Mesa Boogie and other brands

[baxter_x]

I'm curious about Mesa boogie as I've never really seriously tried what they make. Especially the M-Pulse and the Titan V12
But I feel like brands like Mesa, Eden, EBS and so mane others are getting really hard do find.

Most of the Mesa heads are out of stock and I feel their stuffs never stay long on the market.
Unlike brands like Ampeg, Mark Bass, GK, Hartke

Any reasons for this?

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Mesa is a lot more uptight about their dealings with major retailers. They are not happy to see their products marked down, and they expect all of their retailers to stick to the same MSRP. From what I understand they pulled their stuff from Guitar Center and possibly Musicans Friend. They do still sell through Sweetwater and I'm pretty sure Bass Central.

I've owned a number of Mesa amps and cabs and will say that they are very rewarding, very loud and not exactly the cleanest thing out there. Mesa stuff all has personality. So if you are looking for hifi pristine cleans it is not the best solution. For rock, metal, punk, and R&B I think their stuff is great. The major drawback aside from price being weight. Also, the D180, Bass 400 and Bass400+ are some of the best amps for guys that like overdriven bass.

 

[baxter_x]

Nice explanation, still it seems to the might be a bit too uptight then. Simply because if I want to buy MEsa stuff, I simply can't!!!
Even the biggest European dealers don't sell any Mesa stuff. Meanwhile, other brands do sell.

 

[mmbongo]

Part of Mesa's stringent quality control is having a good grip on who sells their products. They don't let just any Joe Blow with a website sell them.

 

[baxter_x]

Well... I kind of respect that. But a company is supposed to sell and make money......

 

[Razman]

Buy used!! I play through a 400 and it just kills IMHO. I've owned a M6 Carbine (another killer amp - actually, it was a combo with 212's, and they killed too) and a Buster! 210 wedge combo (unique little guy - does clean stuff the best) and loved them all. I don't think you can go wrong with any flavor.

Raz

 

[Calaverasgrande]

As much as I am a fan of Mesa Boogie, I do agree that they are kind of shooting themselves in the foot as far as moving product. That said. Their stuff is still built in Petaluma, CA USA, at least AFAIK. I don' think they have done any expansion of their construction facilities at least not in the time between when I used to work across the street in the 90's (at Lagunitas Brewing) and when I toured there as part of a Talkbass meetup a few years ago.
So I'd gather that Randall Smith and co are comfortable with the size of the company as it is. I'd also point out that their main thing is selling tube amps. The bass amp world has kind of gone away from tubes in general and more towards ultralights. I'm getting older myself and can no longer shoulder a 50lb amp just for the tone. Good to see Mesa are making some lighter bass amps, but I think their core demo of bassists still prefer tubes, or at least a tube front end.

PS I kind of skipped over their recent tube bass amps because when I was on the Talkbass meetup thing at Mesa, I plainly saw chips in the tube amps. I'm not some kind of tube worshipping purist. But I don't see why you need to stick those in there. I guess there is no easy way to do a graphic EQ with tubes (at least without adding several more sockets of tubes!). So I'd prefer they just stick to a pure tube amp with no graphic EQ. Though to be fair even the Bass 400 has transistors in the graphic EQ as well. But they weren't chips.

 

[mikeswals]

Well... I kind of respect that. But a company is supposed to sell and make money......

I don't understand....I can find them anywhere around here (the States) all day long, seems to be selling just fine.

 

[pfschim]

As much as I am a fan of Mesa Boogie, I do agree that they are kind of shooting themselves in the foot as far as moving product. That said. Their stuff is still built in Petaluma, CA USA, at least AFAIK. I don' think they have done any expansion of their construction facilities at least not in the time between when I used to work across the street in the 90's (at Lagunitas Brewing) and when I toured there as part of a Talkbass meetup a few years ago.
So I'd gather that Randall Smith and co are comfortable with the size of the company as it is. I'd also point out that their main thing is selling tube amps. The bass amp world has kind of gone away from tubes in general and more towards ultralights. I'm getting older myself and can no longer shoulder a 50lb amp just for the tone. Good to see Mesa are making some lighter bass amps, but I think their core demo of bassists still prefer tubes, or at least a tube front end.

PS I kind of skipped over their recent tube bass amps because when I was on the Talkbass meetup thing at Mesa, I plainly saw chips in the tube amps. I'm not some kind of tube worshipping purist. But I don't see why you need to stick those in there. I guess there is no easy way to do a graphic EQ with tubes (at least without adding several more sockets of tubes!). So I'd prefer they just stick to a pure tube amp with no graphic EQ. Though to be fair even the Bass 400 has transistors in the graphic EQ as well. But they weren't chips.

