I picked up a Mesa California tweed head used from the local GC. It is an amazing amp. Super clean when i want it to be, different enough from my 65 and a mojotone vibroverb. Turning it down to 20 watts sounds like the 65, turning it to 10 does a great pushed/compressed tweed sound, and down to 2 watts its just a monster. Clean and crystal clear yet also has a ton of tube distortion and warm compression. The controls are perfect: preamp gain, master volume, presence, a mid control, decent reverb, efx loop, 2 4-Ohm outputs to run 2 cabs, and it looks sweet. In 40 Watts, it gets loud and stays clean and gets driven when you turn the preamp up. I'm running it into 2 monoprice 1x12 cabs with the chinese v30 speakers. Its a great amp. I don't know why they aren't more popular. I was actually planning on buying a fender tweed pro 1x15 combo that day, but I figured I'd plug into the mesa for fun. I haven't once thought i made the wrong decision. I'm going to build a 1x15 cabinet at some point
Solid score used 🙌🏻 I really do love the multi watt. Lots of versatility and great for adapting to studio use, live use or just solo playing. I really should try some different speaker cabs. I'm truck loving this 2x12 MB Tweed Cab. But I know how much difference a speaker can make. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 🙌🏻
This is really a perfect demo of this amp, really well done! I've always thought of the Fender / Mesa Mark clean as sparkling and the Tweed sound as chewy, and you perfectly captured both descriptions perfectly with this demo. Awesome job!
@@vincelupone thanks so much for the feedback. I appreciate you bringing up the Mark stuff. I'm super new to the Boogie thing. Is that Mark worth a look? I'm really curious cause so many players I respect play them. Regardless, thanks for watching and leaving a comment 🙏🏻
Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment 🙌🏻 It really does have a beautiful aesthetic and I couldn't be happier with the tones. Great glassy tones for my Strat. Ripping driven tones for my Junior. And everything in between.
Oh man this amp is seriously incredible. There was one at a local shop for months that was all i ever plugged into. The cleans are SO good, right on par with my Evil Twin.
I'm just stunned with the cleans. The Cali Tweed puts the boots to my Two-Rock Studio Signature in this regard. I'm extremely impressed. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. 🙌🏻
Ya, I agree. That is the sweet spot for drive tones. I was just feeling like the Wattage Switch IS its own video. There's really a lot there. Especially with higher output guitars. This Strat doesn't really do it justice. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 🙌🏻
@@TheSoundCoop I hear you! Clean headroom is one thing those 50's Tweed amps didn't have... I have a Mesa Lone Star Special and the only mode I can come close to that sound is in 5 watts single ended Class A. Glorious farting power amp distortion but 2 x 90 watts Black Shadow speakers make it sound not quite right.
Oh man. I'm soooo jealous of your Lonestar. I want one sooo bad. But they're so darn heavy. Most people don't want to ship them. And all of the ones that are local to me are in an outright terrible condition or aren't the version I want. One thing that I did notice. Mesa Boogie has that Fillmore 50 and if you check out the specs on the matching 2x12 cab, they're using those same Black Shadow speakers. And this makes me wonder if the Fillmore 50 is sort of the modern iteration of the LS, with a couple of added distortion paths. I almost pulled the plug on the Fillmore 50 and matching cab instead of the Cali Tweed. The only reason why I went with the Cali Tweed was because I don't really have a Tweed amp in my selection. When I was listening to the overdrive characteristics you could get from the Fillmore 50. It reminded me a lot of things I can get with amps I already have. But I definitely thought the Fillmore 50 was a little bit more chimey compared to the Cali Tweed. I thought it had a little more of that LoneStar thing going on. I ended up going with the Cali Tweed because Mick from that pedal show preferred it over the Fillmore 50 and I'm pretty sure the lone Star is his number one amp of all time. I definitely don't regret my choice, but I'm super curious about that Fillmore.
@@TheSoundCoop I have a Mesa electradyne, I replaced the speaker with the Jensen alnico blackbird 90watt, and threw some NOS glass in V 1-3. Green channel sounds like a glorious blackface. Blue channel with pre up and master down more and bass at 0 sounds like a bassman/tweed or a Marshall JTM, but you can have 90 watt simul class or 45 class AB. With simul class it's sounds like a class A but with tight punchy bass. Amazing. Red channel it a different higher gain voicing and its cool. This amp is a sleeper with the Jensen. Can hang with my Swart STR.
I bought mine based on Mick also. My only (tiny) regret is I wish I would've saved a few bucks and bought the 20-watt version instead of the 40-watt. Nice to have the reverb knob on the front, though, where it's more easily accessible.
