NAD tomorrow!!!! WOOT WOOT WOOT

[jgcable]

I just bought a full set of JJ El84's and ECC83S's for the Boogie. They should be in around a week. I think the power tubes and 3 of the preamp tubes are original from 1993.
Jeez...

[Cygnus X1]

Preamp tubes can last MANY years though.

[Hellbat]

I highly recommend the Mesa SPAX7A's for the preamp tubes. They are basically cherry picked 12ax7's that are selected for extremely low microphonics and s/n ratios. I use them in all the preamp tubes in my amp (not Mesa) and they really opened/cleaned my amp up.

[horns666]

Tung Sol or Sovetk..for me....anything but JJs preamps tubes...lame

[Cygnus X1]

I agree on JJ's, they leave me cold sometimes.
Sovtek...to me...a bit hit-and miss.
Tung Sol reissues have been fine for low noise and smooth gain but are too dark for vintage applications.
They work great in modern high gain apps.
Not a very well kept secret by now, but when you can get them...Shungaung made 12AX7As are GREAT
for high gain, but depend on a third party to sort them out for you.
PM Tubes does that, and so does Groove Tubes.

GT got a bad rep, undeservedly so...IMO.
Vintage amp guys were comparing them to vintage Amperex, Mullards, etc.
NO, they don't give that tone.
But the GT's I've had hold up well in application and in the tester.

Another little-known (?) secret.
MIC Fender branded Red Label 12AX7's can be BADASS, as long as they aren't
too microphonic.
See comment above about the selected Chinese 12AX7A's.

Hellbat hit on the key there.

'Jes mah 'pinion...'o course.
I roll tubes far more than I need to...

[Cygnus X1]

Good time for a little tester PRON:

[Firebird V]

cool review. i had a friend back that bought one of those new in 92/93. he was a fantastic studio player who needed it to do some recording and small gigs. he got tons of great tones out of it. for its size it sounded like a much larger rig.

[jgcable]

Gigged with the Studio 22 Plus without the extension cab tonight. I installed new tubes. A mix of JJ's and GT's. Didn't really change the sound much and from what I read, most people say that the Studio 22 doesn't change much with different tubes. Anyway, on to my live review.
One guy was using a Fender Hot Rod something with 1 x 12 in it, there was another Fender amp there. It was a Blues Deville.
I brought a Wah and a footswitch to change channels. Thats it.
What I noticed with the Studio 22 plus is the same thing I notice with any of the Studio 22's that I have owned in the past. Some with EQ's, some without.
The amp doesn't have much bottom end and its extremely bright with tons of midrange. I dialed the treble down to 2 and the presence down to 0 and turned the bass up to 8 and it was still ver bright sounding .People told me it sounded good but to my ears I just couldn't feel it if you know what I mean.
The clean channel however has a ton of body, warmth and sustain and cuts like a knife.
Bottom line, I won't be using this amp live. It just doesn't have the ballz to cut it live. There was a guy there with a Randal RG112 Solid State 1 x 12 combo and he literally crapped all over me. I broke out my Crate XT120R. I paid $75.00 for it. Its a 3 channel 120W SS combo with 2 x 12" speakers. It was the best sounding amp out of all of them onstage. Go figure.
Anyway, for rock I need to bring a rock amp. For blues I have my Pro Junior. For gigs I have my Randall RM100 1/2 stack and a 5150-II half stack.

Another Studio 22 Plus may be on the way out. I think I will do good on this one though because its really clean and I have the matching Mesa Extension cab.
I am thinking maybe I should try it live with the extension cab too because it does add some presence and bottom end but probably not enough to do rock songs.
It has the gain, it has the tone, heck, its one loud sucker too. It just doesn't have the oomf for me.
It sounds great at home though and its absolutely perfect for studio recording.

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Interesting. To be honest, I once owned a Mk III half stack with every bell and whistle, and while it did sound good, I was never really happy with my sound until I bought a Marshall. I quickly traded the Boogie for a 2nd Marshall.

Granted, I only played it at home most of the time and live maybe a dozen times in the years I owned it. I was a kid and probably never even began tweaking it, but I don't think any amount of tweaking could get it to react like a good Marshall.

[horns666]

Marshall = Tight...Non-More-Tight.

