Mesa/Boogie Formula Preamp

This is a follow up to an earlier review.

It sounds nice and clean. That's all. It's a one channel preamp, with two non functioning silent channels called lead 1 and lead 2.
This amp has seen not more than 10 hours of actual orperation. It worked once, like it was supposed to, but not anymore.

After about using it for no more than a total of 15 hours, the preamp has failed on me. When I first got it, the Foot switch was acting a little screwed up as regards to the LEDs lighting up.
No problem, it still switched channels. Now, it only has a clean channel, and the footswitch is working 100%. There are no lead channels anymore, just silence and a clean channel, although the preamp appears to have switched channels. When it's supposed to be running the lead channels, no sound is being produced.

I just called them on my Formula. They don't answer their phones for anything but sales. You have to leave a message. I want satisfaction, or this is war. Bottom line.

It sounded fine. I used it ocasionally, but I have 5 other amps that I use most of the time, including one Mesa Boogie amp from the late 80s. I rarely used it, and it worked fine the first 6 or 7 times. Yesterday, it was only a clean channel, it was dead in the lead channels even before I turned it on, and it did not fail on me the last time I used it. I replaced the tubes...but it wasn't the tubes.
I am terribly dissappointed in this device. I should have had second thoughts about buying a Mesa product when two of their amps failed, within seconds, at the store when I was trying them. A Maverick and a Heartbreaker. I assume Mesa has no money,(or they wouldn't be foisting off untested junk, like the Heartbreaker, the Maverick and the Formula on the professional musicians who once trusted in their products.), so a recall of all their defective products is not an option for them. I wonder what they are going to do about it? I told them to send me the schematic so I can repair it myself.

My Formula was ordered just after it was shown at NAMM. My faceplate finish looks a bit different than the new ones I started seeing in the stores. Serial # is very low. I use it in two different bands playing very different styles of music. I have it in a rack with a DBX compressor, a BBE, a Lexicon MPX-1 and a Simul 2:90. I DO NOT USE the effects loop........instead, I opted to try a suggestion in the manual and bypass the loop and daisy chain to the amp. I use the clean channel exclusivly in one band and I use a variety of guitars. An American Standard Strat, PRS, a DANO 12 string. Obviously some minor tweaking is required but nothing very outrageous. In the second band, I use the Lead 1 channel 99% of the time.

I've owned many amps including Rivera, Marshal, and A Mesa Mark IV. I currently own a 65 Fender Deluxe and to honest, this rig has a terrific clean tone. READ THE MANUAL!! I'm a huge fan of the BBE as it has a tremendous effect on the clarity of tone. I do use this process minimally though. (Slight boost in the BASS/cut in the treble of "process"). In a live setting, with a band, this pre has as good a tone as my '65. It is a bit noisy but most high-gain tube amps are. I am FANATICAL about noise. NOTHING was as noisy as my 5150. My gear is racked using monster cable, those hum-frees things and Ive eliminated any possible ground loops buy making my own power cords. This rig is very quiet. THe LEad 1 channel is my fav. Seems to have the smoothest overdrive for my taste. The lead two channel is a bit shrill for my taste but I can use the EQ to get an acceptable sound for me. I run the EQ all the time for my LEAD 1 tone. This amp in my opinion does all but the heaviest of tone very well. To get the sound a bit thicker, I use a marshall bluesbreaker pedal in the boost mode.

No problems whatsoever. It is difficult to get a live tech on the phone on the first call, but MB have returned my calls 100% of the time. In fact, I've had a few extended conversations that were very informative. Always friendly and willing to spend whatever amount of time necessary to please the customer. Truly a great bunch of people.

SEE above!

I've been playing over 20 years. My only problem is that I can't get that Rectifier Gain I was Looking for. But then again, If you want the RECTO GAIN, just buy the RECTO. There is no other substitute. Other than this small quibble, I'm VERY satified with this Unit.

This peamp has the 3 most required sounds, plus an optional fourth. One incredible "black face" clean channel. One dirty channel, and one screaming Lead channel.

