Mesa/Boogie DC-5 Head

My amp was made in 1992, it's a 50-watt tube head, and I find it extremely versatile for almost any style I play. Mostly I play low-tuned stoner rock, southern metal and blues. The amp responds very nicely to the way I play the guitar. It has everything mentiones in the reviews above, it's kinda like a simplified Mark series head. I use this amp in my personal recording studio, at the rehearsal place and also live. This thing kicks ***!! It is built like a tank, never had any problems AT ALL. For those who think that 50 watts is not enough, let me assure you - this amp will cover all your needs live, I mean it screams!

I use this amp with:

gibson les paul custom (stock pickups)
hagstrom viking deluxe (stock pickups)
Ibanez rg - 550 (high - output bill lawrence pickups)

It is a pleasure to use this amp with all my guitars, it makes them sing. If a little more "modern" bite is needed I throw in a compressor before the amp. It suits my music style perfectly (I play mostly stoner rock (Down, Corrosion of Conformity and so on)), it has that dirty kind of distortion, a little old-school sounding, but very sweet. It can also deliver a rectifier-esque modern crunch, if required, but keep in mind that this is a more mellow - sounding amp.

The amount of distortion available is ridiculous. The overall level of noise is not too high, in humid environments the noise tends to get a bit louder, but it's not too bad.

The only problem with this amp is that you can't get really fendery type of clean sounds. It gets distorted very quickly, but by rolling off some volume you can clean it up. Once you get it clean, it sings like an angel.

Reliable as hell, it's 17 years old and still kicks ass, no problems whatsoever. I bought it with the original tubes in it and they still worked fine, but when I retubed it with mesa's str 440's.. man, the amp came alive! It started roaring like a beast!

Perfect!

Have never had to deal with them and probably never will. :)

I've been playing for 6 years and had this amp for about 5 years or so. If it were stolen I would (brutally beat up the thief and then) definitely replace it, because the amp has something special. The rectifiers sound awesome, but somehow dead when compared to this little monster. Plus, nowadays it's a great value for your money!

50 watts all tube provided by dual 6L6 power tubes and six 12AX7ss, 2 Channels, Rhythm (with push/pull gain boost) and Lead, Parallel Effects Loop, 5 band Graphic EQ, Seperate controls for each channel (gain, treble, mid, bass, presence, reverb, master) and Master Volume (labeled output level). Also included are speaker mute, slave jack and level control for use in a rack system (ie mainly using the DC for a power amp), 3 different speaker jacks (one 8 ohm, and two 4 ohm), and rotary knob to select which channel the Graphic EQ is on. My only qualm is that the boost on the rhythm channel isn't footswitchable, and that there are seperate footswitch for channel switch and eq/reverb switching.

Nothing short of amazing. Takes AWHILE to get used to the EQ and gain structure, but once you do, it becomes insanely easy to use. I own two guitars; a Schecter Spitfire and an Ibanez RG321MH, but I despise using the latter (see my review for it). With my Schecter and it's stock not too impressive pickups, I can coax all sorts of sounds out of this amp. The clean channel can go from acoustic-esque cleans, to Metallica (no lie!), and the Lead Channel is to die for not only in sound, but in versatility. I have the gain around 6 on the lead channel, with it's master at around 4, and I can go from playing John Petrucci's "Damage Control" or anything from Lamb of God, to rolling off the volume, throwing the neck pickup on and playing Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary." Keeping the gain low, with the master low I can easily do more Hiwatt like sounds (and when I say this, I mean Pink Floyd, Rush, King Crimson, etc.), to early JMP like Marshall sounds (but I don't think I've seen a JMP with THIS amount of balls!). Of course, turn up the gain, increase the master, and turn up the output level, and you get the gnarliest, crunchiest, ballsiest signature Mesa sound that doesn't get muddy, and cuts through the mix with ease. With a decent guitar and quality pickups, the amp opens up even better allowing a broader range of tones.

My setup's basically my guitar into a wah then into the amp. I don't own any effects (aside from the DS-1 I used with my practice amp), so I haven't tried it wet, but dry this thing is amazing! For the price, you can't find a better head.

