Why did they ever stop making the DC series?

I had an opportunity to play a DC-3 for an extended length yesterday. I have to say that it's one of the best Mesa's I've ever played. As an amp buyer and basement hack...i'm relatively conservative when if comes to buying gear sight unseen. In my travels I've only seen 2 Mark Iv's and only had the opportunity to play 1/ I have played the Mark V but did not have a lot of time to tinker. I've owned 2 Mesa's (Rectoverb combo, 2ch Dual Rec Rev G) and various Mesa Cabs.

Anyway I really enjoyed the DC-3. Only one I've ever came across. Guitar>Amp> into the stock speaker was good. Guitar>Amp> 5150 straight cab...better. Guitar>Amp>1960B incedible! Not a high gain beast but very usable gain.

Curious how the DC 5 sounds compared to the 3. I really enjoy 50 w amps as they usually suit my tastes and playing situation the best. BTW the 3 did not "feel" like any EL84 amp I've ever played....

Ive owned a dc3 before and the lead channel of the dc3 is like the rhythm 2 of my mark iv. Hehe.. i really love the prestine sound of the clean channel of the dc3..

I've had a DC-2 and DC-3. DCs are the sleepers of the Mesa world. I love the way they sound.

DC-3s have a great reputation.

DC-5s are known to sound great. But they have thermal problems.
Famous locally for running so hot, the tube sockets de-solder themselves.
They are one of those classic boogie products that some people are so crazy over they own multiples of.

That might be a cool thread - I love these amps so much I have (fill in the blank) of them and this is why.

I met someone who owns three 22+'s and would say it out loud in front of strangers!

bigbean said:

DC-5s are known to sound great. But they have thermal problems.
Famous locally for running so hot, the tube sockets de-solder themselves.

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I've never heard this before. I don't recall my DC-5 ever running particularly hot at all.

lockbody said:

bigbean said:

DC-5s are known to sound great. But they have thermal problems.
Famous locally for running so hot, the tube sockets de-solder themselves.

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I've never heard this before. I don't recall my DC-5 ever running particularly hot at all.

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Same here, I've had mine for about 13 yrs without a single issue.

I don't want to slander a great sounding amp.

Most high performance stuff (cars, airplanes, Hifi gear, overclocked computers etc.) runs hot - that's where some of the magic is.

But, to clarify, I know a guy with a DC5 with self de-soldered tube sockets and the repair guy who fixed it. I saw the repair.

Can I say for sure that the amp didn't have some mod that mad it run extra hot? No, I can't say that.
Can I say that the repair guy who worked on it and said that he has worked on several Boogie's with the same problem is not sometimes prone to exaggeration? No, I can't say that.
Can I say that the amp I saw and heard the amp that had that problem? Yep, I can say that. :!:

I'll also say that the guy who owns the amp wouldn't part with it.

lockbody said:

bigbean said:

DC-5s are known to sound great. But they have thermal problems.
Famous locally for running so hot, the tube sockets de-solder themselves.

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I've never heard this before. I don't recall my DC-5 ever running particularly hot at all.

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Never heard this one either.

Also my DC5 was a high gain metal machine. No boost or OD required. Great amps. Highly underrated.

same here. I have never had any heat problem with my DC-5... and I run my DC-5 at 9 on the master. :twisted:

Not having any heat issues w/ my DC-2...I run it pretty hard from time to time; nearly always through a 2x12 and sometimes a 4x12 when I can borrow one! 8)

They are good sounding Boogies though...very forgiving tonewise too. Not like my Stiletto though!! You better have that one right or it's gonna sound like....well, fill in your own blank! :mrgreen:

Technically not a DC, but the pre-cursor...I love .50 Cal+'s so much I own two, and plan on getting a .50Cal+ combo someday.

scottcrud said:

Technically not a DC, but the pre-cursor...I love .50 Cal+'s so much I own two, and plan on getting a .50Cal+ combo someday.

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:mrgreen: One of them is a killer! :mrgreen:


It's the DC-3 that has been known to overheat. If you saw that problem with a DC-5 then it was either the wrong power tubes, power tubes that did not even come close to the bias range, or someone had problems with power tubes in the past that eventually made the socket wiring go bad. Or....the tubes had been changed so many times over the years that the sockets were loose and causing arcing.

The 5 has chassis mounted ceramic sockets. Not much can go wrong with them if the tubes are good and there has been proper maintenance.

The 3 is biased really hot, but man that amp sounds good!

scottcrud said:

Technically not a DC, but the pre-cursor...I love .50 Cal+'s so much I own two, and plan on getting a .50Cal+ combo someday.

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I had one and it was a great amp. Similar to a Mark III, but with a more raw sound to it.

The DC amps are awesome! My DC-5 never had any heat problems. The lead channel sounded very Mark-like, but with a bigger low end if you dug in. The cleans were outstanding too. Wasn't the Nomad series supposed to replace the DC? I had a Nomad 45... it was not an improvement in my opinion unless they were trying to go for a lower gain sound. The Nomad clean was one of the best I've ever heard (better than the DC), but channels 2 and 3 seemed like they weren't quite up to par with the DC lead channel. They were voiced quite differently.

I thought the Nomad sucked, hence the nickname "Blomad".

scottcrud said:

I thought the Nomad sucked, hence the nickname "Blomad".

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:lol: :lol: :lol: Sounds like I need to get one and figure out how to make it better!


Years ago, I had a Nomad 55. When they 1st came out. This was before I ever had a DC.
I will never understand how they thought that it was going to be better than the DC. I like the upgrades, 3 channels, solo boost, etc. but solid state reverb and 2 channels of SUCK??????