How well is Mesa doing with these amps?

[LesMesa]

What a great amp! I think Mesa is doing really well in terms of producing an amp that many of love but is the ED commercially successful for Mesa? Are they selling many of them?

My 1x12 long combo purchased about six months ago has a serial number in the 400s. That's probably not a lot for Mesa right? I wonder many they’ve sold now.

No particular reason for asking. I just like this amp a lot so want to see Mesa do well with it. Given how quickly models pop up and disappear I would guess some of their models don’t sell and are killed off quickly.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Let's see... If I wanted to know how many cars Ford sold, who would I call?
So... Call 'em up. Let us know what they say.

 

[screamingdaisy]

It seems to be gathering a following.

Part of the reason for your low serial number may be the price of admission. That amp could've sat on a showroom floor for a year, meanwhile another store in a different zip code has moved 10 or 20 of them in that same timeframe.

 

[YellowJacket]

These amps kick ***. I'll be happy provided they keep making them long enough that I can gather the cash together to afford one!

Judging by how small the used market is, I'd think it is safe to assume that the people who do buy them are holding onto them, unlike the countless thousands of people who buy and promptly unload Dual Rectifiers.

 

[Scary]

Well I ordered my Mark V months before they were even out and just barely got under 500.

 

[LesMesa]

Let's see... If I wanted to know how many cars Ford sold, who would I call?
So... Call 'em up. Let us know what they say.

Good point but as a private company Mesa doesn't have to say unlike Ford. Mesa are nice people so I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they say and report back.

 

[Laskyman]

My buddy from out of town is coming out next week with his family- he hasn't played through a nice Mesa, probably ever...he is bringing out his amp, and I can only imagine what is gonna happen the minute both amps are turned on...you and I both know there are few amps capable of hangin with the Dyne, and his amp isn't one of them...not his fault, thats just how it is. It will be an interesting ride home for his family, him explaining to his lovely wife why he needs to get a Boogie...I've been there...maybe you have too...long story short, if the Dynes are not successful, and the line ends in a short run, I will do everything I can to get another as a back up- yeah, I really like the Dyne.

 

[JOEY B.]

long story short, if the Dynes are not successful, and the line ends in a short run ....

It won't bother me one bit, as I have my Electra Dyne, much like the short run of the production Mark IIC+. :twisted: 8) :lol:

 

[YellowJacket]

...long story short, if the Dynes are not successful, and the line ends in a short run, I will do everything I can to get another as a back up- yeah, I really like the Dyne.

Be still thy tongue. They have to keep making it at least until I can acquire one! Probably will be waiting until next summer at least =-(

 

[dudleydawson]

if all goes according to plan, i will definitively answer this question by summer's end! :twisted:

 

[LesMesa]

Let's see... If I wanted to know how many cars Ford sold, who would I call?
So... Call 'em up. Let us know what they say.

Good point but as a private company Mesa doesn't have to say unlike Ford. Mesa are nice people so I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they say and report back.

I promised to call Mesa and get back to the board so here’s what I found out.

The Mesa person I spoke with was very helpful. While they didn’t tell me how many EDs Mesa has sold (maybe they didn’t know the number) they did mention that the ED has been overshadowed by the Mark V. They said that people had been waiting for years for the Mark V and the anticipation resulted in the Mark V selling very well against the ED as the amps were released around the same time. My personal interpretation here is that the ED has sold below expectations because the Mark V poached sales and perhaps marketing.

The person I spoke with did mention that the Mark V and new Rectifier are currently their best sellers. We both agreed that the ED is our favorite amp. Like I said originally Mesa did a great job here so I hope they do well with this one and stick to the ED line.

I have both the ED and Mark V combos but since I’ve had the ED I haven’t played the Mark V much. The Mark V does cover fairly well all the ED tones and does much more but the ED covers the tones that I want very well. I made the difficult decision to list the Mark V for sale. With an ED and an Express I keep telling myself I don’t need it. Anyway I’m starting to drift on a tangent so will save this one for the MkV v ED thread.

 

[Spewnz]

i think in the long run the ED will find a niche market with players that don't want/need all the features of the mark v and i think it will stick around as a staple of their line with the possibility of revisions and different models like the rectifier family.

 

[screamingdaisy]

I don't think it's so much that the Mark V overshadowed the ED... I think it's more along the lines of the ED being so off beat for a Boogie that it's taken awhile for people to figure out what it's supposed to be, and then it took awhile longer for word to get to people interested in that kind of amp.

 

[Laskyman]

When I first plugged into the Dyne, really, it was just to see what it was about- I had *no* real interest in this as an amp that would replace my Stiletto.
I am pretty sure that at NAMM when they introduced the V and the Dyne, you can hear crickets behind the guy demoing the Dyne- EVERYONE was over at the V.....I wouldn't trade the Dyne for a V. Well, maybe for a 40 anniversary V, but that is different...

