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.

Loaded for mid 90's model year. Check other ads for exact features

My setup includes Gibson ES-325 1971, Fender Telecaster Plus 1990, Rickenbacher RB-360,VOX wah ,Boss Delay.Mainly my style is straight a head rock rythmn with no effects only the Boogie drive from the pull out of the clean channel with Boogie reverb at about 6.The crunch in the lead channel easily gives me more than my lead players 50 watt Marshall head and 2 x 12 Marshall cab. The Gidson /Boogie combo is especially sweet as is the Dual Lace sensor red humbucker on the Tele Plus. I have yet to find a sound that I really like on the Rickie thru the Boogie but the Rick is not my main guitar and rarely gets played.Poor Rickey just sits there and looks pretty.I play thru a 1 x 12 Boogie/Theile cab with a 90 watt Celestion Black Shadow. I have pulled the back off the cab as I found it too focused directionally. I have also used a Marshall 4 x 12 cab in the past and although it was fun , it was not my sound.I would like to try the new Boogie 2 x 12 cab .The DC-5 IS A LOUD AMP!. I wish it had a quarter or half power switch.I have heard that you can put a volume pedal in line in the effects loop and then crank the master to get your power tubes cooking. I have not tried this yet but will soon as that in my opinion is the best Boogie sound.
Overall the DC-5 IS EXTREMELY VERSATILE sound wise and for my straight ahead style of R@B/ rock my band allways packs the dance floor and gets many compliments on the fine sound.

Only had to change power tubes once in 1998. Havn't touched anything before or since.I never take a backup and have not needed one.

I have never used them although I do not like the fact that they won't reply to email. I live in Canada and phoning them for a question is a waste of money!

My first gig was in high school so I have been playing nearly 30 years. This is my second Boogie and I won't ever sell it. If lost or stolen I might try a different model. I do find the DC-5 HAS TOO MUCH POWER. I would look at other Boogies as the products are very good overall.The Boogie is not for everyone and you must take the time to find your sound with it.When I bought I treid everything from Marshall to Matchless, Vox to Fender , Soldano to Traynor and overall this is what got my cash. There are many many fine amps out there and no one is perfect. The DC-5 offered me the best feature/sound/price combo and I have never regretted the decision to buy it.

Features are listed in previous reviews, no need to go over this again

I use American Deluxe Fat Strat, Hamer Studio. I've played all kinds of music including the new rock. Been playing for 23 years. This is one of the best amps I've owned. Not noisy at all. Note this, you must try the Mesa 6l6 str 454's for this amp. Also, use thier 12ax7 russian 2's. I've tried everything in the book and I keep going back to these even in my Marshall. You'll hear a drastic difference in the complex harmonics of this amp. I almost sold it until I tried the 454's. Very warm and brown. The clean channel is clean as thier Mark 4. With the clean pulled and gain maxed it sounds very clean crunchy. Good for the Stones type of sounds. The Distortion will crush with the best of them for new rock stuff.

The best I've owned, I've owned it for 3 years and dropped it off my 4-12 on the front corner of the amp. My band mates acted like they saw a car accident. It did'nt break just dented the corner SLIGHTLY.
I made sure the tubes were all secure and turned it on. Worked perfectly! Love this company

Unreal, the best ever. I've called them in the past with questions about the tube locations and they've called me back within the day or no later than 24 hours. I recently blew a tube (remember - use thier 454's) for some reason I don't know, called customer service and got a message back within 4 hours that I'm all set because thiers are warranteed for 6 months. No questions asked, done deal, tubes will arrive soon. I think I'm a lifer on this company.

I will be looking into thier new Lonestar amp coming out soon! Thier new f-50 is great! Temptation is there. This amp is a super deal used if you can find one. I wish it had a bias switch for el 34s but what more do you want. I also own a Marshall dsl 50 head which is pretty good, but I keep going back to this one. The Marshall is mainly a backup until I get another Boogie.

Dual Caliber DC-5: 50 watts, all tube (two 6L6 power tubes and six 12AX7 preamp tubes), 2 channels (Rhythm & Lead) with "Pull Boost" on the Rhythm channel, footswitchable and channel assignable 5-band Graphic EQ, Effects Loop with mix level control, recording output with silent recording mute switch, headphone output, two 4 ohm speaker outs and one 8 ohm speaker out, slave out, Footswitch for channel switching and EQ on/off...The DC-5 was designed with the same Rhythm circuitry from the Mesa Mark IV and the same Lead channel as the Dual Recifier.

