Mesa/Boogie Subway Blues

One channel amp but everything you need is here! volume,treble,mid,bass,reverb(simply the best i've evere heard). For christmas i bought to my baby blues a tubescreamer ts9...they still have fun togheter, but when i want to feel my baby only for me i crank up the volume and...oye como vas!

This amp is awesome: beautiful warm clean, it's just a little bit dirt like i like! crank up this amp and you can get an amazing creamy blues distortion; i never heard a so midranged amp, it's so boogie!

Ok: fender and vox are beautiful amps; i had a boogie dc3 and i loved it but this baby is so sweet that i finally got my tone! I use 2 subway blues w/ 2 mesa boogie 1x12(electro voice speaker) cabs and a 2 channel triple rectifier. Of course: i love the Boogies!

This amp, although has not a ornate panel...
does have versitility. It's not a true cameleon, but it does have quite a range of tonal variey. The el84's produce a great grind at high volume... Gets a little muddy on the bottom if cranked. I use this amp for jamming by myself. I Won't get emotional until I reach the sound section of this review. I wish this amp had a tube rectifier. Otherwise the record-out and effects looop are great. It also has a mute switch for silent recording. (great addition) n comparison to a Blues junior...it blowes it away. The mesa is a much more mature sounding amp...with flavor to last for days and tone for life.

I agree with most of the past reviewers. It's a gem! It's a gem times 3. You hve to mike it to play live, but it wails like a stuck irish pig. This amp as GUTS when cranked. TOne you can really dig into if you know what I mean. It's RAW as hell. UN BELIEVEABLE!!!!!! The clean is great as well as the OD it gets as you dial up the clock. Splendid sound you can get lost in for days at a time. I played it for 10 hrs one day! Verrrrry buttery...with a harsh bite! This pup has teeth...but it'l love you.

no problems

SOLID 10, and I don't give 10's.
It's a masterpiece in amplification

the basics

tone for days. I won't bore you with the schematics and details...I'll tell you this.....WHAT WAS BOOGIE THINKING
WHEN THEY STOPPED PRODUCTION ON THIS THING?
I don't understand why. It has the best tone of any amp (small amp) I've heard

TAN LIKE WARRIOR.

I'm can't honestly say, but I'd give boogie the benifit of the doubt!

unbelievable amp

class A. 20watts. 10" eminence black shadow speaker. All-tube reverb w/ long 3 spring tank. All tube (el84-12ax7). Solid state rectifier. effects loop. fat/bright switch. standby switch.

Pure unadulterated TONE.

it's one of the best little amps I've ever played.
sounds like a most beautiful vintage tube amp with a bite and a dark and evil twist. NOT A HIGH GAIN AMP. The overdrive this amp puts out is more of a power tube growl than a pre-amp tube grind. It sounds natural. It sounds organinc. It sounds like a tube amp should sound and reflects the players style.

never had a problem.

simple.
versitile within ist's self...but not to many hands
on options for sound. A long span of versitility is not why you would purchace a class-A combo. To me the less features the better. The one great feature about this amp is the reverb. It's simply the best. It all tube w/ a solid state rectifier. Not noisy at all. It uses el-84's which produce a midrangy-vox like tone (to my ears)

Holy shit. This amp sounds so incredible! It is reminicent of a delux, but with a more stand-out ish sound. It can be very loud for 20 watts. I always use the half power jack. (which makes it 10)
This amp has such a great clean sound, and the natural, organic overdrive is to die for. Sounds so buttery smooth, with just the right amount of bite.
I usually keep the mid way down, and use the bright channel. I think the amp has an inherent mid-range quality and does not need more . Overall this amp is a 10. SOunds better than some 5,000 dollar amps I've tried. I'm very serious when I say that.
The amp is killer, just killer. Simple, great, refined,buttery, wholesome, full, warm, thick, creamy, TONE!

No- problems at all. Used matched tubes and you won't have any problems.

they always get back to you.

absolutly the best. Not just for the size, it's just the best.

