About Mesa Boogie
Our reputation for hand-building exceptional quality high performance amplifiers is exceeded only by our rep for customer service. Our goal from day one has been to treat you, the customer, as we ourselves would want to be treated. Following this simple and most basic practice has earned us the loyalty of legions of faithful players around the globe. Unlike bigger companies with vast Service Departments, we’re available to talk to you instead of assigning you a number. Yet because we have been successfully helping musicians get great tone for 40 years, we have resources smaller operations or boutique builders simply can’t provide. Our flexible “mid size” organization enables us to respond to your needs quickly and efficiently making us big enough to serve, yet small enough to care.
You can call us direct at the shop and speak to a Product Specialist that will help you get the most from your amp and define a sound that is uniquely yours. Our dedicated Dealer Reps perform like Deacons as they roam the nation and the world, ensuring our retail outlets are knowledgeable and up to speed with the latest tonal developments. All of these musicians have hands on experience here at the Home of Tone® and are well aware of each step’s importance in the process of building your amp. Like you, they rely on their own Mesa every time they gig, which gives them the ultimate understanding of your needs and the skills to ensure your lasting satisfaction.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Boogie from N Ireland !,
cheers, Rod.
I have just bought my first boogie amp and it is superbly built with outstanding tones!!!, It is a DC-5 combo serial # DC 2635x, can you tell me what year and when production stopped for these?, Thank you, now i am off to tweak and play more
Hi Rod –
Glad the amp is working well!
DC-5s we’re built between 1993 and 1998. Can’t say what year but this may help you find that yourself:
http://mesaboogie.com/news/2010/11/where-is-the-serial-number-on-my-mesa-amp/
Cheers,
Boogie
I own a Rect o verb II and I´m very happy since it has helped me to get unlimited hours of musical pleasure and creativity. I´m from Argentine and it took a long wait but it´s always worth with Mesa Boogie.
PS: I need help with chassis vibration. The power tubes vibrate and it´s impossible to get a clear sound at clean channel when you get to the lower strings. I´ve tried to fix it by tightening and loosening the chassis support screws and the one that is on the back but still keeps vibrating.
I hope you can help me…
Thank you so much.
Hi Pablo –
Sorry to hear of your problems with tube rattle but thanks for the kind words and glad you’re enjoying the Rectoverb.
This can be a very complicated thing to fix completely and sometimes may never go away based on resonant frequencies within the combo based on how, what and where you play (notes on the guitar), what guitar and pickups you have and then, just having ‘found the note’ that makes the amp and tubes rattle and playing that note, not in a musical application or way.
There are things you can do to try but sometimes the internal components of the tubes are just rattle-y and nothing can be done to change it except to replace the tube and hopefully find one more internally stable.
The things you can do is to make sure the tube clips that bite into the base of the tubes are nice and tight and the tube is firmly seated into the base. You can adjust the chassis tension screw that sticks out of the bottom of the amp generally in the middle of the chassis. Adjust this only a few turns once you feel the screw make contact with the top of the amp. It creates tension on the bottom side of the chassis and stabilizes that side of the chassis and will often help or change the tube rattle at least slightly. You can try switching tubes around in different sockets, each time making sure the tube clip is holding the tube in place firmly.
Also, try tightening (or loosening) the chassis screws a turn or two to see if that changes or helps. All these things in conjunction will often change, help or fix it completely.
Finally, some tubes rattle more than others. Look closely at the tubes and note the stabilizing structures inside the tube that spaces the internal component from the glass. There is variation in that stabilization and that’s what makes tubes rattle at certain frequencies and not others. It is not an exact science and even if it was, the variation of frequencies that a guitar can produce based on how you play and the other variables mentioned above, any tube can potentially be made to rattle.
Which, brings us to the next thing which is psychological. Once you hear the noise and recognize the note that makes it sound off, we often fixate on that note and play the note in a very non-musical way to accentuate the noise. we may do this for testing and trying to figure it out but what ends up happening is, every time we go to that note, we remember that this is where we hear rattling!
