FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Mesa Boogie 20

Question:
Has anyone experiences with the Peavey Classic 50/50. It's much cheaper than the Mesa Boogie 20/20 and it has also more features (2 inputs, resonance controls etc.). My preamp is a Rocktron Chameleon. And I'm saving money for a power amp. I love the Mesa Boogie, it looks (looks!!) great. I think it's a killer machine. But I never played on it. And I also never played on the Mesa Boogie.

Answer:
Get the Mesa 20/20, but do the following fat mod to it: Mesa put a 1uF Cathode bypass cap on each channel's input stage. This cap gives a boost to the mids & highs, and makes the low end sound a bit wimpy. Simply remove the cover, locate these two caps, and remove them. They are on the tube circuit board, below the tube that is closest to the input/output jacks. They are probably beige or tan colored, and about the same size as the 1/2 watt resistors in this amp. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS MOD UNLESS YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO DO SO - LETHAL VOLTAGES INSIDE COULD KILL YOU!!! You don't need a resonance control, because the Chameleon has one in its speaker simulator - I think it calls it a reactance control. You can use the speaker simulator with guitar cabinets as long as you set its speaker to full range. Also, set the mic placement to zero (off). The 20/20 has 2 inputs - 1 per channel. You can use its slave outs if you ever want to hook up to another amp. I think you'll really appreciate its great tone (especially with my mod), and compact size. But don't let the small size deceive you, this amp plays as loud as a 50 watt Marshall.