Can anyone tell me about my obscure Mesa?

[floydkahue]

I have an unusual Mesa/Boogie amp, & I'd like to know what can be known about it. It's called a "Satellite 60." The serial is STO828, it has a 21" Black Shadow speaker, with serial JV24/20T3989 (I think...that one's kinda hard to read). The only other thing I can tell you about it from my limited knowledge is that the plaque on the front (upper left of mesh) reads "MESA/BOOGIE," not "Boogie," like others I've seen. Any info would be most appreciated...I'm not finding any...it's almost as if they don't exist!

 

[floydkahue]

I have an unusual Mesa/Boogie amp, & I'd like to know what can be known about it. It's called a "Satellite 60." The serial is STO828, it has a 21" Black Shadow speaker, with serial JV24/20T3989 (I think...that one's kinda hard to read). The only other thing I can tell you about it from my limited knowledge is that the plaque on the front (upper left of mesh) reads "MESA/BOOGIE," not "Boogie," like others I've seen. Any info would be most appreciated...I'm not finding any...it's almost as if they don't exist!

Value info would be much appreciated, too...not that I'm selling, but it'd be nice to know. Any 411 would be great, & thanks in advance!

 

[HIgh Gain Junkie]

I could be completely wrong but I think the Satellites were for people who wanted to run stereo set ups using two amps. You'd get your main Mesa sounding how you wanted then run the Satellite as the second amp? Also, I think they were kind of a stripped down Mark Series amp? But then again, what do I know?

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I could be completely wrong but I think the Satellites were for people who wanted to run stereo set ups using two amps. You'd get your main Mesa sounding how you wanted then run the Satellite as the second amp? Also, I think they were kind of a stripped down Mark Series amp? But then again, what do I know?

That's pretty much it.
Here is a little more info: http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Mesa%2FBoogie/Satellite+60+112+Combo/10/1
You could also do a search here and find tons of info.

 

[cho]

Hi. I am a big fan of the Satellite amps. I love the Boogie Mark Series clean sound!

As someone mentioned on harmony central, it is basically a 60W Mark III with a different (stripped down) preamp section(only volume, tone, presence, master), no reverb, and no graphic eq. (Also, no slave out)

Actually, I have not heard the 60, but I have the Simul-class version, which also has the graphic EQ. I have heard a lot of people dismiss this amp as not being a stand-alone amp, since it was made to be an extenstion amp for running the Mark III or IV in stereo. But I would beg to differ...I would agree that you can't get this thing sounding like a Mark III or IV, as there is not as much gain available in the preamp section. But, as I'm sure you know, it is a great sounding amp! If you put the volume above 8 (volume pot pulled for the gain boost), you will get a great Rolling Stones kind of crunch (esp. in tweed mode). And the best thing is that it takes pedals really well! Clean boost, BB preamp, tube screamer, treble boost, big muff, fuzz... you name it, it sounds good. (David Gilmour got most of his gain sounds from pedals, not the amp!!) Also, I replaced my original EV with a Weber California (as I did for my Mark III and Mark IV), and it sounds so much sweeter and more...musical, now.

Plus, if you already have a Boogie preamp (Quad, Studio pre, V-twin, etc..) it is great power amp... Put a Chandler tube driver in front of this thing, and you won't remember this is a low gain amp! I have run my Quad preamp into the Satellite and I cannot distinguish it from the Mark II's and III's that I have heard.

While your amp IS somewhat rare, they are not really that valuable for resale, probably because of the limited preamp section. I would guess they made more of the Simul-Satellites than the Satellite 60's, as most people probably wanted the GEQ and simulclass power amp, to match their Mark IV....I have seen the Simul-Satellites go for $500-$600, but the Satellite 60's usually don't sell for more than $400. I just saw one sell for $345 on ebay recently...its amazing really! That is a lot of amp for that price! I think a Quad and a Satellite amp sounds better and is more versatile than a Mark III, for about the same price!

Hope you enjoy your Satellite 60!

 

[floydkahue]

Awesome. Thanks for the info.

By happenstance I also have a V-Twin preamp pedal. I traded it for an ART effects processor about 12 years ago. The amp's been broken & periodically on the chopping block. The V-Twin went into storage for about 7 years when I set down the electric to play my California Blonde (with my '95 Breedlove D20 & '97 Taylor 910, which I love dearly). Along the way I also bought a Fender Hotrod Deluxe, which I found to be good enough.

I was about to sell the V-Twin back to my friend, but in the process I plugged it into my Fender to test it. I was blown away, & cancelled the deal. I really don't know much about gear (just good guitars), but I learned quite a bit about the difference in in quality between my newer Fender & my old Mesa. They also explained a bit about the huge sound quality difference I heard when I plugged in the pedal.

Additionally I learned that I never ran my Mesa gear properly running through the guitar amp jack, & therefore really haven't heard my equipment the right way. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I didn't realize that, with the 2 components, I essentially had the full Mesa/Boogie guitar amp I wanted but didn't have the cash for. I thought the pedal was just a fancy stomp box with a distortion I liked.

So I sold the Fender today, took the Satellite 60 to the shop, & also dropped off the V-Twin, which had a couple LED's pushed in. 'Nuf said. Time to get that sound I've wanted for so long, but had the whole time

BTW thanks for the residual David Gilmore advice. He's a favorite of mine, & not being a "gear head" I don't know a whole lot about the beautiful sound he gets. I recently got Guitar Rig 3 for my computer...it sounds like I have everything I need to get a similar sound. Any more advice on how to run this gear to sound like Dave?

 

[Don]

The V-Twin and Sattelite 60 should sound great together!

 

[cho]

Here is a recent thread about David Gilmour's sound:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=40787

www.gilmourish.com has a lot of great info of his gear for each Pink Floyd album