Mesa/Boogie DC-5 Combo

there's 2 independants channel, 1 for clean or clean with smooth overdrive, and the second one is only for distortion. The Distortion is sublime, a low noise level. The only to add in this amp to have full featured amp, is the chorus.. there is no chorus, but you can plug an external FX loops on the back. You can set an Eq for the both channels plus the basics Eq for each channels, and you can also enable/disable the Eq via the FoorSwitch..
A 50 watts is so powerfull.. dont worry about if you can play with a band..

i have 2 guitars, the first one is an RG Ibanez serie, and the second one is a epiphone Les Paul model by Gibson.. For now im playing Heavy Metal. i already was a skatepunk fan.. so, you can anyway really do anything with that amp.. like jazz blues metal punk pop...
The sound is really clear and tight, it raise an high precision level..
it not easy to drive your amp to feedback, execept if you re searching for that..

it never broke for the last 4 years i had it

i never need to fix it..

i'll finish my life with that amp..

it's a 2 channel combo with a push pull knob on the clean channel that gives you a 3rd crunch channel but it is not footswitchable....generally speaking this amp is well equipped for the gigging life....but i wish the crunch channel to be footswitchable

i'm using a variety og guitars with it an american standard with emg pickups a US fender strat special floyd rose hss a les paul e.t.c and i play mainly blues rock and hard rock....the clean channel is very nice i would give it a 8.5/10...well it might not be of a fender quality but if you want perfect cleans buy a fender...otherwise it is one of the best cleans i have heard out of the fender range.
Let's go now to the bad things:the distorted channel.I have tried many pickups and many guitars with this combo and no matter what guitar i have used no matter how i equalized the combo i was always getting a pretty good sound but i was never 100% happy.....there was always a certain glassy character to the sound....maybe this is due to the 6l6 tubes this combo comes equippped with and maybe i am an el34 man.I am not saying you cannot get a good sound out od the 2nd channel, but you want fall in love with it.One other problem this amp is notorious to have(and it is a design fault)is the channel cross-speaking.....when you play on the 2nd channel and you have previously used a crunchy sound on channel 1 the sound you get is different from the one you would get if on the channel yet you have previously dialed a perfectly clean sound.I must also say that this amp a bit noisy.So as far as sound goes i think this amp is good BUT by boogie's standards i feel there is something missing...in fact i am thinking of a marshall tsl.......

no problems here apart from the occasional tube changing.....

this is mesa's strong point....every time i have e-mailed them i got an immediate, polite and very helpful responce.Perfect.

i've been playing for 12 years and have owned vaious marshalls before...but while gigging and rehearsing i have played many amps.I must admit i am not very happy with this amp..and i bought it mostly because of mesa's reputattion.I still consider mesa one of the most reputable amp builders but this amp is surely not their best.....I'm soon going back to the old and faithful marshall.......boogie's are IN but no amp can give that classic ROOOOOOOCCCCCCKKKKKKKK marshall sound.

First impressions... I bought this DC-5 used off of eBay because of all the wonderful reviews below and in the H-C discussion boards. It is one of the newer models and has the 2-button footswitch (clean/lead & eq on/off). new vs. old can be distinguished by visiting the mesaboogie website:

<i>Original DC amplifiers have a two position toggle switch on the front panel that provides manual switching from Rhythm to Lead. These models also feature a five position rotary switch on the rear panel for manual EQ selection. Later model DC's have a three positon toggle switch on the front panel which is labeled(top down): Rhythm - Lead - Lead/EQ. These models feature a two positon toggle switch on the rear panel for EQ channel assignment</i>

Two channels, plus the pull boost on the clean to make it a crunch. I hope to save some money, and get my DC-5 modded to make the crunch channel footswitchable. This amp is HEAVY! 55 pounds... hey! thats a pound per watt. The top row of knobs is a bit close to the top of the amp... thus, you can't easily read the number, and makes for less "grab space" when tuning it.

