Mesa Boogie distortion -- Classic or Dud?

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In rock music, the amps and studio undoubtedly help to define the sound of a period or era. For example, the Fender amplifier helped create a uniquely Californian sound in the late 50's and early 60's. The Fender tremolo and reverb were the necessary ingredients for surf rock. Vox had that quintessentially "British" tone (Beatles,Yardbirds). In the 60's, Jim Marshall's amp design significantly affected the sound of certain British and American artists and the Marshall Plexi stacks provided enough amplification for loud acts as diverse as the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Blue Cheer, and even paved the way for arena rawkers of the 70's. Without solid-state amps, the 80's shredders would not even sound the same. I think that the defining guitar sound of the recent drop rockers/rap metal acts rests in the scooped mid tones of the Mesa Boogie Rectifier amps. And that's not really a good thing. Yes, some good artists use(d) Mesa Boogie, and of course tone is truly in the fingers, but the 90's Mesa Boogie sound is awful in general. Add Pro-Tools and digital processing, and it's even worse. Bad artists play through all kinds of amps, but the Mesa Boogie distortion has helped ruin rock music. It's the sound that unifies Limp Bizkit, Creed, and Blink 182. An unequivocal dud.

― bryan, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hideous awful dud. Awful, awful, awful, awful, awful, awful. FUCKING AWFUL.

― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I think the bloodstained trail of evidence leads back to a Mr. Scholz...

― dave q, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah. To hell with Boston and Rockman EQ's.

― bryan, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I remember a 'Guitar World' interview where Scholz was raving about his distortion. "It's distorted, but a real mellow, smooth type of distortion!" 'Mellow, smooth distortion!' I ask you! It's like 'smart drugs', like why would anybody...nevermind (final word intentional, I leave you to figure out exactly how)

― dave q, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

'tain't the amp, folks, it's that most evil of all sonic toys, COMPRESSION. Don't believe the ads in the guitar magazines, anyway -- Mesa Boogie (as well as Ibanez and ESP) just have smart marketing departments and HUGE promotional and endorsement budgets. Doesn't mean that folks actually use the gear in the studio.

― Colin Meeder, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'll still hold firm ground in my statement that the mid/late 90's Mesa Boogie distortion is an unequivocal dud. Many groups I dislike solely on the basis of their sonic palettes are associated with that damn Mesa Boogie Dual/Triple Rectifier in some form. Those amps have a signature high gain sound, and it sucks. At the Ozzfest or Family Values tour, the stage is rife with those Mesa Boogie stacks. And they sound as nasty as the shitty crooning amidst the crunch.

― bryan, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

And I stand by what I said: seeing the amp stacks on stage at the Ozzfest tells you a lot about Mesa Boogie's marketing department and almost nothing about what's producing the sound you're hearing.

― Colin Meeder, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Mesa Boogie suck green donkey dicks. I actually worked at that company for about three weeks, sanding 4X12s before the tolex was put on them. But one day I got really stoned with a long-hair rocker dude out by the dumpster, and sanded a cabinet so much that it looked like a Gaudi apartment building. I was canned by the cokehead-dickhead boss, the only job I was ever fired from. But I saw Metallica come in to check out some new, weak amps. I hope that company just quietly folds.

― Andy, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Colin is right. Radio music is compressed to hell in order to make it sound loud and in-your-face without an actual volume change. I very highly suspect that what most people dislike about "bizkit distortion" is that it's that bright, razor-sharp, radio-friendly shine as applied to what is essentially a very round, grimy distortion.

Result: incongruity. Verdict: I don't like mesa distortion, either, and I wouldn't want one in my music, but i think there's slightly more to this issue.

― matthew m., Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

V0X AC30 = r0x0r. M3zA Bo0g!3 = sux0r.

― Norman Phay, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Norman is OTMX0r

― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't disagree one bit with Colin and matthew m. That terrible digital compression and equalization makes just about anything sound disgusting. Creed's guitarist records his clean guitar with vintage blackface Fenders and the recorded results sound very nasty. Owning a couple of Bandmaster and Bassman heads I can attest that even guitar playing as bad as mine can still have decent tone "live". No doubt many nu metal producers and engineers (a small circle in LA) purposefully achieve a certain consumer-friendly, sanitized for your protection "pop" sound for the butt-rock radio stations and master recordings to transfer to CD. I'm not anti-digital recording but manipulation via PRO TOOLS and such can suck the warmth out of recordings even more. Compression can be great though if used wisely, and preferably in an Electric Ladyland/Exile on Main Street way. Wish I could afford an old Helios mixing desk and some vintage UREI and Pultecs. One can only dream ...

― bryan, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I actually played around with a Mesa Boogie for a little while and it actually wasn't that *bad* of an amp, but it's characteristics were awfully generic. They behave, they're generally well put together, and they don't do anything weird when you abuse the hell out of them. BUT as other folks mentioned, it's what you do with them that matters and the highly compression distortion sound that the nu-metalers love is going to eventually be as dated as the gated drum sound of the 80s.

Mesa's are still a dud though. They can have my cranky old '62 Ampeg Reverb-o-Rocket when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

― Chris Barrus, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

When I turn on my RAT distortion pedal, I'm straight outa Seattle circa 1993

― Rick, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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