I use a 1995 Fender American Fat Strat and a PRS CE-22 with my DC-5: The Strat's bridge position humbucker sounds incredible, thick and warm. The Strat's single coil pickups excel on the Rhythm channel with the Clean and Pushed modes, but is lacking a little bit in output power to match the Lead channel. Clean and pushed sounds with the Strat are reminiscent of Fender (SRV, etc.). The PRS CE-22 is a perfect match for the DC-5. Clean channel is smooth and warm but tends to break up slightly at higher volumes (due mostly to the pickups on the PRS, not the amp). The Lead channel is good for anything where distortion is needed, from low gain blues leads to massive Rectifier crunch. When used with the assignable Graphic EQ, the Lead channel is unstoppable, and in my opinion sounds better than the Dual Rectifier itself. The DC-5 is crisp and clear and is one of the most versatile amps I've ever played. This amp is loud for only 50 watts, but is a little low on headroom at higher volumes. Other than that, this amp is sweet.

This is the most reliable amp I've ever owned. I dialed in the sounds I wanted with ease. This amp comes with me to all my gigs along with a Marshall 1960 cab with Celestion Vintage 30's. At low volumes the DC-5 excels with a 4x12. However, at bigger gigs where higher volume is needed, the DC-5 breaks up easily and it's 50 watts can easily be overcome. My best solution for this is to use a smaller speaker cab, such as the Carvin Legacy 2x12 (also with Vintage 30's). The cab is tight and punchy and will help the amp punch through rather than breaking up. As far as the amp itself, I have never had a problem with it. It is very well built.

Never had to contact the company.

I've been playing for 8 years. I currently own a 1972 Fender Twin Reverb and a Carvin Legacy 2x12 combo. The DC-5 blows the Legacy away. The DC-5 stomps on the Twin as far as raw power is concerned, and the DC-5's clean tones are right up there with the Twin. I've played through JCM-800's and Plexi heads which have a more defined crunch tone, but lack in the clean tones. The DC-5 excels in both.

50 Watt head (sounds like 100 watts)- Two Channels - All tube - Six preamp and Two power tubes - Effects Loop, Graphic and Parametric Equalization - Recording Output - Headphone Output - Switch on channel 1 for clean/crunch - Footswitch

The DC5 is one of the most versatile amps out there. Great clean tones right up there with Fender. Distortion can be dialed in from mild vintage style to brutal rectifier. Very warm sounding amp. Can easily compete with most other 100 watt amps in shear volume. I am running the DC5 into a Marshall 1960 4-12 cab loaded with Vintage 30's. I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio as well as a Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat. They both sound fantastic.

Never had any problems to date. Seems very solid in construction.

Never had to use them.

I have been playing 15 yrs. I have owned a number of Marshall combos as well as Marshall half stacks. I like the versatility of the DC5. Marshalls sound great overdrivin but lack a bit when it comes to clean tones. The DC5 gives you the best of both worlds. I highly recommend the DC5

This amp is in MINT condition. It's maroon in colour, which I've been told, is very rare. I know very little about Boogies, so it could be ancient...or new. I DO know that every guitar I play through this thing sounds the same. Strat...same as my Les Paul. I thank Christ that Hendriz didn't use a Boogie!!! If he HAD, we'd really never have heard true Stratocaster sounds coming from him. Listen to the first "Sea level" album. It's EXCELLENT....but the guitar sound is so fuzzy, and round.......so un-Strat-like. Strats have scooped mids. The Boogie fills it all in. Very un-deelish.
Ya'll KNOW what features this beast has!
I wish it had separate inputs for the clean and dirty channels. I'll just put the damned things in myself!! lol
This amp is used for sessions and concerts.