I'm using a PRS copy (warmoth--mahogany/ PRS pickups&electronics) and a Fender Strat Plus w/ Van Zandt pups. The reverb is not strong enough for me, I just need to get a Fender for the reverb I want. I play rock mostly, some jazz. Have only begun to explore the variety of this amp, but based on other reviews, should take a good month to find "my sound". I haven't gotten the clean channel to sparkle yet. I'm sure that will come with a few twists of the knob. The lead channel is pure Boogie distortion. Very mean. I may still end up using a distortion/overdrive pedal, because I like to have a good clean, a good lead, and lots of crunch options. I also plan on exploring the sounds when i replace the two 6l6 tubes with el-84 (via a THD Yellowjacket).

A cliche for sure, but it's true..... "built like a tank"

Answered my fax very promptly. And this on a product which they no longer produce. Gave me more information then I knew what to do with! Very friendly. A bit biased.... I'm a boogie fan. I do wish they had email support though, but I understand why they don't.

Have been playing for 10+ years, been through 2 bands. I sold my rack setup to get this amp. (mesa 20/20;mesa triaxis;tce g-major) I kept my 2x12 mesa slant cab though. I just wanted something more portable, and with less of a learning curve. I don't really need 256 different sounds, and 1,000 different ways to get there. I feel very good about my DC5 purchase. I highly recommend you getting one. I chose the DC5, because I was researching a 1x12 combo ala Fender Deluxe 65 RI, mesa F-series, mesa nomad-series... I kept reading great things about the DC. I chose the DC5 over the DC3 because of the pull boost option, and being able to switch the 6l6 for el84, if I want to.

I have owned 3 boogies and this is by far the best due to the independant controls for each channel. Too many compromises needed to be made with either the Mk III I owned or the calibre 50. This amp compares most favorably with a rack set up I had when giging. That was a groove tubes trio with again independant controls for each channel. I have played eveything from jazz to funk to rock and blues and this amp has been great. Can't give any feedback on the metal scene that wasnt my thing. The only critisism would be lack of footswitchable pull boost from clean. Another thing anyone saying 50 watt boogies are not loud enough must be playing some pretty bloody loud gigs because as any boogie ownwer knows these amps are LOUD.

I'm playing prmarily a Fender EC Strat and a PRS McCarty. As stated this amp is very versatile. All the other reviews critisising this amp seem to be from owners who are Marshall or Fender people. You can not run a boogie the same way. The Marshall idea that you can just turn everything on to 10 and play would make this amp sound like crap, if it could be played at all like that. You need to know what you are doing with any boogie and you must read ,the manual and start with the included example settings to learn and then go from there. This amp can give you sounds from jazz to rock and everyting in between but you must know what you are doing to set it up right.

Its a Mesa Boogie. Do you even need to ask?

Been playing for about 16 years and have used everything from "rack of doom" with quads to Fender twin to Bassman. If you dont want the whole rack with midi/ analogue switching and noise suppression and you dont own a truck to cart it or have a roadie to carry it then this amp is the answer. As stated before the only this this amp needs is a footswitchable boost on the clean channel.

Since it annoys me when people don't write out the specs and instead say "Someone else mentioned it" I will tell all the features of MY AMP because I know companies often change their products slightly or radically and lump it under the same name.
50 watt tube 1x12 combo
2 6l6 power amp tubes, 6 12ax7 preamp tubes
2 or 3 channels
Footswitchable graphic eq
Slave out
3 speaker outs (one at 8 ohms, two 4 ohm)
Parallel effects loop
Mesa/Celestion Black shadow speaker, 90 watts, 8 ohms.
Recording out and speaker mute feature

This amp would have gotten a 10 if it had 3 footswitchable channels, not 2 with the first channel having a boost feature. As it is, lots of features for a little combo! I believe it also comes inm a head format, I wouldn't mind having another laying around!

Right now I use it with my gibson flying v, which has gibson pickups (not stock) a 496r in the bridge with a chrome cover added (adding covers smoothes out your tone I find... I used to hate this pickup but I slapped a cover on it to make it look like the other pickup, now I love it!) and a gibson classic '57 in the neck.
I play lots of rock, hard rock, metal, and anything rockish... and some other stuff, some classical, but for the rock and metal sounds, this amp is great! I play with less gain than most guitarists, because it really adds note definition. I get the best sounding palm mutes and the fastest attack than anyone I know, which doesn't sound absolutely magnificent when I'm playing by myself, but in a band situation I always cut through and sound great. This amp works nicely for me and is portable enough to lug around.