Also, dedicated recording channel seperate from Live Channel. Very cool! Great for direct recording!!

Ok here is the Current arsenal. I am playing mostly ESP guitars, although I can not get rid of my strats. The Formula is running into: --->a Rocktron Replifex, --->BBE 462 (more later)---->Mesa/Boogie 50/50 Power amp ---> Marshall Cabinets. Every guitar has been hotrodded to get a really hot sound when in the bridge position and a very smooth warm sound in the neck position.

Here is my FIRST reccomendation. Read the owners manual before plugging into the preamp. Why!?!?! Becuase I though mine was broken at first! The clean channel sounded great, but when I went to the dirty channel I was incedible dissappointed. I messed the with controls for an hour and gave up. Called Mesa/Boogie and embarrassed myself.

What I came to find is, the controls are set different than the norm. What I mean by this is, the settings I was using on my prior setup are no where close to where the settings are on this setup. I had to re-think everything. The settings are different becuase Mesa does some interesting things with the routing of sound through the AMP. This is all described in the manual.

The problem I was having is, I couldn't get the gain up enough to get a decent crunch. I am by no means a Shred/Molten gain only freak, but I do like a good crunchy sounds when working on leads or heavy rythym. At first, I could only get a warmer Bluesy type lead. The most amount of distortion I was getting could only compare to the tune "Smoke on the Water". That's It. After some reading in the manual........ I did find the sound I wanted.

After reading the manual and trying out some of the reccomended settings, I now have the sound I have been searching tirelessly for. This is it! I am very happy. The key is, setting the output levels very low. Also, be very careful with the Bass/Mid/TReble settings. They are very sensitive and make huge changes in your sound. IT will take you a few weeks of playing to get it just right.

Also, try to avoid playing this through a solid state power amp. It just diesn't have the power and body that a good tube amp will have. Mesa reccomended this to me, and they were very right. There reccomendation wasn't some crooked way to get me to spend more money. I rented a Boogie 50/50 first to see if they guy on the phone was screwing with my head. He wasn't the sound was very dry through the solid state power amp. The boogie gave me the Creed/Limp Bizcuit sound I have been trying to find for over 10 years.

When reccording, use a sonic maximizer (i.e. BBE/ Rocktron/ Alesis/ whatever). The dirty sound came across as kinda "buzzy" and compressed. After running it through the BBE and then into the board, I had no problems. Sounds really good.

Moral of the story: Read the Damn manual you loser!

Yep. So far so good. Old rig is being used for backup (just in case) It only takes once, with no backup, to promise yourself that it will never happen again.

I have had this unit for about 3 months with no problems so far.

Customer support was good once I got through. I reccomend going to them via E-mail. Waiting on hold really sucks when it is long distance. I don't mind a long distance phone call when I am actually talking to someone intelligent, but "being on hold" is no fun.

They were responding to E-mail within a day.

Feel free to drop me an e-mail, if you have questions. I am more than willing to help.

Overall, I wouldn't trade this in for anything else on the market. If you have the cash to get one of these (and a tube power amp) then go for it. You wont regret it. Don't take my word for it. Go to your local guitar shop and try it out.

This is a follow up to my earlier review.
Since the warrenty expired..I have been putting my usual tube compliment into the Formula..with results worth jumping up and writing about. This thing kicks ass..my rig sounds better than any of the amps I have heard, and I own Soldanos, other Boogies, and VHTs and my friends, who get fancy amps from their endorsers, are astounded that their $8000 Custom Soldano amps don't sound as good.

This is great...it's the best sounding preamp I've played through in the 20 years I have been a full time musician. See my previous review..and then double the rating.

It hasn't broke yet.

Who knows?

This is the best sounding preamp for the money, once you get at least one good tube in there to replace the first preamp tube, or the driver tube. If it were stolen or lost..I still have other amps. I compared it to the Tri-Axis..the JMP-1, the Phiranna, the whatever.
I used to remember how the Tri-Axis sounded, but..the sound of this Formula has superceded it. With the stock, first postion tube..it was muddy and saggy..now it's clear, full fidelity and ultra responsive. I love it.

