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Mesa M-2000

D

Dee Wurthy

Nov 4, 2003
240
0
Southern Michigan
www.soundclick.com
#1
Hello,,,during nice trip to Guitar Center today, I had the satisfaction of putting a beautiful sounding Mesa/Boogie M-2000 on layaway (going to pick it up and pay on saturday!) Nice deal too!

I was originally going for the Ampeg B4R but I went back and forth from one to the other (didnt take to many times) and realized that (IMO) the Mesa sounded realistically 400% better. Oh man, it was heaven...And so much to work with too.

Well, I do have a question...Tubes...when will they need to be replaced, what kind of tubes do I use for the 12 power tubes?

How much will it cost when I need to put new power tubes in (generally)? My best guess by looking around is about $250-$350 but I may be WAY off.

Thank you very much,
(Future Mesa Owner) Dee Wurthy
 
#2
You won't have to spend anything on power tubes for the M-2000. It's a tube pre (and SS pre), but I believe the power amp is Mos-Fet. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. If you paid over $1k for it, you might want to see about getting your money back. The Hollywood Mesa/Boogie store has them on sale for $999.
Around here, you'll find some people that love them, and some that don't. I, personally, like it very much, and plan on picking one up after the first of the year.
 
#4
Hmm. The website says that it has "12 Tube Driven Power Mos-Fets". I assumed this meant 12 power tubes. So I was incorrect in that assumption?...(I really wasn't planning on getting it so I wasn't completely educated on its specs.)

So would you say that it projects less power than the 1000watt solid state power amp in the B4R?...eh, it doesnt matter cause it kicked the ampeg square in the nuts!

Don't worry about the pricing...I'd say it was in the region that you had both stated.
 
#5
Originally posted by Dee Wurthy
Hmm. The website says that it has "12 Tube Driven Power Mos-Fets". I assumed this meant 12 power tubes. So I was incorrect in that assumption?...(I really wasn't planning on getting it so I wasn't completely educated on its specs.)

So would you say that it projects less power than the 1000watt solid state power amp in the B4R?...eh, it doesnt matter cause it kicked the ampeg square in the nuts!

Don't worry about the pricing...I'd say it was in the region that you had both stated.
Click to expand...

I guess total power, it is less than the B4R, but in pure volume, it definitely kicks it "square in the nuts". Mesa's stuff is LOUD.
As long as you feel you're getting a fair deal, then you are getting one hell of an amp! I can't wait for mine!
 
#6
Originally posted by todd 4ta
There are 3 preamp tubes, but it doesn't have a tube amp section.
My all-time best sounding rig was an M-2000 through a Mesa Road Ready 4x10 and RR 1x15.
I've seen the M-2000 go used for $600-800.
Click to expand...

And I too owned that exact set-up as well, albeit with a RR 2x10. The M2000 is a _very_ cool design, their "simulstate" approach. Not only a tube preamp but a third bottle as well that serves to drive the mosfets. As I understand it, this job is usually given to a SS circuit. What you end up with is a rig with very a pleasant "touch-response" less sterile if you will.
You'll want to replace those tubes every 3-5 yearsor so....but really, a whole new set of something other than the Mesa labelled tubes is worth considering.
The compressor on that amp is TO DIE FOR. So good. The rig is geared towards percussive styles, metal, funk etc. This is where the "catch" is. When playing punk-jazz it was amazing. When I later gravitated to dub....it was rather anemic, sorry. The new M-Pulse line addressed this by providing a very deeeep preamp. The M=2000 was ultimately teensy tiny and small sounding. I now use a simple Alembic F-1X and my tone is MASSIVE. I used to run my DBX 120XP in the loop of the Mesa just to get some depth happening.
I was sad to let it go, it really was a great head but man, I don't regret the sale ($900) AT ALL. It's a great head tho'....don't sweat it.
 
#7
I have one. LOVE it. It does have a great touch response, as Madsub has said.

True, it doesn't have a stupid amount of low-end, but that doesn't matter too much; it still does the lows like crazy. I think it works well with just about any style. My Warr loves it: the compressors even out my volume discrepencies quite musically, and it handles my low F (yes, low F!) with aplomb. Good choice!

If you are looking for the perfect cabs for it, check into Mesa's older RR style cabs. Muy sexy!
 
#9
Ahh, it feels good to finally have something nice.

Thank you all for your input, only a week left before a break this baby out of bondage!

Its also nice to know that retubing/maintanance will be rather easy and inexpensive. I've been trying to do my research a lot the past couple days, and I'm very happy about what I am seeing.

I did catch on to the percussive/metal sound that it seemed to do well. That is absolutly perfect. I think I just might get my perfect sound from it.

I didn't think that the 600w rating would really matter either...Playing this through 2 powerhouse 410's was almost tripple the volume of the B4R through the ampeg 810E.

Another VERY happy bass player.

Dee Wurthy
 
#12
Originally posted by Dee Wurthy
Its also nice to know that retubing/maintanance will be rather easy
Click to expand...

Well, only if you consider having to v e r y carefully unscrew somewhere around the neighbourhodd of 23 screws easy(!)

Originally posted by Dee Wurthy
I didn't think that the 600w rating would really matter either
Click to expand...

No issues there, believe me. It peaks at around 1200w's and is very dynamic.
One tip; I had far better tone and response when i did the counter-intuitive and maxed the master using instead the preamp gain as the volume...very different and bolder overall tone IMO.
 
#15
Hey guys,

I've been thinking recently of adding this amp to the arsenal, mainly for it's versatility. Here's a couple Q's:

1. How's the weight... I didn't see any dimensions/weights in the manual at the Mesa website.

2. How's the fan noise? Is it ever fully 'off' and (hopefully) only kick in at a certain level? Or is it always 'On', maybe with varying speeds?

Thanks,
Greg
 

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