two. Time, patience, and effort will reward all but the ones who are actually looking for a drawback on this amplifier.

Channel Two is a demon. I've found everything from a slightly saturated crunch, (Steely Dan's "Reeling In the Years"), to an I'm really pissed off Stevie Ray Vaughan "Leave My Girl Alone" type of tone, to a downright thrash that Kirk Hammet would be proud to call his own. Once again, it all depends on the channel EQ, and the Graphic EQ. Set the graphic in the "V", and I was satisfied with the performance of both channels with the EQ in or out. My channel two settings are as such: Gain:8, Treble:5, Mid:4 1/2, Bass:4 1/2, Presence:6, Master:8. I purposely left out reverb settings as they are subject to an individual's taste, also because digital reverb shines on any amp. Overall, I would say that there is no sonic ground that this amp cannot cover. Time, patience and tweaking once again. It took me about 3 months to find my tone on this amp, and the wait was worth it.

I've had this amp for over a year, and not one tube has blown, the speaker didn't shred, the fuse didn't blow, and nothing went wrong with it. And this is after gigging twice a week, every week, plus practice, plus rehearsals! Every time I change the tubes, which is about every 3 months, it sounds like I just bought a new amp!

Customer Support? If you change the tubes, don't leave it outside during winter, don't spill beer on it, and don't throw it down a flight of stairs, and don't run over it with a truck, you will not need to call them. Unless you happen to be the one or two in a million who just happened to buy a lemon. It happens ... I bought a .50 Caliber + that just plain sucked. Mesa has done their homework on this amp.

I've been playing for over 25 years. I've had Sundowns, Ampegs, Yamahas, Peaveys, Fenders, (both new and vintage), and as I previously mentioned a Mesa 50 Cal +. This is the best amp that I've ever owned, hands down. It's versatile, if you are willing to work with it, and it is reliable. Each guitar will sound different with this amp, of course, but in my opinion, it's strong suit is with a Strat or a strat derivative, like my Carvin Bolt TL. My Bolt will scare the frets off of any Fender, in my opinion, and I've had those, too, both vintage and new. If you are willing to spend a lot of time turning knobs, (which most guitarists aren't), hitting one chord for a half hour while tweaking, and changing all the settings multiple times, you will eventually find the tone that you are looking for. I will be hard pressed to find a better sounding 35 watt amp, at any price.

I'm looking for a warm jazz-sound AND a ringing, bells-type clean sound, nice SRV-crunch and a lead sound with lots of sustain. Impossible combination in one amp, I know. I used to come close by having a Bedrock 50W combo (Nice ringing clean) in combination with a Mesa Boogie V-twin rackmount (sustained lead) and a Tubescreamer on the floor (Crunch). The jazzsound I couldn't get. Got tired of carrying all that stuff to my gigs, because that Bedrock is HEAVY and I could never find a good spot to put my Vtwin (soundwise it didn't have enough guts for me either). So I decide to buy a Mesa Boogie Nomad combo. Tried it in the shop next to the DC-3 and the DC-3 won hands down. Ive got the jazzyclean now (the DC-3's reverb is very nice!)but lost the sparkling clean I used to have.. Lead sound is what I bought it for though. Crunch I still do with my trusty tubescreamer, it's a lot better than what the DC-3 can do. I don't really need features - I need tone - so what it has is enough for me (see previous reviews). I play venues of max 200 people, gigged with it 3 times sofar and I think it has just enough power for me, but the clean channel could do with some headroom.

I traded in my Bedrock combo to get it. I always thought it had to little gain for me (that's why I bought the Vtwin). The guy in the shop (great player) plugged in his guitar to check out if it worked. Played a few clean lines, OK. Switched over to the lead channel and there it was: that fat sound I never got! Why am I telling this? Because it's true; sounds come from your fingers and not from the amp... No use crying, I bought the DC-3 because I needed a lighter, more flexible amp.