I was born in 1999. I am the last of my generation. Ever since the
cut backs were introduced at the factory, times have been very pressing on me and my ansentors. They thought that creating me with what they call a half-power jack would boost my sales. It really hurt to have that put in. I screamed in pain. Now I can achieve distortion at half the volume. Some folks never bought us because we but a 10" speaker. Don't they realize we were made for portablility...if they want more volume we could give it..just plug us into a larget cab! But not many people took notice of that. It was hard for us to find masters. My cousin the dc-2 was just a tad bigger than me...and he too has yet to find a master. He just sits and collects dust in the guitar center...somewhere in NJ. I loved him very much and miss his versitile sounds. I am versitile too...I..I swear....If you give me a chance I'll show you that I can play the cleanest bell-like note...or growl like a gypsy. I can too growl! I can bite as well. I just wish people would look past my size. My tubes are new and for a class A amp...well...I tell ya, I can really wail. Sometimes at night, when the demons creep in and I can't sleep....I dream of a master that can bring out the best in me....I have a big heart... and dreams of tone....won't somebody take me, and keep me in their home?

Features of this amp are well described in the other reviews. I play mostly blues and blues rock. It has but 20 watts though it sounds louder. How much louder? As long as you're not playing in a small room with an aggressive drummer and another musician with a larger amp you'll probably do OK. However it is better suited for recording, practice, or small venue. It has 2 channels: BRIGHT and FAT. The fat channel really boosts the lower stuff and muddys the sound at higher volume.
This amp is used only for solo practice. I plan to buy a more powerful amp for playing with others so that I will have enough volume to be heard with plenty of reserve (just in case). I bought this amp b/c Guitar Player? gave it a great review a few years ago. It is a simple, solid tone machine that ALWAYS sounds great. I picked it up used for $295 and have had zero problems. Only has one 10" speaker.

I use a Fender Strat? and a Vantage? "Flying V" copy. The strat has the usual SC pickups but I have it strung with .010 - .048 strings. The 'V' has 2 HB. Both guitars just beg to play blues and blues/rock. The amp is quiet. It is solid. The controls are:
1. Volume
2. Treble
3. Middle
4. Bass
5. Reverb
The middle works well at higher volumes. A greater degree of detail is in the manual from MesaBoogie. Sweet M/B distortion-it sings, has the 'woman tone' and generally sounds just the way a tube amp SHOULD sound.

No problemos since I bought it in April 1997. I don't fire it up ALL that often though so the question of reliability can't be answered with much accuracy.

It came without a manual but one call to Mesa Engineering and they sent me one free o' charge.

I been playin' 26 years. I've got a Zoom 505 and RhythmTrak 234 as well as a Kawai 'PocketBand'. and that is it. If it were lost or stolen: I'd get something different b/c I want something more flexible & louder.
I'd been looking for a bigger amp and, with a family, had to keep my sights set a bit lower. I found it by accident at a guitar store that specialized in used equipment and knew that it would be PERFECT for practice (it was and is). Though it is perfect for those who want the feeling of playing the WHOLE amp, I end up wanting to play the drum/ rhythem machine at the same time and you just can not do that and get that great overdriven tube sound with a single channel amp. The Mesa sound is great

Tube amp, 20 watts, EL34 and 12ax7 tubes. Bright/Fat switch. Hardly any features, but this amp is LOUD for 20 watts!

I have a 1950 ES-175 with one P-90 in it and it definitley sounds the best with this amp. Nice, fat, toneful and the reverb sounds very nice as well. I do a lot of bedroom recording with this and it often gets compared to a Vox AC30, even with low volumes. With the P-90, it sounds very warm for jazz, and anything mellow. Ironically, I also utilize this amp in my rock setup, where I use a customized mongrel Strat with a Duncan Hot Rails. On channel A, I have a Marshall JCM800 which has that sharp, abrasive, razorblade tone while I use the Boogie on channel B with an old Ibanez pedal and that gives me a warm, smooth overdive for my power chords, both channels on simultaneously. Plus, like I said, it's loud and powerful for such a cute little box! I'd give it a 10, but I wish it had more natural overdrive without having to crank it up so much. Basically, I like the bass and warmth of this amp.

