Mesa/Boogie Rocket 44

Well, many amps have only one eq so I won't knock any points off for that, but I will however say that opening in back is way too small for the foot switch. I don't know how many times I've hit my power tubes with it.

I play a fender tele with seymour duncans in it. I've swaped the black shadow for a eminence "the wizard" speaker and when tubes were gone I replaced with "tad" el84's. The sound is wicked! clean from heaven and the breakup is fenderish more so.

I do gig without a back up, but as with any tube amp routine tube checks are a must.

n/a

I would replace with another mesa because the rocket 44 is not production, one with an eq for each channel.

45 watt tube head. EL84 power section. Very simple layout, one channel, three modes. The modes are footswitchable. The amp is used for recording.

My main guitars are an Ibanez Roadstar Strat and Gibson SG both with humbuckers. The amp suits my eclectic styles quite well, providing great tone on all types of material. It's outstanding feature for me is the lead contour mode at high gain settings for solo use, a soulful singing voice which at high volume becomes a very aggressive screaming howl with tons of harmonics and plenty of controllable feedback. This is quite a loud amp and it sounds huge with a 4x12 cab.

I have owned many Mesa amps, and lots of other brands. Mesas are built as tough as anything I have ever owned, including Marshall, Fender, Budda, Orange, and many others. I would gig with a Mesa with no backup.

I have dealt with Mesa on several occasions, anything from tech questions to serial number research and they have always been knowledgeable, helpful and friendly to me.

I have been playing for thirty years. I own several amps and have owned dozens. If my Rocket was stolen, I would follow the thief home and beat him over the head with the amp and take it back home with me. I love its tone, versatility and rugged build. I chose this amp for it's sound above all else. It is one of my two all-time favorite amps.

Don't know the year, this amp is very warm, all tube, clean is warm sounding, unlike fender clean which is too clinical for my ears. I mostly play blues, classic rock, some shredding this amp can do all of those fairly well.
Problem, shared EQ, this is a shortcoming that could be tip the balance
towards not getting this amp for some.
It has 2 channels?? and a third setting called "CONTOUR" that I never use so can't comment on it, comes with a footswitch, effects loop, and headphone jack, with a mute/recording switch. If it a graphic EQ this amp would be perfect. I use it for practice and rehearsals, I haven't gigged it yet but it's loud enough so it should be right on the money..

I can get very bluesy sounds, and high gain tones as well, with everything in between. The clean does break up not sure exactly when..
This amp can do a lot of other amps, the gain and Master controls allow you to a wide pallete of distorted and overdriven sounds. I swear I can get a very credible plexy breakup, awesome!!!

Distortion can get very metal if the GAIN control is turned up to high, but it has so much gain that you don't really need that much gain anyway to get warm blues tones. I use a Les Paul Std with stock humbuckers and a OLP Luke with active pick ups, I use minimal effects with this amp and it responds beautifully to my touch, I love the meaty thick tone that is so musical without a hint of nastiness is that makes any sense. It is a bit noisy. So it would be a pain in the recording studio..

Can't tell yet.

Can't say,

I have been playing for nearly 20 years and I own a Gibson Les Paul Std, a OLP Luke a Mesa MKIII Simulclass some pedals and rack mount units.
I'd get another yes, this amp HAS tone, when properly dialled in, the secret is in the gain/master/eq settings. I hate the crappy reverb, I think it's solid state unit , can'r barely hear it, should have a sprig reverb unit really and graphic EQ..

I compared this amp to a Laney VC12 class A, a Peavey Valve king and it won hands down, it has real smooth tube overdrive distortion unlike the Peavey (harsh) and the Laney which sounded farty..

No need to go through all the features again. I'm giving it a low rating for features because of the shared EQ. BUT, it's an amp - and that's it. No BS. It could be considered a good thing.

I run a les paul style guitar made from mapel and mahogany, equipped with a dimarzio fred humbucker in the bridge. I use a carvin wah and a marshall compressor going into the amp, and a Boss GE7 EQ and an Ibanez DL10 delay in the FX loop. This amp can do all. I have to run a Boss EQ in the FX loop (so it's post distortion) with a mild low frequency boost, because the drive channel lacks bottom end in conrtrast to the nice fat clean channel. The contour is good for metal, but I wanted that nice "middy" sizzling drive tone to beef up a little with a 100-200Hz boost. Problem solved with the boss EQ in the FX loop. I'm not sure why people are saying the clean channel isn't "clean" enough - Why buy a high gain amp if you want sterile clean sounds? It's brilliant, you can get clean enough, and turn that gain up and it starts to break up just nicely. I replaced the stock tubes with JJ's, but then went back - I can't decide which is better. In my opinion the Mesa tubes produce really interesting overtones on the drive channel when used with my dimarzio fred, whereas the JJ's aren't quite the same. The differences are subtle, so I'm not sure what the dude that said it makes all the difference was talking about. Perhaps his stock tubes were faulty? Some retard has put a Marshall 12AX7 pre tube in it, 2 groove tube 12AX7's and one stock Mesa 12AX7 - so I will have to change that. So I will replace them and slightly improve my tone no doubt.

