Mesa Boogie Caliber 50+ Head

Mesa Boogie is one of those companies as continue to build high quality amplifiers that have stood up the test of time and the rigorous touring schedules a professional musicians. They build high quality amps they can take a beating night after night it's gigging. This is an amp that is a 50 watt amp that is a sliver off the old mark series amplifiers by Mesa boogie.

These amps have been discontinued for a while but still hold an incredible value on the used market. This amplifier features a five band graphic equalizer in addition to its wide range of clean and overdriven sounds. This amplifier has two channels with a simple foot switch jump from channel to channel.

UTILIZATION


If you like the sound of the Mark series 3 or 5 amplifiers then you will like the tone of this amplifier. The voicing of these amplifiers lean more towards the mark iv than any other amplifier in the Mesa boogie series.

SOUNDS


This amplifier sounds best with the Celestion C 90 speakers and a 4 12 inch cabinet speaker. Even though it's only 50 watts of power this amplifier still packs a huge total response. The distortion is thick and chunky and you can get a good solid rhythm and lead tone from it. This amp is packed with 6l6 power tubes which give you a good solid top and bottom frequency tone. I find that the 6l6 power tubes allow you to get a tight bottom and to the tone as well as a fast crisp high end. These tunes will Suffer more in the mid range frequencies than with an EL 34 power tube. El 34 power tubes give you a much tighter mid range crunch and will break up quicker than the 6l6 power tubes will.

OVERALL OPINION


These amps hold quite their value even though they have been discontinued for many years. You can find these amplifiers for right around $600 on the use market and in the classifieds. I would highly recommend this amplifier if you looking for inexpensive high-quality high sounding Mesa boogie Mark series amplifier. You know it's only 50 watts, but it still packs a good punch with a solid clean and distortion tone.

everything except the lamp rectifier if I remember correctly ... 50w

eq usual treble, midle, bass + a 5-band graphic eq

effects loop

UTILIZATION

config pretty simple, you can activate the aq graph or not this is nice ...

it's going strong, very strong ... you have to push a little to allow it to breathe and release all its harmonics ... somewhat difficult to balance clean and disto ...

the knobs are precise, very accurate ... you can really shape the sound as you want ...

SOUNDS

the distortion channel has a very tight grain, a little dark ... perfect for metal old school I found ...

a mesa for a good clean, very bright ...

OVERALL OPINION

this is a great amp, but it requires patience that I did not ... if you want an amp that sounds when plugged in, go your way ...

Any amp with 12AX7 preamp and 6L6 in two amplification.
50Watt power output but it seems more!
A connector jack 6.35 calassique cannal a clear cannal a saturated Eq shelves (low / mid / high) a 5-band Parametric EQ and reverb.
Amp very basic, peremet to become familiar with the old sounds MESA. (Santana / Toto / Clash)

UTILIZATION

Configuration "seems" simple but it takes a lot to play on the shelves (Eq) to take advantage of this amp. It's not you get a good sound, that is that there is a good big slice of the legendary MESA BOOGIE. This is a piece of the MARK IV to make it simple. The manual is how to say ... ... vintage: Tape has a typewriter.

SOUNDS

This amp does not suit a particular style of music, but that is the guitar that fits al amp. The overdrive sound is powerful, warm, very medium and Larsen is a commendable desire. The cannal is any clear except after pushing the gain is a small 7 ca or ca Funky crunch makes you a petter Rhythmic telecaster way Pretenders.
Lead in saturated, that is a killing, or listen to Mick Jones Steve Lukater in the '80s to understand. I play with them Stratus, an LP or a 335 everything is good.
Now, having both channels push / pull one CAVECA Eq that is annoying on a powerful amp like this. It is in my opinion the major flaw in the scene.

OVERALL OPINION

I played 10 years with this unit, and I sold it to another guitarist.
I regret it often because it is light enough to carry and it is indestructible.
I love the sound of this amp but I hate the transition Clean / Vivid is a very difficult balance. It is dificil to have a rhythm and a saturated switch to Lead.
That is why I went on the 4 channel RoadKing of the same brand, but that's another story ....

I board never regretted this purchase (1992) and I regret having sold.
I would be willing to buy more than what I sold it three years ago (1000 €)

To see the face of other guitarists who came to see me after a gig I can tell you that this amp impresses his patère.je have sold because it is not practical, that is also an entry-level, and power is unmanageable on stage.

Conclusion: it is a slice of mesa boogie 1980 period, of the mill as they say.