Mesa Boogie Studio .22+

Not sure what years they mades these. Hope i am posting in the right place. Would it be loud enough for a live band or practice use? Will it cover about different musical styles? I mostly play classic rock Like AC/DC but was wandering if it would pull off metal at all. I found one for $450 bucks and i am thinking about buying it just for practice use and some mild gigs... It is in great looking condition.

Depending on the speaker and the venue size, most would find it easily loud enough.
I have the upgrade Celestion C90 in mine, which seems more sensitive (and sounds better, IMO) than the stock speaker that a friend of mine has in his .22+.

And an extension cab will up the ante considerably.

I have gigged with it and the only cons (if you consider them cons) are lack of clean headroom, less output at low frequencies, and shorter tube life (small amps just have to work harder...). Some would like the earlier breakup, not mind the low end (or lack of) and can afford new tubes more often.
So to each his own....

I love mine. It has a rather unique tone that I really like. Cleans are really good. Would not call it a "Metal amp" but it can get pretty dirty for hard rock. Plenty of gain, IMO, for most styles. Mine also has the optional graphic EQ, which makes it more versatile.
A distortion pedal can provide almost any sound you like. And it does take pedals well.

If it is in really nice shape, $450 sounds like a good price, esp. if it has the graphic EQ and/or the upgrade C90 speaker.
Seen the price on new USA built 20w amps lately?

You could do worse! :wink:

It has the eq and i think it has the stock speaker.. Not 100% sure about the speaker. the amp is in great condition..

I agree with BF....great little amp. Wish I still had mine. Lead channel rips. Cleans are very nice. I've got a DC2, which ALMOST can replace it, but not quite. A C90 speaker takes the little guy up a notch. BTW - I gigged with one for about 6 years, and we had a very heavy hitting drummer. A word of caution - they hiss quite a bit. Not audible when gigging or at rehearsal, but if you are going to use it for recording it might not be the best choice.

Al

TNTRoy said:

Not 100% sure about the speaker.

Click to expand...

Assuming the speaker label is still in tact, the stock speaker will say "Vintage" on it.
The C90 will say "Type MC90" and have a Celestion logo as well.

Either way, with the EQ, it seems like a good price.

Old BF Shred said:

TNTRoy said:

Not 100% sure about the speaker.

Click to expand...

Assuming the speaker label is still in tact, the stock speaker will say "Vintage" on it.
The C90 will say "Type MC90" and have a Celestion logo as well.

Either way, with the EQ, it seems like a good price.

Click to expand...

Back then the speaker should have been a Vintage, called a VS12, which was sourced from Eminence. I don't think there was an MC90 yet.

Al

well i am not sure what to do.. I have a chance to get the Studio .22+ or a Mesa 50 caliber +. i am thinking i would like the .50 caliber better. what is everybodys thoughts? wich one would be better for classic rock? I just seem to like 6l6 amps better than el84

TNTRoy said:

well i am not sure what to do.. I have a chance to get the Studio .22+ or a Mesa 50 caliber +. i am thinking i would like the .50 caliber better. what is everybodys thoughts? wich one would be better for classic rock? I just seem to like 6l6 amps better than el84

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If you prefer 6L6's to EL84's then get the 50 Caliber. A bit more headroom with the 6L6 glassy tone.

Al

amrose57 said:

Back then the speaker should have been a Vintage, called a VS12, which was sourced from Eminence. I don't think there was an MC90 yet.

Al

Click to expand...

I'm not at all sure when the MC90 was introduced, but I bought my 22+ in '89 and it came from the dealer with C90 and EQ options.

And +1 on the 6l6's. Different tone and 50w vs 22w.
That's why I prefer to gig with my Ace. Even though el34's, the headroom is better for me in live gigs.

Best of luck with your decision.

My Studio .22+ is an awesome amp but it can run out of clean headroom in a band. I like it that way, but not everyone does. You can't beat it for practice and rehearsals. Mine does not his much at all- less than any other Mesa amp I've owned.

It can't quite do metal, at least not in the modern sense.

If I was using it regularly for gigs I think I'd probably want the 50 Caliber.