I haven't owned it long enough to have any major problems. One of the stock Mesa power tubes went microphonic on me - but no big deal, just replace - AND NOW BIAS ADJUSTING!!! How cool is that.

Never had to deal with them.

I'm giving it a 9 over all because this amp is so versitile for its size. It would get a 10 if the drive channel wasn't weak in the bottom end - does anyone else have that problem? email me if you want to discuss ways around it. If it were stolen I would cry and I wouldn't be able to afford another one. I do wish the EQ wasn't shared between both channels. My previous amp was a Fender Ultimate Chorus DSP (no tubes), and well, there is no comparison even though I did love my Fender amp.

I got this in 1998 or 99 I think - it must have been an early one as it shipped with an 80w Celestion Black Shadow instead of a 30w. Like others have said the 2 foot-switchable channels with contour on the lead is great and very versatile. for an amp in this price range, one can't expect separate tone controls of the 2 channels, but sure wish it had 'em as they sound very different and are hard to switch between during live performances. In their own right, the tones can be dialed in, but chances are, a tone setting in the clean will sound terrible on the lead channel. Otherwise, a nice array of things like headphone out, speaker switch off, included footswitch and effects loop.

I play a variety of guitars from a 70's LP to an Ozark instruments electoacoustic. I'm giving this a 'post-retube' 9. Otherwise, the way I got it, it would get a 6 at the most. First of all, the stock tubes downright suk! The amp was dead and cardboardy unless you cranked it to ear-splitting volumes (and yes this thing is LOUD). It took me years to realize it was the tubes. I recently put in JJ's from eurotubes.com and it made a world of difference: I cannot stress how much! I don't want to sound like a commercial for Bob at eurotubes, but I love the way this amp sounds now. The clean channel sparkles and the lead channel crunches and sears, but oddly enough is very clear in terms of hearing all the notes. Oh and another suggestion from eurotubes: change out that stock BS speaker (pun intended). for my taste it's way too dark and has way too much dope (sticky stuff at the perimeter). the result is a dead sound, that works sometimes for jazz. go for the weber bluebell with the jj tubes and this amp will be literally unbelievable sounding.

it's gone to gigs, fallen off a chair, played in a recording studio where punk rockers dimed on a daily basis, and moved between several states in the hot trunk of a car, and never missed a note. The fact that it doesn't need to be biased is great, no maintenance.

never dealt with them, but really enjoy the way the manual is written. these guys obviously love making amps.

I've been playing for 20 years and play a variety of musik from noisy experimental, to bossa nova, to bluesy modern, to alternative rock. This thing can really hold it's own. A lot of others have complained about the noisyness of this amp, and I beg to differ, it is very quiet... BUT, what they might be complaining about is that it picks up krazy RF signals from cops on their CB's to oldies on AM, to Cristina Aguilera girl-pop when you're trying to lay down some serious mojo blues. In NYC where I often play, it picks up so much RF that it all mashes into a dirty sounding white-noise. You then have to re-angle the amp and guitar for a few minutes to position the RF out.. kind of annoying as it can definitely 'break the spell' while you're playing. Finally a comment on the reverb: It is very smooth, subtle, and frankly beautiful sounding. So many others in the studio have agreed. i wonder what others have been hearing, or maybe mine is just different?

I picked up this amp recently and it's become my number 1 gigging amp. It's very versatile. Goes from clean to boogie distorion well. The clean sound isn't as nice as my old Fender Twin ( my previous gig amp ) no amp can match that, but it's rock sound kicks! Features are well documented here, so need to go into what it has, but I wish it had independent eq's for the seperate channels, other than that, all the features are easy to use and pretty responsive.

I play a PRS custom 24, and a PRS Hollowbody Spruce. The hollowbody is my main guitar and it just rings and sings through the Boogie. Can't really understand why some people on here say it's noisy, I haven't had any problem at all with that, but then again, I'm using low output humbuckers and not single coils. Stock Strat single coils can make any amp noisy. My clean sound is clean, and my distortion sounds thinck, thight, and full of texture without being over the top.

Haven't owned it long enough to have any problems yet ( only a few months ), but in that time, have had many gigs and practices without any issues. Sounds like when issues arise though, all you need to do is replace the tubes, and without having to bias them! Now that's sweet.

N/A. Although here in Buffalo, NY, we have a great amp repair service that is authorized by almost every name in the am business. So I'm guessing if I need to bring it in, all is good.

I already stated that it replaced my old Fender Twin Reverb for gigs. That speaks volumes in itself. Totally portable ( although it's still kind of heavy, but after lugging a Twin for 20 years, anything would feel light ) pure tube tone to go. Love this amp. Wanna biuy a Lonestar next.

Well documented fearures. 2000 model with the celestion v30 spks - 3/4 back.

Using stock 94 prs cu24, 99 prs ce22, & 74 Gibson LP.

Been playing 30+ years

Three channels ranging from pristine clean to raging distortion, reverb, all tube, etc... that we have all posted already.

The headphone out is a handy feature for us latenight jammers. Nobody can complain about the volume that way, and complain they would because this amp is just mercilously loud for a <50watt amp. The effects loop leaves something to be desired though.

