quiet mesa boogie?

[edward]

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=229027


Thanks for the link Edward. This is really good information.

I'm going to try it right now on my DC-3.




Puggles,
As for being an honest seller, it is not dishonest to decide that the amp is not for sale anymore.

If you decide to keep it, the guy can always find another one. I see more of the DC-5's on Ebay than any other DC model. I was looking for a DC-10 for a long time before I found one here on the Boogie Board. I feel really lucky too because the serial # is DCX-00099. It's a keeper for sure.


In the end, it's your amp, to do what you wish with. I would really hate to see you head down the path of selling it if the tones you are looking for are in this amp. Marketing guys are always trying to sell us the next best thing, that's what they do. We, as consumers have adapted this mentality, and accept it for what is right. I have more of an addiction to amps than most people, that's what prompted me to open up a music store, but all of the tones that I'm looking for are in my DC-3 & DC-10. If they are not, I just plug in the Blackface Pro Reverb and go to town on it for a while.



Regret is the mother of all hunchers! I have sold more priceless gear than even I can imagine. I used to have a THD Plexi (not Flexi) that will be worth a lot of money some day. I've also sold many Vintage Fenders and Marshalls that I absolutely loved, but thought there was somthing better out there.

As time goes by, I think that "If only I hadn't sold them," bullshit and it kills me. Then part of me says, "It's only gear," and I get something else that doesn't quite do what the original amp that I'm trying to replace did.



Sorry to sound preachy, I just hate to see guys go down the same path.

You're welcome!

And no "preachy" quality there ...just good sense spoken from experience!

FWIW, I too have learned that searching for the "grail of tone" can be a never-ending quest, and one that can lead one to losing really great gear ...all because something else promises that it's "better." I agree that you should live with what you have now; tweak it until you get what you want. And if something else rolls around that catches your eye, get it ...but only to live with it for a while to see if it really does fit the bill. Your buyer will be disappointed, but you're not being dishonest in any way that I can see.

Edward

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I agree that you should live with what you have now; tweak it until you get what you want.

A really great example of this would be:

In our store, we have 2 Crate Palomino V-16 amps. These are fairly decent amps with Groove Tubes and Celestion speakers. Both are brand new, but one of them wasn't working right.

I opened the broken one up. Come to find out, it has had the tubes changed before (brand new????, no wonder they were on the closeout rack at Guitar Center). The new Output tubes were rattling severely, but sounded ok, and the amp fed back no matter which preamp tubes I changed.


I found a bunch of loose solder connections and replaced the capacitors in the tone stack with higher quality ones (Mallory film type), replaced the crappy Input Jack with a Switchcraft, and finally, added a bit more gain and sizzle in the 1st tube stage.




In a side by side comparison, the modified one (changed tubes & 4 parts) screams. I can get some serious Defenders of the Faith - Judas Priest lead tones out of it. The one that is still original sounds like AC/DC or ZZ Top. These are great tones too, but it just goes to show how versatile tube amps are. With the proper care and a little inventiveness, any tube amp can be made better, or different.




I guess what I'm trying to say is that your amp is a really great one. When I bought mine, they were going for around $500, I have recently seen them go for $1000 or more. They keep getting harder to replace.


I bought my 1st DC-3 for $385, and it worked perfectly, but some "Artist" had drawn gang-land gibberish all over the side of the grey tolex, so nobody wanted it. I have seen these go for around $800 or so recently. I just bought another one for $589 + shipping and considered it a deal. It was broken when I got it, but the previous owner didn't know about this because he never used the footswitch. He returned some money and I bought the parts from Mesa and now have a DC-3 in almost Mint condition.

I sold my original DC-3 to a friend in exchange for our companie's website. I have missed it for the last 9 months and decided that I HAD to get another one.


It's a disease...........

 

[Schmoog]

It's a disease...........

Preach it brotha!

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Lay your hands on the amplifier and feel the music in you. You gotto FEEL IT my bruthas & sistahs!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MaxBoogie]

Hey everyone

I've been looking around for some used mesa amps. and I was wondering what are some of the more quiet mesa series? I'm asking this because I'm parting with my DC-5 head. it's a great sounding amp, but it's to loud for me. granted it's a valve amp, it has to be the loudest valve amp I've owned (which isn't many) yet.

You should buy my Express 5:50 combo!

(see the Classifieds section)

 

[tommyhawk13]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the Studio .22. It's the Mark IIC's baby brother.

Question, does the DC 5 have a line out with a line level knob?
If so, you can get your local electronics shop to make a "dummy load". It's just 2 capacitors soldered to a speaker cable. PLug that in your DC 5's speaker output, and run the line out into another amp. This will allow you to crank the DC 5, and get all of the overdrive, without the volume. The capacitors soak up the energy & act like a silent speaker.

I used to use my .50 Caliber as a preamp into a Peavey Mace. Of course, that had the opposite effect.

I'd suggest keeping your amp as well.
If this doesn't get too high, it would be perfect:
http://cgi.ebay.com/MESA-BOOGIE-50-...ryZ43374QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It would also sweeten the mix with the EL84's, and give you more power and, stereo capability if you need it later on.

 

[puggles]

thanks for all the help guys/gals.

I'm looking at a used 8 ohm THD hotplate at a guitar shop. planning on taking a ride this weekend to pick it up, and give it a go!! just hope the condition of the hotplate isn't bad.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

The entire housing is made out of aircraft aluminum. They look fairly indestructable.

Of course, everytime I say that about something, my 2 year old son gets a hold of it and shreds it like a trailer park in a tornado.

 

[Schmoog]

my Mk III green goes to 25 watts in classA pentode. The Mk IV has a pentode/triode switch that will bring it down to 15 watts in classA triode. In bold or spongy? Am I correct on this info?

IMHO, there is no quiet tube amp. Even the Epi Valve Jr. had one EL84 and was **** loud for house volume when all the way cranked.

For practice purposes you can use headphones with the Marshall JMP-1 preamp.

the mark III green stripe will go down to 25 watts in class A, or 85 in A/B.

my blue stripe will do 15 watts class A triode, 25 watts class A pentode, 75 watts A/B triode, and 85 watts A/B Pentode

yes, I did have that switch put in. best choice I ever made.

bold/spongy doesn't really change the output power that much, maybe like 5 watts. the IV has basically the same output options as my III, but with the bold/spongy which drops the voltage in the amp a little bit, (down to 110 from the normal 117 I believe), which will drop the output like 5 watts.

you can also do headphone out from the mark IV with the speaker mute, this also works with the F-series, and the DC-10

 

[Monsta-Tone]

You might be able to use the "Recording Out," with headphones.