I play it with a USA standard telecaster and a Yamaha Mike Stern Tele (Seymour Duncan pickups). I think this is an amp you can do everything with -and I do-, versatile is the keyword. It does have that Holdsworth sound if you want on the lead channel, but I'm sure I'll be looking for another amp for my clean sound in the future.

I'm sure it's very reliable

no idea

This is a 1998 DC-3 Combo bought new from the store. I won't bore you with the features-the other reviewers have this covered. This amp was used for home and gigging. Plenty of power.

I use a Tex Mex Strat, 72' Reissue Tele, and some knock-off 335's. This amp is NOT suited for a muscial R&B clean style. I found the sound to be very "boxey" even with endless hours of tweaking. I'm certain at this point it is due to the inherant characteristics of the EL34 power section which I don't care for. The clean does stay clean at fairly high volumes.
The distortion in the lead channel is some of the dirtiest I've heard, unfortunately, I would never use it.

It broke shortly after a got it. I could never get a good answer from the Mesa amp guru's about what exactly caused a mid-gig catastrophic failure. They did fix it for free though.

They would not send me a schematic. Could have fixed it myself if I had one.

I've been playing 30 years and use either Reissue or Vintage Fender Twin Reverbs and Deluxes, If it were stolen or lost I would submit a claim to my insurance company and buy 2 amps I could use.
I didn't love a thing about this amp and hated the boxy sound.

All tube... suprisingly versatile and LOUD!! I wish it was closed back though. (or at least 1/2)

Tried it out in a music store with an Ibanez RG model that had humbuckers and a single coil. Sounded great with either and held up really well with neck pickup. I play everything from Rush to reggae, to funk and classic rock, and it covered everything well. It was virtually noiseless even with high gain. This amp was a pleasure to play and I found the extra 5 band EQ to be a great feature. The clean channel sounds FANTASTIC at low or high volumes and the overall output knob is something that I think all, or most, multi "dedicated channel" amps should have. The lead channel's gain is not brutal, but smooth and warm... and harmonically rich. Much more "musical" than most amps. The bass response on this channel can be sometimes flabby, but I think that may be remedied by a closed back extension cab or more fiddling with the EQ. I don't have a lot of bad things to say about this amp except for the open back, but I guess it comes with the territory. I came from using a 4x12 cab and I must say, this is one mighty little amp!!

Seems VERY solid!

I dunno

Been playing for about 17 yrs. and have gone thru my fair share of gear. I think after all is said and done I would DEFINITELY add it to my arsenal!

P.S. I don't like to give 10's... nothing is ever THAT good!

(When buying this amp I traded it with a Boogie Subway Rocket.) The DC-3 has all the regular stuff on the frontside and all the things you need on the backside. Really don't know anything useful that is missing on this amp. Really like the 6 preamp tubes, with the poweramp that makes 10 tubes. It's a real lightshow when using it at night.

What can I say ? This is really the greatest amp I've ever heard in my whole life. Compared to my Fender Hot Rod and Marshall JTM 30, you have to know I love these amps, the Mesa is the creme de la creme. I t doesn't matter is you're using a Strat or a Les Paul. It's always big time. Love it. If there was a categorie for here for look, I would say: It's a very good looking amp. Like a dark mysterious woman.

Everyone knows that Mesa's are very well build. That goes for the knobs and swithches too. I don't use the thing for gigs. It sounds idiot but the Mesa almost never leaves my homestudio. For gigs I use a Fender Hotrod.

I really don't know. Never dealt with them. I only dealt with the Dutch Boogie Import over a Boogie Subway Rocket, and they were very helpful.

I don't think I ever sell this amp.......No, I am sure of it. This amp will never leave me. I had a Boogie Subway Rocket, but that's a HISSSS..... amp. The DC-3 is the best amp I've ever seen and heard.
Keep up the good work Randall.