1999 Model. 3 channels. 4 including the push/pull pot on channel 1. Channel switching foot pedal included. Effects loop (mono in & stereo outs). The usual treble, mids & bass with the addition of a 5 band graphic E.Q. Separate E.Q.'s would be nice, but not at the expense of the single rack space size.

Les Pauls, Strats with singles and humbuckers, acoustic guitars. Both picks and finger picking used. I play covers and originals and I need versatility. This amp covers them well. I run it through a Digetech effects unit and into a Mesa 20/20, which drives a stereo Marshall 4-10 cab.

I use all 3 channels often in both a rhythm and a lead role. I tried to use one of the channels as a boosted channel for leads, but that did not do much for me on the clean channel. I ended up setting all three channels to a similar volume and I use the EQ as a volume/presence boost. This configuration has worked very well for me.

I did have some issues with running my effects through the built in effects loop. I tried many things, but I kept getting odd behavior (humming, squealing, etc). I run the outputs of the Formula through the effects, then to the 20/20 amp. This works just fine and I have no issues.

The clean channel is excellent. I could not improve it. I think that the crunch (B) channel works well and is easy to adjust from a slight bite to a heavy chunk. The distortion channel can get out of hand sometimes as it can get VERY compressed (I am sure that this is by design?some buddies of mine love it) and it seems to flatten out the tone too much. I use it on a few heavy songs and have found that if I use a separate compressor to drive it a bit more I can turn down some of the gain on the amp. This buys me the same punch without losing too much tone.

It has been very reliable. My rack has fallen a few times (including face-down without the covor on) with no issues. I use it without a backup for I am not wealthy. No service needed as of yet.

N/A...never needed to speak with them.

I have been playing on and off for 20 years and I could not even begin to mention the gear that I own. I think that 3 separate amps can outperform this one, but I purchased it because I liked the 3 *very usable* channels in a single rack space. After living with it and tweaking it for a while I have grown to love it. I would replace it if I needed to. I do wish that it had better (well, industry standard) MIDI implementation (I would like to control it with my effects as well remotely). I would also like to see a switch on the footswitch for the clean channel boost that is on the amp face.

This amp does exactly what it was designed to do, and it does it well.

About as much as you could possibly cram into a one rack space. Nice parallel effects loop (tube driven). Assignable eq. 4 button footswitch. EQ sharing on 2 and 3, but assignable eq adds flexibility.

I'm using the formula w/ a PRS Custom 24. I've got a Scholz chorus, Peavey ValveVerb and Chandler Echo in the loop. Rhythm channel is unbelievable - the best I've heard in a direct recording device. Then you jump to buzz, fizz, and finally to violin heaven. Although this machine can do the cranked Twin sound, it has a hard time giving you that and a nice Marshall and a nice Boogie on 1, 2, and 3 like you want. Channel 2 tends to be a little boxy, like Eliminator era ZZ Top. Will soon be trying an AT7 to mellow out channels 2 & 3. Channel 3 is awesome, very dynamic, especially w/ the eq. As others have mentioned, this unit does hum. Still looking for the perfect solution to that problem.

This is not a unit you can set and forget. Put in the car and the sound will change. Temperature affects it. Sometimes it hums, sometimes it doesn't. As w/ all M/B products, extremely well made.

Nice folks. When you get through you're talking to the guy who probably tested your amp. Knowledgeable and helpful.

Still looking for the ultimate guitar recording set-up. Bought a Tech 21 Trademark 10, which is unreal. I find myself wondering what a Trademark 60 is like. I still really want to like this pre-amp. I would be happy to correspond w/ others in similar circumstances.

It has all you could need in terms of connectivity, even some input for a midi controller in order to sync the channels and EQ switching with you favorite midi units.