 

[MBJunkie]

I must say good comments by all in this post!

I currently own an ED combo and a MkV combo and feel both are excellent amplifiers, but don't think there is a good "apples to oranges" comparison between the two.

I have owned a wide variety of MB amps in my life and can honestly say that ALL of them provided me with some excellent sounds that really inspired me to play my best when dialed in to my liking. During my MB amp musical journey (from DC-5, MkIV, LSC, LSS, RK, Express, ED, MkV), I came to realize that the versatility of sounds most suited for my needs came from a Mark series amp.

I still own and enjoy the great sounds I obtain out of my MkIV combo, but the V has all the things I dreamed my MkIV amp had and then some. It is not about the V having a bunch of "bells and whistles" the IV doesn't have....it is about the V having extremely useful features that I consider to be a godsend while playing live while still maintaining (and improving in many ways upon) the Mark Series sound IMO.

I also really like the ED and seriously doubt it will be discountinued by MB any time soon. It offers 3 good footswitchable sounds from clean, crunch to hi gain lead in a very simple to dial format which clearly works great for many people. While, I do love many of the sounds that I can achieve from the ED....the compromises between mode sounds with all dials set the same do not offer the flexibility that I am after for rehearsals and live situations. That's just me....many others find the ED to be their perfect amp for live situations and I think that is great. The ED and MkV are very different amps.

Many people on this forum say they went from a V to an ED and much prefer the ED. My hat is off to you. I personally prefer the V after owning both for several months and giving each their fair chance.

 

[YellowJacket]

I also really like the ED and seriously doubt it will be discountinued by MB any time soon. It offers 3 good footswitchable sounds from clean, crunch to hi gain lead in a very simple to dial format which clearly works great for many people. While, I do love many of the sounds that I can achieve from the ED....the compromises between mode sounds with all dials set the same do not offer the flexibility that I am after for rehearsals and live situations. That's just me....many others find the ED to be their perfect amp for live situations and I think that is great. The ED and MkV are very different amps.

The ED is a fantastic amp. I played it and felt instant <3. That being said, my one complaint is also that there isn't the flexibility to dial in all the modes individually. That would have made an already fantastic amp epic. My personal problem was that when trying the Dyne, I always wanted vintage high mode to have the gain maxed. That is just where I felt it sounded best. It just was undergained otherwise, at least for that mode, and when it is maxed, the clean channel is unusable. If this was the only tube amp I owned, I could see it becoming frustrating very quickly for this reason. Mesa attempted to make something simple that was not and the resultant compromise I feel is a design flaw. If you are going to make a one channel amp, make a one channel amp. If you are going to make a three channel amp, make it three independent channels, especially when they are voiced to sound like two different amps in the same chassis. Just having three channels with EQs for each would be a shockingly simple design for Mesa. I personally would prefer 10 watt, 45, watt, 90 watt power options but that is just me. I just love the tones on these amps so I would be willing to deal with the *ahem* limitations, but if it had the functionality of a Mark V, it would be the perfect amp.

 

[Analog Kid]

I wouldn't mind if they ended its run. It seems like the best Boogies go fast, which makes having them that much more special.

 

[formisano]

They are making them in much larger quantities now.

 

[theweatherman]

The ED was not made with extreme versatility in mind like the mkv or roadster/rk. it is a simple and pure sounding amp. think of it as a 1 channel amp with three gain stages. you CANNOT get extreme hi-gain and with the flick of a switch extreme clean. it has compromise built in to its simplicity. if you are a classic rock dude this is your amp. you can have a low gain crunch with punchy rock cleans and a ballsy hi-gain lead or heavy rhythm tone for your 3 gain stages. if youre a blues player this is your amp as well. you can have glassy warm cleans with a slight overdrive and then a medium gain lead tone for your 3 gain stages. if you are into punk rock, like i am...this amp is perfect. thick low end and punchy hi gain with just the right amount of gain on tap (at about 4'oclock). this amp is extremely responsive to guitar and pup combinations. if i want rock i throw on a les paul, if i want blues or classic rock i go to a strat. this amp has old school mentality. you want super clean with extreme high gain...? get a different amp. or 2 ED's

 

[theweatherman]

but to get back to the topic, i think mesa is doing okay with them. not great, just okay. they only appeal to such a small population. i can see mesa ending the ED in a few years, unless it catches on. its sad, cause its the best amp ive ever played. its simplicity allows me to forget about tweaking and just plug and play. it sounds the same every day and sounds great live when those tubes get cookin.