Mick is the man! I'm sure the 20-watt is packing enough punch. And I'm probably missing out. I don't use the onboard Reverb. Strymond has me addicted 😂
@TheSoundCoop A little bit of the onboard reverb can go a long way. Strymon is the king of pedal reverbs, so that's most likely the better choice. Which Strymon is your "go-to" for reverb, if you don't mind me asking? They all seem top-notch, but I don't own any. The only Strymon I have is the Timeline.
I haven't tried the 220 so I can't really say. But my assumption is it has one less gain stage. Obviously it won't be as loud. But I'm assuming you'll be losing a little bit of clean headroom as well. More wattage isn't just more overall loudness. To some degree or another it means more volume with clean headroom. If you want this amp strictly for the Tweed Vibe, then headroom doesn't really matter. But if you're looking to get the Tweed Vibe and the Blackface Vibe, I recommend going with as many watts as possible. But again, it all depends on how much volume you really need. I'm sure you could keep this thing perfectly clean with plenty of headroom at bedroom levels. If you're not trying to keep up with the drummer, it might not matter.
Tone King Gremlin cornered the market on the classic tweed tone. Their Falcon Grande already has the options this Mesa offers. Tone King over Mesa every day of the week
I can't compare tone wise. But for me, I'll take the MB features every day. Combo amp = no dice. 1x12" speaker = no dice. 20 watts instead of 40 isn't an insignificant difference if you expect the Twin side of the amp to keep up with a band. Absolutely ZERO regrets with the Boogie.
I’m sure that the California Tweed amp you bought is beautiful. I’ve owned a Tone King Imperial MkII for around 5 years…totally tonal bliss on both the blackface and tweed end of the equation. Congratulations on your Mesa.
Use whatever you like, but the Falcon Grande doesn’t have multiple power section configurations, a 3 band eq, an effects loop, or power and standby switches on the front. That’s a far cry from having the same options as the Mesa. California Tweed every day of the week for me.
I picked up a Mesa California tweed head used from the local GC. It is an amazing amp. Super clean when i want it to be, different enough from my 65 and a mojotone vibroverb. Turning it down to 20 watts sounds like the 65, turning it to 10 does a great pushed/compressed tweed sound, and down to 2 watts its just a monster. Clean and crystal clear yet also has a ton of tube distortion and warm compression. The controls are perfect: preamp gain, master volume, presence, a mid control, decent reverb, efx loop, 2 4-Ohm outputs to run 2 cabs, and it looks sweet. In 40 Watts, it gets loud and stays clean and gets driven when you turn the preamp up.
I'm running it into 2 monoprice 1x12 cabs with the chinese v30 speakers.
Its a great amp. I don't know why they aren't more popular. I was actually planning on buying a fender tweed pro 1x15 combo that day, but I figured I'd plug into the mesa for fun. I haven't once thought i made the wrong decision.
I'm going to build a 1x15 cabinet at some point
Solid score used 🙌🏻 I really do love the multi watt. Lots of versatility and great for adapting to studio use, live use or just solo playing. I really should try some different speaker cabs. I'm truck loving this 2x12 MB Tweed Cab. But I know how much difference a speaker can make. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 🙌🏻
This is really a perfect demo of this amp, really well done! I've always thought of the Fender / Mesa Mark clean as sparkling and the Tweed sound as chewy, and you perfectly captured both descriptions perfectly with this demo. Awesome job!
@@vincelupone thanks so much for the feedback. I appreciate you bringing up the Mark stuff. I'm super new to the Boogie thing. Is that Mark worth a look? I'm really curious cause so many players I respect play them. Regardless, thanks for watching and leaving a comment 🙏🏻
Holy moly.. what a gorgeous looking amp! 🥵❤️ Awesome demo
Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment 🙌🏻 It really does have a beautiful aesthetic and I couldn't be happier with the tones. Great glassy tones for my Strat. Ripping driven tones for my Junior. And everything in between.
Yeah dude- great, direct video!!
I'm so glad you liked it. And thanks so much for watching 🙌🏻
Oh man this amp is seriously incredible. There was one at a local shop for months that was all i ever plugged into. The cleans are SO good, right on par with my Evil Twin.
