Just played and then bought a DC-5-WOW

[cb101]

I walked into my local music store and they had a later model DC-5 head for sale so I tried it out and WOW. What a great sounding amp. You don't hear too much about them on the forum. I bought that baby on the spot. Very good cleans and the lead channel is great. I tried it a home through a single 12-212 and a 412 and it sounded great through all of them but I was really impressed with it through the 212. Anyway, just sharing my findings!

 

[Anonymous]

Post removed.

 

[Charles Reeder]

Hey (again) CB101:

It is a great amp. Like you; the Lonestar and the DC-5 are the two Mesa amps I own. The clean channel doesn't actually sound like the Lonestar's to me...but it is an equally nice one. The distortion channel is a little 'too-much' (for me)...but it can be 'tweaked' if desired.

For any info on it and tweaking...'Monsta-Tone' is the guy to consult. Check out his many postings on the DC-5 and DC-10 in the 'Vintage Amps' (Before 1991) Forum.

I have a little experience 'tweaking' it...although far less than 'Monsta-Tone'.

The first time I tried Yellow-Jacket EL84 Adapters I was disappointed in the results...(far too mushy) Tried 6V6s and they sounded cold and sterile.

Replacing the 12AX7 in the Phase Inverter socket with a 12AT7 smoothed out the Yellow Jacket/El84 sound wonderfully. Also the 12AT7 sounded better for the 6V6 as well (to me)...but it was also necessary to use the 4-ohm -speaker-out when using the 6V6s (just as in the Lonestar).

I found the 2nd channel a little 'over the top' for my tastes...it may be just fine for you. If not...try a 12AY7, 12AT7, or a 5751 in the 2nd/3rd gain stage for channel-2. Even a DW7 may work. I use a 12AY7 currently.

The Phase Inverter is the pre-amp tube to the far-left (the 6th socket). The channel-2...2nd/3rd gain stage tube is the second tube from the RIGHT...i.e. the 2nd tube socket.

You may not need any of this info...but like I said if you wanna really learn about the amp consult 'Monsta-Tone' and his many posts.

Charles

 

[cb101]

Hi Charles!

Thank you for all of the information. I actually called Mesa and they sent me the schematics and a tube chart. Their customer service is really great. The lead channel is a little over the top for me but I'll play around with it for a while. I can't get over how loud this amp is on the lead channel. I had the gain on 3, the master on 3 and the output on 3 through my Bogner 212 and whooooow, almost blew me away with a Les Paul. The rhythm channel really has a great tone to it and again I'll have to tweak it a little. My only concern is the parallel effects loop. I'm so used to series loops that I am going to have to restudy how to hook everything up and set the mixes.

 

[Fordman65]

Congrats dude. Thats a great head for sure. Very under-rated.

 

[cb101]

I am now finding out more cool features about this amp as I go along. Mine apparently is one of the last produced and has at least one feature that the earlier models didn't have. It has a dedicated headphone out plus a recording out. The earlier models only had the recording out. That coupled with the speaker mute makes late night playing and recording very easy and quiet. Still can't beleive how loud and full this amp is, it easily keeps up with my Lonestar.