'61 Strat with mid-fifties Tele neck, 68 Les Paul '59 Sunburst
'55 GoldTop. Roland GR-1 Korg A3's.
I have to play all styles. This amp sounds like McDonald's burgers....everyone eats it up. It is almost adequate for clean sounds. Good God...I get a better clean sound from my mid-70's black Yamaha "Twin-looking" combo, and it's Solid State. For dirty...GIMME MY MARSHALL!!!! lol
You see...what comes out of the P.A. is NOTHING like what comes out of the amp speaker. Regardless of the brand or style of the microphone, the amps' sound is CHANGED. Anyone who disagrees.... go back to doing sound at the Ramada Inn. One thing I have to say about the Boogie, is that microphones seem to LOVE the sound they make. With my other rigs, I could have mind-blowing stage sound....and out front it'll be washed out. Plug the Boogie in, crank her up, and it's really THERE, and in the appropriate area of the sound spectrum. But it sounds generic, no bottom end, no top end, round mids....NO CHARACTER. Like I said before...every guitar sounds the same when played through these babies. Not to dump on Carlos...but his sound now is so....uh..."Rockman-like"...that it's nauseating. That's the Boogie for ya.
The Boogie is a good amp, no doubt about it. But if Randall Smith was a REAL guitar player (I don't mean a dope who OWNS 20 Pauls and Strats), he'd HEAR what's wrong. If he spent as much time PLAYING a Strat, as he did building amps...he'd REALLY know. Hey...if I spent as much time building amps as I did practising.....I'd be able to do it. We can't be everything, so we choose out path. Randall's is a most noble one. I respect that. But the sound just AIN'T THERE, baby!!

I've so rarely had gear go down that this is barely worth commenting on. Boogies are robust, so the added piece of mind is good to have. The sound is the most important consideration however. I will unload it the instant someone makes me the right offer. I'd be willing to pay for excellent sound...the reliability I already HAD. Ya know...I feel like I paid $120,000 for a Hummer...but really needed something that goes from 0 to 60 in 4 secondes and pulls .99 g's on the skidpad!!

The Boogie people are very supportive.

I've been playing for 40 years.
I'f it were stolen, I'd kick some thieving-ass. Then, thank them for saving me. And then, I'd rob that mother----er who stole it from me, take the $$ and buy a Marshall.
Why I like it: reliability, AND status (very shallow of me, yes...but...
(Phil Collins got the Genesis gig not because he was the best...but because he had the best jokes. That was what got him the gig. He is great, and so were the others who auditioned. But the jokes did it for him. So whatever edge we can get, we'd BETTER get. If a bunch of guys, me included, are vying for a high profile gig, and I'm hired because I have the best gear, that's good enough for me, dudes! They want McDonald's...they's gonna git it! lol
Why I dislike it: Generic "Rockman" sound.

- Amp was in production in early in 90's
- I use two of them with two Marshall 1960's to play big sound rock n roll (Sabbath, AC/DC,...etc).
- Two total independent footswitchable channels
- Playing out with a loud rock band professionaly, 50 watts sounds like 110watts
- Using two of them I have ground shaking power with enough wide range of tone using six preamp tubes (each head), master volume and a main 5 band eq

- Play a gary moore sig les paul with stock burstbucker bridge pickup.
- Quiet amp dist or clean when not playing.
- You can get this cutting tone but not compressed like a dual rec.
- Clean channel chimes at high volume
- I set the main eq (both channels) with the mids cranked and almost peaking treble and semi peaking bass.
- Distortion is very controllable but packs a rugged rawness thats hard to find with most amps in production now.

I would never play any amp without a backup, but over a years time on the road never have I had any problems but replacing tubes.

I was able to get the schematic from Boogie because the amp was out of production and out of warranty. Those guys will help you with anything but internal modifications.

I've played professionally for 5 years.
I would replace this amp if it where stolen.
I love this amp, I can't seem to find the tone primarily, and can't find the price secondarily.
To use two of these heads I made a circuit with DPDT Relays to use one stereo footswitch pedal that fits in a single rack space which will change channels on both heads at once and switch the main eq on both heads at once.

50 Watt head, two channels. Tubes: six 12ax7 in the preamp and two 6L6GC for the power amp. Parallel loop, graphic and parametric equalization, recording output, switch on channel 1 for clean/crunch. The only problem is that this switch is not driveable by pedal.

GREAT sound. Channel 1 goes from absolutely clean to hard distortion, with very much bite. Channel 2 is for distorted sounds only, but has more mids than the other one. The sound is very fat; you will have no problem obtaining any kind of distortion, for bluesy crunch to Metallica' s punch. No noise at all. Very loud, you would never believe it has 50 watts; on stage, the band will hear only you!!