This amp gets played with a pretty wide variety of guitars and pickups. Single coils on the contour channel sound kind of weak, but they sound great in the "lead" channel with lighter overdrive, P90s sound pretty good either way, Humbuckers seem to be the most agreeable.
The clean isn't quite Fender clean, but it is still very useable. The overdrive channel is quite nice, and can go from tasty light overdrive to a floppy mess. The contour channel is where you can get your super grind/angry face/angry depressed teenager sounds from. Quite thick and harsh with humbuckers, but doesn't go so well with single coils that weren't designed to produce those tones anyways.
All in all it is quite nice in the sound department, apart from the nearly worthless reverb.

It's Mesa. I've owned this amp for a few months now and owned a single rectifier with reverb before. Mesa stuff is built pretty tough, it can take a few drops before you need to worry about anything inside.

I've personally never dealth with Mesa Boogie tech support.

I've been playing long enough to know that I'll never get the sound in my head, but I have plenty enough toys to get close.
If this amp was stolen I'd probably end up with something else, but I do enjoy it for what I get out of it.
The things I dig on the Rocket are the shear volume of it (it can easily do larger gigs for you), the three channel operations, and the relative size/weight ratio.
Things I would improve upon the design would be independent EQ for clean and overdrive, better reverb as the stock one is pretty lame, a bypass switch for the effects loop on the footswitch, and a more sturdy footpedal casing.

This small package includes everything you need. I was little suprised when my friend told that you don't need anything else, Rocket44 is all you need. Clean beautiful sound and distortion that is so awesome. I bought it, and I have been love into Rocket44 since that. Great Job MesaBoogie.

I'm using Tokai's Les Paul with this Rocket44 and I have been proud of Mesa's sound. I don't know why someone supports e.g. Line6. I guess because it has some many different sounds and etc. But I can bet that when they play with Mesa they throw their shitty Line6 into the garbage.

Rocket44s sounds are so natural, clean and distortion is so powerful that your heart is beating hard while playing it. I have played with many other amps too, Fender, Laney, Marshall, Yamaha. Line6 but the sound of those has been so bad. Maybe because Line6 is SO digital that it even sounds like it.

By this Mesa, you fall in love.

No porbs with this amp. Have played many many years with it without any problems. If one can say that dog is man's best friend. I tell that Rocket44 never fails you and beats that dog easily.

What can I say more? Forget about Fender, Line6 and all the other amps. Rocket44 beats them easily.... Just listen its sound, it's so pure, natural, unbelievable clean, innocent but still powerfull. Best choice for home and training halls.

It costs a fortune but it is worth it. Trust me

clean channel is amazingly great. clear and loud and warm. The regular lead channel sucks, but turn on the contour switch and it's got the crunchiest, sweetest, tubie distortion ever. reverb doesnt do much and the EQ isnt very responsive on the lead channel, but it doesnt really matter- with the contour on, it sounds great. its very loud. it also weighs about 500lbs.

i play a fender strat. this amp is very noisy, but you wont care once the contour switch is flipped on and the thing starts singing to you. clean chanel sounds great too. not much variety in the sounds you can get, but thats not why you buy a tube amp. the distortion isnt very saturated, more like the guitar tone on the first Danzig album or kind of a marshaly ACDC type tone. Not for black metal, but great for hard rock, punk, and especialy blues.

I have had to replace the tubes on this thing a lot. I have even had it go out on me right before a show. right now the distortion channel (which i was raving about) doesnt even work. it just crackles and squeals. its been slowly deteriorating over the last year and now i dont even use it and i can afford to replace 8 tubes. this makes me very sad because i love everything else about this amp.

they gave me pretty good advice on how to fix the tubes myself, but thats all.

if this amp worked all the time, it would be the greatest amp in the world.

I play Rock, Metal, Punk, Funk and clean kinda ballads and it works for me! It's got an effects loop I haven't used yet, same with reverb, it's single channel and most importantly - simple. I use this to practice at home and with the band, in the studio and live and it's pure perfection. All valve beauty!

I use a Gibson Les Paul and an Ibanez RG both with humbuckers which sound great with this amp. For my metal stuff its got the gain without going stupid like a line6amp on the 'insane' channel which just gets fizzy and non-distinct like other digital things. On the clean funk stuff its cutting without too much harsh frequencies to be peircing, as is the contour channel for playing huge leads. It feeds back lovely at higher volumes to bet that great 5th up harmonic feel which is great on those sustained notes. Very versatile for any style.

I had one problem but fixed it by just altering the tube angle coz I do a lot of moving with it so they just came a bit losse I guess. No probs tho.

No probs.

I love it, it's great, it;s gonna stay with me till the end of my days coz it looks tidy, is portable for practice and has tone to die for! It's keeper if you can get your hands on one these days.

45 all tube watts. This amp doesn't come packed with many features, and that is why I bought it. It has three different modes rythm, lead, and contour. It has a decent reverb, an effects loop, silent recording switch, and an fx loop. It has evything I need to get a great tube sound. This amp has no built in effects that could ruin the sound, like many amps these days.

This amp has a great versital sound that can be tweeked with its shared three band EQ. I play a fender fat strat (strat with a humbucking pick up). Execellent distortion when I select my humbucker pickup and put it on countour mode (gain 9), just like metalica or iron maiden. If I put it on lead and turn down the gain to about 4 I can get an excellent blues sound (Jimi Hendrix, Santana). The clean is als great. This amp really doesn't start singing untill turn the volum up to high levels (7 and up). Once you put it up there it will give you one amazing sound!

