''Rate your boogie''

[bduersch]

stuff I've got now:
Mark V - 8/10 - I'm sure it will be a 9+ someday, but it does take a while to get dialed in so it's probably just a matter of time
Roadster - 8/10 - love the flexibility, but it's voiced a bit "dark" for my tastes (or perhaps for my guitars/cabs)
Stiletto Ace - 9/10 - total shocker... never been a fan of EL34's in the past but this amp changed my opinion... makes me wish there was a 4 channel version so I could use one for clean, crunch, tite gain, & fluid gain
Lonestar Special - 7.5/10 - great cleans, drive channel can get a touch "flabby" (yeah, I know... maybe I should try the Reeder mod...)
Electra Dyne - 7.5/10 - good (unique) tone overall, great dynamics, but takes a while to find common settings that sound good across all 3 channels, wish it had a solo boost too

stuff I've sold:
Mark IV - 9/10 - still my gold standard... the shared EQ for R1/R2 was frustrating but (unlike the Mark III below) was able to deliver the tones I was looking for, probably took me a good 6 months to get it tweaked for my style of playing
Mark III - 6/10 - really tough to dial in as a 3-channel amp without mods, and didn't entirely like the EL34's in the Simulclass power section
Rectoverb - 9/10 - another shocker... easy to dial in, warmer tone than any other Recto I'd ever tried... great value
Nomad 45 -7/10 - a lot of amp for the money, but the EL84's never had the punch of my buddy's Nomad 55 with 6L6's
Studio Pre - 8/10 - not the most flexible preamp (shared EQ between RHY/LD), but worth it nonetheless... was used for practically every solo on my last CD,
Recto Pre - 7/10 - sounds good, but expensive for what it is (realizing you can get a used Rectoverb for a couple hundred more than a used Recto Pre)
Formula Pre - 8.5/10 - very underrated (perhaps because it isn't a super-high-gain preamp)... I was able to get some great clean & blues tones out of this amp
Triaxis Pre/2:90 pair - 8/10- killer flexibility, but just didn't have the "feel" of some of the heads & combos I've owned

--B

 

[Sixstringpsycho]

DC-5 Combo 8.5/10

 

[bigpine]

Mark IVA 8.5/10
Mark III 7.5/10
M-180 8/10

Sold
ROV 5/10
5:50 8/10
F-50 6/10

 

[Mowbrayster]

Mark V - 10/10

Absolutely in love with it.

 

[MikeyV311]

I am new to the boogie thing.. Just got a Rectoverb Series 2 Combo and am Completely in love with it. Only other Mesa I've had a chance to demo is a Nomad 45 1x12.
Rectoverb Combo : 9/10 probably bc I'm into more extreme styles of music.
Nomad 45: 8/10 : Very versatile, three channels is nice to have. Much lighter physically than the Rectoverb. Great sounds, but just not my style.

 

[mejoshee]

no longer own:

road king i combo: 8.5/10
explanation: ch 2 was weak (similar in mind to the flexibility of ch 2 on a mark iv). overall not a terrible amp, but definitely hard to justify owning in a small apt. ch 3 was the best recto sound i had heard even if the cab wasn't closed/tight. won't go into too much detail about this one.

mark iic+ combo: 8/10
explanation: had it converted to a + by mb last year. sold it shortly thereafter cause i needed the money. great tones, but not quite as versatile in terms of channel options. i guess part of the problem was that it wasn't a geq or simulclass version. in terms of channels, 2 is usually enough for me, but having the ability to toggle a geq helps. i guess you could consider it more of a "layer" of sound (i would've been able to get by with a pedal, i know). similarly, i could have easily tried just placing an od in front on ch 1 and getting gritty/low-mid gain tones. owned this one the shortest time. i guess if i played with it more, it could've been better rated w/ more experience.

mark iv b combo (widebody): 9/10
best lead tones ever. ch 2 needs lots of help, like a ts or something more transparent in front. don't like the fact that the combo is so physically heavy, yet you can't really make heavy music cause it's not very tight. also, the ch 1 & 2 shared controls are a pain, imo. you can't do classic rock but maintain tight, hi-fi cleans cause the mid and bass controls are so limiting. maybe i've just been doing it wrong.