No problems so far.

If it only had a footswitch to control the gain boost on channel 1, it would be perfect.

Many have already listed these. Standard tone and gain controls, push/pull on rhythm channel, master output level, graphic eq and footswitch. I use the EQ, which is foot switchable on/off, for extra gain for solos which is really nice because you can add additional high end to be heard above the rest of the band.

All in all it has everything I could want and nothing I don't.

I play through a host of guitars including 90's Les Pauls, SG, G&L Asat, 70's 335, 60's Gretsch, and Big Apple Strat. My styles range, but I'm a roots blues, rockability, rock and roll player at my core that does a lot of rock stuff.

The clean channel is very clean in my opinion and works for some of the ballads and rockabilly I play. Pulling out the gain on the rhythm channel gives you a slight overdrive similar to 70's Twin Reverbs which I previously owned. I've never had any issues with the guitar getting too much distortion on this channel.

The lead channel with the overdrive cranked works wonderfully for loud rock. Its less crunchy than you might get with some Marshalls but it's something I really like for the rock stuff I play most often.

Reverb is nice and clean and no noise.

I use a Marshall 1922 with Celestion Greenbacks as well as a 1960 slant cab. With the 1922, you get a very driven sound at lower volumes while the 1960 gives me a bigger sound than that.

I fully rely on this amp and have been using it with the current tubes since I got in 1997 (5 years now). It's been transported around for rehearsals and gigs and never gave me any trouble.

I did get some unwanted sounds for a short time which I found were coming from a bad cable that was losing its connections.

I've heard from other Mesa owners that these things just don't break down. Most of the problems come from old or bad tubes.

I've got to add that I've kept the original QC tag on the power cord. It's got the signatures of all the people involved in checking the amp out.

I've been playing for 22 years and really fallen in love with this amp. It's a good amp for most styles of music. If you want to get a real nasty crunch sound for metal, you will probably need a pedal to get you there, but the overdriven distortion is great for me.

I would definately buy Mesa again because as I've mentioned, it does everything I need it to do well.

They are pricey which is why I'll give them an 8 here. But most premium tube amps out there are close in price if not more.

The amp has all the features I could ask for, there is nothing I wish it had built in, in fact I don't use the Reverb or pull gain boost on the clean channel. Mine has a headphone jack which I don't use- the quality is inevitably much poorer than through a cab, but it doesn't even say it has a headphone jack in the manual I downloaded. I assume it's an older version of the amp. The graphic EQ is like having a third channel, in fact it's exactly how I would set up the third channel if it had one.

I'm playing a Gordon Smith G-60 (Les Paul) through it with a Duncan Distortion in the bridge. I play punk ska, which it suits perfectly. The clean is quite nice on it's own, but with the graphic EQ scooped it takes on a great sparkly acoustic tone which I use most of the time. In the distortion channel I have it set for a high gain Marshally overdrive which is good for Insomniac-era Greenday, which is my favorite sound on the amp. With the EQ I set it for in between NOFX and Less than Jake (mark 4-Recto) Which I use quite a lot as well. If necessary it can be extremely brutal when cranked.

It looks like it will last a long time, I don't know how old the tubes are but the only trouble I've had was a minor short causing the whole tube to glow red hot, which was solved by putting it on standby for a few minutes. When necessary I will replace the tubes with exactly the ones it currently uses (12AX7 and 6L6)

Never contacted them

I've been playing three years, I also own the Gordon Smith and a recto 2x12 cabinet. If it were stolen I would Buy one again, failing which I would look at a single rectifier or a mark 4.

1996 (newer style) head. This amp had all the features I was looking for to play live. I was A/Bing an old Super Reverb and a Soldano to get the best I could for both clean and distorted but it was just too much to manage two amps live. The Rectifier sounded great but really lacked the warmth on the clean side so I started shopping for an amp that could do both. The Carvin Legacy was my first pick until a friend turned me onto the DC-5. Two channels, both with identical controls including a gain and reverb setting. You can pull the gain on the clean channel pot to get an extra '70's overdrive type of boost. In addition it has a 5-band sliding EQ (foot switchable) that is like adding a BBE - it just expands to sound beyond explanmation.

