Mesa Boogie Emulation

[mydementia]

Hi Guys.
The DIY bug has bitten me...bad!
I'm very pleased with my most recent build, the Thunderchief (combo GGG and ROG layouts).  Now that I have an excellent Marshall super lead emulation, I'm wondering if the Dr. Boogie (http://diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=28854) is still the best Mesa Boogie emulation around.  I think it would be awesome to go from my Peavey XXX clean to either the XXX, Marshall, or Boogie dirt channels - truly versatile rig (especially since I mostly play covers).  Maybe after this I'll stop building and get back to work on my chops...I am out of 'spots' in my daisy chain power supply!

Thanks again.
Mike

[Connoisseur of Distortion]

it gets pretty close in terms of tone, but it has some little issues that you might not like...

- invloved build, often with a debug

- pretty much guaranteed to feedback. weeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

- gets very murky when used through a tube amp (best with bright SS amp)

- can sound very harsh (i recommend J201 or MPF102 FETs... the NTE458 sounds like it's hitting a rail, and the 2N5457 generates some painful frequencies)

- THIS IS NOT A REAL MESA. remember that!!

And, the things that you want to hear about it

- rich distortion, long sustain

- that mesa sound (sounds like a tesla coil to me)

- a REAL palm mute. it will get enough highs on the top string to get the chig-chig-chig sound we all love

- pinch harmonic on every fret from 0 to 12 on my guitar, A and D strings 

- when used through a treble-driven amp, it gets a very powerful lead sound. cuts right through a marsh-all


you can't go wrong building it, but it isn't very easy. it took me about 2 months to build, debug, and optimize before i decided to leave it alone. definitely a good sounding pedal, though.