Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket Reverb

[DannyBoy]

there's one by me in mint shape that I'm thinking of picking up. other than the goofy way the typical Boogie eq section works, what's good/bad about these little beasts?
I want to like it- it sounded pretty good with the stock 10" speaker, and MASSIVE hooked to a 4x12 5150 cabinet.
BUT... I used to have a .50 caliber that was hard to dial in and was in the shop more than I played it...

Opinions???

 

[tele00]

I had one and I found it Boxy and VERY noisy even at low volumes.........

 

[vic108]

I have a SUBWAY ROCKET and had a .50 cal and I like the
SUBWAY ROCKET alot better. GREAT sound! No complants
at all. It's one very loud little amp. With the footswitch, it's
sweet. Make sure you get that with it.

 

[Brownsound]

They should re-lable the bass knob on Mesas to "Mud". I swear the more you turn the bass knob up the muddier the sound.

I had a 44 Rocked once upon a time. It sounded big and mean.....and sterile and hard. I wanted to love it but..... :wha

Edited because I was on crack! :bonk

 

[jrgtr42]

I have the Rocket 44...my main complaint is that to get it to sound good, you have to open it up...too loud foir apartment living...it's great in jams, it'll keep up with most anything, and easy to darry. The Subway may xound better at the low volume, being about 1/2 the power to start with.
oh, yeah, they're also built like tanks...I dropped mine when the handle broke one time, went rolling down the hill, I picked it up, plugged in and away we went, no issues.

 

[DannyBoy]

Well, it's in great shape came with the footswitch and I got it for a damn good price... I figure if I can't find the sweet spots for my taste, I can sell it and make a few clams or trade it for something else... *cough* offers?

 

[ToneHungry]

I've had several Boogies and they were all too bright for my taste.

 

[DannyBoy]

argh!!! no matter how I set the knobs, it still sounds like me playing through Boogie...

here's the evilbay auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mesa-Boogie-Sub...ryZ43374QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[vic108]

I gigged with mine on Saturday and it performed like a
champ (Fender Champ!). Cut's through the mix sweetly.

Remember, before ya dis an amp, play it with a drummer
and bass player. It's only then does the amp comes alive.

The tone you get in your bedroom doesn't come close to
what it sounds like in a big room with other players.

Plus a Mesa Boogie's sweet spot (with the one's I've owned)
seems to be STARTING at 3 or sometimes even 4 on the master
as the Boogies are meant to be played LOUD!

Try that before ya sell it.....!

 

[Scott Cioe]

The other guitar player in my band has one.

It is a great compliment (with his G&L Legacy with bridge HB) to my Les Paul/VHT Super 30. I think they're great!

 

[fetchzee]

I'm not sure about the Subway Rocket, but I've got a Rocket 44 and I had to download and actually read the manual.

I'm rather firmly in the BF/SF Fender amp school and it's always been a case of "volume on 4, bass on 8, treble on 6, ready, set, go." I plugged into the Rocket and it just wasn't happening. At all.

I read the manual and found out that Mesa's tone controls are MUCH more interactive. Try your gain on about 6, master on about 2-3, treble on 6, mid on 3, and bass on 3...it really, really opened up for me tone-wise.

Again, this was for a Rocket 44...the Subway may vary a little bit.

 

[Franklin31]

I bought a Subway Rocket Reverb after drooling over the predecessors, Subway Rocket and Subway Blues. I don't play it very much. I just don't have the time but on very hot summer day, I plugged in a 2X15 cabinet I built with some old Altec.. Hell, I can't remember the #'s, but I took them out of a Webb cabinet. On "White Rabbit", crap was walking off the mantle. Items leaning against walls slid to the floor. It was marvelous day to be alive. And it is built like a tank. I'm 230-245. Sat on my vibrolux reverb...OK
Sat on the Subway, absolutely no give what's so ever..

 

[ppgf]

amazing amp. wait until u can find a non reverb w/ presence control.

this is straight in w/ a digitech hardwire delay in the fx loop.

 

[ppgf]

great for controlled feedback at whisper volumes too.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

They should re-lable the bass knob on Mesas to "Mud". I swear the more you turn the bass knob up the muddier the sound.

I had a 44 Rocked once upon a time. It sounded big and mean.....and sterile and hard. I wanted to love it but..... :wha

Edited because I was on crack! :bonk

This is true. The funny thing is people still feel the need to crank up the bass knob on them, then wonder why it sounds so muddy.

Once I learned how to properly dial in my DR Tremoverb the bass on either the clean or dirty channel never had to go past noon on the dial, whereas the Treble and Mids were cranked, and I did not fear the presence knob. I kept the bass and gain relatively low, below noon to around 1:30 at most. No mud, huge balls and punch, and plenty of top end bite.

I've now moved on to a 4-hole Hiwatt DR103, and excess mud, or lack of articulation, punch, and cut will never be an unwanted issue.

If I want sonic sludge I slam her with a huge fuzz tone and my middle or rhythm pickup positions. If I don't but I still want a straight heavy as hell fuzz or fuzztortion type tone with more cut, then I simply add my Treble Booster to one of my three fatter fuzz pedals (Game Changer Audio Plasma, Keeley Fuzz Bender, or WARM Foxey-Tone).

Or switch fuzz pedals to my Ramble FX Twin Bender on the Mk II Pro setting which has all the raw mids and cut one could want out of a fuzz, but with a nice lowend punch when the Fat switch is on.

 

[Dave P]

I had one years ago. Didn't care for the combo's boxy sound, so I plugged it into my Boogie Thiele 1x12 cab which sounded much better.

 

[renderit]

 

[jb_abides]

Mesa goes well with cowbell...

"Cowhands and Trolleys" -- G Harvey