I play a Fender Strat Ultra, the one with two pickups near the bridge. I play in funk/rock/blues trio as the lead singer and ... Guitar player... ;)
The reason I first tried this thing was that I needed a three channels unit. A clear sound, a dirty sound and a very overdriven sound.
The first thing I've tried was the clean channel, and I immediately fell in love with it. I had the sound I was looking for some time, this fender like sound, a bit like SRV. I loved it. I tried the other channels, I was not impressed but I was charmed by the clean one, I bought it right away. When experimenting it at home, I found that there was no way I could enjoy the other channel. Not enough bright, however I was setting the EQ, it couldn't make it.
It was really disappointing.
Then I've tried to plug it into my Pod, and God ! It was so cool !Again the clean channel again was good. I still haven't found a way to make the other channel sound correctly, but it doesn't matter now. I have bought the Pod Pro, into which I run my Mesa Boogie, and I feel like the happiest guitar player on Earth. I use the Pod Pro as sophisticated overdrive unit, but what's cool is that whatever my settings are in the Pod Pro, I can always hear My mesa tone through which gives the all thing a very singular personnality.

It's been 6 month of intense playing through it. It looks like it won't fail me tomorrow. The stompbox that comes with it looks very reliable too.

Can't tell, never called them.

I just love the clean channel of this thing. I could play through it for hours without stopping being marveled. I admit the price is quite high, especially for someone who like me just use one channel !! But the clean channel is worth buying this unit. it has given my sound a very nice personnality. I haven't found a way to make the two other channels sounds good, but it doesn't mean it can't sound good.
You can hear my Mesa through a Pod V1 in the song called Cristal at http://music.francemp3.com/slone

I have a tip for all who may be considering buying 1 of these... D O N T I love mesa products, but something seriouly went wrong with this box, used byitself I couldnt get it to sound good no matter what I tried, then I linked it to a Mesa 20/20 Amp unfortunately, same result. I have owned the rack V-Twin pre 20/20 amp combination for yrs now , I L O V E them!! Anyways do yourselves a favor... buy a rack V-twin on ebay etc for 200 to 300 dollars, and let some other poor sucker blow 700+ on the formula! I REALLY wanted to like the formula, but it was a HUGE letdown:( Actually if u really want KILLER tone buy a 20/20 AND a V-twin rack used, both will still be less money than a formula alone:) OK Im done preaching

3 channels, EQ, Footswitch, 5 12AX7 tubes, 1 rack space, could use seperate Bass, Mid, and Trebble knobs for the 2nd lead channel...

This amp sounds awesome! If someone cannot get a good sound out of it, there is probably a problem with another part of their rig. The channels do sound average without the EQ engaged, so I highly recomend using it all of the time. I play several customized guitars, Gibson, Ibanez, and a few others. They all have emg pickups and are run through 2 amps, the first is a JCM2000 TSL half-stack, and the other is the Formula Pre powered by a 50/50 Boogie poweramp. This side also goes through an intellifex (stereo) for all of the effects except volume (ernie ball), wah (vox), and slight overdrive (tubescreamer), which are all on the floor. The setup is very quiet, the only problem was that when the lead channel is engaged and I use the tuner output jack from the ernie ball volume pedal, there is a considerable increase in noise. It is probably a ground hum, but the switches didn't fix it, but I doubt this is related to the formula pre. I play melodic progressive styles of music and this amp certianly gave me what I required. The clean tone is amazing, especially with some chorus added. Lead 1 is more of a rhythm type of dist., but I prefer it to lead 2. The dynamics and clarity on all channels are all outstanding and preserved even at high volumes. The distortion is smooth, sustain is clear and long, and notes are clearly diferentiated. This is a very versitile amp, and I have seen people use this same pre/power amp combo for blues/southern rock and the user was completly satisfied with this combo. I would recommed this amp for anyone, no matter what style. The formula's lead 1 channel is just as good as a dual rectifier, and it has a clean tone that is far superior to a lead rectifier, plus the stereo path allows more options. Mesa has put out a great product, and the EQ on this really sets it appart from the rest.