Guess that it depends upon the band and your volumes. I got back into a band 12 years ago after a 20 year hiatus. I picked up a road-worn Mesa Boogie Studio 22+. Loved the tone of the Studio and it was my favorite Mesa (owned 5 different models) until recently buying a Mark IIB. The little Studio was plenty loud until our other guitar player turned up is 100 watt Peavey Classic tube amp and then my little Studio's tone was lost in the mix. I order to be heard, I sold the Studio 22+ (regret) and went with 50 watt and 100 watt Marshalls while in the band.

If your are playing AC/DC at the volumes that music deserves I would think that a 30-50 watt amp would suit your needs better.

Just my experience.
Grid

DC3 Gridlock said:

Guess that it depends upon the band and your volumes. I got back into a band 12 years ago after a 20 year hiatus. I picked up a road-worn Mesa Boogie Studio 22+. Loved the tone of the Studio and it was my favorite Mesa (owned 4 different models) until recently buying a Mark IIB. The little Studio was plenty loud until our other guitar player turned up is 100 watt Peavey Classic tube amp and then my little Studio's tone was lost in the mix. I order to be heard, I sold the Studio 22+ (regret) and went with 50 watt and 100 watt Marshalls while in the band.

If your are playing AC/DC at the volumes that music deserves I would think that a 30-50 watt amp would suit your needs better.

Just my experience.
Grid

Click to expand...

I wound up with a Mesa Rectoverb 50 series 2..... Love it but it is heavy to carry around. would like to find something smaller and a little lighter for gigs.

TNTRoy said:

DC3 Gridlock said:

Guess that it depends upon the band and your volumes. I got back into a band 12 years ago after a 20 year hiatus. I picked up a road-worn Mesa Boogie Studio 22+. Loved the tone of the Studio and it was my favorite Mesa (owned 4 different models) until recently buying a Mark IIB. The little Studio was plenty loud until our other guitar player turned up is 100 watt Peavey Classic tube amp and then my little Studio's tone was lost in the mix. I order to be heard, I sold the Studio 22+ (regret) and went with 50 watt and 100 watt Marshalls while in the band.

If your are playing AC/DC at the volumes that music deserves I would think that a 30-50 watt amp would suit your needs better.

Just my experience.
Grid

Click to expand...

I wound up with a Mesa Rectoverb 50 series 2..... Love it but it is heavy to carry around. would like to find something smaller and a little lighter for gigs.

Click to expand...

If your staying with a Mesa the Express 5:50 would do AC/DC tones. Still a heavy amp. if not Mesa, an early 80's (vertical input) 1x12 Marshall JCM800 4010 combo would nail the tone.

Maybe the experts hear can help with another small Mesa combo that can better do AC/DC tones.

I see you guys know much about boogie studio .22
its true or false that all pots are the same on a boogie studio .22?
POT, MESA BOOGIE, 10K OHM LINEAR, (B10K), SOLDER LUGS, 24mm DIAMETER BODY, LONG "D" TYPE SHAFT, 3/8" BUSHING.

mastmetal said:

I see you guys know much about boogie studio .22
its true or false that all pots are the same on a boogie studio .22?
POT, MESA BOOGIE, 10K OHM LINEAR, (B10K), SOLDER LUGS, 24mm DIAMETER BODY, LONG "D" TYPE SHAFT, 3/8" BUSHING.

Click to expand...

All pots the same as each other throughout the amp? False. The schematic is available online.

Thanks, mine is from 1989 and I want to know the value of the 7 pots for a boogie .22+

Here's a link to the schematic-
http://www.classictubeamps.com/schematics/Mesa/Mesa Boogie .22 caliber plus schematic.pdf

Thank you very much,but I cant read that.
and I wanna know the value of each one so I
buy them and take it to an engineer.
so he wont over flow the price

There are 8 pots on the front panel of a .22+

Vol 1 meg
Master 250k
Lead Master 10k linear
Treble 250k
Bass 250k
Mids 10K
Reverb 100k
Presence 250k

On the rear panel-
Direct Level 10k linear

Why are you replacing them?

Because the amp was in a closet for long time ago and the pots are making noise like a scratch
and I put contact cleaner and nothing, the treble,bass and middle when i start to pull up sound
but when it gets to 7 or 8 it cancels and no effect comes out.