I play Les Pauls and I like the "Big MESA" sound. This amp goes from Black Face Fender cleans to Rectifier with no comprimise. The only drawback I've had with the amp is that it's not designed to be played quiet. You have to turn it up to get the distortion to stop sounding fuzzy. Playing at practice level (with an acoustic drum set) is fine but for dinking around the apartment the distortion is a wash.

The amp was 5 years old and needed both preamp and power tubes replaced. I guess that's about right for a well used amp. Other than that, no grief.

MESA's customer support isn't always that swift for returning phone calls (I've heard this from others) but they got back to me within a day 2 of the 3 times I called them

I have owned one of every big amp at some point along the way. This is the second DC-5 I've purchased and in my opinion, there's not a better made of more versitile tube amp on the market. Not to say anything bad about MESA Boogie but the DC series is far superior to the Nomand series that has replaced it. If you think you want to buy yourself a new Nomad, save yourself several hundred dollars and buy a used DC-5 or DC-10 and $60.00 worth of new tubes.

Two channels, footswitchable, with a push/pull gain knob on clean channel. Others below have either had this modded or wished it were so from day 1. I agree. I must ask though, to those who have modded it, does you get an ugly volume boost when you hit the pushed? It would appear that they don't balance, hence not being on the footswitch. I'm in the dark though.

YOu know all the features.

It's a little limited [largely coz of that push/pull thing] because whilst yes it kicks ass clean and dirty, that's all it does. A third channel would be nice. I hear they've done that in the Nomads, with mixed results?

Ok if anyone actually reads this stuff I desperately want some feedback on it. You can find me at ddss@tig.com.au .. This amp was bought by me in part due to having heard from a million people that boogie build tanks. But this thing has failed on me numerous times. The first time I had the chassis entirely replaced [that was under warranty, thankfully] but this time is much less happy. First off, there's four little relay chips [why don't they just use normal switches? I'm not an electronics guy so I have NFI] that interact with the footswitch etc. One of them blew. Fine, blow away.. but tonite at a gig I got fire and smoke coming outta the power supply and one of the tubes resembled one of those light globe shows they have at the museum where you touch it and the light follows your hand. I'll go to the museum for that, not to a gig. I may be showing my ignorance and it could just be a stupid valve but I just had em all replaced etc and I think the bias is automatic on this amp. So if anyone else has had this kind of crap happen, let me know -please-.

I'm in Australia so it's an NA for me

great if it'd work for a week

Not exactly sure of the model year, but I'd guess it's mid 90's since that's when they stopped making these. This amp is totally versatile. It's capable of great clean sounds, dirty blues tones and bone crunching distortion. Has 2 channels, clean and distorted, with a gain boost on the clean channel. Also has a 5 band grapic EQ which is nice cuz it eliminates the need for my EQ pedal. Has everything I need in an amp.

This is the perfect amp for the hard rock style that my band plays. The tone on this thing blew me away the first time I played it. The clean channel sounds thick and warm and the distortion can go from bluesy crunch to hard rock muscle, and this thing has plenty of muscle. I use it with my two Ibanez guitars, a GAX70 equipped with DiMarzio humbuckers (evolution bridge, PAF pro neck) and a Talman with stock pickups (soon to be replaced). Either guitar sounds incredible through this amp. It's really good at bringing out the individual sound of whatever guitar you plug into it.

Haven't had a problem with it yet and don't really anticipate any major ones. It's out of warranty so if I have any problems I'll either fix it myself or have a good amp tech do it.

haven't dealt with Mesa/Boogie yet, but I need to see about getting a footswitch so we'll see what happens.

Overall, I'd say this is a very well built amp. The previous owner toured a lot with this one so it's seen lots of action. Even so, it still works great. For the price, I couldn't ask for a better amp. Heard these used to retail for like $1300 so this was one hell of a find. If someone stole this head from me, I'd have to track them down, beat the living hell outta them, and then take my amp back. I'd definitely buy it again. In fact, I might buy another one to use as a backup if I can find another. If you play any kind of rock music and need a great sounding head, do yourself a favor and get one of these if you can find one. You won't regret it.