Haven't repared it yet. I just bought it used and its in great condition, a 2000 model.

Haven't delt with them yet, heard that they were good

This amp dominates any "portable" combo amp put there (mesa calls it portible, but it weighs over sixty pounds). Its simple, but it has all the power you would ever need and small to medium sized gig. I can't turn it up past 3 in my house. This amp is discontinued (Nomad replaced it), so if it were stolen I would have to track down the theif and get it back. If I could find another one I would most definetaly buy it again. This amp beats out any fender solidstate (princton chorus) or tube (deville). Offers great high levels of dictortion and cleans even better than fender. This is the perfect amp for any guitar style guitar player.

This amp has three channels, clean, lead, and contour. It also has Reverb ( you can't even hear it on lead channel, and you wish you couldn't hear it on clean channel.),and an effects loop. it also has jack for additional speakers. Foot switch, seperate volume and gain controlls for clean and lead channels. Very basic no frills tube amp. Wish it had a presence controll because the clean channel seems lifeless at lower volume.

I have been using my Gibson SG with "Dirty Finger" pick ups and the lead/contour channel sounds pretty good. I also have tried my Jackson DK 2 with the single coils and was not too impressed. This amp sounds best with humbucker pickups on the lead/contour channel. The clean channel I would rate no higher than a seven and the lead channel would be a 9 so averaged I would say a 8 for sound. I have been playing about 30 years and I have played/owned at least 50 different amps and I never really been happy with the sound I have got. It always seams that when I get the distorsion where I like it the sound lacks punch and if I have the amp set to get the punch I like I wish it had a little more distorsion. I also have a Carvin 100 xv combo (tube) with a electro-voice speaker and I have been using both of these together, with the Carvin set at 50% power on the lead channel with the gain at 5 and lead boost off. I set the Mesa on the contour channel with the gain at 7. You get Mesa distorsion with the punch of the Carvin, overall the fattest, best sound I have ever had.(You would have to play this to believe it.)

I bought the amp used so I don't know, looks to be well made.

I have been playing since 1973(Damn I getting old)I have a Carvin Xv100, Pignose G40v, Marshall MG DFX, and a line6 spyder (What was I Thinking?) For Guitars I have a Gibson SG, Ibanez musician, Ibanez Les Paul, Jackson DK2, Charvell 275, Schecter Diamond Series, Epiphone Les Paul, and a Fender strat. Overall I like the Mesa, it does sound great on the distorsion channel but the Carvin Kills the Mesa on the clean channel. I will rate this amp an 8 overall because no one is buying a Mesa to play clean with anyway. One last note to anybody who is considering buying a modelling amp, If you want your Mesa to sound like a line6, I suggest you piss on a sleeping bag then drape that over the speaker of your Mesa to be sure to filter out all the tone, that should give you a close line6 duplication, On the other hand if you want your line6 to sound like a mesa, tuff shit cause it ain't never going to happen. DONT BUY A MODELLING AMP THEY SOUND LIKE SHIT.

I bought this amp used, but I believe it was made in 1999. It can keep a rock & roll player to a heavy metal player happy (IMO). It has EL84 power tubes (4), two channels (shared EQ), an effects loop, a silent recording/headphone switch and reverb. I like the fact that this amp doesn't overwhelm you with features.

I mainly use humbucker-equipped guitars. The sound on the clean is very clear yet warm. Very tubey. I personally like the contour channel on the dirty side. The standard lead channel doesn't have enough balls for me, but the contour channel is very thick. The true guitar's character definitely comes through. You can get anything from a minature rectifier sound to a more classic hard rock sound just by turning down your volume and tone controls on the guitar. Even though it has shared EQ, you can get both channels dialed in by using the EQ to dial in the distorted channel and using the gain to dial in the clean channel.

I have two other MESA/Boogie amps and have not had any problems. I believe this will be a reliable amp as well.

I have only called MESA/Boogie once for help and called right back with an answer.

I have been playing for 15 years and have many amps and guitars. If this were stolen, I would replace it because it is the perfect little amp.

I RECENTLY BOUGHT THIS AMP USED AT A LOCAL SHOP(NOT A MESA DEALER)AND THE OWNER OF SHOP DIDN'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT.AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS USE AND SOME ADDITIONAL RESEARCH I KNEW A LOT MORE.DON'T KNOW WHAT YEAR,AND AS FAR AS FEATURES AND VERSITILITY,I PRETTY MUCH AGREE WITH WHAT I'VE READ FROM OTHER OWNERS.I PLAY CLASSIC ROCK AND BLUES AND, FOR THE MOST PART,IT SERVES ALL MY NEEDS,THOUGH I DO NOT HAVE MUCH USE FOR THE CONTOUR MODE.I WONDER IF SWITCHING SOME TUBES AROUND MIGHT HELP SOLVE THE THING WITH THE REVERB?AGREE THAT AN L.E.D.WOULD BE NICE ON THE F/SWITCH.OH YEAH ITS GOT PLENTY OF POWER FOR ME!

