Studio 22

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primeholy

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I just traded my Hot Rod Deluxe for a Studio 22 yesterday. Dont see any talk about them round here. It had some mods done to it by Mesa . It was made in the early 80s. I noticed the second preamp tube from the right is a spax7-a instead of a 12ax7 and was wondering why.

CIMG0550.jpg
 
Hm, I wonder how the lead drive mod is done? The lead master mod looks pretty simple and I'll probably do it to my .22 one of these days, but I haven't seen any discussion on a lead drive mod (I would find that very useful).
 
I just got 2 22s as well. Nice size. Let's here about all those mods from years past. I like this little amp and think I will keep one and mod or sell the other.

Pat@KOkomo
 
On the front they turned the reverb into lead drive and the presence into lead master. Put the reverb and presence in the back, and also put in a bigger reverb tank.
CIMG0551.jpg

CIMG0554.jpg

CIMG0557.jpg
 
Hey, primeholy....Congrats on getting a Mesa 22!! They're great amps. I had mine for almost 10years and never a lick of trouble. The different tube you mention is probably from someone chasing a particular tone or trying to eliminate some noise (hiss). I know mine was very picky about what tubes it liked. I got the best results tonewise and quietness from EH and TungSol tubes. Enjoy and have fun.... :mrgreen:
 
Thanks rocksalt7! I jammed on it for about two hours Saturday. If it had been my Hot Rod I mighta jammed for 20 minutes. The overdrive on this thing is too my liking!! Well tomorrow is band practice and cant wait to see if this will cut through! If so Saturday night it is coming to the gig with me! I will make my ValveKing my backup.
 
Wow!!! 2 hours...I'm intensely jealous :mrgreen: I've got a brand new Ace upstairs that I can't get on for a while due to some family commitments. My time will come...YEAH!!

I'm guessing your not gonna have any trouble at all being heard w/ your little 22. I took mine out a few times with a guy that had a Randall half stack and my 22+ just cooked him. I was asked to turn down way more than once!!! :twisted: Good Luck!!
 
Love my 22

MSS.JPG


Pluged into various cabs bring a whole lot of other levels too...
The 4-10 Celestions in the mini Marshall and the Greenbacks in the Bluesbreaker are swell

MA.JPG
 
This is interestion, the "Class A power" label. You may have a very early Studio .22
primeholy said:
Here's mine, its a Studio .22 Plus. Notice it has 8 knobs instead of 7 on the front panel and rocker switches instead of toggle switches on the right.
Studio22Plus.jpg

But yours with the new mods has an extra volume control similar to a Mark II, so you have more control for channel volume balance.

The biggest complaint of Studio .22 is volume balance between the lead and rhythm channel. In your case that is solved.

What I did is installed an 12AY7 in the V2 slot. Since I don't use that much gain in the lead channel, this help in balance the volumes between channel. The stock "Vintage" [Eminence] speaker is fine but I replace that with a Tone Tubby Ceramic. So now the amp has sweeter sustain but the grind, edge-ness is not there, that's the trade-off.

Studio .22 are cool amps. :p
 
That tube you were asking about, SPAX7, is just a Mesa part number they put on "high performance" 12AX7's. They recommend these tubes for the V1 position on my Mark III, and probably other amps as well.

In reality the SPAX7 is just a high quality 12AX7.
 
[/quote]
Here's mine, its a Studio .22 Plus. Notice it has 8 knobs instead of 7 on the front panel and rocker switches instead of toggle switches on the right.
Studio22Plus.jpg

But yours with the new mods has an extra volume control similar to a Mark II, so you have more control for channel volume balance.

The biggest complaint of Studio .22 is volume balance between the lead and rhythm channel. In your case that is solved.

What I did is installed an 12AY7 in the V2 slot. Since I don't use that much gain in the lead channel, this help in balance the volumes between channel. The stock "Vintage" [Eminence] speaker is fine but I replace that with a Tone Tubby Ceramic. So now the amp has sweeter sustain but the grind, edge-ness is not there, that's the trade-off.

Studio .22 are cool amps. :p[/quote]

Serial number range for Studios .22+ goes from FP11,500, December 88, up to FP28,560, August 93.
I replaced the stock Vintage 50 speaker with a Celestion 90.
Regards
 
RR said:
This is interestion, the "Class A power" label. You may have a very early Studio .22

Mine has that too, plus a blue indicator light and the 'Boogie' grille badge.
 
primeholy said:
RR said:
This is interestion, the "Class A power" label. You may have a very early Studio .22

Guy I got it from said it was an early 80s model. Any way to track the year by serial?
I can't spell worth beans "interesting" not "interestion". :oops:

Check member igfraso's post above checking on Studio .22 serial #s:
igfraso said:
Serial number range for Studios .22+ goes from FP11,500, December 88, up to FP28,560, August 93. ...
So if your is less than FP11,500 then its before December '88.
 
Primeholy,

Congrats on the .22, like everyone is saying, it's a great amp.

About the SPAX7, as Lesgoldy said, it is indeed Mesa's part number for a high quality 12AX7. He is also correct in saying they reccommend it in the V1 position in most amps, and it is no difference in this case. If you look at the schematic for the Studio .22, V2 is actually the first valve the signal from your guitar sees and V1 gets cascaded infront of this when you kick onto the lead channel. That's probably why the SPAX7 is in V2, not V1 like in most other amps.

I've also got the lead drive/lead vol mods done to my .22 and it makes for a MUCH more versatile amp, especially if you play mainly lower gain stuff. My extra knobs were put on a new panel around the back, hung of the vent infront of the reverb tank; keeping the stock look round the front. My serial's pretty close to yours too, SS3618.

I also want to ask, do you experience any problems with the reverb unit feeding back now yours is modified with a larger tank, and better positioning? Mine still has the stock reverb tank and feeds back when the reverb level is above 3.

Regards, Chris P.
 
Mine is serial 3057 and is marked 1986 on the chassis with marker (can't remember what month though).
 
[/quote]So if your is less than FP11,500 then its before December '88.[/quote]

mine starts with an ss and is in the 4000 range(nevermind it can be seen in the pic!). Wonder what the serial difference is between the plus and the non plus.
 
mr. parker I will have to get back to you on reverb feedback. I usually dont use much reverb, but I will try it out. We were supposed to have practice Tuesday but it has been moved to Thursday , so I will be able to let this bad boy breathe!! Picking up some spare power tubes Friday to take to the gig Saturday just in case! Gotta love just poppin in some new tubes instead of taking it to a tech!! That in itself could pay for the amp over time! :D I can tell that to my wife when I get a new Boogie one day!!
 
Yeah Baby!! The 22 did great at practice! Kept up with the rhythm guitarists 5/50. Still had a quite a bit of headroom left. Gonna use it at the gig Saturday also. I am so glad I traded my Hot Rod! I hope the guy that has it now likes it as much as I like the 22! Gonna have to get a noise reduction pedal though. Also anybody have any suggestions on a compression sustain pedal?
 

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