Which boogie should I buy? Studio and small gig

[Pete David]

Any love for the expression 525? I am looking for studio/small gig amp, say expression 5-25 for example. The one with the graphic eq at the front. I have seen these in combo form as well as separates. Not sure what people think about the two options there. I've also heard lone stars and they sounded really good too. I play a 1958 VOS custom Gibson Les Paul (not an original 58 alas) and a Fender Strat with slightly hot Seymour Duncan pickups. Rock blues jazz, jazz fusion, etc. Need great tone, good cleans, nice warm mids, and searing saturated lead, when I require it. Prefer a simple signal chain - and not to have to use overdrive pedals, (maybe some compression thats all). (Assuming has reverb as well). Any ideas, guidance, hints tips points to watch out regarding boogie kit ? seriously very much appreciated guys, I am trying to get my head around the boogie range as fast possible-though appreciate it's a huge subject area, cheers. Pete David / London UK

 

[silentbob]

If the quality of the clean tones is critical, I would consider more wattage. 25 watts in a gig setting might not give you enough head room for pristine cleans at your preferred volume.

 

[Pete David]

Good point, thank you for that. I want to ensure I can get good tonalties at low volumes too, without deafening myself. Maybe a 5:35 ?

 

[silentbob]

Mesa amps run a pretty cold bias, your tone is almost entirely coming from the preamp. They just need to be set up differently for lower volumes. I think a lot of the complaints about low volume tones comes from the guys that want a really chunky low end, you just can't get that from any amp at low volume. You need power to bring out those low frequencies.

 

[Pete David]

Which Mesa give best tone at low volume I wonder

 

[ifailedshapes]

For studio and small gigs, I'd HIGHLY recommend looking for a Transatlantic TA-15.

 

[bandit2013]

Pete,
Have you tried a Mark V combo? This amp as a broad range of voices that may suit your needs. It would be suitable for studio or small gig without overpowering the audience. I originally bought the Mark V as a head but converted it to a combo. I decided to use a Celestion Cream Alnico 90W speaker which suits my needs quite well. It has a warmer response on the clean channel which gives it a more vintage tone but still delivers all the goods at any volume level. Since the Combo has only a single 12 inch speaker, it will not be as loud as say a 412. Also, any combo could drive a larger cab if you so desire. Cleans are nice and pristine. Plenty of bite on CH3 and lots of crunch on CH2 but can be dialed in any way that suits you. I generally run the gain low on CH3 but CH2 I may push it in crunch mode. The amp is quite flexible.

I have yet to try a LoneStar so I am not sure how it would compare.

 

[DrTeng]

The powerful capacities of the Boogies give them a two-faced character. Utterly gorgeous tones versus ear crushing volume. For the last 10 years I played only 20W tube-amps. The Subway Rocket Reverb I own now, is very powerful. I never had the problem of not hearing myself. Mostly on stage I use a powersoak, with an output of 15% and sometimes 40%. The latter is enough to give enough clean headroom and let the tubes burn in lead modes.

All in the end, the powersoak was an unexpected awesome purchase. It helps me everytime and it leaves me with very happy band members that don't complain too much about volume and compliment me about my tone. Sometimes the choice of the Boogie is not the problem (they have great character that I can't play without anymore) but the rest outside the d*mn thing.

The best!