When I play quietly, this amp makes all sorts of popping noises. Goes away when I play at a reasonable volume. Can't seem to figure out why. But I wouldn't gig without a backup (actually when I gig this IS my backup...)

I've been playing 11 years, I traded my TC Electronics G-major to this dude in exchange for this amp. I needed something small enough to practice with, but this thing turned out to be a whole helluva lot louder than I expected. I traded after about 1 minute of dicking with the amp cause I didn't own a Mesa/Boogie back then, and I own a recording studio. The more amps I have around, the better. Now I have 2, my marshall tsl100 and this. This nearly comes close to my TSL but not close enough to use as my main giggin machine. And those popping noises scare me. Overall a good amp, for those of you who are sick of hauling around that halfstack you though was so cool when you were a teenager and now realize you'd rather a 2x12 combo ;)

Probably mid-1990's, single 12" Black Shadow, stock 2 channel config (though I am surely going to have the mod done). Much lighter than my Twin or even a DeVille. Its shorter too so that counts for alot when carrying it around.

I play a variety of music all the way from shimmering clean twang country like Brad Paisley/Diamond Rio/James Burton/Albert Lee to Billy Gibbons/Lynyrd Skynyrd. I play Teles, Strats and a big Gretsch. In a club scene, mic'd or otherwise, this amp kicks ass. But if you don't understand tone, you'll probably get frustrated because this amp requires a little time tweaking the settings to get to the sweet spot with your guitar. But once you spend a little time understanding its relationship with your guitar, the rest is just dialing in a little EQ and gettin' busy. The amp is incredibly loud. With very little gain and master I can overpower everyone on stage. And you know how you wind up in those jam sessions where the "other" guy is always louder than you, even though your licks kick his ass? No more. The projection from this amp is staggering. On volume level 5, you can blow the monitors off the front of the stage. I cannot imagine playing louder than that, I'd kill my lead singer. And the feedback/sustain is glorious, clean or dirty at a multitude of frequencies. And the amp is LOUD.

The reverb is a bit quirky. Sometimes is sounds strong like a Twin and sometimes its thin. It may be my unit needing a check-up, but that's no biggie. It may also be the room. My only complaint is that the upper row of knobs (clean channel) are hard to see if its on the floor and you are looking back/down while playing. You almost have to squat down to see where you are. Again, no biggie.

The only sound I have not been able to recreate is that mushy, noise-ridden sound of a Fender tube-amp turned up to 8.

I re-tubed it when I got it and I DO NOT carry a backup. Why own an amp that requires a safety net? Its been trouble-free.

Right after I bought it I called Boogie to ask a few questions about tubes and general care. I left a message and they called back a half hour later. You would have thought I just bought $20,000 in new Mesa amps. He was gracious and very helpful.

I've been playing 20+ years and have been a die-hard Fender fan. I've always spent all my money on awesome guitars and cut corners on amps. But the farther I have come like that, the more I have gotten outclassed by guys with what I consider to be powerful, ultra-high-end amps (Boogie, Matchless, Bogner, etc.). There is a certain tone these amps deliver that will never emminate from a Fender. You have to work to find it, but once you do, its awesome. Oh yeah, its LOUD!

Lots of features and lots of power.

I used this amp with a modified ESP/LTD H-100 with Dimarzio Tone Zone and PAF.

The clean channel is really nice, once you dial it in. Classic 6L6 sparkle. My Boss SD-1 Overdrive sounded great in this channel. Providing a nice articulate drive. My Boss CE-2 in loop was nice. I really like the fact that you can adjust the volume of the effect. I wish my VHT Pittbull 45 had this feature.

As good as the clean channel is, the overdrive channel is pure crap. I couldn't get a usable sound out of it. It just sounded like mush. No note definition. No sustain. Just nasty.

I guess they are reliable. I don't hear about Mesas breaking down.

