The Blue Angel Appreciation Thread

[mullet_king]

On the topic of speakers maybe the Celestion Alnico blues.
Try em out maybe u will like em!

I'm sure I would but I looked them up and they cost $295 each. :shock: So for two of them I could probably buy a decent used guitar or amp. The review I read said that they're amazing, but yikes! Two of them would come to half the cost of the amp. Four would eclipse it by a few dollars. Would you buy a set of tires that cost as much as the car? Maybe I'll find some on Ebay. :wink:

 

[FireBros.]

I haven't heard 'em, but the weber Blue Dog's get good reviews, and they are only $170. They are supposed to be his version of the ALNICO Blue Celestion.

 

[banjodon]

I bought my Blue Angel 4X10 combo with Celestions in 1997, and really havent had the chance to crank it until now. I just bought a place where I can really test drive my amps. I have serious tube rattle from the EL 84s. Anybody else experiencing this? I switch to another cab and the rattle goes away. I pull the EL 84s when im playing through the 6V6s. I really like how the 10s are voiced for this amp. The amp just doesn't sound as good through my 4X12 Vintage 30s.

I'm seriously thinking of converting to a head/cabinet config.

I guess I need to invest in some new EL84s, as they're probably toast after 7 years. Any recs?
:?:
don

 

[mullet_king]

The rattle you're hearing is probably the cooling fan near the power tubes.

As for EL84 recomendations try the Sovteks or J&J's. I've got Sovteks in mine and it sounds great. Don't waste your money on factory replacements, they sound like crap and they wear out quickly.

 

[banjodon]

It's confirmed EL84 rattle. I took the EL 84 tubes out, ran the 6V6 side full throttle and the rattle went away. I'm gonna try those tubes you recommended.

First thing I did when i bought the amp was to put in a fan switch. I leave the fan off 95% of the time. that has to be the loudest fan ever.

thanks.

 

[mullet_king]

That rattle you describe may be an indication that your EL84s need to be replaced. When mine went the amp would make this static type popping noise that almost sounded like a loose solder joint when using the 6V6s.

What kind of Celestions do you have? I've got the stock Eminence alnicos in mine but I'd like to try something else with a bit more bottom. What are those Celestions rated for?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm just about to retake ownership of my original issue, Blue leather/tan grill BA head from my soundguy. I gigged it for about two years with a recto 2x12, and it's a great amp. I had occasional issues with lack of headroom, and ended up buying a fender custom vibrolux reverb and swapping it for a PRS CU22. Now, it's coming back home to daddy.

Can't wait to set up the BA and Vibrolux in stereo. Happy days ahead...

The BA is my fave Mesa amp, and is definitely unlike anything they build.

 

[dylan7620]

hey everyone, i got a blue angel a while back. good amp. got a 4x10 combo and it sounds great. best reverb ever. (i think even a guitar world or some other magazine said that too)

as for no metalheads getting ahold of this... :twisted: don't hold your breath. lol, that's my specialty. i run an ibanez RG7620 seven string into a boss metal zone into the BA cranked just enough so it starts to break up (mmm...warmth) and a marshall 1960a on the bottom.... not to toot my own horn but i've had tons of metalheads drool all over my tone.

i do love blues at heart still though. it came in handy a while back went i went to my friends house to jam with his dads band. (bluesy/ classic rock stuff) i walked in and they're like "nice amp, you steal that?" i told them i bought it fair and square. "let's see what you can do with it" they say. crap! im 19 and these guys are in their 40s and 50s, needless to say i was pretty intimidated. but after a few beers the blues just started flowin out of me. and that blue angel was my best friend. yes it is a very transparent amp, but if i don't mess up i sound damn good!

but the time has come and i'm ready to go for something more up my ally, like a dc5. i tried one of those and was like *holy grail of tone*.

 

[FireBros.]

It's confirmed EL84 rattle. I took the EL 84 tubes out, ran the 6V6 side full throttle and the rattle went away. I'm gonna try those tubes you recommended.

First thing I did when i bought the amp was to put in a fan switch. I leave the fan off 95% of the time. that has to be the loudest fan ever.

thanks.

Apparently Mesa knew this would be a problem when they first released the Blue Angel line. The early ones had the "Sus 4" (I think that's what it's called) shock mount system for the amp chassis. You can tell the shock mounted ones, they usually have the metal back brace on the cab as opposed to the later style tolex covered wooden back brace, also the holes for the shock mounts are on top instead of chrome chassis straps. A Mesa tech told me that the later models had the tube rattle, in exchange for an improvement in tone that comes from the chassis being mounted directly to the cab.
I can't really tell a difference in the tone, I have a later one and the tubes do occasionly rattle at high volumes, so I wish they had kept the shock mount design.

