chosing a boogie - best all-rounder?

[yagon]

I'm thinking about buying a 1x12 mesa boogie combo.

I'm looking for an all-round amp that will provide crystal clean tones, bluesy light distrotion tones and heavy rock tones.

I'm not sure which boogie amp would be the best for me. Can anyone make some suggestions?

 

[jamme61]

For the money express 5:00, ($1200 for the 1x12). If you need a lot of bells and whistles, three channels, and have cash to burn MKIV widebody 1x12. Don't forget the lonestar which i put in with the Express tone wise. the MKIV can give you more dirt, and scream. i have, and have all of these, and my vote is, buy the express before they raise the price.

 

[Sling Blade]

Express 550. hands down.

 

[BigMac5]

Lonestar Classic

 

[NuSkoolTone]

I'm thinking about buying a 1x12 mesa boogie combo.

I'm looking for an all-round amp that will provide crystal clean tones, bluesy light distrotion tones and heavy rock tones.

I'm not sure which boogie amp would be the best for me. Can anyone make some suggestions?

If your last stop is "heavy rock" and NO further, the express fits the bill nicely.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Best all around amp is definitely the Mark IV.

 

[visualrocker69]

Mark IV. You don't even need to think twice. It's definately the most sophisticated amp in their lineup except for the Road King, which is essentially a rectifier with lots of bells and whistles.

 

[Mr_You]

There are a lot of amps that can get the job done. Try to play or listen to as many unprocessed amp tones as you can (also note single coil or humbucker pickups being used). And you're going to have to compromise somewhere unless you happen to luck out on your ultimate amp (which you won't know til you've been using the amp for months or eventually get experience with other amps).

Reality is, because of the differences in tubes and circuit designs (modeling amps get close but not there yet), I would probably need multiple fully custom built preamps and power amps and high-end switching to get every tone in my head. It makes more sense to choose an amp for a specific purpose and when needed run dual amps (blues and hard rock for example). Its truly the only way to get the best of both worlds.

For example, the Roadster cops a Lone Star clean and Recto distortion, but its not the same as either of those two amps.

So my suggestion would be to find the most important tone to you and find the amp that gives you the other tones with as little compromise to the important tone. Maybe this will help someone. :lol:

 

[tetsubin]

The Dual Caliber series will definitely get you there, but get a DC-5 or DC-10 as the 6L6 power tubes are needed for versality.

 

[Newysurfer]

The Express 5:50 1x12" combo wins easily - it's THE most versatile tube amp on the market IMHO. That's exactly why I bought it.

daylight 2nd to the Lonestars, F-50, Recto's, Marks', whatever else

 

[theaero]

The Express 5:50 1x12" combo wins easily - it's THE most versatile tube amp on the market IMHO. That's exactly why I bought it.

daylight 2nd to the Lonestars, F-50, Recto's, Marks', whatever else

Mark IV... RKII.... H&K TriampII...

all much much more versitile than the 5:50 imho

 

[t0aj15]

Mark IV, period, end of story.

 

[123thefirst]

Mark IV, period, end of story.

He he, this is getting funny... (sorry) :lol:

 

[JoeEllison]

The ROV seems pretty versatile.

 

[Johnson]

When you consider the going price and the features available, I'd go for a fully loaded Mark III! If Price isn't an issue, I'd go with a MarkIV or a roadking...

 

[SixVeeSix]

Maverick 1-12. 35 watts should be enough power for just about any gig. You can choose between tube and solid state rectifier, there are two discreet preamps (not just cascading gain stages) and both channels are very versatile. Mark IV and Express only offer the solid state rectifier tone, Lonestar has way too many of those mini-switches everywhere. You may want to play around with different tubes and speakers to find your tone. Very responsive to pick attack and volume knob settings on your guitar.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

For the going prices of most boogies, I'd get a fully loaded Mark III combo. 3 channels that do exactly what you said you wanted- clean, light distortion, heavy distortion and they're going cheaper right now than most used boogies. Mark IV's are amazing, but for the price difference I'd snag a III unless a killer deal came up on a IV. The Nomads are another option, that seem to be ignored most of the time, really good amps though. Dual Recto Roadster/Roadking combos will do all of the above, but run higher than MK IV's or III's and have 4 channels. Good luck

 

[Platypus]

LSC, Express 5:50, Mark IV

all very nice and versatile... but that's all relative, vote with your EARS!

 

[Newysurfer]

It's funny reading all the comments from people here who haven't used any other amp than the one they own for the past few years. Either that or they've completely lost it :lol: :lol: :lol: :roll: :lol:

 

[phillyred79]

Mark IV, Roadster, or Road King II.