I liked My Boogie III too, but it was a bit loose for me. It nailed classic Gary Moore tho. Actually, I learned my Gary Moore licks on that amp. I had to.

I never played a Mrk IV..ever. But, I recently tried a V, and really liked it.

[roodyrocker]

At the risk of over-generalization, when you guys mention Marshalls, I think what you're missing is Marshall's upper mid range for live use. I think that mid range is what we all hear as a loud Marshall that cuts through the mix. I know my Rhoads Marshall is like that. It's not the amp with the most gain but I swear it gives the impression that it's by far the loudest of my amps. It never truly gets lost in a mix either.

[jgcable]

At the risk of over-generalization, when you guys mention Marshalls, I think what you're missing is Marshall's upper mid range for live use. I think that mid range is what we all hear as a loud Marshall that cuts through the mix. I know my Rhoads Marshall is like that. It's not the amp with the most gain but I swear it gives the impression that it's by far the loudest of my amps. It never truly gets lost in a mix either.

For lead playing the Studio 22 Plus is outstanding. Because its so bright and has so much midrange it cuts through big time.
The problem I hear is when playing big rock chords or attempting any kind of palm mute chunk type sound. It just doesn't cut it. Its all high end.
For instance, we did Hash Pipe last night. Its a classic medium gain chunky palm muted riff for the verses and big banging bar chords for the chorus's. The palm muting sounded aweful to me. The big ringing out chords sounded great.
We also did My Worst Enemy. Same thing. During the verses its a slighly palm muted E. It didn't sound very good. No bottom end or chunk at all. During the chorus its big bar chords with a ringing out open B and E strings. They sounded great.
Its all about the cabs I think. The Studio 22 Plus is pretty much an open back. The extension cab is semi closed and gets more thump. Anyway, I am going to mess with it more tonight but as of now, I am not in love with how it sounds live.

[markD]

that is exactly why i stopped using my MKIV live and eventually sold it. it really only did ONE thing well: guitar solos. i tried ENDLESS types of speakers...JBL, EVM, celestion, fane, eminence....open back, closed back....1x12, 2x12, 4x12....i could NEVER get the amp to sound the i wanted it to. i was so disappointed. i like my nomad 100 so much better. it is a much more organic amp....

[jgcable]

that is exactly why i stopped using my MKIV live and eventually sold it. it really only did ONE thing well: guitar solos. i tried ENDLESS types of speakers...JBL, EVM, celestion, fane, eminence....open back, closed back....1x12, 2x12, 4x12....i could NEVER get the amp to sound the i wanted it to. i was so disappointed. i like my nomad 100 so much better. it is a much more organic amp....

I agree Mark, I had a Nomad 50 1 x 12 combo and it was very balanced. A little on the dark side but in a good way. Great cleans and a nice punchy rhythm. The Studio 22 Plus is a great lead guitar amp and probably killer in the studio. Hence.. Studio 22 Plus!

I was hoping the Studio 22 Plus with the matching extension cab would be my ticket to ride for gigs with my classic/contemporary rock band.
It isn't. Too Grainy, too much high end and midrange, not enough bottom so it sounds great for soloing but not for chords.
Its a great amp for a Mesa Boogie collector or fan though because I have the original matching cabinet and all the original paperwork including the owners manual, settings sheet, hang tags, warranty information and ever the original Mesa Boogie Bumper Sticker.
I'll probably end up trading it locally although it wouldn't be that difficult to ship if I had to.

[markD]

indeed. the MKIV was great in the studio, but i always sounded like carlos santana!! it was hard to deal with because you read about all these metal guys using the MKIV. well, i HATE the mega scoop. i prefer my tones in the hot rodded marshall territory. the boogie was a VERY expensive piece of furniture. i held on to it for years just to say i had one....

the nomad 100 is how i imagined the MKIV would be. it has clean, crunch and searing lead channels, the graphic (which i do NOT set to the smiley face scoop), 3 reverbs....it is a killer amp. still on the fence about whether i should have gotten the head instead of the 2x12 combo, but i did get it mostly as a studio amp with the idea of using it when we do play small stages....

too bad about the studio 22. ever try a DC series amp? i had a DC-5 that i liked once - kinda thought of it as a poor man's MKIV...in hind-sight i should have kept it!!!!