Members MartinC Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I'm out of the loop on what's out there for electric guitar amps. I've been using acoustic amps for the last 15 years. I have a 25 year old mesa boogie mark II with a 60/100 watt switch that has a lot of miles on it. It makes all kinds of buzzing noises. I loved the amp when it was in it's prime. I'm wondering if you guys think I should have it repaired, if it really can be brought back to it's prime, or if i should just buy something new, and if so, what? I'd like it to work for rock, jazz, reggae, blues. Don't expect to be playing any metal. It would be nice if it didn't weigh a ton, but the boogie is pretty heavy. Any ideas? Somewhere under 1k ............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dancebass Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 VOX ac30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vermoulian Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 How loud do you need to get, and, are you willing to consider solid state amps? If your Boogie gets the tones you need, in the long run you'd probably be money ahead to get it fixed---it might not even be anything serious. Possibly as simple as tubes, maybe filter caps. You certainly couldn't buy an amp like that for the price of getting an existing amp overhauled, and it would probably end up as good as new, functionally. The question is whether your amp from 25 years ago works tonally for what you're playing today. Or, those things certainly are heavy; you could get a much lighter amp that will still sound pretty good if you're okay with transistors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 If I was buying an amp today, I get a Fender Blues Jr. It's only 15 watts, but you can mic it up and play any sized venue and I think they sound phenomenal. YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Lots of things go into the decision. Are you always going to be playing in a situation where you use sound re enforcment? If you are ,, size doesnt really matter much. If you are going to be playing caveman on your stage volume alone ,, you may want a little more powerful amp. Our lead player just picked up a new fender tube amp with an over drive channel ,,, I think it a combo of tube with some modern solid state touches. Its a 12 inch speaker and can hold its own in a caveman mix, but is small enough to mic up or go DI with. Seems to work well in both applications. We played a big stage with pro sound this fall and use it caveman alot in the small bar application. he is pretty fussy and we do do a wide variation of types of music ,, from zz top to country to beach stuff. It was well below your target price. I think its a hot rod deluxe lll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted December 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 As far as tone and versatilty, the boogie would work. I don't think i'll need a ton of volume. I don't have anything against solid state, but do they really sound as good as tubes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Padoobies Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I'd say to fix your boogie, chances are it won't be any more than a couple hundred bucks, and you most likely won't be able to find anything that you like better or even as much for $1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members babalugats85 Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 If I was buying an amp today, I get a Fender Blues Jr. It's only 15 watts, but you can mic it up and play any sized venue and I think they sound phenomenal. YMMV Don't you find the sound a little "thin" for playing out? I love mine and play it at home, but have never been able to get enough bottom end to feel compfortable taking it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yer Blues Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Get the Boogie fixed. I have a Mesa Boogie MKIIB and it has been my main amp for the last 10 years. Mine does not have the 60/100 watt switch though, but it does have the extra EQ (which I never use). It's incredibly heavy, but so are most decent tube amps. It can definitely do what you want it to do, but will have it's own unique sound. Even if you do decide to get more amps, it's still worth it to get the Boogie fixed. It's natural OD is sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Don't you find the sound a little "thin" for playing out? I love mine and play it at home, but have never been able to get enough bottom end to feel compfortable taking it out. I actually have a blues deluxe, but at 40 watts, it's so freakin loud that I. Can never turn it up past 2 on the master and 4 on the gain. I'm definitely going to be switching to a 15w amp in the near future and I'm leaning towards to jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Egnater and Blackstar make the best sounding, full featured mid-priced amps that I know of. I've heard good things about Jet City too, but I've never played one. Egnater Rebel 30 or Blackstar HT-40 seem like they'd be good choices. I know the Blues Juniors have their fans, but they're over-priced, over-hyped fart makers IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yer Blues Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I don't know about your MKIIB, but one of the things I like about mine is I can get some good dirt out of it at low volumes. I've got a Vox AC15, Marshall JCM 800 2205, and an 18 watt Ceriatone Plexi clone and while they all sound good when they are cranked, none of them sound as good as the Boogie at lower volumes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Fix the Boogie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fanuvbrak Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 One of the best-bang-for-the-buck amps out there is the Peavey Classic 30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Egnater and Blackstar make the best sounding, full featured mid-priced amps that I know of. I've heard good things about Jet City too, but I've never played one.Egnater Rebel 30 or Blackstar HT-40 seem like they'd be good choices.I know the Blues Juniors have their fans, but they're over-priced, over-hyped fart makers IMHO. I like farts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I actually have a blues deluxe, but at 40 watts, it's so freakin loud that I. Can never turn it up past 2 on the master and 4 on the gain. I'm definitely going to be switching to a 15w amp in the near future and I'm leaning towards to jr. Me too, though I love the sound of my HRD. But the Blues Junior is a great amp and I've never noticed any lack of bottom end in the one I tried. I also like the Vox AC15. It all depends on what you want to do with an amp. For jazz and blues, any Fender tube amp will be a good choice, as will some of the Roland SS amps. I always