I MAINLY USE A MEX-MADE STRAT THAT I'VE CUSTOMIZED(PUT A CHANDLER MINI HUM IN THE NECK,P.A.F.IN THE BRIDGE,DIMARZIO VINTAGE BLUES IN THE MIDDLE)AND IT SOUNDS GREAT.I ALSO PLAY A NEW AMERICAN FAT TELE WHICH ALSO SOUNDS GOOD,BUT BE CAREFUL WITH THE BRIDGE PICKUP IN THE CLEAN CHANNEL.OUCH!RIP YOUR EARS OFF!YES IT IS NOISY BUT AGAIN,MAYBE TRY TO FIND THE QUIETEST 12AX7 TO PUT IN THE FIRST TUBE POSITION,MIGHT HELP?ALL IN ALL, FOR ME,WORKS WELL FOR STYES OF MUSIC I'M PLAYING.

I'VE HAD A COUPLE OF PROBLEMS WITH BAD OUTPUT TUBES,BUT I THINK THIS COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE FACT THAT IT WAS USED AND REPLACING THEM SEEMS TO HAVE SOLVED THAT PROBLEM.HOWEVER,I'VE DISCOVERED THAT MY SPEAKER SUFFERS FROM SOMETHING I'VE BEEN TOLD IS CALLED"EDGE YELL" OR "CONE CRY".NO KIDDING!THIS REALLY SUCKS.MY AMP HAS A CELESTION VINTAGE 30 12"IN IT,I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S STOCK OR NOT AND OTHERWISE I LIKE THE SOUND OF IT.THIS "PHENOMENON"SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE PLAYING THRUOGH AN OCTAVE BOX,ON MAINLY THE UNWOUND STRINGS ABOVE THE TWELFTH FRET.I'VE DETERMINED AFTER MUCH TESTING THAT IT'S NOT THE AMP.IF ANYBODY KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT THIS I'DE APPRECIATE HEARING ABOUT IT.IT IS MAKING ME CRAZY BECAUSE IT'S REALLY THE ONLY BUG IN AN AMP THAT I REALLY LIKE.

I'VE ONLY CONTACTED MESA BY PHONE,WHICH I DID AFTER TRYING TO GET INFO ON LINE AND BEING FRUSTRATED BY INABILITY TO GET MUCH OF ANYTHING BUT PRODUCT LINES AND PHONE #'S WHICH ARE VERY LONG DISTANCE FOR ME.RECOMMEND THEY SHOULD HAVE ON-LINE TECH SUPPORT.OTHERWISE VERY POLITE BUT NOT TO HELPFUL ABOUT SPEAKER BUG EXCEPT TO TELL ME THE NAME OF IT.

AS I'VE SAID I'M PRETTY MUCH SATISFIED THAT FOR THE PRICE OF THIS AMP AND THE SOUND QUALITY,FEATURES IT HAS I FINALLY FOUND AN AMP THAT AFTER YEARS OF TRYING MANY,FITS MY NEEDS.EXCEPT FOR THE AFORE MENTIONED "EDGE YELL"(SORRY I JUST LIKE SAYING THAT/,MIGHT BE A GOOD NAME FOR A METAL BAND).

rythm master control, lead master control volume, gain for rythm and lead modes. Treble, mid, bass and reverb controls. Clean, rythm and contour modes footswitchable. Has a effects loop, head phone jack and is versatile for direct recording or silent recording. Not alot to tweak but doesn't require too much tweaking to get your sound.

Playing through this amp with my Jackson kelly, and Jackson V. It sounds very solid on the lead contour mode. The clean channel is beautfiul! I love the sound it gives, i usually like to put my reverb on about 7 or 8 with clean giving it a "marshall" clean sound. The rythm mode is only good for rock, for a metal rythm you HAVE to go to contour mode, because it just wouldn't have enough crunch on rythm mode. Clean channel is slightly distorted at high volumes but you rarely need to crank the amp because it is all tube and all loud. It gives a great clean tone, and a great lead tone, however im not too fond of the rythm it gives at higher volume levels. If the volume is at 1 - 3 the sound is great but higher than that and you lose the mesa crunch, maybe i need to switch my el 84's with groove tubes..

I depend on this amp for every small show i do, any big shows i usually play my pod through the other guitarists rack. The amp has NEVER caused me problems playing live. It is very reliable.

I have never had to deal with the company or service for that matter. However, once i bought the amp it came with a 1 year warrenty which is currently up.

I have been playing for 5 years now, and this is my 3rd amp i've owned. I am satisfied with it accept for the rythm crunch and gain at higher volumes.. i dunno, i just wish it had a bit more gain because i love huge distortion. If it was lost or stolen i would probobly just by a pre amp and start up a rack.. i have learned now that a rack is the best way to go. Think of it this way, you get what you pay for! If your willing to drop 2000 on a pre amp it will never let you down and it will be pro sound. I'll give the amp a 8 though since it isn't a bad amp at all.

