Quickly please: Mesa .22+... yay or nay?

The 22+ is a decent one...depending on what you want from an amp.
what are you looking for in an amp?
 
For years I've just run pedals into a super clean amp (Peavey Delta Blues 15") so I don't have a particular sound I'm looking for. I do like EL84s though, so there's that.

Just called and left a message. We'll see how it goes.
 
I can't remember what Mesa combo I had (other than a Mark I reissue) but I liked it. If it is in good condition, I would drop $300 on it.
 
Yeah, they are pretty well regarded little amps. They evolved over time into the dual caliber DC series amps. Mo and I have DC-3 models, if I recall correctly. I thought someone else here had a DC5, but I can't remember who. Anyway, the caliber 22+ is the predecessor of the DC series. The cleans are pretty good, fender blackface in flavor, with a decent tube driven reverb. The gain channel is the sort of classic boogie sound, which is kind of hit or miss for people. It can really grind out the high gain, liquid cascade gain, and mean rhythm sounds too. Like all boogie amps, the knobs are 'interactive' so they can take a while to dial in. The biggest complaint I've heard about these is that they sound kind of boxy, but I never noticed that in my related amp. They are built like tanks. Steel chassis, military tube sockets on flying leads, not much board mounted to go bad, buffered EQs and so on. A really nice amp that probably cost a grand when new. I'd give it a sound test.

FWIW, mine has EL84 tubes, but don't expect a voxy feel or sound. The tone stack is much more fender like, but a little less sparkle. It certainly doesn't sound like other EL84 amps I have played.
 
Tiltsta said:
Yeah, they are pretty well regarded little amps. They evolved over time into the dual caliber DC series amps. Mo and I have DC-3 models, if I recall correctly. I thought someone else here had a DC5, but I can't remember who. Anyway, the caliber 22+ is the predecessor of the DC series. The cleans are pretty good, fender blackface in flavor, with a decent tube driven reverb. The gain channel is the sort of classic boogie sound, which is kind of hit or miss for people. It can really grind out the high gain, liquid cascade gain, and mean rhythm sounds too. Like all boogie amps, the knobs are 'interactive' so they can take a while to dial in. The biggest complaint I've heard about these is that they sound kind of boxy, but I never noticed that in my related amp. They are built like tanks. Steel chassis, military tube sockets on flying leads, not much board mounted to go bad, buffered EQs and so on. A really nice amp that probably cost a grand when new. I'd give it a sound test.

FWIW, mine has EL84 tubes, but don't expect a voxy feel or sound. The tone stack is much more fender like, but a little less sparkle. It certainly doesn't sound like other EL84 amps I have played.
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Yep. My Subway Rocket is from the same lineage. It's more like a hot rodded Blues Jr than a BF Princeton.
 
An old catalog I have from when I bought my amp mentions that mesa tested their amp designs to survive a five foot fall onto concrete while operating at full volume without damage. The construction in mine makes all my other amps look cheap. :messedup:

Here is an example of the insides of one of their amps. Note the tube sockets and pots are chassis mounted, so they are easier to replace, and less likely to damage the board. Everything that can fail is not mounted on the main board. Well, caps and stuff are, but the parts that get used a lot are mounted to the chassis and then wired to the board on leads. Randall Smith, the Boogie head honcho, has a long 'rant' on circuit boards on his page in response to people who want everything wired flying lead. He has a bunch of reasons why his amps use printed circuit boards, and how they use really high quality boards.

DRchassis.JPG
 
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Tiltsta said:
An old catalog I have from when I bought my amp mentions that mesa tested their amp designs to survive a five foot fall onto concrete while operating at full volume without damage. The construction in mine makes all my other amps look cheap. :messedup:

Here is an example of the insides of one of their amps. Note the tube sockets and pots are chassis mounted, so they are easier to replace, and less likely to damage the board. Everything that can fail is not mounted on the main board. Well, caps and stuff are, but the parts that get used a lot are mounted to the chassis and then wired to the board on leads. Randall Smith, the Boogie head honcho, has a long 'rant' on circuit boards on his page in response to people who want everything wired flying lead. He has a bunch of reasons why his amps use printed circuit boards, and how they use really high quality boards.

DRchassis.JPG
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I have owned a few Mesas over the years and they are solid and heavy. I had a Mark I short head and it weighed about as much as a combo.
 
Chad said:
I have owned a few Mesas over the years and they are solid and heavy. I had a Mark I short head and it weighed about as much as a combo.
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Yeah, my little 33 watt 1x12 DC3 feels like it is a block of lead. I bet it weighs 50 pounds.
 
It has one issue that shouldn't be too hard to correct: The channel switching jack doesn't work. He had a couple of other Mesas and he was able to demonstrate that it's not the footswitch itself. So no lead channel for the time being, but that's fine. I'll get that fixed and get a new light put in at the same time.
 
does the amp have a push pull pot to switch channels? Anyway, hopefully the switch fix is an easy one.
 
Tiltsta said:
does the amp have a push pull pot to switch channels? Anyway, hopefully the switch fix is an easy one.
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Nope. The manual offers this oddball solution though: "Should you lose or forget your footswitch, you can activate the Lead mode by plugging a cable into the footswitch socket and shorting the tip of the other plug against the chassis or one of the metal handle caps."
 
Well, hopefully it is an easy fix, especially with the switch being chassis mounted. The gain on these amps is a lot of fun. Still a hell of a bargain for a quality tube amp. I'd have bought it like that in a heartbeat.
 
Yeah, I didn't even really feel like haggling with him, even with the channel switching issue.. I paid the same amount for my Blues Jr. and my Egnater Tweaker (w/cab). This is a hell of a lot more amp than either of those.
 
You paid $300 for that? Smokin' deal. I have a MESA Express 5:25 that I love and have no desire to replace, and I'd still buy that amp for $300.
 
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