@DyDave that is a 1887 “Red Stripe” release (I’ve had a Blue and a Green). It is really versatile and capable of great tones at any volume. I had Mike B. at Mesa mod it.

@CanisPundit

I’ve only ever seen 2 even slightly like that in person:

One at a shop here in the 80s and they wanted $3k for it.

And another when I was an assistant at a studio and was trying to mic it up for the boss. They’re very loud but awesome ❤️

@DyDave “Boogie watts”. 🤣 With a 18 pound EV 12L speaker it is a sonic canon shot. I use Eminence Red White and Blues speakers.

@CanisPundit @DyDave

You've "got a guy" at Boogie? I'm jealous! The one time I had to call 'em I got treated like shit (this was circa '06); subsequently heard from a couple of dealers and a tech in NH, MA, CT who stopped carrying 'em cuz "Mesa doesn't like the East Coast." My fave amp evurrrr even tho it's crapped out on me twice (never in a live sitch) -- luckily I got pointed to a retired master elec. in N'field (MA) who hardwired the sucker. 👍

@InUnfunky @DyDave not any more. Mike B. is legendary in Mesa Boogie land. https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/mike-bendinelli-at-mesa-boogie-no-longer-doing-mods-update.219738/

I had a couple of great calls with Tien Lawrence in the 90s (cool tips not in the manuals). I called to get a replacement resistor for my Mark I reissue (ever see your amp smoke?)

@CanisPundit @DyDave

Yeah, the 2nd time it crapped out on me, heh.

The dude in Northfield was a godsend -- I really was dreading having to take the beast to either Albany or Boston or Lawn Guilin. 3 month wait and the drive back and forth? No thanks.

Tom (Nfld guy) was really puzzled by how Mesa wired it -- "It was a mess. I tore it all out and hardwired it. Problem solved."

I took his word for it. It's been two years, so far so good. 😎

@InUnfunky @DyDave play it, I remembered you had a Nomad. So there🤪🎶

@InUnfunky @CanisPundit

If only it weren’t for your paltry 110-120V power. 😂

Those amps simply did not exist in my yoof.

You could get a 60s Vox AC 30 for a month’s wages, or even a Marshall Plexi on a flexi-payment scheme, but no Mesas at all, and even rarely Fender amps.

Mesas here are like Rickenbacker guitars. There hasn’t been a new one available forever. 🤷🏼‍♂️

@DyDave @CanisPundit

The impression I got from the East Coast dealers I talked to was that "Mesa tried to go too big, too fast when they expanded nationwide" from Cali (mid-'00s following the nu-metal craze), so service and production suffered. Heard somewhat the same re. PRS from a local former master luthier who took a buyout. 🤔 🤷‍♂️

The Nomad has been a pain in the butt BUT I love the damn thing. Benson tone? Yes. Pearl Jam tone? Yes. Slayer? Yes. And yes, CP, it is LOUD. 😮 😆

@DyDave @CanisPundit

More to your point, Dave...we didn't have the same amps either in our yoofs cuz Mesa was still boutique, making shit for Jerry and Carlos...when DID Mesa go "big" -- late '90s? I still had my Marshall 30w that I got in HS (85ish?) and a Fender Princeton 40 🤔 ? The only reason I bagged that Mesa was cuz they discontinued the model and scratch n' dent. Hint hint.

You gotta either be crafty like you two and/or know someone who is. Luckily I found Tom in Nfld. 😜

@InUnfunky

The first proper band I was ever i, in about 1989 or so somehow had 2 Peavey Special 130s. I will never know how they turned up, but they were loud and deeply unsatisfactory.

@CanisPundit

@DyDave @InUnfunky my first “real” amp was a Yamaha G100 212. It had a respectable distortion channel. The clean was brittle. It could get rather loud and I “Working Man” stress tested it with an Ibanez Les Paul copy with Super 70s neck and a DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge. 😁

@InUnfunky @DyDave maybe they went big with Metallica? The Bangles used them too. What got me hooked on Boogies was hearing/playing through what was probably a Mark II in high school. Some friend of a friend. While most can get as loud as you’ll ever need, some models can sound really good at “apartment levels”.