Why have Mesa Boogie lost so much second hand value?

[Deleted User]

Roaster;15965" said:

Richard, haha, probably, it's. long story, but basically my names Keith, then at work it became Roast Beef, Roaster...yada yada and it sort of stuck lol

Any chance of a 'LOL' then Keith? I'm struggling with frustratingly low levels of 'Wows' & 'Wisdoms'.... Thanks in advance!

Moltisanti

Of all the US stuff that comes over here for some reason Mesa was always insanely expensive, that and the fact that the go to high gain amp if you have the coin these days seems to be a Diezel VH4 or Herbert have made the Rectos drop in value like crazy.

The Axe FX argument is a good one too, plus you can get an original 5150 or a 6505 for this sort of money, then spending over a grand on a Rectifier suddenly doesn't appeal

The best Mesa i had was the Electradyne, that was badass

Deijavoo

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=231036070897&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:GB:1123his "steal" seems to be even better value, as exhibit A shows.

Shill bidding I smell.

John_P

Deijavoo said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=231036070897&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:GB:1123his "steal" seems to be even better value, as exhibit A shows.

Shill bidding I smell.

Well spotted!     It's still a great buy though,  I'm sure I sold my triple rec for closer to 1K several years ago..

I suspect that unfortunately for mesa it's a fashion thing - a few years ago around the "nu-metal" time you seem rectifiers on tv all the time...   now the cool rig seems to be axefx... if I could be bothered with editing like I once was I'd be looking in that direction too..

Deijavoo

If anyone is interested, I'm over that way on Saturday and could pick up. 

Sometimes travel with work too, so it might help avoid that frightening £80 delivery charge.

McToot

richardhomer said:

Roaster;15965" said:

Richard, haha, probably, it's. long story, but basically my names Keith, then at work it became Roast Beef, Roaster...yada yada and it sort of stuck lol

Any chance of a 'LOL' then Keith? I'm struggling with frustratingly low levels of 'Wows' & 'Wisdoms'.... Thanks in advance!

Christ man have some pride  :-S

Heartfeltdawn

Amp prices have tanked in the last few years. Seeing some of the prices boutique US amps go for now is amazing. Pedals have suffered a fall but it's not as distinct as amps as people can still justify paying out for pedals. Amps are a different matter. It's a great buyer's market for amps at the minute. 

dindude

^ true dat. It ain't just Mesa's thinking about it, I've seen some DR Z and such like going for a song. My own Carr was around 50% of Coda's new prices.

Van_Hayden

Moltisanti;15972" said:

Of all the US stuff that comes over here for some reason Mesa was always insanely expensive,

That'll be westside distribution. Lehle switching pedals shot up when they got the distribution deal - went from £100 to £160 about 10 years ago.

It works both ways - British made Amos are expensive in the US. The importers want to make money and there's shipping to pay for. Westside do seem to be very guilty of taking a big slice of pie though.

jimmyd

I've always wanted a boogie (I started playing in the mid 90s when they were really popular) but they've always been way out of my price range until recently. Probably the best rock tone I ever heard was a les paul through a dual recto at Glastonbury in a tiny tent a few years ago.  Just fantastic.

Been tempted by the mark v's that coda have in their second hand dept but can't justify the trip down to Stevenage from Nottingham at the mo. Like everyone has already said, boogies try to do everything really well whereas the "boutique"price range they're in is now filled by amps trying to do one thing really well which seem to be really popular at the mo...

monquixote

Van_Hayden said:

It works both ways - British made Amos are expensive in the US. The importers want to make money and there's shipping to pay for. Westside do seem to be very guilty of taking a big slice of pie though.

Good point. 

I only recently realised that not only are Mesas much cheaper in the US, but Marshalls are more expensive. 

In the US I don't think there is that big a price difference between say a Mesa Express 50 at ($1449 Sweet Water) (£1,599 Andertons ) and a JVM 50 at ($1.900 Sweet Water)  (£938 Andertons) but if you look at the UK price the Mesa goes from being a good bit cheaper to 50% more expensive!

