Mesa/Boogie Subway Blues

Bought the amp new in Feb of 2000, but I think it is a few years old. It is a single channel tube amp with 2 el84's and 4 pre-amp tubes (stock 12ax7). This amp is designed to get natural overdrive by turning up the only volume control( no master) There is a effects loop, but I never use it. I bought this amp because it was a single channel tube amp, in a small affordable package. It has all the featues I wanted.

I play a PRS CE24 through this amp. I love the singing overdrive, but this amp really loves single-coil pick-ups, which my prs doesnt have. It still sounds sweet. This amp majors in blues. Period. It is 20 watts, but those are a lethal 20 watts! It is a bit noisy, but I swapped out some pre-amp tubes and replaced the power tubes and that fixed the problem for the most part. I recomend tightening the chassis, because mine had an annoying cab rattle until I tightened the chassis. There is not a whole lot of clean headroom, but the mid control is very sensitive, so use it sparingly. It can actually increase overdrive( all you fellow boogie owners know what I mean) I was very surprised to hear pleasant distortion when everything was cranked to the max. The tone was very smooth, almost Santana-ish.

All Boogies are built with TLC, but just like any quality product , you must take care of it. They are buuilt like tanks, but that doesnt mean you can thrash it. If you treat it with respect, you will be rewarded with a quality tone for the rest of your life. I have thought about seeking better tubes (NOS) but it sounds great without them...

They are great to deal with. They are busy all the time, but they usuall y return calls within the next 24 hours. They sent me a users manual for my DC-5 free of charge within a week of my requesting it. They know their amps!!

Ive played for 8 years. I own a boogie DC-5 head, a boogie 4x10 cab, a boogie 1x12 thiele cab and the Subway Blues. I think boogies are the best product on the market. One thing about the Sub. Blues I want to address is the pre-amp tube sockets. I dont think they are the ceramic sockets like all the other sockets are. I am thinking about replacing them.

This amp was made in 1998. Contains volume, bass, mid, treble, reverb, effects mix, bright/fat switch, parallel effects loop, line out, ground lift, speaker on/off, and external cabinet out connections. A basic single channel all tube amp that works great for clean to slightly overdriven sounds. This model has a wicker front grill and grey "leather" body.

I use this amp with a Warmoth LP equipped with Seymour Duncan JB and 59 humbuckers and a Warmoth strat style with Carvin single coils. The LP comes thru a bit dark and muddled depending on the EQ settings. The strat sounds very crisp and ringing. I play mostly blues and jazz. There are occasionally some microphonics and crackling sounds but overall quiet. For 20W this amp can get LOUD. I usually keep it around 10-11 o'clock volume for normal practise and tweedling. I also run this amp into a 2x12 extension cabinet with Carvin 12 inch 100 watts. Really opens up the sound.

No problems after six months. All controls are smooth.

Never contacted them.

Been playing about 4 years. I love the clean no frills sound of this amp. Just a plain guitar and amp sound. I compared this to various Fender, Marshall, and Pignose products and for pure sound value and no frills cosmetics amp this won out. Bought at Fancy Music in Santa Barbara.

This is a very basic amp. It's an all tube (2x EL84 power section), single channel, five knob wonder(vol. treb. mid. bass. rev.). It does have a nice reverb, and it also has an effects loop. No amp (or any piece of gear for that matter) can do everything. This amp does not have many features, but that is the way it was designed. If you need 1)channel switching, 2)high gain, 3)huge headroom, LOOK ELSEWHERE!!! This amp is the older model with the separate Bright and Fat inputs. It's too bad that Mesa went to the Bright/Fat switch because you can run your signal into both inputs, on the older model, and get great break-up at lower volumes. I believe that gear should be evaluated in light of what it is intended to do. This amp was designed to produce great raw tone for roots type music. I would actually have given it a higher score in this category if it did not have the effects loop. In my opinion it is really useless. The loop is noisy, and lets face it, if you are going to play this amp on gigs in rooms of any size, you will want to mic it. If you do, you could add your effects at the board. Anything that is placed in the signal path degrades tone. This amp has serious tone, but I would like to hear what it would sound like without the loop.

