Last year for the DC5 ??

I have a DC5 combo in Gray/Marble looking vinyl. Mine has the metal toggle switches...NOT the plastic rocker switches. I've read where this was the "Early" or "First Version" of the DC5. I'm not sure...

Are there any DC5 experts out there that know when Boogie stopped making the DC5 ???

Anyway, I've had this amp for a year now and NEVER had a problem. I love this amp and highly recommend it to anyone as a main amp OR a backup!
This bad boy is LOUD !! :shock:

This amp will become my backup after I get my next amp. I'm still trying to decide between a Rectoverb head, Solo 50 head, or Stiletto Deuce head :?
I'm thinking about an AVATAR Vintage 4-12 cab loaded with V-30s wired 8 ohms. Any comments :?:

I called Mesa some time ago, and if I remember correctly, the DC series was made from 1994 to 1999.

That's interesting. Mesa told me my DC-3 was pre 90's (Mine being around the 200 mark)???? (Sorry can't give any info on the DC-5)

I believe they started in'90 or '91.

The earliest review in a guitar magazine I know of is from December 1993. The first ones had black plastic rocker switches, which were replaced by the metal switches - both are DC-5As. Then came the DC-5B with some changes in the EQ switching, thus you need a different footswitch (the "new" model in the MB website-shop) - the toggles stayed the same but you can recognize the B version from the different printing on the panel. It has a rectangle around the channel switch which has become a 3-way switch whose middle position is the EQ Auto mode IIRC. The A models have this on the backside of the amp.
Tonewise there seems to be no change I'm told.

I got my DC5 in '90. Serial number 1532. It has the plastic rocker switches and Mesa Engineering faceplate.

My DC-5A has the serial 11xx and has metal switches - I believe it was made in 1994 or 1995. My guess would be that the update to DC-5B was made around 1996/7.

The Mesa catalogue from 1995 cites from a Guitar World Review which is dated June 1995 (GW doesn't wait 5 years before reviewing an amp) - the pictures show the DC-5A with metal switches.

Perhaps someone in the US could call Mesa directly to clear this up?

1998 was the last year of production for the DC series. The metal switch version is the later version

tetsubin said:

It has a rectangle around the channel switch which has become a 3-way switch whose middle position is the EQ Auto mode IIRC.

Click to expand...

The middle pos. is lead w/o eq.

i have a DC5 with serialnumber 23xx and i contacted mesa and they told me it was a late 94. Its a DC5a with the metal rockerswitches on front

LithiumZero said:

1998 was the last year of production for the DC series. The metal switch version is the later version

Click to expand...

But there are two metal switch versions. The one with channel LEDs and no rectangle around the metal switch is older than the one w/o the LEDs and with the rectangle around the metal switch. I can't recall where the plastic switch ones are in the chronology, but I do know that the DC5s with LEDs are the older models (this latter point regarding the channel LEDs IS straight from Mesa, themselves).

Edward

Btw. my serial is 11XX and the date code on the capacitors is 95 - so mine was produced in 1995.
It seems the serials don't tell anything about the production year - they are a mess.

and what about the "pull gain knob" on the rhythm channel???
i had a DC-3 that didnt have that option (one of the very early ones i presume).

with the DC-5 is the same?? :?: some versions have it and others dont??

I think the pull boost feature is only available on the DC-5 and DC-10. It's no revision.

Ok, here's the official info from Michael Taylor:
"We made the DC5's from 1993- 1999 (serial # 1024- #31941)."

So the only way to know when your amp was produced is to take a look at the production code on the capacitors inside of it.

That's strange because I know I got my DC5 prior to 93. I have serial #1532 which is apparently really early but I know i got it before '93. I thought I got it in '90...maybe '91...2 at the latest. Man was I off.

@dcgdc5: you could take a look inside and read the date code on the caps.

tetsubin said:

Ok, here's the official info from Michael Taylor:
"We made the DC5's from 1993- 1999 (serial # 1024- #31941)."

Click to expand...

This is good information, thank you. I just pulled out the receipt for my DC5 and I bought serial number 31935 on 01/03/01. Seems like it's one of the last ones made. Cool!

A DC-5B looks like this: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=14841

Looking at a few of my older Mesa catalogs they show a timeline of different amps . The Daul Caliber series, DC-3, DC-5, & DC-10 ( the DC-2 is not listed) started in 1990. The Nomads started in 1998. I know that there was a bit of an overlap in production between the DCs and the Nomads. I'm guessing sometime after 1998 the DC series ceased.