PS - For my style, I play assorted rock and metal (mainly metal), but and influenced by lots of classic rock, blues, jazz and even some classical. I also run this into a Mesa Rectifier 2x12 cab, closed back, loaded with vintage 30s. I was thinking of eventually buying a 4x12 (looking at Avatar cabs right now), and buying some effects (lots of delay pedals, phaser, and chorus), so I'll update after I've had some time to play around with them.

14 years old and still works well. I haven't had any problems in the 2 months I've owned it, and I doubt I will (knock on wood). Plus, it's a Mesa, and when have you heard of a Mesa crapping out halfway into a show?

I haven't gotten in touch with Mesa personally, but I bought the footswitch for it through their yahoo store, and it arrived in about 3 days, perfectly shipped (they even gave me a 16 or 20 foot cable for it!).

Overall, this thing is amazing, purely amazing. From super clean jazzy chording, to Ozzfest approved brutality, it packs a whallop, and rewards you with killer tones.

HOWEVER, MAKE NOTE: Mesas are tricky to EQ. It took me nearly a month and a half after getting this to finally find an amazing tone (of course, it sounded great before this, but...well, you know the feeling of a watershed moment). A lot of guys scoop mids and play really low tuned, but in all honesty, no amp should have this done to it. For nice chunky, yet cutting sounds, I keep my gain around 6, treble around 7, mids around 8 or 9, bass at 3, and the GEQ with a Frown (boosted mids, above the midline), and it rewards me with thick, creamy, dynamic distorted tones that sustain for days. Scooping the mids takes all the flavor out of the distortion, and makes it sound less than amazing (again, still great, but it's not the best with scooped mids). Trust me, you can get brutal with this (I did some Meshuggah and Dream Theater [a la Dark Eternal Night] with this amp and it stayed tight and punchy).

ALSO, like a lot of Mesas, the signature punch and sustain LIES IN THE PREAMP. When initially EQing, set the gain (lets say for a hard rock tone) around 4 and keep the Master around 4, don't crank the master and crank the volume; it'll sound good, but that Mesa signature sustain and punch will lack a little. Keep the channel volume moderate, the gain where you'd normally have it, but turn output level up to get it really cookin!

For under 1200 bucks I assembled a nasty rig that sounds amazing for practicing, and unbelievable for gigs. I highly recommend these amps over anything that's new in stores, especially for all you rock and metal players.

AMp is from the mid 90's I think it has 2 channels - Rythem (clean channel but can be EQ'd to crunchy distortion) and Lead (which is for full blown out distortion). A third crunch channel is added to to the rythem channel when the gain knob is push out. Has all the features an amp head should have for inputs and outputs. I play at home mainly. Hopefully will gig with it soon so the audience can be an awe of my guitar tone.

I have jackson and Ibanez Shredders. I like playing thrash (metallica, testament) and modern metal (Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Killswitch engage). The amp isnt noisy at all and I can make this amp play any style. Of course the gain EQ on the lead channel is tailored to metal. The lead channel has Extremely brutal distortion and i do agree with other reviews that it sounds like the older dual rectifier however, I like this amp more since it has a warm tone, something that the dual and triple rectifier lacks. Thats the reason I love this amp and grew tired of the Rectifier models.

I have been playing for close to 9 years. I've owned almost every type of amplification gear from line 6 modelers & digitech modelers, to the best solid state amps - Randalls, Peavey Transtube, beringer, and most of the best well known high gain tube amps - The peavey xxx, the 5150, 6505, Randall Hybrid tubes, The mesa DC-3 (not really high gain but can be EQ'd to it), Mesa Nomad 100, Mesa Triple Rectifier (lacks a warm tone and sounds thin), Dual Rectifier (sounds full but lacks a warm tone). IN the end the DC-5 won out. It sounds like a Dual Rectifier with a warm tone and has more EQ options along with a reverb setting. Its no wonder Mesa stopped putting these out since they were going into the rectifier territory for a cheaper price.