I play a modified Fender Mustang with a Duncan JB single space HB in the neck and a Duncan Pearly Gates in the Bridge. I also play a 58 Gibson ES 225TD with original P-90's. I use an A-B-Y box to split my signal between this amp and a Deluxe Reverb. I use the Deluxe for almost all the chord work and some leads, and I use the Subway pretty much for leads only. I can get a really fat biting sound if I run both amps together. I play mostly blues, but I also play bluegrass, classic rock, praise and worship, and a little jazz. I bought this amp for blues because my band was moving in that direction from classic type rock. It turned out that the blues bent was short lived, and I ended up putting this amp in the basement and not playing it for about 3-4 years. I have recently started playing it again, and it was like getting a new amp! I have tried to play this amp for all the styles of music that I play and this is the conclusion that I have reached. PLAY IT FOR BlUES(FIRST AND FOREMOST) and for some Roots Rock and Roll. It also has some limited use for Jazz if you use the bright input. In my opinion this amp only has a couple of sounds. The sounds that it has are great, but they definitely don't fit all types of music. This amp is RAW, it is DARK, and I wouldn't call it warm at all. It definitely accentuates the mid-range frequencies. In fact the mid range pot is actually a mid/gain boost, and if you crank it much past 12:00, it will cut you in two. As a result, it is great for smoking, dark, cutting blues and rock leads. Another plus is that, even though it is only 20 Watts(very loud 20 watts), you never get lost in the mix. I've played with many other players sporting 40 and 50 watt tube amps, and I've never had a problem monitoring myself on stage. Also, this is one of those amps that just stands out in the mix from the PA. They should have called this the MESA/BOOGIE SAMURAI SWORD because it will cut through anything in its path!!
This amp sounds nothing like any Fender I've heard or played. One of the differences I have noticed is that it doesn't seem to sag like my Fender (I don't even know what kind of rectifier it has, but I will look into that). I have limited experience with Vox amps, but this amp reminds me a lot of an AC 15, and to a lesser degree an AC 30(it doesn't have the low end of the AC 30) If you're looking for the elusive SRV tone, I think you'll be disappointed. You can, however, get pretty close to some of the stuff you hear from Tom Petty. The other thing I will say is that this amp definitely prefers single coils. Since it is so strong in the mid range dept. I think p/u's with a V shaped frequency response are the best with this amp(i.e. strats and teles). P-90's are single coils, but they are much more mid-rangey then strat p/u's. They do, however, sound better then humbuckers through this amp. When I bought this amp, I had a strat and I have played strats through it recently. It is a much warmer friendlier amp with a strat then with the guitars I play now. That's not to say that It doesn't have a bite when playing the middle or bridge p/u because it does. On the other hand, for lead work with p-90s or humbuckers, it is hard to beat the blues tone this little amp cranks out if you want dark, raunchy, cutting leads. It doesn't have the high end bite of a fender but if that's what you want, get a Fender. I give it an 8 in this category because it is not as useful as I think it could be for chord work. This could possibly be rectified with a good 12 inch speaker cabinet.

I've never had a problem with it (it was not played for about 3 years) but I have played it quite a bit(1-2 hours per day) for a total of 3 years. It is a little noisy but I think its due for some new tubes. I have the deluxe as a backup (and it backs up the Deluxe) but I would not be afraid to take it to a gig by itself. I would probably have extra tubes and fuses, but I have never blown a fuse or had a tube problem in this amp.

Never talked to Mesa before. Hope I never have to.

I have been playing music since I was 5 years old(so for about 30 years), but I have only been playing the electric guitar for about 11 years. I went through a number of amps and effects processors trying to get the sound I was hearing in my head. Unfortunately, I bought into the "the more it does, the better it is" fallacy. It took me several years to realize that I wasn't looking for someone else's sound, and that no matter what you play through you are going to sound like you. When I buy gear now, I buy gear that is designed to do one thing really well. The bottom line is that it must be toneful. I don't care how many bells and whistles an amp or guitar has. It may be able to do a truck load of different things, but if it sounds like crap, it sounds like crap doing every one of its tricks. Why do you think Eric Johnson plays vintage Plexi's? And, why do think SRV played vintage Vibroverbs and Dumble's? All these amps have one thing in common. They were not designed to do anything but reproduce awesome raw guitar tone. As far as versitility goes, none of them would be considered very "versatile" (but great players show us just how versatile a simple amp really can be). I am not saying that this little amp is in the same ball park as a Vibroverb or a Dumble, but it is a great little amp for the money. I compared it to the Fender Hot Rods when I bought it, and chose it because it had better tone especially when overdriven, and it was cheaper. This may be kind of a one trick pony (at least in my hands) but it is great at what it does. If I lost it or someone stole it, I would probably look for a Vox AC30 or another vintage Fender for the simple reason that I could afford one now. If money were tight, I would go out and get another one of these, but only if I was playing a lot of blues because thats where this amp shines.