Never dealt with Mesa

I used this amp at a rehearsal space in Virginia. While I enjoyed the clean channel alot, the gain channel is so bad that I would never buy this amp. I usually use a VHT Pittbull 45 112 for small gigs and that amp blows the Mesa out of the water. While the Mesa might have a bit more headroom for clean sounds, the overdrive of the VHT can't be beat.

All of the other reviews list the features; I won't hit you with those. I'd give it a 10 rating if the Pull Boost on the clean channel was foot switchable.

I use it with Strats w/ single coils and humbuckers. Had a Tele with a single coil. I play heavy very alternative, and some punk/metal.

This amp is pretty killer. I've played for over 20 years and have only had about 7 different amps. This is my 3rd Boogie (had two Dual Rectos). Very versatile. No, the clean isn't going to knock out Fender clean freaks, but it's very usable, and the headroom will keep you happy. If you want grind, this is it. More musical distortion than the Dual Rectos. Lots of flavors. If you one of those people that uses an effects box to get your distorion/tone, then you are missing the point with this amp.

You really need to download the manual and read it. The controls on the amp do work in concert with each other. It doesn't take months to tweak; just a brain, ears, a cord and a guitar that sounds decent.

I haven't toured with this amp, but I've toured the country a bunch of times with Boogie DR's, and never had any problems.

Never had to deal with them - no problems.

If you need a portable amp that will compete with 1/2 and full stacks and go for more agressive types of music, this is the amp.

For all you DC-5 oweners that don't know it, these amps were produced in the 90's. They had an early and then a late model. the two different models have slightly different specs and features.Most of the review's on this amp I totaly agree with. Check on the features on other review. The only falt I find on the multitude of features is the lack of a switch to engage the pull boost on the clean chanel via the foot pedal.

OK now for the meat of the beast, THE SOUND!!!!! I have been playing for over 40 years, many of them with top rock bands,and have owned and used dozens of the TOP quality amps out there (Marshall, Vox, Fender, Custom and many others.)and NONE of the amps comes close to the flexability of this BOOGIE! There are a very few amps that have a "special" tone that is all there own that no other amp can match exactly, But there was no flexability other than that tone. the Boogie has the greatest range of GREAT sounds of any amp out there! It can go from the cleanest to the dirtiest tones and hit everything in between.Those who knock the tone of this amp(Assuming they dont have a LEMMON, a CRAP GUITAR or a bad cord) either DONT KNOW how to understand and operate the tone controls (IT takes a lot of time and experiance),Are TONE DEAF or have there ears up their ASS.

This amp has served me very well in hundreds of gigs. I play rock, metal and blues. I use a 83 Les Paul custom, a 73 SG standard, a 66 Telecaster, a 59 ES-355 and few other guitars and they ALL sound great with this amp. Don't expect a Tele to sound like a LP thru ANY amp. This thing is the LOUDEST amp in its class and will blow many away with 2 to 3 times the power. The only breakdown was the rubber on the amp carry handle split.

I called Mesa Boogie up and talked to a tech and ordered an amp cover. The guy was very helpful and knew his shit. No rush to get on to the next call. The cover arived in a few days. That's it.

I've owned them all. In terms of great tone, flexability of sound. ease of transport,sheer volume and reliability all in one package,I don't think there's an amp out there that can beat it!!!

Well known specs....actually more features than necessary
I rate it a nine because I think it has too many things to adjust

This amp sounds totally awesome for any style of music except metal.I couldn't get the scouped mid sound but I only have used that sound for one track anyway.The distortion is perfect at just about any volume and it was sweet music to my ears when I first cranked it!I recorded with this amp and the final product was unique and very detailed in the lead department.

I have seen other people rate this section poorly,but I have had no problems once I plugged it into a wall socket with a working ground!Before I thought to check for a groung it hissed and made my guitar sound nasal.The grouned socket did the trick.If you treat this amp with respect,it should last a lifetime.

I have been playing seriously for about 8 years and have had every guitar and amp ever made....(slight exageration)I would buy a boogie in a second again,but not the heartbreaker,I tried it at a guitar store and it sucked severely!I think that there was a tube problem,which can be fixed,by the way.