I purchased the Mesa Boogie Mark VII combo amp today from Guitar Center. I was able to get one from their warehouse which I opened and inspected at the store before I left. I was surprised of how many things were stuffed in the back of the amp which was hard to get out. A large brown bag that had 4 wheels inside, a smaller bag with the manual, a large foot pedal, a long cable for the foot pedal and the A/C chord for the amp. All which have to come out on the left side of the amp as the tubes were on the right. Removing it without pushing on the speaker or speaker wire in the back was a slow gentle task. Putting on the wheels were easy and I like the amp lifted off the ground.
As there was a thread about different volumes on channel 1 vs 2 and 3, I confirmed all channels had pretty much the same volume at the same setting. No dings were found, EQ sliders and the body of the amp all looked good. What striked me was how small the amp is. In one way, I would have preferred if they made this amp the size of a Fender Blues Deluxe or Fender Deluxe reverb, both that have a one 12" speaker. With the larger cabinet, one would think it would have a fuller and less tight sound. Perhaps with more air and things spread out more, a fan would not be needed inside the Mark VII. I found the graphic EQ to be very powerful in adding more punch or reducing freq's. Reverb knobs on the front and the whole layout was easy to follow. The fan reminds me of the noise from a small fish tank motor. It is heard but its not annoying with its low mid hum.
I compared it quickly with my Express 5:25 which has a richer tone and limited mids. It sounds great and the burn knob had a polite distortion to it. The Mark VII has a more open sound and providing a lot mids.
The clean channel I would say rivals the Fender Deluxe reverb. I turned off the graphic EQ, boosted the bass to 3 o'clock, reduced the treble and presence knobs to 11 o'clock and gain at 9 oclock at the full 90 watts. I was able to get a great jazz tone with my 335. Granted having two 12's in my Fender Twin provides a fuller low end, but I can imagine it would give the Deluxe Reverb a run for its money with a humbucking guitar. In adding the graphic EQ and just boosting the two left sliders, it adds this fullness to the amp that you would not expect from just one 12" speaker. I am thinking I might tweak it to my taste and use channel 1 mostly when I want the clean sound along with perhaps some pedals. It really sounds great. However when using my Silver Sky, the top end sounds thinner on the Boogie. I had to tweak the amp a bit to correct this.
Bold provides a fuller low end and has a little less sparkle than the clean channel. For making a single coil pickup have a fuller sound might want to try this mode out. I prefer this channel with my Silver Sky.
Crunch is a med distortion that sounds great on both humbucker and single coil pickups. Great for distorted rthy guitar and even some lead guitar.
Mode II B has a similar tonality as the clean mode with my Silver Sky. I prefer this mode with humbuckers. Mark II C sounds great in both single coil and humbucker guitars.
Mark VII is like a punchier Crunch mode without pushing overdrive distortion. That is the job for the Mark IV mode which is wonderful.
I will provide more opinions after I spend more time with it. But right now, I am very happy with the amp.