demo'ed:
dual rectohead : 7.5-8/10
would've like to spend more time on it. i could see how it would be awesome to use for certain things, but in terms of versatility, i might as well use a rk.

currently own:
mark iv b medium head: 9.5/10
got this right before the v came out. see above. i like the head format more cause it opens up cab options and is much more portable. i'd live on lead ch the whole time, pretty much. i think it beats the v ch 3 only due to the lesser amount of hassle it gives you for mixing power tubes.

mark v combo (now a head): 9.5 for combo (for portability and the c90/open-back combination), 9.9 for head
probably the best amp i've ever played. it fills lots of niches and genres that previous mark amps just couldn't do all together, simultaneously. the eq preset & graphic idea i think put it over the top. there's so many features about this that i love, not just like. multi-watt, mode switching, clean tones, individual channel parametric eqs, improved reverb. list goes on and on. detracting factors (if you can call them that) is that i might need to go in the el34 direction just to get a more british tone on ch 2. and in general, 7 preamp tubes is kinda too much. i understand why rs did it that way having built several tube amps myself, but it's still a huge investment to retube for the average amp consumer, especially if you pay $2k for an amp. at least it biases itself, right?

 

[ixoye777]

My old Roadster head 5/10 I hated channels 3 & 4. Was way too loose and flubby.

My new MV head 10/10. I have yet to find a single thing to complain about.

 

[Heritage Softail]

SOB - 7.5 of 10

Single Rec Series 2 - 8.5 of 10 before tube upgrades, now 9 of 10. I don't give it a 10 over the clean sounds. But I didn't buy it to be a Princeton Reverb. Tung Sols in pre and Wings in power make this a joy to keep playing....

MKV - 9 before retube, 10 of 10 after similar TS and Wings change out. I give this amp a 10 because it is uber flexible and then it is even more flexible with tube changes. Covers sounds of my JCM and Blues Deluxe. Awesome crunchy riffage in Tweed dimed, IIC+ is a perfect step up in metal content, MKIV goes ballistic. It is the perfect companion to the Rec in stereo.

Demo time on Electrodyne 9 of 10. Excellent amp for Boogie take on Marshall. Lost a point over no EQ and less flexibility that MKV. Wails with a LP or PRS, neck pup creamy leads till the cows come home.

Demo on Nomad 55 - 8.5 of 10. Good amp for how cheap they are now. This one was asking 699. IF I was a bit limited on cash, a good Tube Screamer and the Nomad would have me ready to play out......this I swear... This... I .... Swear....

The Amp worthy of an 11 would be the MKV with a programmable digital EQ that can be set and saved for each mode of the 3 channels. How come the rocket scientists at Boogie have not done this? How cool would that be. 8)

 

[eudaimonia02912]

Mark V: 9.87/10

 

[rika_gd]

mark v..9/10 ..I´d give it a 10 if they would puted midi to control all the modes, THAT would make it the best amp on earth for sure :mrgreen:

 

[mejoshee]

mark v..9/10 ..I´d give it a 10 if they would puted midi to control all the modes, THAT would make it the best amp on earth for sure :mrgreen:

it costs extra and you need to get the special cable, but it lets you control anything the footswitch can:
http://www.rjmmusic.com/ampgizmo.php

there's also a mini one. looking forward to getting that. of course, if your effects routing isn't too complicated (or has too many stereo processors) you could get the rg-16 for the ultimate control.