This is a simple amp, manufactured in 1996. It has volume, tone controls and reverb. Two input jacks, Bright and Fat. There's an effects loop with a mix control on the back pannel. It has a recording line out and a speaker mute, for those late night tracking sessions. This is a one channel amp for people who want to have a good warm tube tone. The amp has more than enough power to cover a club gig or a small outdoor show. My band rarely lets me push it past about 30%. Works well for Blues rock and jazz. Not a good amp if you're into metal and a bit round for country. The line out is nice for practice only, but I would never seriously record this way.

I play a Fender Custom-shop strat (single coils) and a Gretsch Tennissee Rose. I bought the amp to go with my Strat, and looked at a ton of different makes and models in all price ranges. I settled on this amp for one reason, the tone. What it lacks in features it makes up for in a very rich tone. With the strat it goes from an even sound in the neck selection to a nice punchy sound in the middle/bridge selection. When driven to about 55% it has a nice break-up for leads. It gets muddy at around 80%, a sound that I don't really like but that seems to get a fair amount of radio play. The amp has a fair amount of noise, but no more than most other amps of this design. It doesn't work as well with the Gretsch, though it still sounds very good. The Gretsch has a lot of phantom tones that don't translate as well to this amp as other's I've heard. If you play the blues, this is an amp you should try out. If you play metal, go buy a Marshall and turn it up to 11. I rated it a 9 because of the Gretsch tone, if you play a strat, I'd say it's more like a 9.9 (I don't give 10's).

I've had it for 3 years and it's never had a problem. I'm very careful with it, more so than your average player. I have used it on several gigs without any backup. I do have an extra set of tubes and fuses just in case, but have never had to use them.

I was checking out the Mesa website and saw they had listed a half power jack as an option on the latest version. Since I practice late at night and have 2 kids, it would be nice to be able to get the amp to distort without having to shake the foundation. I called Mesa and they were a few days in getting back to me, but were very helpful once we connected. Gave me a number of options to help me in my situation and gave me some resources in my area.

I have been playing for 13 years and have been into tone for the last 10. This amp sounds great. Not big on features and not very fancy looking, but it does the job exceedingly well. With each guitar being different (even 2 Strats off the same line will sound different) it's hard to say this amp is for everyone. I would say, that you shouldn't dismiss this amp based on the size or the price tag. I was looking at amps that cost 5 times this much and was ready to pay the high price, and then I tried this on the recomendation of the guy at the store (I know its rare to have a salesman push you from a $2000 amp to a $400 amp, but that's why I don't shop anywhere else). It met my needs perfectly and I would never try to replace it. I will buy a second amp for use with my Gretsch which was a rather recent purchase. Forget: Good amp for the money; this is just a very good amp.

Bought amp Jan. 99. I think its a 96'. 10" speaker, 20 watts from 2-EL84's. Tube driven reverb. Fat/Bright switch, vol.treble, middle, bass and reverb with recording line-out. Not alot of features but perfect for Blues & Soul.

I play a 40th Anniversary American Std. Aluminum Body Strat, with a Cool Rails in the neck position. I play in a St. Louis band (Bonedaddy & the Blues Shakers) see website www.pearlcomputer.com/shakers. I've had more compliments on what a fat sound I get! I use this rig for small to medium club ( I run the recording lineout to the mixer for a little extra coverage). For larger clubs I use my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. The 20 watts are just right, and help keep the stage volume down. *No more complaints from club owners since I started using this rig, to turn down. Stays clean till about 1/2 way up. I don't go beyond this point, I get my dirt from a TS-5 modified to TS-9 specs. Sounds great- now if I could only find a good compressor for those single note BB King runs.

When I first got this amp it was a little noisy but it just needed some new power tubes and a little cleaning up. Steve Simpson a great amp tech with Gravity Strings in St. Louis went over it top to bottom ( he even called Mesa and updated some circuits ). I don't bring backup , Steve's also in the band.

Never dealt with Mesa so I have no opinion.

Would definitely buy another if lost or stolen. Perfect for my needs.

1999 One channel 20w 2 X EL-84 power amp section based Combo amp. Vol, treb, mid, bass controls. Reverb. One input, bright/fat switch. 1 X 10" Eminence speaker. Effects/record send (can slave) w level adjust. Ext speaker jacks + "half power" jack (more useful than you'd think). A practice amp, basically, though I also use it for low volume jobs. 38lbs. Super for blues!

I use a Telecaster for everything from pop standards, jazz, blues, gospel, classic R&B, to Rock. This amp almost has enough power to do it all, and can slave another amp (which I have done with OK results), but I have a bigger rig for more clean headroom and greater versatility when required. This is pretty basic and runs out of clean headroom quickly (great for blues that way, but...). It has a little inherent noise, no worse than the single coils, but it's there. With its on-board 10" speaker, it can get a bit raspy sounding. Sometimes I plug in an EV for less rasp. The bright/fat switch alters the sound in the mids some, but not drastically. Rectro/primitive sounds are easy. Superb reverb.