 

[dylan7620]

ive got the metal brace on mine and ive never heard rattle at all... in fact, ive never had a problem with it at all! gotta love that

 

[cvansickle]

I found a Blue Angel in a local shop today, NOS. It was magnificent! I believe I am going back tomorrow to buy it! I had never really played one before, but one hour with it am I knew it was for real.

The 6V6 setting was nice and warm with a Strat and a Les Paul. The EL84 setting had lots of bite, and the combined tube setting with the bright switch is going to be my main sound on this amp.

I just hope the world doesn't end between now and Thursday PM!

 

[cvansickle]

The world DID NOT END! Tonight, I've got a date with an ANGEL!

 

[dylan7620]

awesome... can't wait to hear your review

 

[LONESTAR1x12]

I don't own a Blue Angel.,..but, I used to work in a music store in the late 90's..and I have to say i really liked the amp...crank it up, and voila!!...power amp distortion....sweet....I found a good combination to be a V-Twin pedal with the Blue Angel...you got some serious gain if you need it...turns the amp into a more versatile tone machine!...ya ..I know...not what the amp is meant for..but it sounded cool when I ran one that way...the switchable power tubes is an awesome feature too....I was considering buying one at one point...but..at the time I was in a heavy rock band , and the BA wasn't quite suitable for that stuff.....I have a Lonestar now, which is the ****!!!...for me anyway

 

[cvansickle]

As of this writing, it's only been a couple of days with the Blue Angel. But I've heard enough to say that this amp has the best clean sound of any Boogie amp I've ever owned. It totally trashes the Nomad's green channel, and it's better than the clean channel of the DC-5 I used to own.

I hooked up a THD HotPlate (4ohm version) to the BA and set it for 6V6 tubes. I turned the volume up almost all the way. Your really don't have to go much further than a 2:00 position to get nice tube overdrive. There's no way I could play this amp at home with this kind of volume without the HotPlate.

I bought the amp because I fell in love with its clean sound. The EL84 and Simul-Link settings allow more volume before breakup.

Now I need to get a Sound Sculpture ABCadabra so I can switch between amps via MIDI. Ah, GAS....

 

[musicbox]

im considering aquiring one of these, few questions to the owners!
first, when you replaced the 6v6 with 6l6, were you still able to use the progressive linkage to combine the new 6l6 with the el84's? how was the tone like this?

is there a secondary output jack so i could hook up an extension cab?

with the 6l6/el84 combo, is there enough headroom to jam clean tones?

is low volume breakup of the 6v6 good enough/tonefull enough to outweigh any gains found in the more powerfull 6l6's?

 

[cvansickle]

im considering aquiring one of these, few questions to the owners!
first, when you replaced the 6v6 with 6l6, were you still able to use the progressive linkage to combine the new 6l6 with the el84's? how was the tone like this?

is there a secondary output jack so i could hook up an extension cab?

with the 6l6/el84 combo, is there enough headroom to jam clean tones?

is low volume breakup of the 6v6 good enough/tonefull enough to outweigh any gains found in the more powerfull 6l6's?

I haven't tried the 6L6 substitution. I also own a Nomad 100 and that covers my 6L6 needs.

There are a lot of speaker outs. Mine has one 16ohm jack, and two each 4ohm and 8ohm. You can use a variety of speaker combinations if you use the jacks correctly.

The low volume breakup of the 6V6 tubes really comes to life at a higher volume than you may realize. The amp becomes distorted with 6V6 tubes only at 12:00 on the volume knob. The other two settings have more clean headroom.

Interestingly, the ohm setting of tha Blue Angel makes a big difference. I really like the 4ohm suggested setting for the 6V6 tubes, but the EL84s and Simul-Link settings don't sound very good to my ears at 4ohms. At 8ohms, these settings shine. I bought this amp to keep it clean, so I'll most likely use the EL84 or linked setting most. I've got an 8ohm HotPlate on order to help keep my volume reasonable.

 

[dylan7620]

and if anyone wants one im gettin rid of mine :wink: any body not need thir dc5 anymore? lol

 

[musicbox]

pretty shure the more versitile nomad would do you better :wink:

 

[dylan7620]

im on the fence. and about to be pushed over into nomad territory. we'll see