this amp is very versatile it can play from rhythm distortion(zz top) to a lead distortion(metallica crunch)

it's features are great wish it had an additonal boost- but you can get it w/ eq, reverb pedal

sounds can get a nice warm tone to a clean tone- or even a hevy distortion

best i've heard and i've owned a jcm 800, mesa tremoverb,single rec, as well as a soldano, and vox

this seems to be able to do alot more with the tone then the rest

it seems better built then my tremoverb and single rec- it doesn't have the little switches that can break when gigging- it' built like a tank-

but i've only had it for a week

n/a

i would buy another and would recomend this amp head to anyone- i will say this playing through a 2 x 12 mesa cab w/ 30's seemed to be a little muddy- i switched to my freda cab- and it has a tight bottom end

this amp can get you any tone you want- clean to crunch-i've own several different amps from marshall, mesa, and saldano- this seems to be the most versatile w/ tone

if there was something i would add i would have one pedal that did everything clean, rhythm, lead, eq, and reverb-

i first was playing it through a mesa 2x12 rectifier-a little to mudddy- i switched to my freda cab and there you go a perfect match

it has a nice tight low end w/ out any muddyness and is very clear and crystal on the clean channel

only had a week- seems very well made - had a tremoverb and a single rectifier both combos- w/ the little switches which broke gigging-

this seems like a tank- give a 9 cause i don't know completely

n/a

been playing for 14 years- own a soldano head and a vox amp- my guitars are les paul, prs, and ibanez jem and rg(from the late 80's)

yes i would buy another- and recomend anyone to get one-

the sound is great-nothing to hate yet-

this is the sound i've been looking for- don't pass them up if you see them- especially the heads- you can find a match of cab that suites your taste-

I have an earlier, 1985 model- but it has all the features others have summarized. I have the 50-watt head, hooked up to a vertical, cloased-back Recto cab (has two 70 watt Celestion Vintage 90s). This is called the 1/4th stack config... For clean and dirty channels, you control GAIN, TREBLE, MID, BASS, PRESENCE, REVERB, and MASTER. You can also get a third, 'rhythm boost' by pulling the GAIN pot for the clean channel. There are inputs for guitar and footswtitch also on the front panel, along with a master volume control and a assignable 5-band EQ.

THE EQ and channels are switched by a footswitch, and there is a jack on the back to also have reverb footswitchable. The back has a FX LOOP with % WET/DRY being assignable, a direct out for recording (along with a speaker mute switch for recording), plus two 4 ohm and one 8 ohm output jack.

So as you can tell, this amp has features aplenty, and is pretty similar to the template of Mesa's newer F-50/100 series. As with any Mesa, the controls are sensitive, take tweaking, and probably don't correlate with other amps you're used to... for example, a god starting point would be to set the TREBLE/MID/BASS all on 3, with PRESENCE at 5, REVERB at 2-3, GAIN around 5, VOLUME at 3, MASTER to however hard you wanna rock!!! This amp is a dream for tweakers, one of the main motivations for my buying it was that it seemed so controllable and versatile (lay-out wise). My one gripe is that, at beadroom/pratice volumes, the clean headroom and gain of disotortion are somewhat compromised. Or if you boost the volume enough, your precious hearing will be compromised. A 1/2 power switch would probably be on all the time for me.... maybe should have looked into just getting a lower-powered DC-3

Ok, so a little about the context in which I use it to start.... I'm a high school student, although I feel pretty mature and well read in terms of music and my gear. I use this amp with my Hamer Monaco Elite, a handbuilt Les Paul replica (maple top, mahogany body, ceramic Seymour Duncan Custom/Custom Custom p'ups). I use this for everything from bedroom practice to occasional appearances at my temple services (accompany chior) to pratice with my alt-rock band, to concerts (miced/unmiced) with said band. This thing never gets buried in a mix, always impresses people in a practice/live settting, and the direct out and speaker mute have worked perfectly for recording.

In terms of style, I play some classic rock (ie- Zeppelin, Clapton, Hendrix, Rolling Stones), some metal (Tool, Deftones, Glassjaw), to folk/rock/reggae (Guster, Dispatch, Marley)... For all applications, this thing rocks!

