Mesa Boogie .50 Caliber heads??

  • Thread starter Thread starter feintguitarist
  • Start date Start date
feintguitarist
feintguitarist
Member
Can anyone give me the good, bad, and the ugly with the Mesa .50 Caliber head?

What are they worth price wise? Are they worth a shit tone wise?

There's a guy in the local Craigslist selling one w/ a 4x12 mesa cab.. and I'm mainly wanting the cab, but I'm not sure if he'll split it up or not.


So if I did buy both head/cab what should I expect tone wise? It doesn't have the 5-band graphic EQ like some I've seen. I've heard one hear that amps like the Mark series really aren't as good without the EQ..so I fugre maybe the same is the case with the .50 caliber head..


Ultimately if I do decide to buy another amp/cab I was leaning towards a Mark III, TVerb, or a Studio or Quad pre... unless you guys say goods things about the 50 caliber.

:confused:
 
Sounds like it may be the el84 version; it is a very nice amp even without the eq. I am not fond of the 6l6 version, and the 6l6 version dose need the eq to sound ok. The clean is great and it has a nice crunch. I don't find myself missing the eq too much and I have played ones that have had it. The lack of true channel separation means a compromise in gain control. If you want a more modern distortion it will do it but to switch back and forth with a nice clean you have to compromise a bit. I also clean boost it, which tightens it up a lot and helps to solve a bit of that problem. I have yet to mod mine with a master but it would help allot. It has a lot of good tones in it and the reverb is decent as well. I have a peavey classic 50 head right next to it, imo the el84 50 caliber shares some tonal characteristics with the classic 50 but with a mesa twist and a bit more gain on tap. They go for between $400 and $600.
 
Hmm thanks for the info.. Sounds like something I wouldn't want as my only amp given the stuff I like to jam on.
 
I've had a .50 cal+ head since 1991, I got it from my best friend who ordered it, back when you could only get Boogies by custom ordering them. Mine is a 1989 6L6 long head version. It completely sucks without the EQ, and since the channels are shared, you can get either a great clean sound OR a great screaming lead/rythym sound. If you like COC, Pepper Keenen has been using one since the Blind album and still uses a .50 cal to this day. I'll never get rid of mine, it's not my main amp anymore, but it does rock pretty hard. I'm looking for a .50 cal combo...
 
hit my myspace link and listen to the song "Conway", that's a stock .50 cal into a 4x12 hiwatt copy loaded with 1981 celestion G-12-80's. No fx except a wah in front.
The other songs I'm using a solid state power amp, and the .50cal as a preamp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
 
Back
Top