B-52.... Poor man's Mesa?

[Devho]

I was hanging out at GC the other day and I happened upon a B-52 AT-100 tri-mode rectifier. I've seen these a thousand times before, but never actually turned one on. I plugged in one of the PRS's and cranked it up and was quite surprised. While, it's not an exact replica of the Mesa sound, it is very good. I don't know all the technical specs, but I'm sure the Mesa is far more advanced. I've heard the thing that makes these B-52s special is the all tube rectifiers in them, similar to Mesa, instead of solid state rectifiers.

Has anyone else played with them at all? What did you think?

 

[thejay]

I had one and it just died... Replacing with a Mesa. The amp works well and did for a couple of years if you play at low vols, turning it up to about 5 will fry it.... which is what I found out. So now I am out 600 b/c they used cheap parts, cant even sell it busted will cost more to fix than buying a new one!

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

^First time I've heard that...I have a few friends that love them...they dream about Mesa, but can't dish out that sort of money right now, so they stick with B-52. Can't comment on their gig reliability, but they're happy with them.

 

[Ukalali Solo]

I had considered an AT-100 when I was finally ready to toss out my HRDlx and go for an amp that actually fit my style of playing. I remember even back then when my ears weren't as good tonally that the amp was decent, but in the end it was still an imitation. I went the used SR route instead, and i believe it ended up costing me about the same as a new AT halfstack would have. I can't really comment on the reliability because I've never gigged with one, but I wouldn't be suprised to hear more B-52 horror stories than Mesa horror stories.

Devho, a friend of mine actually gigs with the AT-100 combo if you're really interested I could drop him a line and see how its going for him?

 

[kmanick]

I had a B-52 At -100 2X12 combo for about a year and 1/2.
I luckily had no problems with mine, but many do. they use cheap parts and have QC problem over there.
Afriend of mine has the AT-100 head and he recently scored a 2 channel dual Recto.
When you run them side by side ...................................there is no comparison.

they have absolutely no resale value to them at all.
I would save and get a real recto , or a JSX instead.
I took a beating when I moved mine and mine was mint.

 

[EMGguitarist]

Okay so I went the route of solid state line 6 amps to B-52 to Mesa and there really is no comparison between the two. The At-212 worked great for what I needed it for but once I played it next to my buddys Triple, as soon as I got home I went out and bought my TOV. From there I had it a few weeks to run side by side and do some different setup configs but in the end, it didn't compare at all which led me to sell it. It was a good amp and served its purpose well but once I got the Mesa, the differences really started to resonate the more I played with them.

 

[secretsoundz]

I don't know if it means anything or not about their reliability/sound, but I see B-52's for sale all day long on Craigslist.

 

[jdurso]

i think for the price they sound great.... have we heard better? of course but not at that price.... definitely better quality than the new bugeras but i wouldnt expect mesa quality in a b-52.... actually if you know what your doing you can modify those babies and actually get very close to a recto or 5150.... my buddy had one and had his uncle replace some of the shittier parts and do some mods and that brought that amp to life.... he spent a total of 700 with mods (keep in mind his uncle did the mods for whatever the parts cost)...... one thing that ive always respected was the b-52 cabs with the v30s.... to my ears when paired with a good amp sound huge and tight.... similar to mesa but a little brighter which probably has to do with their v30s being the stock ones and not hand picked

 

[nitrous2400]

their good for a young kid that needs an amp for a show and doesnt want a cheap marshall mg :lol: other than that they're not anything special i heard alot of horror stories on other boards and locally where they just cook themselves, and the few times i plugged in they sounded really cheap and junky im guessin they use really cheap tubes

 

[Devho]

Thanks for the input guys. I was never really that interested in buying one, just wanted to know everyone else's take on them. For the money, they sound great but I'd rather have the real thing; the Mesa.

 

[jdurso]

their good for a young kid that needs an amp for a show and doesnt want a cheap marshall mg :lol: other than that they're not anything special i heard alot of horror stories on other boards and locally where they just cook themselves, and the few times i plugged in they sounded really cheap and junky im guessin they use really cheap tubes

true but what amp company doesnt have horror stories floating around the net..... some more than other but still i've heard horror stories about almost every company..... plus half of the horror stories probably come down to the person doing something that would kill the amp..... for the price the b52s are a great value for those that cant afford a better built tube amp

 

[sixtonoize]

My (ex) guitarist had one, and it sounded good. It didn't sound anything like my mesas, but it certainly didn't sound bad.

What worried me (early on) was the fit/finish. The tolex is cheap, the casters (on his cab) are terrible, and the faceplate and control panel were 1/4" out of alignment on one end (and flush on the other). Also, my local GC had TWO with trashed headshells. Apparently, when you drop them, the headshells just collapse.

Also, during the last few shows I played with that band, his distortion channel went out. The clean still worked, but there was no sound from his dirty channel. At that point, the amp was still less than a year old.

 

[thejay]

Owned the B52 good sound but they just cook themselves after a while - def not built to last thats for sure. I would agree that it would need a parts swap and I have dead head right now that MAYBE I will revive at some point down the road or maybe I'll the good parts that are in it... who knows? right now its a paper wieght.