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The amps that you mention are all from the Marshall lineage, all having their ancestry rooted in the model 1959 Superlead, which is a fundamentally, conceptually different amp than the Mark series Mesa concept.

The Marshall is a low gain preamp and to get it to grind, you turn it up and saturate the power stage. This gives a different set of harmonics than those you get by overdriving preamp stages, particularly cascaded preamp stages. While most Marshall derivatives today do have master volume controls, they're still built to emulate that sound only usually with some added preamp stage overdrive as well.
The base idea of the Mark series is preamp gains and tons of it, with an effective master volume control that lets you get a screaming tone without necessarily having to make the more sensitive ears in the audience run for the exits. Mesas are not known for their power amp stage saturation, not like Marshalls are.

In my opinion, you need both. Marshall tone is awesome. Boogie tone is awesome. Get both. Neither can fully replace the other.

<blockquote data-quote="woodbutcher65" data-source="post: 532666" data-attributes="member: 42067">The amps that you mention are all from the Marshall lineage, all having their ancestry rooted in the model 1959 Superlead, which is a fundamentally, conceptually different amp than the Mark series Mesa concept.The Marshall is a low gain preamp and to get it to grind, you turn it up and saturate the power stage.&nbsp;&nbsp; This gives a different set of harmonics than those you get by overdriving preamp stages, particularly&nbsp; cascaded preamp stages.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; While most Marshall derivatives today do have master volume controls,&nbsp; they&#039;re still built to emulate that sound only usually with some added preamp stage overdrive as well. The base idea of the Mark series is preamp gains and tons of it, with an effective master volume control that lets you get a screaming tone without necessarily having to make the more sensitive ears in the audience run for the exits.&nbsp;&nbsp; Mesas are not known for their power amp stage saturation,&nbsp; not like Marshalls are. In my opinion, you need both.&nbsp; Marshall tone is awesome.&nbsp; Boogie tone is awesome.&nbsp; Get both.&nbsp; Neither can fully replace the other.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="woodbutcher65, post: 532666, member: 42067"] The amps that you mention are all from the Marshall lineage, all having their ancestry rooted in the model 1959 Superlead, which is a fundamentally, conceptually different amp than the Mark series Mesa concept. The Marshall is a low gain preamp and to get it to grind, you turn it up and saturate the power stage. This gives a different set of harmonics than those you get by overdriving preamp stages, particularly cascaded preamp stages. While most Marshall derivatives today do have master volume controls, they're still built to emulate that sound only usually with some added preamp stage overdrive as well. The base idea of the Mark series is preamp gains and tons of it, with an effective master volume control that lets you get a screaming tone without necessarily having to make the more sensitive ears in the audience run for the exits. Mesas are not known for their power amp stage saturation, not like Marshalls are. In my opinion, you need both. Marshall tone is awesome. Boogie tone is awesome. Get both. Neither can fully replace the other. [/QUOTE]

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