ALL YOU NEED

I WENT TO BUY THE NOMAD 45 UNTIL I HEARD THIS.THE CLEAN IS VERY NICE BUT WHAT SOLD ME IS THE BRUTAL DISTORTION YOU CAN GET.EVERY NOTE IS WELL DEFINED IN DIRTY BAR CHORDS.I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS WAS CHEAPER THAN THE NOMAD.MUST BE BECAUSE OF THE NOMADS FEATURES.I PLAY A STRAT, AN IBANEZ AND A GIBSON SG THRUOGH IT AND THE SOUND IS 100% BOOGIE IN YOUR FACE TONE.GREAT BUY.

SO GOOD SO FAR

YOU KNOW THEIR REP

I'M VERY HAPPY I DIDN'T SPEND ALL THAT EXTRA CASH ON THE NOMAD 45 BECAUSE FOR TONE IT WAS'NT CLOSE TO THE ROCKET 44.

A minor drawback: At least on my 1999 model, the Reverb switch on the three-button footswitch does not have an LED indicator, although the Rhythm/Lead switch and the Contour switch each have one.

When I'm playing pop or country, the "Rhythm" (clean) channel is warm and beautiful for any combination of pickups on my single-single-humbucker Strat. For rock'n'roll, the Lead and Contour settings on the amp sound great, except for excessive noise, even with the humbucker only.

No problems.

I don't understand why Mesa/Boogie no longer includes this amp in their product offering. In 1999 their Nomad line had just come out, and it was the Nomad 45 I went to try out. But when I thought about trying to maintain the physical settings of the Nomad's 24 potentiometers, I selected the Rocket instead because it's basically amp, only easier to use at gigs.

Tri-modal Amp with 2 separate Master volume and drive controls , common eq and reverb controls is about 5 months old. Because of the 2 gain controls this amp is rather versatile compared to say the Studio 22(also a fine amp!). I notice nobody complains this amp doesnt pack enough volume - in fact if anything, it is too damn loud. I use it for rehearsals and the guys complain when this thing is on just Vol 2., so you have an idea. I seriously would consider the Subway Rocket as an alternative just to drive the power amp harder than is possible with this amp.

Any Strat blues players should check out the Clean or 'Rhythm' mode with vol on say 3 to 5 and gain on 7 for a fabulous fat blues tone, albiet it, well, LOUD. Pump the Middle control up to 8-9 and get extra mid break up which is even better! Its true that the reverb doesnt overwhelm you but it is most definetly useable - I set it to around 8. It virtually disappears in the Lead and Contour modes, OK just a hint remains, but I am sure Boogie have their reasons for this. Plug a Les Paul in the Contour channel just going thru a Cry Baby 535 into the amp for a juicy lead tone . But the great thing with this amp is every guitar comes thru sounding with its own voice, no effects required, Ok except the above wha..and maybe a TubeScreamer TS9 re-issue into the clean channel. I have never enjoyed plugging straight into an amp as much as this one esp. the Clean channel.
There is some noise with this amp which should be taken into account but remember it is a high-gain amp after all. Probably too much noise for running into recording desks with added distortion, anyway.
I got rid of a Hot Rod Deluxe for this amp and have never regretted it a bit. The reverb is better in the Boogie, not as strong but not harsh like the HRD. Rating of 8 due to noise in the gain stages.

So far no probs with this amp.

n/a

My major complaint is that this amp, particularly the Contour mode, is just too loud. The speaker is a Black Shadow Celestion rated to handle 90 watts which is a lot and it obviously copes with the job. But seriously if you cant turn it past 3 the power tubes dont get to add their character as much as one would like. As stated, the Subway Rocket may be better from this perspective but have yet to try one. Rating of 6 'cause I just never get to crank this thing and cant enjoy it to its full potential. If you dont like volume, keep away.

This is a discontinued model but Mesa says that they are still making them to catch up with orders. Dual channel with three sound "modes". Footswitch is basic and works well and silently on my amp. Has effects loop but is very sensitive and difficult to adjust a good level for an effects unit. Reverb is subtle to non-existant, I can live with that. Very basic all tube amp with straightforward design. Very few bells and whistles, utilitarian. Just what I wanted. Built in crap does not make a great tone.

I use an American Standard Strat stock. I play heavy blues to heavy metal. Stock pickups are a little weak but the sound is good. That said I have to say that this amp gives the most (useable) gain of any amp I have tried. I get very good crunch and sustain with my stock setup. Also the sound is very fat and absolutely huge even with a strat. I cant believe the sound that this thing generates and its loud! Distortion in the contour mode is a tad on the smooth side for shred but the clarity is amazing! Very expresive and the touch sensitivity is withought peer. Lead setting is a bit boxy but is perfect for blues lead and some old top 40 stuff, very useable. I have read complaints about the clean tone and I have to say that those detractors should go back and check again. Good clean sustain and a sparkling high while remaining warm. A little break-up at high volume is good in my book. Bone hard clean sucks! The bigest sounding little amp I have heard. Reverb is there but just barely. Again if I want concert hall reverb I get it from the rack.

Just got it so I havent had any problems so far. I will reserve judgement for now.

Nice people, receptionist is a bit short and pissy sounding but hey, I bet she gets calls from a lot of stoned idiots on a daily basis. I forgive her.