OK for a month so far. I take a spare for GP, also extra fuses and tubes (though I have not needed them yet). Actually, THIS amp is my spare amp, but it's easy to use and light, so is starting to be my first choice if I can get away with it. It's borderline on power though. An extension speaker or slave helps, but some sounds it just won't get. Not high tech. I worry about that stock Eminence speaker's low handling ability over time. I may upgrade the speaker. We'll see. It's easy enough to add an extension speaker.

I haven't called about this amp, but I have other Mesa gear. They're very responsive. Call and leave a number, they'll get back to you on their dime. One year warranty.

39+ years experience. All styles. Also have a Mesa rack rig, but it's big and heavy and not too quick to set up. This thing is a grab and go affair, light, uncomplicated, sounds good. Killer reverb. Just a bit low on power, but with a Tele and some midrange tweaking, can usually cut through the din. In fact, it sounds better in a band setting than at home! The raspy tone quality really blends great with a band! I'd get another in a heartbeat, but not as an "only" amp.

Strictly from a features point of view, this is a plain jane amp -- it had the three features I wanted: reverb, tubes and a great price. I wish it had tremolo, more wattage and gain -- but that's another amp entirely. This is like a Sherman tank -- it ain't pretty, and there are much bigger guns out there, but it does the job well.

I hate giving tens for anything but the sound this little box makes are unbelievable! I wouldn't consider a 20 watter for a club amp, but I really think this one could handle a room full of beer crazies. I play blues, jazz and surf and between the fat and bright channels and the reverb, this amp has handled them all. Bright channel with reverb and treble up gives me a great Dick Dalesque sound and using the fat channel with more bass and less reverb moves me closer to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi. Fat with no reverb and the guitar's tone pots down on 1 on the guitar gives me a fair jazz tone -- its kinda muddy, but if you play Bill Frissell, the audience will be too busy wondering what the blazes you're doing to notice. I use a standard Strat, and this amp loves the single coils, especially the bridge pickup. I'm thinking about replacing the Mesa tubes with GrooveTubes -- I can't leave things alone.

I've only had it for one month, and it hasn't failed me, but I haven't pushed it yet. I'd play without a backup, but only because at this point I can't afford a backup.

I bought it from Thoroughbred in Orlando, and I'd go back to them if it died. My second avenue would be my Dad -- 49 years in radio and television. Seems like he still has some old L6L Sylvanias lying around in the garage ... So, Mesa's customer support would be third. By the time I got to them, I probably would have bought another amp. On the other hand, their web page contains the user's manuals for their amps, and I downloaded the manual for the Subway. It's full of useful information, such as don't turn the bass up all the way or you'll burn it in for the duration of your gig.

Admittedly, I've only been playing electric since Christmas, 1998, so my experience with amps is limited. This was NOT my first choice in an amp -- the Fender Blues Junior was, but this had more power and a lower price and after testing it out for an hour on my Christmas present (wife bought me a Strat -- love that girl!) I had to have it. I also tested out the Fender Hot Rod, and the sounds are so close -- both amps cut through a superstore full of Dimebag Darrell wannabees without any problems. Would I buy it again? Probably not, because I'd opt for at least a 40 watter. Prior to this amp, I never would have considered anything other than a Fender amp, but now, I may look at the Mesa Heartbreaker when it comes time to buy a club amp. I'll definitely keep it for a practice amp and to learn what I'm doing with a tube amp and keep the beastie running for jamming in the garage with friends (I live next door to a retired marine colonel, so I hafta watch the volume).

This amp does not have any features to speak of, but that's why I bought it. All it offers is a great tone!!! Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, and Reverb - can't be any simpler than that. Also comes with an effects loop. I don't really need this feature, but when I tried it out it sounded a bit noisy to me.

I am playing it with a Fender Strat and it seems like it was designed for single coils. This little amp sings!!! It is perfect for my blues/jazz sound. With my modified TS-5 for boost it can crank some serious lead tones. It almost sounds even better with my old acustic Hagstrom jazz guitar (humbucker in neck position). Again the effects loop is kind of noisy. It comes with two inputs: bright and fat. I only use the bright input, but using the two together gives you the "half powerjack": overdrive at half volume. Too bad they made it a one input with a switch on the later models. It breaks up nicely on higher volumes. Perfect for a club gigs.

I've only used Mesa Boogie's because I trust them. This is my second one and I really doubt anything will happen to it. Tubes must be changed once in a while though.