I'm just stunned with the cleans. The Cali Tweed puts the boots to my Two-Rock Studio Signature in this regard. I'm extremely impressed. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. 🙌🏻
Turn the wattage down for that collapsing tweed sound... 10 watts 🤘
Ya, I agree. That is the sweet spot for drive tones. I was just feeling like the Wattage Switch IS its own video. There's really a lot there. Especially with higher output guitars. This Strat doesn't really do it justice. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 🙌🏻
@@TheSoundCoop I hear you! Clean headroom is one thing those 50's Tweed amps didn't have... I have a Mesa Lone Star Special and the only mode I can come close to that sound is in 5 watts single ended Class A. Glorious farting power amp distortion but 2 x 90 watts Black Shadow speakers make it sound not quite right.
Oh man. I'm soooo jealous of your Lonestar. I want one sooo bad. But they're so darn heavy. Most people don't want to ship them. And all of the ones that are local to me are in an outright terrible condition or aren't the version I want. One thing that I did notice. Mesa Boogie has that Fillmore 50 and if you check out the specs on the matching 2x12 cab, they're using those same Black Shadow speakers. And this makes me wonder if the Fillmore 50 is sort of the modern iteration of the LS, with a couple of added distortion paths. I almost pulled the plug on the Fillmore 50 and matching cab instead of the Cali Tweed. The only reason why I went with the Cali Tweed was because I don't really have a Tweed amp in my selection. When I was listening to the overdrive characteristics you could get from the Fillmore 50. It reminded me a lot of things I can get with amps I already have. But I definitely thought the Fillmore 50 was a little bit more chimey compared to the Cali Tweed. I thought it had a little more of that LoneStar thing going on. I ended up going with the Cali Tweed because Mick from that pedal show preferred it over the Fillmore 50 and I'm pretty sure the lone Star is his number one amp of all time. I definitely don't regret my choice, but I'm super curious about that Fillmore.
@@TheSoundCoop I have a Mesa electradyne, I replaced the speaker with the Jensen alnico blackbird 90watt, and threw some NOS glass in V 1-3. Green channel sounds like a glorious blackface. Blue channel with pre up and master down more and bass at 0 sounds like a bassman/tweed or a Marshall JTM, but you can have 90 watt simul class or 45 class AB. With simul class it's sounds like a class A but with tight punchy bass. Amazing. Red channel it a different higher gain voicing and its cool. This amp is a sleeper with the Jensen. Can hang with my Swart STR.
I bought mine based on Mick also. My only (tiny) regret is I wish I would've saved a few bucks and bought the 20-watt version instead of the 40-watt. Nice to have the reverb knob on the front, though, where it's more easily accessible.
Mick is the man! I'm sure the 20-watt is packing enough punch. And I'm probably missing out. I don't use the onboard Reverb. Strymond has me addicted 😂
@TheSoundCoop A little bit of the onboard reverb can go a long way. Strymon is the king of pedal reverbs, so that's most likely the better choice. Which Strymon is your "go-to" for reverb, if you don't mind me asking? They all seem top-notch, but I don't own any. The only Strymon I have is the Timeline.
Good point about the onboard Reverb. I've got the Big Sky. It's deep and vast. But I'm mostly addicted to the Slap Verbs & Springs.
Hoping to pick one up soon for myself. Is there a huge difference between fhr 2:20 and the 4:40?
I haven't tried the 220 so I can't really say. But my assumption is it has one less gain stage. Obviously it won't be as loud. But I'm assuming you'll be losing a little bit of clean headroom as well. More wattage isn't just more overall loudness. To some degree or another it means more volume with clean headroom. If you want this amp strictly for the Tweed Vibe, then headroom doesn't really matter. But if you're looking to get the Tweed Vibe and the Blackface Vibe, I recommend going with as many watts as possible. But again, it all depends on how much volume you really need. I'm sure you could keep this thing perfectly clean with plenty of headroom at bedroom levels. If you're not trying to keep up with the drummer, it might not matter.
Tone King Gremlin cornered the market on the classic tweed tone. Their Falcon Grande already has the options this Mesa offers. Tone King over Mesa every day of the week
I can't compare tone wise. But for me, I'll take the MB features every day. Combo amp = no dice. 1x12" speaker = no dice. 20 watts instead of 40 isn't an insignificant difference if you expect the Twin side of the amp to keep up with a band. Absolutely ZERO regrets with the Boogie.
I’m sure that the California Tweed amp you bought is beautiful.
I’ve owned a Tone King Imperial MkII for around 5 years…totally tonal bliss on both the blackface and tweed end of the equation.
Congratulations on your Mesa.
Use whatever you like, but the Falcon Grande doesn’t have multiple power section configurations, a 3 band eq, an effects loop, or power and standby switches on the front. That’s a far cry from having the same options as the Mesa. California Tweed every day of the week for me.
xenomorph art in the back? you should see my place
Xenomorph, always. Massive fan. Where can I see pics of your place?