Been playing for 20 years. I have had many other amps from old Mesa Boogies to Marshall stacks and combos, even tried Carvin and Peavy. This is overall the best brown sound that I have heard from a stock amp. If it were stolen I wouldnt hesitate to get another. The best feature of this amp is that you can have a well defined fat warm tone and not be mushy or fuzzy that is still good for hard rock or heavy metal, its just very controllable. I made a comparison to the Marshall DSL 601 and what I found is that the Boogie has more gain and you dont have to use a pre-amp or hot pickups to get that pushed sound. The marshall sounded flat to me. I wish this thing had a graphic eq or a broader mid control to get more scoop for low volume metal sounds. Im glad I got this amp. Its American made and hot as hell. Its sure to be a classic one of these days!

Mesa Boogie Rocket 44 a year 2000 model. I play rock, blues, shred, and alternative. This amp shreds anything. 2 dependant channels. Footswitchable with a "contour" mode.Effects loop with a "mix" control. This amp is a loud 45 watts! All tube amp 4 el-84, and 5 12ax7 tubes. This amp wails.

Suits my rock style perfectly. It is noisy sometimes, but only with single coils, (60-cycle hum) and when cranked all the way up. If you can think it this amp can make it very versitle. Clean channel is distorted SLIGHTLY at high volumes, but not often. Distortion has sevral tones I set it for. Anywhere for light blues to searing heavy metal brutality this amp can deliver.

In the time I have had it it has seen gig, after gig, and practice, after practice, aand never the slightest problem.

Haven't dealt with Mesa at all. Cool website though.

I have been playing since I was 9. I have a custom strat (Frankenstien), boss effect proceors, a yahama bass, and a fender telecaster. If it were stolen, or lost I'd find the guy who did it beat him with a base ball bat, give him a swirly, tie him naked to the hood of his truck, and well you get the general idea. It sounds beautiful. The clean channel absolutley sparkels. The distortion is so creamy and smooth, yet brutal with plenty of low end punch. I compared it to sevral Marshalls(belch)Peaveys, old Fender silver faces, and just about everything. It won hands down.

The Rocket 44 seems to have been discontinued by Mesa... why I am not sure. This single channel amp has 3 modes...clean, dirt, contour. Has controls for treble, bass, and mid. The paralelle effects loop works superb. I am not a big fan of the reverb, but I use a digital unit for that any way. By in large this is a great amp... It sounds wonderful and is simple to use.

This amp is capable of playing some country,blues and other mor types of music... but it shines when you crank it up and play rock.

I have gigged with a few times and have not had trouble yet

I have not had any dealings with there customer support. They do provide a detailed list of repair depots though.

I would highly recomend this amp

Three Modes, 45 (Loud!) watts, 1x12 EV Black Shadow, 1 shared eq for all modes, Footswitchable modes and reverb. Check other reviews and the Mesa site for more details. Mine was made in 1999, this model has since been discontinued. I use it in a two amp set up. My '69 Vibrolux serves as clean, and the Mesa is high gain. This amp is perfect for my purposes. I play rock,jazz,funk and what some call jamband music (ala Allman Bros.,Grateful Dead,Phish) I need a full, fat, singing lead tone. This amp gives just that without the weight of a head and 4x12 cab. Portability is very impoertant to me, and althought this is by no means a "lightweight amp", it is a small package with plenty of satisfying tone.

I play a Godin LGX with SD Alnico Pro II in the neck and a Custom Custom in the bridge. A great guitar much like a PRS-quilted maple top, mahogany body, split coils and (unlike prs) an ebony fretboard. I must say with one eq the tones from this amp can be limited. The clean channel suffers from this, although in a pinch I would gig with it (and I HAVE). In my set-up this puppy rocks. The Lead sounds are classic Mesa, and yes like a Mesa it is very f*cking loud!!! I NEVER turn the master past 3. I have been asked to turn this amp down by many people including club owners, bandmates and my girlfriend. The important thing is you don't have to turn this amp up to get great sounds. This was not the case with some Marshalls and Mesas I have owned in the past. It will get noisey at high preamp levels, above 8. I usually have the gain a 5 and the master at 2, Bass 7, Mid 9, Treb 7. A high Midrange setting gives me great crunch in the break up, without being harsh or edgy. I prefer the break up of El84's, and this amp does that silky singing tone Mesa Boogies are known for. This amp has two distortion modes. The lead setting is midrangey and crunchy, the contour mode is a scooped mid crunch and louder of the two. I like both, but some don't like the lead mode. It is somewhat of an aquired taste, but give it a chance. As much as I love this amp I am thinking of changing the tubes and the speaker. This has more to do with the fact that I am never completely satisfied with my sound, because I always think there is something better out there. I spend alot of time searching for something that probably doesn't exist. Nevertheless, I am shopping for another 12" speaker, even though the Black shadow has never given me any problems. If you want great lead tone in a small package, this is a great option, but you will have to find it used.

Here is something that almost caused me to throw this amp off a bridge. I bought it on ebay, my first and probably last purchase from the internet. The short story is the amp "went out" at a recording session two weeks after I bought it. The seller was NO help at all. I called Mesa and they suggested new tubes, THEIR tubes. I finally gave in an bought a quartet of EL84's, I got the preamp tubes from another source (12ax7LPS). I continued to have problems. I took the amp to a reliable tech, who diagnosed the problem as a bad preamp tube. Three months and $120 later the amp is fine. I have had no problems since the visit to the tech and have definitely "opened it up" with the amp.