Hell yeah, this amp is dependable! The power amp is the other half, and that is also boogie, so I have nothing to worry about. I will probably replace the tubes with Svetlantas when the warranty expires, because doing so before would void it. I woulden't bring a backup to a gig, especially since my setup has the marshall JCM 2000 TSL incorporated anyway.

Everyone and their mother knows that mesa cares about the customers more than anyone, I have contacted them several times, they have always replied shortly with very helpful explanations and even faxed diagrams and setups to me. They are great.

This amp is awesome, even the footswitch (included) has the smoothest, most trouble free operation one could ever wish for. I compared this to a dual rectifier, a marshall JCM 2K, a triaxis, a PSA-1 and an ADA. This one's features came out on top. If it were stolen, I'd reach for my 12 gage and go huntin, shot the culprit it the genatles, crucify them in an inverted position, re-install my preamp and blast their ears with dual marshall cabs until internal bleeding from their head caused them to drown in blood from the inside. Then I'would go golfing. No, really, I'd buy it again and install a car alarm on the fukker. I love this amp, and it does the job great, and for $800 + $700 more for a power amp, you can't get much more.

3 channels. 4 including the push/pull pot on channel 1. Channel swithcing foot pedal included. Effects loop (mono in & stereo outs). The usual treble, mids & bass with the addition of a 5 band graphic E.Q. 5 Beatiful glowing tubes exposed from the back.

I play through a JS 1000, JS chrome boy, Steve Vai Jem777BFP, 2 Fender Strats, & an Ibanez JPM. I prefer fussion or very melodic styles of music. No Heavy Metal! My rig consists of Tri-axis, JMP-1, Mesa 2:90 simul-class, Lexicon MPX-1, Mesa Midi-Matrix, Ground Control, DBX compressor, TS-9 Tubescreamer, & T.C. Electronic 2290 delay pushing a Mesa rectifier 4x12 on 1 side and a Semour Duncan 4x12 on the otherside. I use the midi-matrix and ground control to switch between the tri-axis & the JMP-1. Unfortunately, with only 1 decent sound coming from the Marshall JMP-1, it was never worth switching from the tri-axis to the jmp-1. So I bought the Formula to replace the JMP-1. It turned out to be an excellent investment. While it was no surprise that the formula blew away the JMP-1, what I didn't expect was for it to end up being comparable to the tri-axis. The cleans are crystal clear. Distortions are more than enough to satisfy the most discriminating tone-geeks. If the cleans or the distortions don't satisfy, please: don't thrash an awesome unit. Remember a rack system is only as good as its weakest link. Try using a better Power-Amp or better Speakers. If you can't get an awesome tone from the fomula, there is something wrong elsewhere. I experienced no noise problems whatsoever. The lows were very tight and the highs very focused. Endless sustain (with a little help from the TS-9)& excellent harmonics. Very smooth vintage sounding distortion on channel 2 and a very tight focused overdriven distortion on channel 2. My brother plays through a Mesa Heartbreaker and its very obvious that the formula was designed with the Heartbreaker in mind.

Can't say yet, although my tri-axis has never had a problem yet. (I've had it for about 1 year.) I've only had the formula for a couple of weeks, but I imagine Mesa Boogie, with the reputation they have, didn't cut any corners when they built the Formula.

I have called mesa boogie 2 or 3 times in the past and was very happy to find they were extemely service oriented, curteous and very knowledgable. I was never able to get through on the first call, however, they returned my call everytime within 24 hrs.

I have been playing guitar about 14 yrs. I have been buying and selling gear from day one and was never satisfied entirely with an amp or rack system until the day I purchased my 1st piece of Boogie gear. My first amp from bbogie was the dc-5. I was blown away with the quality and more important the tone generated from such a small combo amp with only 50 watts and 1 speaker. From then on it's been almost magical. One awesome amp after the other. Everytime I play through a boogie its an inspiration and I sound twice as good through a boogie than any other amp. Hands-Down!