 

[rika_gd]

mark v..9/10 ..I´d give it a 10 if they would puted midi to control all the modes, THAT would make it the best amp on earth for sure :mrgreen:

it costs extra and you need to get the special cable, but it lets you control anything the footswitch can:
http://www.rjmmusic.com/ampgizmo.php

there's also a mini one. looking forward to getting that. of course, if your effects routing isn't too complicated (or has too many stereo processors) you could get the rg-16 for the ultimate control.

yes that makes it a lot easier but i what i mean is, control the modes within the channels..that would be sick, also the price :lol:

 

[Deaj]

Mesa/Boogie Mark V 1x12 combo (stock tubes & MC90 speaker)

I give it a 9.5

 

[mejoshee]

mark v..9/10 ..I´d give it a 10 if they would puted midi to control all the modes, THAT would make it the best amp on earth for sure :mrgreen:

it costs extra and you need to get the special cable, but it lets you control anything the footswitch can:
http://www.rjmmusic.com/ampgizmo.php

there's also a mini one. looking forward to getting that. of course, if your effects routing isn't too complicated (or has too many stereo processors) you could get the rg-16 for the ultimate control.

yes that makes it a lot easier but i what i mean is, control the modes within the channels..that would be sick, also the price :lol:

that's why petrucci has 3 of them

 

[Heritage Softail]

mark v..9/10 ..I´d give it a 10 if they would puted midi to control all the modes, THAT would make it the best amp on earth for sure :mrgreen:

it costs extra and you need to get the special cable, but it lets you control anything the footswitch can:
http://www.rjmmusic.com/ampgizmo.php

there's also a mini one. looking forward to getting that. of course, if your effects routing isn't too complicated (or has too many stereo processors) you could get the rg-16 for the ultimate control.

yes that makes it a lot easier but i what i mean is, control the modes within the channels..that would be sick, also the price :lol:

Not with a stock amp. You would have to get someone to seriously mod the amp to put in contolable switches. That is the kind of thing that helps sell Axe-Fx units. You can step between all the modes easily.

 

[rika_gd]

yeah, 3 is the number :wink: I´ve a noob question, with the amp gizmo its like having 8 programs wich each other contains your amp conf/effects/racks/etc ???

 

[litesnsirens]

I had an F50 combo which was my first boogie give it a 7/10 good tones but contour instead of solo just didn't cut it for me
My Lonestar Special combo would be about an 8/10 very good at what it does but definitely has a niche
Triple Rectifier head 9/10 very nice amp pretty flexible nice tones...
Mark V combo 10/10 let's face it this amp can do anything...

I guess you have to define what 10 is.... because I have seen people saying they can't give it a 10 because they wish it did this or that... so are we comparing it to an amp that doesn't exist that does everything we want it to do, even the satisfying some goofy little subjective quirks that may or may not be possible in the real world? I mean let's get real the only way to really be able to switch between all the modes in a useable way would be to create a 9 channel amp ($$$$$$$).

Or are we comparing it to any other amps out there that we have tried or owned. If that's the case then giving this amp the 10 would be making it the measuring stick and saying the M5 is 10 and all other amps would be given a value between 0 and 9.9 based on how it compares to the Mark V. This is the logic I used to give it a 10. I can't think of another amp that gives you this array of tonal sculpting within or beyond this price point. Add to that my partiallity to Mesa tone and I justify my scoring.

I would be interested in trying out an amp that tops this amp, I just don't know of any.... There are alot of great amps out there to be sure... and for some people who are searching within a specific genre there is probably something that may suit their needs better... But nothing does everything the way this amp does....

 

[Cleekster]

Rectoverb 50/9.0 - with jjecc83s pre and iether GT6L6GE or GTE34Ls power tubes....my first boogie

demo'd:

F30/8.5
Dual rec and oversized recto cab/2.5

 

[jtrav]

Rectoverb 50 9.0 out of 10

My mesa completely blows away the other guitar players marshall when we are jamming and sometimes our drummer even asks me to turn it down.lol :lol:

 

[sean106alcon]

I started off a Marshall guy then went to Boogie starting with the first

Rectoverb combo: 5

Dual rec head: 5

Road King 1: 2 for the cleans 6 for the distortion

Roadster: 7

Then I went all Diezels.

Now back to boogie with the
Mark V: 9 (Would be a 10 if they have the ability to change modes on the pedal or 1 more channel with the IV and IIC+ on a different channels and wish it had a Midi option for changing channels and modes...which would have been cool) Sounds silly I almost feel like getting another one so I can switch between amps using one with the IV and one with IIC+ set plus other modes on the other channels.