bought this used on ebay. it was made maybe around 97? this head is very versitile, although the mesa boogie high gain sound suits had rock/metal better than anything else. this head has three channels. the clean channel, the dirty channel which is activated by a push pull knob on the gain knob of the clean channel, and the roaring distortion channel. seperate eq for both channels (the dirty channel assumes the eq of the clean). bass, middle,treble, prescence, gain, volume and reverb for each channel, and then a seperate master volume knob to turn up the whole shindig. effects loop. imputs for 4ohm, 4ohm, and 8 ohm cabs. silent recording out, headphone jack etc. this has it all. and of course the graphic eq. im not good with alot of knobs. i go crazy.... its not even a graphic eq its more of a i dunno what to call it. all the knobs are wacky as all mesas. i play with them for 6 hours and play guitar for 5. i have one problem with this amp, the dirty channel is not footswitchable. you can footswitch reverb and both clean and distortion, but you can activate the dirty channel. i believe one of the reviews below has a guy that said he got a mod to be able to do this. considering i play very dynamic indie rock and sometimes a bit of metal or punk rock type stuff, it would be great to activate all channels. im not into backing off the volume knob..

i use a 72 gibson sg standard, mini humbukcers i think. the frets need work so it doenst sound as good as it should. but it sounds good. im still fooling around with the knobs.... still trying to pinpoint it. i get sick of it but im sure it will be worth it. the clean i got so far, it sounds awesome and doesnt break up at all. . the distortion is heavy. breaks up differently than marshalls, which im used to. i like it though. very versitile amp.

looks tough. looks mean.

havent talked to them. they have helpful manuals on their page.

been playing for 4 or 5 years. i have a msrahll jcm 900 im borrowing. i like jcm 800s, i have a sovtek 50 watt. sovteks are ace. id buy this again if it was 550 of course! try this. sounds good. hands down loudest amp ive owned. louder than my marshall 100 watts

Dual channel, rhythm and lead with a pull boost knob (gain) on the rhythm channel. Also, a master volume, well, it's called "output level", which controls the overall volume of both channels, very cool because you can get really good sound at moderate volumes. Five band EQ assignable to rhythm and lead channels or lead only. Two 6L6's in the main power section and 6 12ax7's in the preamp section. Effects loop on the back as well as recording and headphone outputs. I bought the amp new about a year and a half ago and have used it primarily for recording and have jammed with friends a few times with it. I came close to getting rid of it a few times when I first started using it because it's definitely not just a plug and play amp. It takes time to learn the nuances of how various tonal and volume settings affect the overall sound. Once I spent the time to get to learn how to get what I wanted I was and have been extremely happy with it.

My primary guitar is a DeArmond JetStar and I also have a Carvin SC90 and a Fender California Fat Strat with a Dimarzio PAF Pro. Basically, I prefer humbuckers with a bright, cutting sound. The DeArmond has particularly bright humbuckers and single notes on the high e and b strings chime like bells. I get what is, for me, an absolute perfect rhythm crunch. I like my rhythm sound to be clean enough so soft picking/strumming allows chords to retain their character while being right on the edge of breaking up. Also, when I want to bear down and get the strings flopping around and pushing the amp I want to be able to get a nice, warm, crunchy distortion which this amp has in spades. The lead channel, for me at least, is really only useful for, drum roll please, single note lead stuff (hence, why it's called the "lead" channel, duh). Notes sustain for days and there's all kinds of nice skronking harmonics dancing around all over the place...nice. There is a caveat here, though, you HAVE to spend time with this amp to be able to get what you want, it's definitely there, but, you have to get to it (which is why I give it an 8, I don't like to work, dammit!).

Guessing, based on Mesa's rep and the way this thing is built it will last a long, long time without any significant problems.

I had to order a footswitch from them and received it in a few days, no problems. Really haven't dealt with anyone regarding a problem though.

I've been playing now for twenty-five years and own a Carvin Vintage33 combo as well as a Marshall Valvestate 30W combo (have to do a bit of travelling for work and the Marshall is a good hotel room amp). Since I've spent the time to get to know this amp and can tweak my ideal sound out of it, I'd probably buy it again, although, I played a Bhudda combo which I liked a lot which I might consider, but, overall, my Mesa freaking kicks the llamas ass overall.