This amp uses dual 6L6 tubes, along with 6 (yes 6:) 12AX7 preamp tubes. I really like the 6L6s, as they give the clean channel tons of headroom and chimyness. Reminds me of a blackface F*nder, it's not quite as good, but for a high-gain Boogie, I'm impressed. I have set this channel and rarely fiddle with any of the controls, because its plenty loud, very articulate, and deals with my MXR Phase 100 in the FX LOOP very well.

The dirty channel is the cat's ass!!! Now, if you want a Marshall crunch, please buy a Marhsall --> you'll probably be very happy with it. If you want a high-gain Rectifier scream, than this amp is perfect! It's said to have a similar design for clean to the Mark IV and for dirty the Rectifier series. Seems good to me, this is definetly the sound I was going for. Adding too much BASS or TREBLE will fuck with the sound, even putting them above 5, which I think is a reason this amp puts off people who adjust incorrectly. This amp is no one trick pony, but it's hard to get away from the Rectifier-type sag in the disortion. One trick I have found is to boost the MIDs, and you can get a barkier, middier breakup similar to a Marshall...

I've only had it for about a year, but so far so good. Seems like it's built like a tank, the guy I bought it from toured nationally with it, and other than the tubes, it was all original. Still in near perfect condition... The preamps tubes are contained in a shelf behind the power tubes, so it's a bitch to get to, but everything is well protected. I've actually had to take out the chassis just when I'm retubing.

Luckily never had any issues that I'd have to contact Mesa about, I've heard good, bad, and ugly... warranty is long gone, but the MESA tubes are still easy to come by. By what I've heard, calling or visiting the CA factory is the best way to get informed and speedy service.

Been playing for over 1/2 my life (11 years), and I've been with my band for 2 years now. This is my only amp, which I bought to replace my 4x10 Fender Hot Rod Deville. The Deville is probably better for blues, but this is better all around, and certainly better for metal/rock. As a student, my budget is pretty limited, and I think this is the best you can do for $1 K. Shit, I think this'll give much more expensive/boutqiue amps a run for their money too. This definetly beat a new (Series Two) Dual Rectifier in a comparison between friends, and the clean is better than any other Marshall or Mesa I've come by. If someone stole this I be happy that I live in VA and with a conservative family, grab the shotgun, and raise hell. I can't imagine replacing this amp, although when I have more years and (hopefully) cash, there's so many great amps out there.... that being said, I think this amp will become sought after like the older Mark IVs are now, and I will hold on to this one for a while!!!

See below for features - they are well documented by others. I have the 1/4 stack configuration with a 2x12 vertical cab with vintage 30s. Plenty loud for 50 watts. I wish there was a 1/2 power switch. In order to get the best tone out of this puppy, it needs to be pretty damn loud. A little too loud for band practice, actually. Oh well. Wear earplugs and let it rip.

I play this amp with a Les Paul Classic with Seymour Duncans (JB in bridge; '59 in neck). I play mostly straight up rock. Right off the bat, I'll say that I do not care for the lead channel at all. I don't like the way it's voiced. When I switch from the clean to the lead, it sounds way too muddy to my ears - sounds like I go from a great amp into a so-so amp. But I'm sure many people love the lead channel. I think I prefer the tone of marshall power tube saturation as opposed to the mesa preamp tube distortion. The lead channel can sound like a rectifier if you engage the EQ and scoop the mids. But, like I said, I don't like that sound, so I never use the lead channel.

But the clean channel on this amp is to die for. I set this amp up for a pushed overdrive sound and use pedals with it for extra grind. But I don't pull the channel 1 gained for the pushed channel. I keep it on clean, but set the gain to "10". Sounds great for classic rock. Then I set treble and bass around "7" and mids at "0". This is a very mid-voiced amp, especially with the Les Paul, so I kill the mids entirely on the amp. I don't use the EQ at all.

The only problem with the way I use the amp is that I can't get ultra-clean because I'm using the clean channel with the gain on 10. But I don't care - the tone at that setting is so killer. My singer can't play guitar for shit, but when I sit behind the drums and listen to him play through the DC-5 on these setting, I think "damn, who needs another channel - that sound f'in amazing!"

Regarding the tone of the lead channel, I even tried replacing the pre amp tubes with 12at7 and other tubes, but the lead channel was always too muddy, compressed and saturated. Not my thing.

