# Mesa Boogie Fillmore



## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Tried the 50W amp in a shop and was quite impressed and picked up the 25W. It was a bit counterintuitive to me at first as the Gain knob is really key on setting the volume and headroom.

This is a great amp - clean, crunch and lead tones are really good. Pedal friendly (and I mean very friendly). The VW and the ThorpyFX sounded superb with the amp. The amp can function perfectly without any overdrives as the OD tones are there in spades. Single coil and humbuckers sound stellar.

All in all a great amp for the house and practice. I have not tried in a band setting and that will be the next test but very impressed so far with this grab and go combo.


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

Looks fantastic! Sweet amp. I love Mesas.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Jelous. That's one of the very few Mesas that I would consider "for me". The rest are awesome amps, for other people. I'd like them as toys, but they don't fit my sound enough to be my stage amp. The Fillmore certainly could.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

cboutilier said:


> Jelous. That's one of the very few Mesas that I would consider "for me". The rest are awesome amps, for other people. I'd like them as toys, but they don't fit my sound enough to be my stage amp. The Fillmore certainly could.


I am not a Mesa fan per se but the Fillmore is definately up my alley. Think Blackface with a killer lead channel and a much better reverb.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Alex said:


> I am not a Mesa fan per se but the Fillmore is definately up my alley. Think Blackface with a killer lead channel and a much better reverb.


My sound is Blackface, with a killer lead boost from pedals. Reverb for blues, + slapback for everything else. You just sold me 100%.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Great score. @Alex . I like the size of the 25 watter, and it has most of the features of the 50. Reverb, to me, is 'set and forget' so the back panel is a perfect location for those knobs.

I've heard that the 50 isn't very loud for a 50 watt amp but I can't imagine the 25 not being loud enough for the stuff I play and the guys I play with. How do you find the volume, is it giggable?

They had a 50 watt head in my local L&M but it wasn't wired up to a cab so I didn't try it, because: a) I'm lazy and b) I'm still in KPA overload mode.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

High/Deaf said:


> Great score. @Alex . I like the size of the 25 watter, and it has most of the features of the 50. Reverb, to me, is 'set and forget' so the back panel is a perfect location for those knobs.
> 
> I've heard that the 50 isn't very loud for a 50 watt amp but I can't imagine the 25 not being loud enough for the stuff I play and the guys I play with. How do you find the volume, is it giggable?
> 
> They had a 50 watt head in my local L&M but it wasn't wired up to a cab so I didn't try it, because: a) I'm lazy and b) I'm still in KPA overload mode.


The test will be in a live setting - At first, I thought this was the quietest 25W amp I had ever played but after some tweaking of the gain and MV knobs, it generates enough volume in my music room. It sounds awesome - I plugged in this morning to test a few connections and the clean channel with my Royal Overdrive is just stellar. as I mentioned, it takes pedals really well but also, the Drive and Lead settings on the amp are superb. You could go without pedals (maybe add a delay or modulation effect) and a perfect grab and go.

For a pure clean tone, I don't think there will be enough headroom in a live setting but I tend to live in the "pushed clean" settings which works for me.

PS. The KPA is not going anywhere! My last amp purchases have been great.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Alex said:


> The test will be in a live setting - At first, I thought this was the quietest 25W amp I had ever played but after some tweaking of the gain and MV knobs, it generates enough volume in my music room. It sounds awesome - I plugged in this morning to test a few connections and the clean channel with my Royal Overdrive is just stellar. as I mentioned, it takes pedals really well but also, the Drive and Lead settings on the amp are superb. You could go without pedals (maybe add a delay or modulation effect) and a perfect grab and go.
> 
> For a pure clean tone, I don't think there will be enough headroom in a live setting but I tend to live in the "pushed clean" settings which works for me.
> 
> PS. The KPA is not going anywhere! My last amp purchases have been great.


That sounds about right. My Super Reverb isn't enough for pure cleans with a drummer. That's 100W territory.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I've gigged a DRRI lots, and at 22w it can stay clean with the drummers I play with. The 25W Fillmore would be a logical replacement for that amp (smaller, lighter, more features) if it could produce the same clean levels.

I'm surprised these aren't that loud, as Mesa gets a lot of volume from their 2 X EL84 amps. Weird.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Great amp in Bronco Blue


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Played a Fillmore 25 yesterday. What a great range of tone in a flexible, compact, light package. I could totally see this replacing a DRRI, although I didn't get a chance to hear it at band levels (much to the chagrin of the staff or students in the store - it's spring break ......).


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

High/Deaf said:


> Played a Fillmore 25 yesterday. What a great range of tone in a flexible, compact, light package. I could totally see this replacing a DRRI, although I didn't get a chance to hear it at band levels (much to the chagrin of the staff or students in the store - it's spring break ......).


I tried once at the store as well. Perfect DRRI substitute. I'd be happy with either or for most of my uses.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Is this amp geared towards something that happened at the Fillmore (ie. say Duane Allman's tone on the Fillmore album), or is it just a name?


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

KPA


High/Deaf said:


> b) I'm still in KPA overload mode.





Alex said:


> PS. The KPA is not going anywhere!


Key-west Pork Association?
King Pauly Award?


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

bzrkrage said:


> KPA
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Kemper Profiler


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

colchar said:


> Is this amp geared towards something that happened at the Fillmore (ie. say Duane Allman's tone on the Fillmore album), or is it just a name?


It seems to be aimed towards that era of tones. Low-medium gain single channel amps like the big tweed Fenders and early Marshalls.


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