Local dealer tells me not to buy a Boogie!

[JoeEllison]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had major issues with quality on the newer models. The semi-local guy was telling me that they've had to send back so many new Mesa amps over the past year or two that they are considering dropping the company and going to Rivera instead. They're an authorized dealer for a lot of brands, so I don't think that they are a totally crap dealer. Also, they had about 8-9 Mesa amps, only one Marshall tube amp, and they were still pushing the Marshall over the Mesas.

So, I wonder... is this legit? Is there something "wrong" with the new models(LoneStar, Express, Stiletto), or is it a fluke, or was the guy blowing smoke up my butt?

 

[Elpelotero]

from an objective point of view (since I haven't purchased any of the new models) I have been noticing more threads on here regarding people having problems with their new amps. But it certainly isn't the majority, nor are the issues anything severe. It's normal for new products to not be 100% perfect. Mesa has never released a product that they later didn't make a revision of (at least it seems like they always revise their amps after it has been tested on the consumers for a while).

He may be exaggerating it a little. He may have had a bad experience or something. Mesas are still top quality amps. I'd rather buy a Mesa unseen than a new Marshall any day.

 

[MusicManJP6]

Don't fart! You'll set off the smoke detectors!! Sounds like BS to me...

 

[JoeEllison]

I was especially wondering since I got the feeling that those amps had been sitting there for a pretty long time, while I know they haven't had the Marshall head there for very long. They still have a couple of F-series amps, that they weren't bothering to try to sell me. It just struck me that it would be more along the lines of "dishonest dealer" if they had pushed the discontinued amps at me, instead of kind of steering me away from them.

 

[Platypus]

I won't deny that I've seen a lot more issues recently but they all seem to be tube related.. sounds like Mesa doesn't need this guy as a dealer. I'd call up Mesa and give them this little tidbit, sounds like this guy wants to make a higher point ratio by selling Marshalls.

 

[Barry]

My wife works for a Mesa dealer and I also know several people who work for mesa . I know the profit margin for dealers on mesa gear is only 25 % so Im sure he would rather sell something he's going to make more money on . He should get rid of the dealership if he doesnt like the gear . Im sure someone will glady take it . Where is this store at ?

 

[RR]

My wife works for a Mesa dealer and I also know several people who work for mesa . I know the profit margin for dealers on mesa gear is only 25 % so Im sure he would rather sell something he's going to make more money on . He should get rid of the dealership if he doesnt like the gear . Im sure someone will glady take it . Where is this store at ?

Exactly! I'm sure if Randall Smith heard about this store he would discontinue them as an authorized dealer because they are poor representative of MESA Boogie.

I see that all the time, go to one store, asks why they don't carry so-so product, they make some lame excuse product is inferior trying to persuade you to purchase another product. Nature of the beast.

 

[JoeEllison]

My wife works for a Mesa dealer and I also know several people who work for mesa . I know the profit margin for dealers on mesa gear is only 25 % so Im sure he would rather sell something he's going to make more money on . He should get rid of the dealership if he doesnt like the gear . Im sure someone will glady take it . Where is this store at ?

It is in Daytona...

You know what I was thinking? Funny how when I told them I prefered the sound of the Mesa to the Marshall, they just steered me over to the discontinued models. Odd, and somewhat cheesy.

 

[PC Biz]

Even GC sales people are guilty of Mesa bashing at times. I recently went to do an A/B between the new 5150III and the Road King. Mr. Knowledgeable tells me the 5150III is way better in versatility and tone, and that would certainly be untrue in most opinion polls.

Another GC rep, different location, tells me the new $1,700 Marshall I'm playing is all that over the Roadster head. So I plug in the Roadster, and yet another GC rep is guilty of speaking with forked tongue.

I have purchased most of my Mesa gear from GC, new and used. Same goes for Fender and Marshall stuff.

Can't we all just get along?

 

[siggy14]

I have a friend at GC and he tells me they have so much trouble selling the mesa stuff. There is just a big back lash on mesa right now, everyone is so tired of the tone and want something different. Most people are looking at the marshall's or oranges.

If you look at what is "popular" in the music scene, allt hese bands are switching to marshall or marshall type amps.

 

[Barry]

My wife works for a Mesa dealer and I also know several people who work for mesa . I know the profit margin for dealers on mesa gear is only 25 % so Im sure he would rather sell something he's going to make more money on . He should get rid of the dealership if he doesnt like the gear . Im sure someone will glady take it . Where is this store at ?