Mesa used to be better at customer support. I remember they even sent me schematics etc for my other amp at my request. I've tried emailing them - it didn't work. I sent them a letter with some questions I had about this amp and it took them 4 MONTHS to get back to me. They apologized, but sorry that's not good enough. Maybe they got too big. I don't know. They are good at the phone though. For servicing it's not a problem since they have tons of authorized service centers around.

I've played for 8 years and I have to say I love this little thing. My other Mesa was pretty cool too (the S.O.B.), but this is the tone I'm looking for. I will keep this one, nad if I ever need more fire power I'm buying the Blue Angel as well. Fot the price and size of this amp it is loud and has great tone! I have the cool grille instead of the black. They should make it standard because it looks so cool. Now you have to pay $150 extra to get it. I just lucked out with my demo-used one for $370! This amp has the tone I've looked for.

This is a very sweet, musical sounding amp. It is also very simple. I like simple. I play everything from blues to country to jazz to R&B. It sounds great in every style. It has one channnel with 2 inputs (1 is Fat). The newer ones have one input with a fat switch, probably a better idea. If you are looking for a straight ahead, great sounding amp that is versatile this is it. It is also a very light amp. Important at my age. I have been playing for 32 yrs. It has an effects send/return that is noisy. I am going to have to have that checked out.

I play thru a Tele that is customized with a Strat pickup in the middle. This amp loves single coil pickups. It sounds very clean until about halfway up and then starts to distort in a most singing timbre. The mid switch sounds like a presense control. I use a Boss DD-5 delay with it but have had to plug it in the input jack because of the noise in the effects loop. I purchased an extra speaker cabinet with a Celestion Vintage 12" speaker in it. Now I am able to play my 335 thru it as it sounded BAss-deprived thru the 10". Mesa should offer this amp in a 12" speaker configuration. It's like a Deluxe on steroids.

It had a problem with a pre-amp tube about 2 months after I got it. It would make sounds like it was shorting out or something. I took it back to the Dealer and they replaced the offending tube and that was it. It was fine. The Effects loop is still noisy tho. Very reliable since the pre-amp tubes were replaced.

The dealer (Makin' Music in Chicago) were very good about standing behind the product. Haven't dealt with Mesa.

Been playing 32 yrs. I don't play a lot (once or twice a month) anymore. I wish I could have had this amp 15 yrs ago when I needed it!! I would definately by it again. Wish it were offered in a 1-12" configuration. So I wouldn't have to lug around the extra speaker.

The Subway is very simple to use, yet is quite versatile. The amp has five controls(volume, bass, middle, treble, and reverb) w/ a fat/bright switch that comes in handy when switching guitars. It also has an effects loop w/ an adjustable level, mute switch while plugging the amp directly into a mixing console or whatever. Not quite lightweight, but its size makes it easy to carry around.

The amplifier itself provides a good starting point for simple mods. After replacing the tubes w/ Sovtek premium EL-84s, and the 12AX7s w/ the 'Telefunken' preamp tubes, it did give the amplifier a little more 'zing' and clarity. I also switched to a Kendrick Blackframe speaker, which improved the tone as well. Using a strat-style guitar w/ Duncan alnico II's, the amp produces a really full, almost beefy sound considering its size. By using a Heritage Les Paul-style guitar, I was albe to get really good bluesy sounds, and when cranking the volume(there is no master volume), you can get all the distortion you would ever need for blues and rock(Trust Me!). When using this amp in conjunction w/ a modded tube screamer(w/ TS-808 specs) and an XXL, I was provided w/ a good variety of very useful overdriven tones. I will say that this is NOT a Fender Deluxe(a fantastic 20-watt amp), however, with given time to tweak this baby(it really does work well w/ good overdrive pedals), you would be hard-pressed to find something that sounds as good as this amp does for $449.00. The reverb is very nice. It does not stand idle in the background, nor does it become unuseable w/ effects. The Bright/fat switch really does change the tonal characteristics of the amp. I highly recommend it.

I haven't had a problem with it yet, and I don't predict that I will. This amp is built solid.

I've never talked to them, but I'm sure they have very helpful customer service support.

Unless you can find an old Fender Deluxe for a good price, you are not going to find many amplifiers out there that can compete w/ the Subway Blues. If you can, contact me on my website. For club gigs, it is ideal(especially its size). A lot of amps out there would probably sound better if the tubes were changed as well as the speakers. Some people might be put off by the amp because you CANNOT get distortion at lower levels w/out a pedal. But when you crank it up, it provides good overdriven power tube distortion w/ lots of sustain and pleasant harmonic feedback.