It gets into your head. If you’re playing the amp at live volumes you’re unlikely to hear it but when you play quiet, it’s obvious and hard to get it out of your head. It’s a challenging process if you get hung up on it and as mentioned, all tubes vary and some will do it more than others although nearly all can potentially be pushed into making noise if you try hard enough.
The Rectoverb can be tricky since it’s a mostly closed back combo that generates A LOT of bass.Let us know how it goes when you’ve applied some of the above to your amp.
Hope this helps. Let us know what you find!
Boogie
I’ve been a mesa user since the 80′s. My Mark III is starting the have speaker problems. I’m considering condensing my combo into a Mesa head cabinet. Any ideas where I might find a head cabinet?
Also what speaker would you recommend to replace my EV 12″ in my Mark III?
Thanks for the years of service.
Greg
grate amps!! i own a dual rectifire multi-watt version
I want to know if this procedure works in this amp version for even less power than 50 watt?
“NOTE: On the Dual Solo Head it is possible to run two 6L6 or EL34 tubes pulling the two center tubes, leaving far left and far right tubes intact. This procedure reduces the power by approximately 50%. Remove one of the Rectifier tubes if you are using the TUBE RECTIFIER setting to assure a correct match.”
thanks you rocks
dave ortiz
Hi David –
Yes – this is correct yet incomplete. The final, and perhaps most important thing to do when pulling two tubes to lower the power potential is to realize the impedances on the speaker jacks as printed on the amp have changed by pulling tubes.
Basically, the impedances double. What was formerly a 4 ohm jack now becomes an 8 ohm jack. What was an 8 ohm jack now becomes 16… etc. SO – if you have ONE 8 ohm cab, you will plug it into one of the 4 ohm jacks opn the back of the amp with two tubes removed. If you have two cabs, it gets more complicated and that’s another story but hopefully this helps get you going with just one cab for now.
In a single rectifier 50 watt head can I replace a 2.5 amp/120 volt fuse with as 2.5amp/250 volt fuse, I’m reading it just increases surge protection so should be okay.
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave –
Please take a look at our Blog post about fuses. It will answer your questions specifically and MORE!
http://mesaboogie.com/news/2010/06/fuses-why-do-they-fail-what-does-it-mean-and-what-can-you-do/
The short answer is. NEVER REPLACE A FUSE WITH A HIGHER VALUE/RATING THAN WHAT IS PRINTED ON THE CHASSIS!
This is capitalized because SIGNIFICANT damage can be experienced by replacing the fuse with an improper rating. Please read the article as it explains why the fuse is in the amp and the reason why you must ALWAYS replace the fuse with the proper value. VERY IMPORTANT!
Hope this helps and thanks for asking.
Boogie
Thank You Mesa Boogie – For being there when we have issues, for always putting out the best amps possible, for keeping the prices cool for everyone, and for staying commited to us and never selling out. Oh yea, thank you for my two Mark IV’s and Mark V as well
Thanks, Zach –
Really appreciate the kind words and you sharing your Mesa experience. We are trying to do exactly what you’ve mentioned and will continue to do our best to make some of the best amps out there and take care of our customers the way we hope to be treated when we buy musical gear.
Rock on, Sir!
Boogie
Ive used your amps exclusively for 30 years .I acquired my first Boogie (Mark IIB) in 1980 . Ive always been impressed first and formost with the singing tone , consistancy & reliability . But what I want to speak now about the customer service you provide . You’ve guys have always provided me with fast friendly service and treated like a family member . Anyone who is about to buy a new amp this is someting you might consider . For me Mesa has it right , Service after the sale . You guys are the best in the business !
I love your amps thank you for making the tone that drives my musical creativity. I own a Mesa Mark IV rackmount and a Mesa Mark 2B both of these amps are incredible. Thank you for staying true and always pursing tone over anything.
Paul Rankin
Hey Paul – Thanks for the great comment and the kind words. We are very proud to have folks like yourself having found your musical voice with our products as well as taking the time to let us know how its going. Thanks for that!
Songs are sounding good on the Myspace page – Mark on this World is dang catchy. Keep up the great work yourself!
Boogie