NAD Incoming… Mesa Blue Angel

[dukewellington]

Excited to take delivery of a Mesa Blue Angel 4x10 in the next few weeks.

My biggest impression after putting it through its paces was how prominent the mid range freqs behaved in the speakers, while the high end was really articulate and needed to be dialed back. In 6V6 mode, some nice gravel emerged by turning up the mids knob. Once warmed up, it also seemed highly touch sensitive where a light touch was crystal clear with plenty of volume, and a stiffer attack brought out the grit. The EL84s sound great, very clear, chimey and altogether different. I think the challenge with this amp might be navigating a speaker that can do both equally well. Right now it has four stock alnico Jensens. What say you, TDPRI?

I wish Mesa would offer more single channel amps.

 

[mexicanyella]

I remember reading a review of that amp when it came out, in Guitar Player magazine, and I think they reached the same conclusions. I was feeling lustful about that amp at the time but it was waaaay out of my budget.

Not long after my band split a gig with another band whose guitarist had one, and it did sound very nice. And also was a really handsome piece, even among other Mesas.

Have you tried the linked 6V6 + EL84 mode yet? How does that sound?

 

[jed mac]

Excited to take delivery of a Mesa Blue Angel 4x10 in the next few weeks.

My biggest impression after putting it through its paces was how prominent the mid range freqs behaved in the speakers, while the high end was really articulate and needed to be dialed back. In 6V6 mode, some nice gravel emerged by turning up the mids knob. Once warmed up, it also seemed highly touch sensitive where a light touch was crystal clear with plenty of volume, and a stiffer attack brought out the grit. The EL84s sound great, very clear, chimey and altogether different. I think the challenge with this amp might be navigating a speaker that can do both equally well. Right now it has four stock alnico Jensens. What say you, TDPRI?

I wish Mesa would offer more single channel amps.

Congrats. I don’t understand the need of 3 plus Chanel amps . Personally I like how my old Mesa has one set of control and a switch between lead an rhythm. Hope you get many years out of yours

 

[donrichfan]

I bought a used Blue Angel about 20 years (holy cow) ago that was the head and 2x10" cab version. It had stock jensens, I believe, and it sounded pretty good. It had that distinctive Mesa feel, but could do tweed pretty well on the 6v6 setting. The EL 84 setting was chimey, but not a lot of head room and would compress and squish as easily as the 6v6 setting would. The 84 was my favorite setting for a Ric 360. I don't remember much difference when the two were combined--seemed like a 6v6 with a bit more volume. I'm not a reverb guy, but it did sound great and you'll appreciate it if you like reverb. It's a really cool, simple amp--although it had an effects loop--Mesa couldn't help themselves. One of those pieces of gear I wish I still had.

Here's a few photos from way back when I was selling on Craigslist...

 

[dukewellington]

I remember reading a review of that amp when it came out, in Guitar Player magazine, and I think they reached the same conclusions. I was feeling lustful about that amp at the time but it was waaaay out of my budget.

Not long after my band split a gig with another band whose guitarist had one, and it did sound very nice. And also was a really handsome piece, even among other Mesas.

Have you tried the linked 6V6 + EL84 mode yet? How does that sound?

The third spot on the switch does run both sets together. It sounded great, maybe a little fleshier, like an EL84 with a lump in its throat, or a clearer picture of what the 6V6s sound like by themselves.

Agreed, not a ton of headroom. I think that was Mesa’s point. I wanted to pull the trigger on another Twin for high volume cleans but couldn’t pass this up. Subbing a 12at7 might help the cleans at the expense of a little volume.