It is in Daytona...

You know what I was thinking? Funny how when I told them I prefered the sound of the Mesa to the Marshall, they just steered me over to the discontinued models. Odd, and somewhat cheesy.

Must be Total Entertainment ?

 

[JoeEllison]

Must be Total Entertainment ?

Yep... that's the one.

 

[Rocky]

I have a few buddies at a local Mesa dealer....they have gone from making cracks about Marshall's reliability to making cracks at Boogie.

In the store they have a little saying: 'If the boogie lasts for 30 mins you are probably OK.'

 

[nathan28]

I have had 3 rectos, and i have a few friends with rectos and never have had or heard of an issue. Mesas are built like tanks man!! Dont let some stupid dealer tell you otherwise, he is just probably wanting to sell you something else that he makes more money on.

 

[Rocky]

It is logical to assume that any large maker will hve issues. The real question is 'does Mesa have more now than it used to?'

Based on stories that I have heard from people that have no real reason to lie to me I think that Mesa may well be in a time with QC issues. It happens....not the end of the world either. Simply means that there is room for improvement.

 

[JoeEllison]

It is logical to assume that any large maker will hve issues. The real question is 'does Mesa have more now than it used to?'

Based on stories that I have heard from people that have no real reason to lie to me I think that Mesa may well be in a time with QC issues. It happens....not the end of the world either. Simply means that there is room for improvement.

Yeah, and on that note, I can appreciate the heads-up if there really has been an issue. They did say that Mesa was good about repairing/replacing the bad amps.

 

[jdurso]

maybe its the stores i go to but the GCs in NJ are all about Mesa's.... they alsways keep a good array of them in stock and a lot of the guys there are Boogie-men..... although lately ive noticed the younger guys they're hiring know nothing about amps and tone and would praise the hell out of crate and at the same time basing mesa.....

converesly i've been to a GC in the Irvine, Ca area that swore his life on the belief mesa never made duals and triple with two channels... honestly i didnt know whether to go into convulsions or just laugh.... i laughed because this was the same guy who me that no company mixes speakers in their cabinets .... when i told him about finding a cab with an x pattern like the bogners and diezels he had no clue what a bogner or diezel was, or what an x pattern was..... so i guess take it from where it comes from..... why can't these guys know as much about amps as any other person has to know for their job.....

as far as the mesa bashing i think it has a lot to do with how much these guys will make off the sale.... my friend who is the manager at the GC in NJ told me he loves to play boogies and owns a few himself but hates selling them because recently most of the people looking for them come in and start playing linkin park and limp bizkit on them and dont know how to even work them correctly.... he's had a kid come in once and crank the gain, the bass, the treble, the MV and the OUTPUT!!! within about 10 minutes the amp started smoking.... they would have stopped him sooner except for the fact that they have all the boogies in an isolation room..... burnt the amp out and blew 2 of the 4 speakers in the orange cab he was playing through... ended up costing the GC there a bunch of money especially considering the fact they pay out more for the boogie and make less compared to other amps

 

[JoeEllison]

he's had a kid come in once and crank the gain, the bass, the treble, the MV and the OUTPUT!!! within about 10 minutes the amp started smoking.

No offense, but isn't that a product defect?

 

[CoG]

three things--

one, new boogies are brutally expensive compared to marshalls.

two, new boogies are pretty much the most complex tube amps ever made, so there's more things to go wrong. There's definitely something to the whole "floor model" thing because practically every Boogie I have played in my local store has SOMETHING wrong with it, but every fresh-out-of-the-box one has been perfect.

three, new boogies are wildly non-plug'n'play, and the versatility you get from them is frankly beyond most players' ears. My buddy and I, who are both pretty experienced tweakers, spent two hours dialing on a Roadster 2x12 in the store with one guitar and really only got one of the four channels to "OMG!!!!" and another to "wow, great tone." by contrast, you plug into an orange or a single-channel soldano and you have the one good sound it does right away. Even worse, you take a Line6, plug ANY guitar into it, and it sounds exactly like Linkin Park on an IPod-- so, must be good, right...?

 

[wilerty]

My amp tech services and mods for bands from all over the country. I trust him implicently because he deals with all the brands. When i asked him what he felt was the highest quality amp to get, without hesitation, he told me to get a Mesa. He felt they used the best parts, PCBs, and were put together the best.