LOOK BELOW FOR THE FEATURES AND SUCH. I PUCHASED THIS AMP IN EARLY 2000. IT WAS USED, BUT IN MINT CONDITION. THIS IS THE MOST VERSITLE HEAD I HAVE EVER OWNED. IT CAN BE SUPER CLEAN, TO RECTIFIER DIRTY.
THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD MAKE THIS AMP BETTER IS IF THE PULL KNOB ON THE CLEAN CHANNEL COULD BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE CHANNEL SWITCHER. AND DONT LET THE FACT THAT THIS AMP IS ONLY 50 WATTS FOOL YOU. TO GET TO ANY AMPS SWEET SPOT YOU HAVE TO CRANK IT, SO THIS AMP GETS A LOT SWEETER, AT A LOT LOWER VOLUMES. AND YOU DONT DROWN OUT THE REST OF THE BAND, OR GO DEAF IN THE MEANTIME! AND 50 WATTS FROM MESA IS LOUDER THAN MOST OTHER COMPANIES 120 WATTS. I NEVER TURN THIS AMP UP PAST 4 ON THE MASTER, AND 5 ON THE INDIVIDUAL CHANNEL LEVELS.

I PLAY AN ASSORTMENT OF IBANEZ GUITARS THROUGH THIS AMP. AND EVEN IN THE SUPER DIRTY CHANNEL THE CHARACTER OF THE INDIVIDUAL GUITARS COME THROUGH. I PLAY FROM P-FUNK TO EAST COAST OLD SCHOOL HARDCORE TO METAL TO EMO. THIS AMP DOES IT ALL, VERY WELL!! THIS AMP IS THE BEST OF ALL THE MESA AMPS COMBINED. IT HAS THAT SWEET CLEAN TONE OF THE MARK 4 TO THE MODERN DISTROTION OF THE RECTOS. AND SOMETHING THAT THE RECTOS HAVE SORELY MISSED, UNTIL LATELY, CHANNEL SPECIFIC REVERB!!! MY PERSONAL FAV DISTORTION TONE IS THE RECTO DISTORTION. BUT IT RULES IN THE FACT THAT THE MARK 4 CLEAN IS SO MUCH NICER THAN ANY CLEAN FOUND IN A RECTO HEAD. I HAVE KNOWN MANY PLAYERS TO OWN THIS SAME MODEL OF
HEAD, AND WE ALL HAVE DUG IT. THE REVERB IS NICE, IT HAS A SMOOTH TAIL AND ISNT SUPER BOINGY LIKE OLD FENDER REVERBS.

I GIG WITHOUT A BACKUP. JUST ALWAYS TAKE EXTRA TUBES AND FUSES TO THE SHOW. NOT CAUSE THE AMP IS FLAKY BUT CAUSE THE LITTLE CLUBS SOMETIMES HAVE CRAPPY WIREING.SINCE PURCHASING THIS AMP I HAVE GIGED ABOUT 3 TIMES A MONTH FOR 6 MONTHS, AND PRACTICED ALL IN BETWEEN, THIS AMP HAS ROCKED ON, NO PROBLEMS!!

TRIED TO CONTACT THEM, NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BACK?!? THEY MUST BE SUPER BUSY. BUT WITH EQUIPMENT THIS SOLID YOU HARDLY NEED ANY CUSTOMER SUPPORT!!

IVE BEEN PLAYING 15 YEARS AND I HAVE OWNED OTHER HEADS AND RACK GEAR. THIS PEACE BLOWS EVERTHING ELSE AWAY! I WOULD DEFINATLY BUY THIS AGAIN AND HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT BUYING ANOTHER, JUST TO KEEP AT THE HOUSE. I COMPARED THIS AMP TO TONES OF OTHER AMPS FROM SEVERAL OTHER COMPANIES. FOR THE $ AND THE TONE, THIS CANT BE BEAT. AND ON A FINAL NOTE, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I BELIEVE THAT MESA DISCONTINUED THIS AMP CAUSE IT WAS ORIGIONALLY MEANT TO GET PEOPLE INTO OTHER, MORE EXPENSIVE MESA GEAR, BUT WHEN PEOPLE FOUND OUT HOW MUCH THIS AMP RULED AND HOW MUCH MORE VERSITILE IT WAS, THE PLAYERS JUST DECIDED TO STICK WITH THE DC-5. (THE NOMAD SERIES IS NOTHING LIKE THE DC SERIES, I PERSONALLY DONT LIKE THE NOMADS AT ALL.)