I think we need to be careful of the idea of "all tube" as if amp design (including tube amp design) has not advanced at all since 1950. The fact that there are IC's in the signal path does not suggest any lack of quality. While the D180/D190, Buster, Bass 400/400+ and Strategy 400/500 are classic designs, the modern Prodigy and Strategy amps are every bit "all tube" as any of the other older rigs. They just incorporate design advances to help the amps provide even more tone quality and features (like auto bias) that bass players are looking for.

as far as availability goes, I understand Mesa gear is harder to find outside of the US, but it is not impossible either used or new. I lived in Prague a few years back and was able to find Mesa gear (and lots of other "hard to find" stuff too) without too much problem - and I did not even speak the language (at least not with any fluency).

good luck to the OP

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I think we need to be careful of the idea of "all tube" as if amp design (including tube amp design) has not advanced at all since 1950. The fact that there are IC's in the signal path does not suggest any lack of quality.

I don't think that transistors or IC op amps sound lower quality than tubes. If you go by specs alone you could argue that tubes are lower quality. I just think that tubes and transistor based stuff have different qualities.
Personally I've never played an amp with the Fender style tone stack and thought "I wish this was a graphic eq".
When it comes to the sound an overdriven amp, I prefer old fashioned, 50-era technology.
That and the stupid blue LEDs kept me away from the Prodigy and Strategy. IMHO they should have just made an updated D180 with the auto bias and a very simple tone stack.

 

[pfschim]

I don't think that transistors or IC op amps sound lower quality than tubes. If you go by specs alone you could argue that tubes are lower quality. I just think that tubes and transistor based stuff have different qualities.
Personally I've never played an amp with the Fender style tone stack and thought "I wish this was a graphic eq".
When it comes to the sound an overdriven amp, I prefer old fashioned, 50-era technology.
That and the stupid blue LEDs kept me away from the Prodigy and Strategy. IMHO they should have just made an updated D180 with the auto bias and a very simple tone stack.

to each, their own.

 

[Munjibunga]

Well... I kind of respect that. But a company is supposed to sell and make money......

Don't worry - they do.

 

[bdplaid]

And Sweetwater has had trouble keeping the new Subway line in stock, so Mesa is doing just fine. I love my Subway stack, BTW.

 

[Downunderwonder]

OP must be a closet European.

 

[Downunderwonder]

MESA/Boogie®

49 dealers / distributors in Europe, you're welcome

 

[baxter_x]

MESA/Boogie®

49 dealers / distributors in Europe, you're welcome

Oh thank you very much, that was soooo sweet from you. Hewever, most of these dealers don't sell any Mesa stuff, or only guitar gear!
And those who sell bass gear only sell a several cabs and heads.

No one has explained me yet how come the biggest European dealers sell only Mesa guitar gear but no more bass gear or with a very narrowed choice.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Supply constrained by lack of demand constraining supply. Chicken meet egg. I guess historically bassists in Europe haven't got onto Mesa despite Metallica touring.

 

[gregouille23]

Where I live, in Belgium (as you know one of the biggest country in the world), I found a Mesa Walkabout Scout for a great price a few months back. And there are few options to buy Mesa bass amps and cabs from (online) music stores in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. That being said, the prices of Mesa gear in Europe can be muuuuuuuuch higher than in the US...

 

[NeonVomit]

True, Mesa gear prices are very inflated in Europe compared to the US. I got my hands on my Subway because a relative was travelling to Europe, so I had it delivered to them (and given that it's like 5lb, was not a problem to stick in the suitcase). Also, the universal voltage thing helps.

Having said that, www.thomann.de stock most Mesa bass gear and ship everywhere in Europe (for free in most cases), so do www.musicstore.de.

 

[Munjibunga]

Oh thank you very much, that was soooo sweet from you. Hewever, most of these dealers don't sell any Mesa stuff, or only guitar gear!
And those who sell bass gear only sell a several cabs and heads.

No one has explained me yet how come the biggest European dealers sell only Mesa guitar gear but no more bass gear or with a very narrowed choice.

Mesa's main thrust has always been guitar amps and cabs. They dabbled in bass gear over the years but, with the exception of the 400 and 400+ it's only been in recent years that they got real serious about bass. I suspect their income from guitar amps far outpaces that from bass gear and, for many dealers, there aren't enough bass players interested in Mesa to justify carrying bass gear. It's rather expensive with the exception of the Subway, which is a great bargain.