Mesa Boogie vs. Ampeg

I've personally heard alot about mesa/boogie cabs and heads alike. Some people swear by them because they have a very thick tone, and other people hate them. i would recommend going to a shop and testing one out before buying, even if someone says it has a great tone.

 

I think Mesa is probably the best build cabs in the biz. Here an example based on personal experience: two weeks ago I was unloading at a gig... one of my cabs (a Diesel 115) rolled out of the back of my Outback and did about a 20 foot tumble down a hill... that is end-over-end, until it came to an abrupt stop against a wall.

Took it in... set it up and much to the surprise of my mates, it worked just fine.

My main cab these days is Powerhouse 212 and I love it

Re: tone... it's the best to my ear

 

Hey Matt!

I like your 212 also! I think everyone on Sunday loved it.

 

Thanks... that was a fun gathering we did!

The thing about Mesa that is most striking to my ear is how ballsy and massive they can sound.

 

And you proved how tough they are!

 

I only played through a Mesa cab temporarily as I tried out an M9 Carbine amp. I think it was a 412 cab. Anyway, it sounded pretty good to my ears, but I'd imagine it probably weighed a ton. I didn't play it at high volume, so no comment on that.

 

Mesa is great sound amazing, and was LOUD, but the first time i plugged into one i was able to hear every single flaw with my bass playing lol (maybe it was just uitar center stage fright :b)

had an ampeg 2x15 cab, really solid wasnt quite what i was looking for though

Personally im a big fan of GK

 

I have a Mesa Powerhouse 8x10. It's awesome. I gig it all the time. I rate it much higher than an SVT 8x10, which I've also owned and gigged
The Powerhouse is among the absolute best designed and built production cabs available. No comparison to an SVT 8x10. It's hard to describe the tone difference. To me, it breathes better than an SVT. It's also clearer and more agressive.
If you want to see the construction, go to the Mesa Boogie website and look up the Powerhouse cabs. They have construction pics.
One thing though, they're VERY expensive.

 

No kidding. These cabs are solid. I've recently acquired a RoadReady 4x10 and it's solid as a rock. Bonus that the enclosure doubles as a road case.



The sound that I get out of it with my GK 800RB is amazing as well. Nice amount of high end while pumping out plenty of low frequency - and it's LOUD. The thing is simply amazing.

 

I'm also a big fan of Boogie cabs. Besides my little 12" Scout, I use an Ampeg head with a Mesa deisel 215. Absolutely massive sounding. And, they are virtually indestructable, too.

 

mesa is balls. that's probably the best way i can describe it.

i play a mesa head into an ampeg cab= it sounds like testosterone! i love it

 

Gaah I want a Mesa Diesel 2x15 so bad...my left nut for two of those.

 

At 123 pounds, it's possible you might lose a left nut lugging it around, so that would work out just fine!

j/k

 

I can't say I'm a fan of either maker. From a logical point of view Mesa seems like a company on a pretty secure foundation while Ampeg is going down the tubes fairly quickly. Buying anything new you need to know that the company will be there for you for the entire length of the warranty period.

Paul

 

Hahaha tell me about it, dude. I'm sure my balls are already screaming at me for what I've got (Mesa Diesel Powerhouse 1000 in particular)

Ampeg really off that bad? Oi vei, that's kinda a pity.

 

Only downside I'd ever say about mesa is that their cabs are deeper then most and make it hard to fit in the back of a sedan whereas most 410 cabs will go in the back. I have to remove the lower cushion on the backseat to get it in my sentra, but that only takes a few seconds. Easily worth the hassle.

 

I know this will sound crazy, but a b2-re into an 810 is one of my favorite rigs ever. At one point I had a late 70s svt and a mid 80s svt, a v-4, a v-4b, a landmark 600 and a hartke 7000 all in the same room. And the b2re just killed with my sterling and a BDDI for some reason... and it was truely maddening that I had all these 'expensive' heads around, and I preferred the one that was litterally given to me.

I did own a mesa 610. It was pretty mean sounding. And I could squeeze it into my elantra without issue.