Mesa Boogie Fillmore 50: Just Got My Dream Amp

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I've been looking at the Fillmore series for awhile now, really without any hope of buying one. Last week a Fillmore 50 Head and matching 1x12 cab became available for a heck of deal. It had only been used in home and had no wear on it. I called my wife and she said get it, so I did. Man, it is a great amp. I'm playing my Guild M-75 Aristocrat through it and the amp covers just about anything I could need. I have it set to Fender Blackface cleans on one channel, and the other is set to a real nice Tweed style breakup. When I want something more, I have my Greer Supa Cobra to give me those overdriven Marshall tones. Couldn't be happier right now with the setup. Anyone else playing their Guilds through some Mesa Boogies, what's your setups?
 

jp

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I've had three Boogies in the past -- all from the DC series, which I think is one of the most underrated lines. My latest was a DC-3, which ran EL-84s. It was a great amp for my M-75 Bluesbird, especially for mid-range grit. I've also had two DC-5s, a head and a combo. Most people used this for face-ripping modern Mesa distortion, but I actually loved it's clean sound the most. I once had a great discussion with Chris Benson of Benson amps about our mutual love of the preamp section of this amp. The DC-5 is a little dark-sounding, which tends to works well with my T-100D and Strat.

The promo video for the Fillmore 50 with Andy Timmons gives a lot of background info about this amp, which makes me want to check one out. I can imagine it would be a great fit for a Guild Aristocrat.
 

GAD

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I wanted a Mesa since I was a kid. The only bumper sticker I ever had was for Mesa Boogie ("The spirit of art in technology") in the '80s on my Caprice Classic. :)

Anyway, by the time I could afford one I wanted one that could do it all and hemmed and hawed over the Mark IV, never really feeling it. Then the Mark V came out and I was THIS close to buying one. It was right about then that the AxeFX Ultra came out and I ended up getting that instead. Then an Axe FX XL II+... then a III. I never got that Mesa, but every now and then I see one in a custom cabinet and go, "hmm..." I mean, if you like a Guild Timberline amp, then what about one of these!

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It's the perfect amp for someone like me who just doesn't gig any more since I would not let it out of my house for fear of damaging the glorious cabinet.
 
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I too have dreamed about Mesa Amps for a long time, I was able to get a used Express 50 combo at one point. It sounded great, especially the cleans. Foolishly I traded it away for other gear. The Mark V would be a dream, especially the custom one pictured, but the Fillmore is awesome.
 

GAD

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I just looked at the Filmore as I'd not heard of them before. Looks cool! Fender Blackface cleans on one channel, and the other is set to a real nice Tweed style breakup sounds like a killer combination for one amp!
 

jp

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The one thing I didn't like about Boogies is that sometimes they can sound a little overcompressed rather than open. On the video, this doesn't sound the case with the Fillmore.
 

Quantum Strummer

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The Lonestar Special was the first Mesa amp I plugged into that didn't sound overly studio polished to my ears. They've made some other more dynamic amps like that since then, and the Fillmore seems to be one of 'em. Having Fender blackface and tweed inspired voices in one enclosure is IMO a good idea.

-Dave-
 
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I've been looking at the Fillmore series for awhile now, really without any hope of buying one. Last week a Fillmore 50 Head and matching 1x12 cab became available for a heck of deal. It had only been used in home and had no wear on it. I called my wife and she said get it, so I did. Man, it is a great amp. I'm playing my Guild M-75 Aristocrat through it and the amp covers just about anything I could need. I have it set to Fender Blackface cleans on one channel, and the other is set to a real nice Tweed style breakup. When I want something more, I have my Greer Supa Cobra to give me those overdriven Marshall tones. Couldn't be happier right now with the setup. Anyone else playing their Guilds through some Mesa Boogies, what's your setups?
Congrats man the filmore looks like a fairly simple rig to operate. For a long time I dreamt about owning a tube amp. And about 7 years ago I found a old amp sitting in someone’s basement and it was all I could think of . It ended up being my first tube amp and my only amp and all I can say you can’t go wrong with a Mesa
 
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