ICBM

jimmyd said:

I've always wanted a boogie (I started playing in the mid 90s when they were really popular) but they've always been way out of my price range until recently. Probably the best rock tone I ever heard was a les paul through a dual recto at Glastonbury in a tiny tent a few years ago.  Just fantastic.

Been tempted by the mark v's that coda have in their second hand dept but can't justify the trip down to Stevenage from Nottingham at the mo.

Don't buy it without trying one! Remember that 'Mesa' and 'Boogie' are two totally different things despite being made by the same company, and even having the joint name on some of the amps.

The MkV is about as far from sounding like a Rectifier as it's possible to get while still being a 'high gain amp'.

Boogie (Mark series, some other models) - tight, very focused, midrangy, smooth, compressed.

Mesa (Rectifier series, some other models) - loose, open, scooped, aggressive, resonant.

Personally I love Mesas and have never liked Boogies...

Technically the difference is that Boogies are derived from Fender Blackface circuitry and have the EQ (not the graphic, which is separate) at the start of the signal path, so the controls 'push' different frequencies. This works really well for cleans, solo playing, 'articulate' style tones etc but is not so good for heavy crunch, rock rhythm playing, power chords etc - which the Rectifiers are since they're derived from Tweed Bassman/Marshall-type circuitry via Soldano and have the EQ at the end of the signal path driven by a cathode-follower.

The graphic EQ on the Marks and some others like the Dual Caliber series (which are now very cheap secondhand) can get the Boogies closer to the Rectifier sound, but they never have that massive 'chunk'. To get a tight Boogie-like sound out of a Rectifier you really need a pedal, TS-type overdrives are very popular for it.

jimmyd

Hey thanks, really interesting info. I didn't realise there was so much fundamentally different between the two!

Sounds like I'm more of a recto man with my ham fisted metal and rock playing....

guitarfishbay

This is a decent demo of a Mark vs a Rectifier.

ICBM

Good demo. Notice that the MkV is set with a deep V on the graphic EQ and it's still far more middy and focused than the Rectifier!

Jonnyf

I own a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier 150 head and 2x12 Horizontal Rectifier cab and a Rectoverb 25 1x12 combo and I couldn't be happier. I bought them both second hand in 2016 for £1500 and £1100 respectively and felt I got a good deal on both. 

I believe the reasons could be due to the following:

1. Mesa Boogie are killer amps but they are VERY expensive to buy even used here in the UK.

2. The quality of low powered guitar amps is so good now that many guitarists are using them as a first choice.

3. Some would say that having a 100 watt stack behind them on stage looks dated. (Not my opinion).

4. There is a big switch from electric to acoustic trending right now and this is probably affecting the guitar amp market.

5. Modern flats are TINY and leave little space for guitar amps and guitars so smaller amps make sense.

6. Stud partition walls provide little sound insulation and are the main cause of neighbour disputes for practicing musicians.

All these points lead to an increase in demand for smaller guitar amps. However, the lower used market value for most goods in general is I think, due to stagnant wages, rising fuel costs, rising property rentals and zero hour contracts outstripping income. It all has a knock-on effect.

As for overpricing claims, our US cousins would say that Marshall's are overpriced in their marketplace. It's that big pond adding to the cost. More fish to feed.

Sporky

Holy necro-bump!

As I recall Mesas are generally heavy enough that you can feel the gravitation field they generate from about 5m away.

guitarfishbay

The cabs are pretty heavy, so by extension the combos are too.

The heads are lighter than some comparable products from other companies.  I was confused as to how my Roadster was smaller and lighter than my Blackstar S1, yet did more and sounded bigger too.

Maynehead

The amp in the original post had a US transformer and needed a bulky and heavy UK transformer to be carried with it, plus it was probably the original 3 channel and not the multi-watt version.

As far as I know a UK spec multi-watt dual/triple rec still fetches over £1000 easy. In fact I think the prices have gone up in recent times (along with guitar prices too).

nick79

I think you're right, prices do seem to have gone up a little just lately. I've been half heartedly looking out for a triple rec and there isn't much out there for less than a £1000. 

I quite fancy a Tremoverb combo too (@ICBM perked my interest up in them..) but again they seem to have gone up in price just lately.