I picked this amp up for $500 from a guy who apparently hadn't used it much. you can find find gear like this if you're patient. I had specifically targeted this and a few other amps. I prefer lower wattage amps because you can usually turn up the volume on them and let the tubes cook. They sound sweeter when they heat up. This amp is a wolf in sheeps clothing 35watts my #%*. It sounds great at 2 to 3 and the features you have on this amp are all top notch.Footswitchable 5 band EQ, a tight crisp reverb, and a host back panel features for those who might want to interface the DC-3 with more powerful equipment. As nice as this sounds with the 90 watt celestion, Im anxious to find me a Rectifier 2X12 cab with vintage 30's to play this through. I'd also love to slave this to my effects and out to a power amp, say a Boogie 20/20 or a Carvin Tube 100.I could make a nice little stereo rig with this as my foundation.

I'm mostly a blues-based rock player. I'm playing a '78 Les Paul Standard I loaded with '57 Classic pickups. I go for a cleam rhythm sound that has some life, breathiness to it, a little edge. I look for that sound with my pickup volume at about 6. For solos I open up to 10. The clean channel gives me a nice saucy lead tone at these settings:
Gain 7.5 Treble 6.5 Mid 4.5 Bass 2.5 Pres 2 Rev whatever Master 6
The lead channel has a totally diferent character and can get as nasty as you want. I tried and keep it fairly tame using it for power chord type stuff and leads. Again, I get the crunch I'm after with the pickup volume at 6 and take solos by turning my volume up to 10.As I said , I get a great sound with the settings I use,but for metalheads there is definitely room for more gain in the lead channel. I currently find these settings to suit me very well. Who knows, I could get pissed off, drink 3 beers and crank the gain and have a nice workout.
Gain 4.5 Treble 5 Mid 4 Bass 4 Presence 3 reverb Why not? Master 5

I've had this amp apart and it is very well assembled. I haven't owned this particular amp for very long, but it's quite obvious that it is well made and thoughtfully designed. I don't foresee problems other than normal tube wear. I currently can't offer an opinion

I love Les Pauls, but have owned Tele's and Strats. I had a Jackson Randy Rhoads too! Had a great neck. I've had Fender Twins, Legend R+R 50watt, Studio 22, and a full blown boogie rack with 2X12 caliber cabs and rackmount effects. I got rid of the effects after I watched Dickie Betts play dry through a 50 watt Marshall and a 4X12 cab. He did more with a volume control than I was doing with 16 spaces a rackmount gear.I have a Boss dd5 for echo, a morley wah, a tce chorus, and univibe. This amp allows me to go from Texas Flood to Highway to Hell and handles alot of genres in between. I love the tight bass compared to the Twin. I remember the Twin as being a great clean sound , but the distortion was non-existant without a stompbox.

I bought my DC-3(Dual Caliber)in 1998. This amp is very versatile, great clean, great reverb(someone actually complemented me on the reverb-I think that Mesa/Boogie has the best reverb), and great distortion. It has 2 channels- Rhythm-clean, and Lead-distortion. Comes with footswitch and a footswitch pouch to keep your footswitch in when you aren't using it. The footswitch pouch is located inside the back of the amp. This amp also has a 5 Band Graphic EQ. The footswitch let's you toggle between lead and rythm channels as well as EQ on/off. It has a parallel effects loop, a headphone jack, a recording jack, 2 jacks that allow you to hook up some extra speaker cabinets, and a slave jack. This is a loud amp. I was surprised to find out that it was 35 watts. In my room(when I don't use effects) I keep it at about a 1 maybe a 1.25 and it is still loud. It has a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. It is an all tube amp- 6 12AX7 and 4 EL-84.

I use a Jackson Kelly KE-3R through this amp with Duncan Designed pickups. This amp can suit any music style. Mesa/Boogie amps have the best reverb, the best distortion, and the best clean.

This, like all Mesa/Boogie's, is very dependable. It was built to last.

When the guys at Mesa/Boogie received my warranty card they called me to see if the amp was working fine-it was(and still is) and to see if there where any problems-there weren't.

I have been playing for almost 2 years. I have a Jackson Kelly KE-3R(guitar)and a Digitech RP-12(multi-fx processor). If my amp was lost or stolen, I would buy a Mesa/Boogie because they are the best amps.