I like the way it's built solidly and compactly. It's nicely made. I can depend on it, but I have spare tubes just in case.

Gave me free tubes! No B.S.

I think that while this amp may be small and only 20 watts, it's still a very nicely built professional-quality amp. Like someone else said, you could fool a lot of people if you record with it. Still, it's not a Marshall, so if that's what you're looking for, look into that.

New Amp. You know the features. NOISY effects loop. Stanby Switch(nice).I used this at home. I TOOK IT BACK THE NEXT DAY! TOO NOISY.White Noise.

Peavey guitar Humbuckers. Blues and Jazz.Like I said this is a noisy amp. Like the other reviewers said they changed tubes and that helped. WHY should I pay good money and have to hassle with changing tubes on the first day of use? To keep the noise down I had to turn all knobs below 4 o,clock. Lame. Too bad, the TONE is GREAT. Nice and WARM.Good for Dark sounds. No SRV that I could find. Try the Fender Blues Junior for SRV. NICE!

I don't know. Returned it to soon to tell.

Didn't need it. But I heard they are great.
ONLY a ONE year warranty on the Subway. 5 year on the FENDER!

I have been playing a few years. Wanted to replace my Peavey Special 130. The Peavey was too Big and Loud 130 watts Solid State and Plain Jane.I wanted a Fender Blues Junior but they were out of stock. I got the Subway because of the name. DON'T WASTE YOUR EXTRA CASH ON THE MESA. Buy a Fender Blues Junior for over 100.00 less. I am thrilled with the Fender. I don't need the worthless goodies on the Subway.

Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Reverb... 2 Inputs Bright/Fat
SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE ! 1 Channel, effects loop with level control, recording out and a speaker cutoff switch...perfect for blues! Guess that's why they name it Subway Blues...? Very loud 20 Watts...2 El84 power tubes and 4 12AX7 preamp tubes. Tube driven reverb ( the best part )

HOLY SMOKE! I play a USA strat with the stock single coils and even with stock pickups this amp sounds superb! I've owned a ton of gear over the years and this little guy has that soulful, tone for days...sound you can just get lost in! I didn't like the stock tubes so I reloaded it with groove tubes and WOW! fatter, warmer, richer... you get the point....it just got better! This amp has one of the best jangly clean tones I've heard! and yet I can turn it up a bit and get those tasty Clapton licks that just seem to drip out of the amp all by themselves....I've owned rack gear, floor gear, trash gear...I recently got tired of all that and went back to the basics with a strat and a clean amp...and boy am I thrilled! I use an Ibanez Tube King for heavy overdrive and I have a delay and chorus laying around but they just seem to take away from the awesome self declaring tone of this little amp! The reverb is the most useful and soulful I've found! This amp reaks with TONE!

Built like a truck! I especially like the cool little touches Mesa/Boogie added like leather cabinet corners instead of those typical chrome things! I keep spare tubes handy ...but that's kinda like keeping a spare tire in your car...hope you don't need it..but just in case....I haven't had any real problems yet other than some noise that new tubes fixed and a buzzing sound that I corrected with some aluminum shielding tape( trick I found regarding this amp in the newsgroups )

Haven't had to deal with them yet regarding this amp but they have been good in the past

I've been playing guitar for about 18 years. I have owned tons of gear while on that "road to tone" that many of us have been down. My styles have changed as well...this amp is the best I have found for rich soulful bluesy tones...I don't get out to play as much as I used to so quality is now more important than quanity! This is the kind of amp you can plug into and just get lost for hours at a time! It doesn't do everything, but what it does it does well and is built like a tank so I give it a 10!