Extremely reliable for a tube amp. No biasing required. Plug and play. I've never had a problem.

MESA customer support is fantastic. They are patient and really want to help. For a company that size, they are doing a fantasic job. Leave a message and get a call back in an hour.

I've been playing for almost 20 years. This is my first real tube amp. It blows away anything else I've ever used. I'm really pleased with it. My only gripe is the lead channel, but it's a MESA and MESAs have a unique tone on the lead channel. It's good for soloing, but I prefer an overdrive and compressor for lead work. Either way, you can't go wrong with this compact, powerful amp. You get a lot of reliable amp in a small package with the DC-5.

Don't know exactly the correct year of production (i can't find the serial number on the chassis), but it's surely in mint conditions.
This amp is the one i was looking for, it's the best piece of gear i could play for my style...i play ska-core in an original band, and every feature of this amp suites perfectly my needs, sparkling clean and great amount of gain in the lead channel, for great solos and big reefs!I've bought it used here in Italy and it comes directly from U.S.A. so i have to turn into a 110v adaptator.
2/3 channels (it depends on the push-pull option of the rythm channel) indipendent reverb and eq for each channel and a post pre-amp 5 band eq. also footswitchable like the reverb...only 50 watt...but no-one will tell you the difference between this 50 watt mesa and a 100 watt marshall head...there are 6 12ax7 in the preamp section ...what a great amount of gain...

Every, and i say every kind of style...with a good setup (guitar, fx, cabs..) this little jewel can cover every style(thanks above all to the 5 band eq), from rumbling metal to jazz...

only 4 words...IT'S A MESA...

I wrote 'em cause i've lost my front logo(i'm in Italy, remember), and they answer me quickly, sending me the serial number with whom order the logo from my mesa local distributor and with everything else i needed!

the best amp i've ever owned and played...i dreamed for a life to own a mesa, and this is my first one...this is the great sound i've always tried to achieve with my old solidstate amp through Boss MT-2...i love for example mike einziger sound and now with my dc-5 it's possible!

A "10" rating would be a Badcat and a "4" rating would be a Fender Deluxe, so The Boogie DC-5 falls inbetween.I dig the slider EQ but I wish it had a seperate Eq setup for each channel.I also wish that the boost was a channel itself -That would eliminate the need for a Tubescreamer.I play Alt.Texas Country which is basicly ZZtop with Country style licks.I play with a 52' reissue Telecaster so the distortion channel even when on 10 ,is still a warm sound with the voicing and harmonics that make up great solo's.

New as they were made I think. In addition to the features you'd expect and others have listed, there is a recording output with speaker mute for silent recording. Not great but can be worked with. You have your slave outputs. Also nice to have a dial for the amount of your effects loop to be mixed in. 50 watts as said by many will blow away any 100 watt amp out there, made my old JCM 900 4100 seem lacking in that area.

I primarily us a 1999 ESP Eclipse, yes ESP, with a Duncan JB and '59, I get great in your face hard rocking tones through the JB and with a flip of the switch and roll off the tone and volume the '59 sings sweet and smooth. I also have an ESP Eclips arch top with stock pickups, drives just as hard but tends to feed back with these pickups. I also run a 2003 Gibson Les Paul standard through it and these pickups do not drive the amp near as hard as the Duncans, very round sound with the Paul, very warm and responsive. I've ran my strat through it and get strat tones, trust me if you dial it right, it will do it. Life sucked when I had it in the shop for a fuse problem and I had to run through a Marshall solid state.

No problems here. Had to get the fuse socket replaced, but that was an issue of me letting bad things happen to the head, replace the power tubes, other than that never a problem.

No contact outside the web site where I downloaded the user manual.

I've been playing for almost 10 years now, I've owned the starter crate and peavey's to the JCM 900 Marshall, ESP and Gibson guitars in hand and this amp fits nicely with them. I read once that if you want to sound like Hendrix get a strat and a marshall, I want to sound like hard rock, so I got a GIbson and a Mesa. This amp rocks really really hard, but if you back it off it will do what you want it to. If it doesn't just try something else, but I need to stock up on two or three more DC-5's so when I'm 80 I can still be happy.