New '98 or '99 model 35 watt all tube combo. To reiterate, THIS THING IS LOUD. I mean freaky loud. I bought this amp as a practice amp so I could leave my JCM2000 DSL 100 head at my practice place. However, I brought the DC-3 to band practice so I could see how it would do (we play loud heavy metal). Normally I crank my 2000 head up to 4-5 thru a 4 X 12 Marshall cab. I set the DC-3 on top of the 4 x12 and set the volume to 4. We had to stop mid-song because I was way too loud. I turned down to 3 and it was still way to loud. I thought the DC-3 was too loud because it was sitting on top of the 4 X 12. I set the DC-3 on the floor. It was still plenty loud at 3 sitting on the floor! I then disconnected the 12" Celestian Vintage 30 and connected my Marshall 4 X 12 cabinet. It honestly seemed that the DC-3 produced the same volume at 4 as the JCM2000 did at 4. This amp is loaded with features. I am looking forward to using the DI out when we are in the studio (scratch tracks etc..)

I use ESP and Ibanez guitars with a slew of humbucker Duncan pickups. I am using a T.C. Electronics G-Force and Morley Bad Horsie Wah for effects. I give this amp a 7 because I think my Marshall head sounds a lot better and brighter. Once again, this amp sounds like a Boogie- nasal sounding and kinda dark. My Marshall sounds more in-your-face and crunchy. This amp is also extremely sensitive to adjustments. The EQ, presence and Gain all change the sound a bunch. The distoration is pretty good. Sounds exactly like a Dual Rectifier to me. I could mic this amp with an SM57 at 6" and sound exactly like a half stack. The clean channel is outstanding! If you are a fan of that "Boogie Sound" than there is no doubt you would give it a 10!

This amp is built well, about twice as solid as a Marshall. You can tell there is a lot of care and personal attention given to this piece of equipment. There is an assembly signature sheet that comes with the amp so you can see every person who built your amp. You could not read it if it was a Marshall because all the names would be in Korean scribble.

Playing 23 years. I am a heavy metal guy. I would probably buy it again. It isn't like this is my first amp so I am not freaking out about "how awesome this amp is" etc... I prefer to play thru an old Marshall plexi cranked to 10, my DSL 100 sounds a lot better to my ear. This is a practice amp to me only- a damn nice (and DAMN EXPENSIVE) one at that. It is well-built, loaded with features and sounds pretty good (better when going thru my G-Force adding Parametric EQ and compression)

Regular stuff and a 5-band EQ. 2 channels.

I use a Fender strat with a Dimarzio Tone Zone on the bridge. I use NOFX. I hate effects. This amp sound extremely good. It's really, really loud for a 35 Watt amp. Actually I can't believe how loud it is. I'm not too fusy on my clean sound. It does the job for me. I like a natural tube sound. The distortion channel is great. Nice and thick sounding. I play punk and it sounds great for it. No main stream punk though. If you know a band called Strung Out that's kinda like what my band sounds like. Anyway metal guys might like it but it doesn't do that scooped thing very good, but it does it okay. It can do the metallica sound really good(load,reload). Set it like this:gain:8-6, treble:10, Mid:5, Bass:10, Pres:10(lower it as you turn up the volume as it will kill your ears)Master:10 Output:3-1. On the EQ set: max bass and treb, high and low mids a little above the halfway mark, and center mid on the bottom white line. If you want old metallica reduce mid. Distortion is warm and crunchy. I had a metal zone pluged into this thing before and it sounded like crap.

I use this thing without a backup cause I don't have any other decent amps.

Guitar is a really easy intrument to learn how to play. I have only been playing for 3 years and I can do Van Halen solos and what not. Although some people say I'm a freak of nature and thought I've been playing for 10 years. Anyway this is Amp is great and in my 3 years I've heard quite a few amps. I just try to copy the sound I hear on records. If you don't have the cash to buy Marshall stacks pick up this amp.