NAD - Mesa Boogie DC-3 Head

Ignored Member

Ignored Member

Neutered male
photo(2).JPG


Just got it hooked up to the speaker in the Stage 112 below it.

Um....

Holy shit.

This thing kicks ass and looks for more.

I sold off a few things this month and had money burning a hole in my pocket. I've kind of wanted a Mesa to replace the one I had to sell 20 years ago. On the other hand, I've been pretty happy with how my Peavey Classics sound and hold up.

There was a DC-3 combo used at a nearby GC. Seemed like something I might be interested in -- EL84s, compact package, and a presence knob (something I do miss on the Classic 30).

But there was a lot of other cool stuff I wanted to spend the money on. For me to buy it, it would have to sound freakin' amazing. It would have to blow away my Classic 30 and give me the same big, chirpy, snarling clean I get from the Classic 50 410. No way you get that from a little 1x12 combo.

Got to the store, found it, plugged in, guessed at some settings, and turned it on. If it didn't grab me in 15 seconds, I was off to grab lunch and head back to the office.

Damn.

From the first chord, it was there: a thick, clear, vocal clean sound.

Unfortunately, it was also in the process of being bought by somebody else as I played it.

But this head was listed online at another store for $100 less. It wasn't in nearly as nice condition but it was cheaper and I've been wanting to switch to a head/cab setup anyway. It arrived yesterday and I just got the speaker cable to hook it up today.

I'll post some clips and share a little customer experience story related to this later. Right now, I'm trying to find a deal on a cab. :grin:
 
Last edited:
Sweet! The more I play the express I got the more thankful I am that I got it. I'm a big fan of the 6l6 fender sound, but damn if I don't love my classic 50, and the express even more.

Congrats on that amp!
 
wagdog said:
Oh yeah, what about running it into the classic speakers? Bet that would sound good as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

The 410 Classic speakers were actually the first ones I tried. I wanted to make sure the amp worked but didn't have any sort of speaker cable. I set the two amps back-to-back and plugged the 4x10s into the Mesa.

It sounded good clean but the Mesa seems to put out both more treble and bass than the Classic. With the 4x10s I had to dial back the treble on my distortion pedal to keep it from being brittle. The same setting through the Classic is dead-on thick and crunchy.

The 12" Fender speaker in this Stage 112 is kind of bassy. With the Mesa, it sounds huge. If I find a 1x12 extension cab, I've got half a mind to pull the speaker from the Fender and use it.

I'd love to get my hands on a good 4x10 or even 2x10 cab with good speakers and try that, too.

One other thing -- the distortion channel on the Mesa doesn't do the "clean but breaks up if I hit it hard" thing quite as well as the Peavey. On the other hand, it has it's own tone controls and can get way more hairy than the Peavey.
 
USian Pie said:
The 12" Fender speaker in this 112SE is kind of bassy. With the Mesa, it sounds huge. If I find a 1x12 extension cab, I've got half a mind to pull the speaker from the Fender and use it.

I'd love to get my hands on a good 4x10 or even 2x10 cab with good speakers and try that, too.
Click to expand...

Ah cool. Amazing how much of a change speakers make. Actually it isn't when you consider their role.

I got lucky when I got my express 1x12 and found a mesa 1x12 cab on craigslist that was posted a few days earlier - pretty surprised it was still there actually, but it was. Looks really nice w/the combo on top of the cab and sounds huge.

That's a nice amp you got. The express is my first mesa - I'm really impressed with the build quality and how solid it feels and sounds.
 
I love the dc series amps. If I ever replace the single rec, it would be one of those or an orange rocker or rockerverb. Congrats man, enjoy it well!
 
I'm not sure you can go wrong with a Boogie. Their hey-day where they were #1 in "boutique" amps is long gone, but damn, do they make a quality product.
 
I found an old tweed beat-to-hell Peavey 112e extension cab with an unmarked 8 ohm Eminence OEM speaker in it. It was cheap enough to make it a pretty safe buy.

The cab is exactly the width of the head so it looks ok. I'm going to go over it before plugging the amp in but, if it works, it will make a reasonably compact but usable rig.

Playing it through that Fender speaker as much as I could this weekend, I started loving it more and more. It's just a thick, chewy, punchy sound.
 
Last edited:
wagdog said:
Nice. Do you have the cab, or are you waiting for it?
Click to expand...

I have it but I got it home late last night and immediately had to do house chores. Plus I didn't have another speaker cable handy. I don't want to hook it up as the lone cab until I'm sure the speaker is working and will provide a load.

The cab is a little dodgy as far as it's condition. It's clearly been the basis of an experiment or two in its life -- nothing I can't fix, though.

Just got back from buying another speaker cable so it will get tested tonight.
 
Here it is next to the Peavey Classic 50 410:
photo (2).JPG


The good:

The generic OEM takeoff Eminence speaker works fine.

It's cute. :) I like the power-to-footprint ratio. I wouldn't want to get any smaller.

It records pretty well. Unfortunately, every clip I've done so far has overdriven the digital recorder. Studio engineering -- how does it work? :mad:

The not-so-good:

The speaker cab doesn't have the same bottom-end as I was getting plugged into the Fender Stage 112. I'm not sure if it's because of the Eminence speaker or the smaller cab. I'm going to put the Fender speaker in the Peavey cab and see what happens. I closed the back on the cab and it didn't make enough difference to satisfy me.

Right now, it actually sounds very similar to the Classic 30 with the Weber Blue Dog I had -- nice but lacking in the "oomph" department.
 
The Fender speaker fixed it. It's both louder and has much better bass now.

If I had doubts before how much speakers matter, I'm completely convinced.

Got the extra parts from Mesa today, too. Now all 5 EQ sliders have knobs. Plus I have the channel/EQ footswitch. Fun!
 
Sweet! I love the sense of accomplishment you get from fixing stuff up like that, even if it's something as simple as getting the right slider knobs on there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top