found the Mesas too middy sounding for my taste, sort of a more British amp sound, great for rock and fusion, but not much for twang or smooth buttery OD sound. Then again, I only used two, so I can't comment on all of them. Just depends on the player, the style being played, the volume needs, the venues, etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Egnater and Blackstar make the best sounding, full featured mid-priced amps that I know of. I've heard good things about Jet City too, but I've never played one.Egnater Rebel 30 or Blackstar HT-40 seem like they'd be good choices.I know the Blues Juniors have their fans, but they're over-priced, over-hyped fart makers IMHO. Buying one of those to play most clubs is like buying a Mercedes to drive to the grocery store. Especially for the money clubs pay these days. And at 400 bucks a Blues Junior is hardly overpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Buying one of those to play most clubs is like buying a Mercedes to drive to the grocery store. Especially for the money clubs pay these days. And at 400 bucks a Blues Junior is hardly overpriced. It's $500 at Musicians Friend. The Blackstar is $700 and the Egnater is $900. Neither is particularly expensive as far as amps go. They both run circles around the Fender in sound and in features. If you want to talk cars, I would liken the BJ to a Ford Pinto, and the Blackstar and Egnater to a Honda perhaps. Seriously, the distortion in the Fender is horrible, and compared to the others, its feature set is pretty much non-existent. If you think those two amps are too expensive, there are plenty of other smaller combos out there that are priced at or below the Fender that blow its doors off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 It's $500 at Musicians Friend. The Blackstar is $700 and the Egnater is $900. Neither is particularly expensive as far as amps go. They both run circles around the Fender in sound and in features. If you want to talk cars, I would liken the BJ to a Ford Pinto, and the Blackstar and Egnater to a Honda perhaps. Seriously, the distortion in the Fender is horrible, and compared to the others, its feature set is pretty much non-existent. OK, now I hear where you're coming from and why I love fenders and you don't. I don't rely on the amp for distortion. I keep my fender gain between 3 and 4. Just enough to get a little "crackle" then have pedals if I need overdrive and/or distortion. But in general, I think most all guitarists that play the kind of stuff we do, way overdistort their guitar and it just muddies up the mix. Personally, I love the sound of the Blues Jr. when it's turned up just enough to overdrive the tubes a little, but as I said, that's all the distortion I want from an amp. As for amp features, I don't even know what that means All I need is a gain knob and a tone knob. Anything else just confuses me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 OK, now I hear where you're coming from and why I love fenders and you don't. I don't rely on the amp for distortion. I keep my fender gain between 3 and 4. Just enough to get a little "crackle" then have pedals if I need overdrive and/or distortion. But in general, I think most all guitarists that play the kind of stuff we do, way overdistort their guitar and it just muddies up the mix. Personally, I love the sound of the Blues Jr. when it's turned up just enough to overdrive the tubes a little, but as I said, that's all the distortion I want from an amp. As for amp features, I don't even know what that means All I need is a gain knob and a tone knob. Anything else just confuses me I'm the opposite. I want distortion from the amp. The BJ sounds decent clean, but push it hard and it certainly doesn't give me the sounds I want to hear. As a pedal platform I guess it's okay, but I'd probably go with something with a little more headroom. You could get a used Hot Rod Deluxe for less than a new BJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted December 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I just spoke with a tech at mesa. Lucky for me they are located an hour from me. He said they fix old ones all the time-quoted me between 175-300. This amp was 1,200 new in the mid 80's. I'm stoked. Who says you can't go home again? When I gigged with this amp, I played a strat and would have the guitar on one or two and get clean rhythm sounds, then turn the guitar up between 7-10 to get awesome lead tones. I never needed pedals. Hardly had to touch the amp............thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I'm the opposite. I want distortion from the amp. The BJ sounds decent clean, but push it hard and it certainly doesn't give me the sounds I want to hear. As a pedal platform I guess it's okay, but I'd probably go with something with a little more headroom. You could get a used Hot Rod Deluxe for less than a new BJ. Like I said before, I have a Blues Deluxe and it's so freakin loud. I'm a weird guitarist. I actually would rather not hear my amp at all on stage and hear myself through the monitors. So I keep my amp really quiet and let the sound guy do his thing. Sound men like me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yer Blues Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I just spoke with a tech at mesa. Lucky for me they are located an hour from me. He said they fix old ones all the time-quoted me between 175-300. This amp was 1,200 new in the mid 80's. I'm stoked. Who says you can't go home again? When I gigged with this amp, I played a strat and would have the guitar on one or two and get clean rhythm sounds, then turn the guitar up between 7-10 to get awesome lead tones. I never needed pedals. Hardly had to touch the amp............thanks for the advice. That's how I run mine, but for cover band stuff I do use a Tubescreamer or Direct Drive to boosts the leads. I'd prefer just boosting the amp and have been thinking about using a volume pedal forever. There are slight differences in our MK IIs, but I'd bet they are very similiar in the regards to the sweet natural OD that comes from the amp. That's one hell of an amp and I think you'd be hard pressed to find something better without spending a lot of money. I will never sell mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nijyo Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 As for amp features, I don't even know what that means All I need is a gain knob and a tone knob. Anything else just confuses me Ditto. Even though I'm a big fan of the POD type stuff, I don't want any of that crap on my amp itself. Just seems like more stuff that can break/go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 .couldn't agree more. One of the worst sounding tube amps out there, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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