1992 Mesa Boogie 50 caliber

[Foorever]

I've been looking at some 50 caliber amps.

By the looks of a picture I see of one from 92, I see "Volume, Lead Volume, Master Volume" and so on.

So I'm guessing these amps have the clean and lead run on the same bass, mids and treble knobs. But where is the gain knob for the lead channel? Is it the first "volume" knob?

Anyone have one of these they can tell me more about?

I was just wondering how the lead/rhythm channel switching works. I'm in a rock band and in a lot of our songs I go from nice cleans to rock/heavy distortion. I was wondering if thats achievable.

Thank you

 

[plumptone]

Go to the mesa website and download the manual - it will describe how the various controls interact. This amp (I had one in the 90s) is a 2 channel amp that shares tone controls. It will definitely give you a decent clean as well as a pretty heavy overdrive sound. Channel switching is achieved via a footswitch that plugs in to the front of the amp right below where your guitar plugs in. If you're new to tube amps and/or Boogies, this amp is probably a pretty good place to get your feet wet. But I wouldn't buy it without trying it first - it may not be your thing. Once you get them figured out, they do sound very good, but it takes a little time and patience to find the settings that work best for you, your style, the band you're in and your equipment.

Good luck.