I spoke of this earlier. Mesa was easy to get on the phone and they were helpful although the did get me for $40 in tubes. I am considering changing the tubes by the way. I probably don't need to, but that's just me.

Good lead tones. Okay clean sounds. Versatile to a point. Small package. Can recombinate you and your dog's DNA if turned up past 4. In my set up it's perfect. Needed some tubes, but that's the way it goes with these type of amps. Very economical.

This is a supplement to my original review I had entered several months ago. I performed the Modification on the contour channel. This channel had the mids scooped out a little bit to much for my tastes. The contour channel is basicly a four fixed four band graffic eq that is set with resistors. Each band had two resistors in parallel that determined the gain to each selected band. I removed these resistors a placed 4 1/2 watt pinwheel resistors in there place. I now have adjustable contour. This of course can not be changed on the fly. The amp must be opened up to adjust the contour. I increased the band that controled the midrange and adjusted to my taste. I am very happy with the results. There is a easy way to add more midrange to this amp and that is to change the tubes. Mesa boogie uses the sovtek El 84 in there amps. I know there tubes say mesa boogie on them, but they do not make there tubes. They simple buy them from the manufacter and test them and only use tubes that pass there inspection and are in the normal operational range. Now, these are very good tubes and there is nothing wrong with this tubes. However, the el84 from the tesla factory have a bit more midrange and the distortion is a bit fatter. I replaced my amps stock el84 with Groove Tubes El 84S. The Groove Tubes El 84 is from the sovtek factory, so it is the same tube that is stock on this amp. The El 84S is the one from the Tesla factory and will in my opinion increase the mids and sweeten the distortion. If you select grades 4-7 you will be in the normal operation of the tube and will not have to mess with the amps fixed bias. ONLY PUT TUBES THAT ARE IN THE NORMAL OPERATIONAL RANGE IN ALL MESA BOOGIE AMPS,OR YOU ARE ASKING FOR TROUBLE.

I loved this amp before this mod and now I dig it even more

Great amp. You really should give it a try. I understand that they will stop taking oders on this amp soon and it will be out of production.

The features are very simple for a boogie amp, the tone controls are interactive with the treble control cascading into the levels of the midrange and bass controls, the midrange also acts as an additional overdrive setting when set above 5, this really helps get the clean channel into a slight overdrive at lower volumes which is easily controlled with the volume on the guitar - great feature.

My main guitar is a Heritage 150CM (Les Paul) the pickups are SD SH1's in the neck and bridge, my second guitar is a 57' strat reissue with SD Antiquity pickups in the neck and bridge (standard fender in the middle) the Antiquities are hot at about 9.6k ohms each. The amp responds very well to both guitars, the fender naturally produces more hum, due mostly to the electronic signals in the places I play, with the humbuckers the amp is very quite. These amps do have a tendency to be noiser than a standard fender or marshall circuit but not enough that I've been able to hear it while playing at a gig. The amp gets both a very good tone with both guitars, unique and variable to the point where you can play any style of music. The clean channel does overdrive at higher volumen setting (the volume tends to flatten out at about 5/6 and from there on out your only effecting the drive) but cleans up well with the volume on the guitar, The distortion will kick your butt - it's defenitely a boogie. Some reviewers don't like the non contoured drive setting but I find it very suitable for rythmn on most rock songs, kick on the contour and take it to a very thick lead sound even with a strat on the bridge pickup. Not bad for a single twelve 40 watt combo!

After buying the amp and playing for about a month I had a tube go out, but then I've had tubes go on every amp I've ever owned - I think the preamp section of this amp is hot (current and temp wise) so the tubes need to be checked regularly and replaced when noise becomes audible (mine had a high pitched ringing sound when it went, fortunately pulling the tube and moving it down the circuit solved the problem at the gig). Since replacing the tube I've used the amp ALOT and have had no further issues with it. Right now this is my only amplifier and I have no reservations our concerns about reliability.

When the tube went I called Mesa, the tech indicated they did have some bad tubes, he sent me a complete replacement set (not just one or two) and some extras just in case!!! I also received detailed instructions on replacing tubes, testing them for noise and finding the bad one. I received the tubes in four days!!! Meaning he mailed them the day I called him, best service I've ever had from anyone.

I've been playing a few years and have owned a variety of amps and sizes, right now I only have the boogie. If it were lost or stolen I would buy it again, it's very portable, sounds excellent and is loud enough for virtually any situation. The reverb lacks but I have a nanoverb that gives me some excellent reverb sounds, plugged into the effects loop it sounds great, so it's not an issue, I will say it has more reverb than my JCM900 combo had. I compared the amp with other single twelve combos and some dual twelve inch combos (fender, marshall, peavey) but this little amp was lighter, louder and overall offered a wider variety of tones than the others. With the fenders and marshalls you get that particular sound and pretty much nothing else, the boogie is very versatile, I could have spent much more and got less. I'm giving the overall rating an 8 not because I can think of anything particularly wrong with the amp but because a 9 or 10 rating would mean the thing gives god like tones which it doesn't do, but if you looking for something a step up from the average fender, marshall, peavey, carvin, whatever then check this amp out.