Chuck,
I haven't tried the new generation of Mesa pre-amps you mention. I'm a big fan of the original Mark Series Mesas with pedal steel, particularly the big 1-15 combos.
The big combo was available from the very beginning of Boogie's production, although relatively few were built compared to the 1-12 combo. I recently acquired another one, a '79 Mark II (one of the first II's) in black Tolex with original JBL 15 (a factory option), 100/60 watt with reverb and graphic EQ. In my opinion these are the best steel amps I've ever heard, with tons of clean headroom and great EQ. I'm really excited to get the '79 (and it came with original paperwork, including price list, manual, even the schematic and 'thank you' letter from Randall Smith!) as it's my first one with original JBL D130F and it has that incredible open, shimmering sound that those original speakers are famous for. My others all have EVM 15L's and they sound great, too, but different - a little more 'tight and focused'.
I, like Robert, play lead guitar, too, but I don't just use the 'Boogie for both'. The big combos are for the pedal steel and for lead I mainly use my Dual Caliber DC-5, Maverick or Heartbreaker and each has its own personality. Of the recent amps, the Heartbreaker is great for steel, too, but doesn't have the graphic EQ and didn't come in a 1-15 combo. Robert, I don't know what kind of problem you could be describing with your Boogie "cutting out". If the amp worked fine with another instrument, I'd suggest it might be in the pedal or in the connections.
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Fessenden SD10 - Mesa/Boogie amps<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Michael Holland on 22 October 2002 at 04:04 PM.]</p></FONT>