Ok, seriously - who the hell does Mesa think they are?

M

Metaltastic

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Feb 20, 2005
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Mesas US policies have always driven me crazy; there has to be a minimum distance between dealers, and more annoyingly, NO RETAILER is allowed to post prices or even advertise them online (check out the amp section on the website of my local music store, who are a Mesa dealer - notice in the bottom right of the table at the bottom they say "And other companies we can't mention online" give me a fucking BREAK). Bogner, Diezel, Orange, VHT, Engl - I've seen them all online, most with prices, as well as pretty much every other high-end amp company, but stupid Mesa seems to have this elitist attitude. Oh, and Mesa doesn't let their dealers negotiate prices either.

And I'd always heard about how Europeans get fucked with the prices, but I was perusing Thomann today (which apparently is allowed to sell Mesa stuff online and list prices) and really had the ridiculousness hammered home - 1200 Euros for a Rectifier slant cab, compared with 690 for a Marshall 1960A?!?!?! Here they're both $950. I guess their business plan works if they're still so popular, but goddamn does it reek of elitism...
 
Yeah, our other guitarist was an Asst. Manager at GC and he said Mesa does to them what is called a "Hard Minimum" where they cannot cut any kind of deal whatsoever. A few other companies do this as well, including SKB.
 
In England loads of guitarists see the Mesa Rectifier as the ultimate metal amp, just because it is ultimately expensive. Little do they know that there are many cheaper amps that own Mesa's for metal (IMO). The prices of Mesa's are ridiculous round here, hence no one I know has one, but their stratergy of stupid prices is working, because they are the amp everyone wants but will never afford.

Joe
 
Yeah, as expensive as they are I still think they are fucking top notch amp, and I would do almost anything to have one here in my studio. I think people look past how versatile rectifiers can be sometimes, but that still doesn't disregard the fact that no matter how you look at it, mesa is an expensive brand....
 
My problem with them is that I've never gotten one to sound good live. Always fuzzy and spongy and shitty. Granted, I've never had time to sit and tweak one for a while. But, my point is that I can hop on stage with a hundred different tube amps and have it dialed in very quickly. The Mesa just doesn't react the way a Triple XXX, 6505, Savage, or a Madison does.
 
Strange i dialed in a good tone pretty quickly on my dual rec which i got last week its an older 2 channel one. Compared to my powerball dialing in the mesa was a brezze. This amp is a monster for metal im loving it at the moment:headbang:

But the prices SUCK in europe i had to get mine from the usa and use a step down transformer for it to work here saved a ton to even with the ridiculus shipping cost. I dont understand why they dont sell the amps for the same cost here or even the same cost plus the extra cost of shipping to europe as it is its badly overpriced there is no way to justify the difference between euro and states prices
 
Oh I definitely think they make amazing stuff, and I've gotten great tones out of the Triple Rectifier a lady friend of mine has (and she's hot to boot - too bad she's a lesbian :cry:), and I think they're totally reasonably priced in the US, but their above business practices and their European prices are what piss me off so much.
 
Yeah the prices are fucking off the scale. I only got mine due to the decent price of it being second hand. I cant afford one of their cabs so ive got the Framus instead, shame I really want the full setup!
 
Thats really weird, they aren't that expensive in the U.S. I got my 50 watt single rectifier head for about $1,000 which is about the same price sometimes less than a 5150, JSX or others
 
Well, yeah. but, that's for a 50w Single Rec. Most everyone I know wants a Triple Rectifier. Which last I heard was about $2300.00
 
oranges policy in the uk is, if they catch you selling below the rrp, they'll cut your dealership.

Probably the same for the other companies
 
Mesa prices here in Australia make them prohibitive. I know you guys sometimes feel you're hard done by prices, but it's a whole different game down here. With a Roadking you're looking at around 8 grand here. That's just the head. Rectifiers are usually up in the 4 to 5 grand mark.

The thing is that, just as with Apple products, they're allowed to price them so high because people will pay for them. It's a simple issue from their end. Feels unfair here, but hey on that same token it explains the rise of Bugera amps.
 
Metaltastic said:
Mesas US policies have always driven me crazy; there has to be a minimum distance between dealers, and more annoyingly, NO RETAILER is allowed to post prices or even advertise them online (check out the amp section on the website of my local music store, who are a Mesa dealer - notice in the bottom right of the table at the bottom they say "And other companies we can't mention online" give me a fucking BREAK). Bogner, Diezel, Orange, VHT, Engl - I've seen them all online, most with prices, as well as pretty much every other high-end amp company, but stupid Mesa seems to have this elitist attitude. Oh, and Mesa doesn't let their dealers negotiate prices either.

And I'd always heard about how Europeans get fucked with the prices, but I was perusing Thomann today (which apparently is allowed to sell Mesa stuff online and list prices) and really had the ridiculousness hammered home - 1200 Euros for a Rectifier slant cab, compared with 690 for a Marshall 1960A?!?!?! Here they're both $950. I guess their business plan works if they're still so popular, but goddamn does it reek of elitism...
Click to expand...

I live in England, and a month ago I was thinking about buying myself a Roadster. I was thinking hey! lets buy it from America I'd be able to get it cheaper. I spent a day trying to find an online retailer in the US selling them/giving prices online, your story explains why I didn't find anything.
I wasted my time, would have been great if I'd know that before hand, I wouldn't have bothered then. lol
 
GuitarGodgt said:
Naw. You can get them cheaper than that. Fuck you can get a roadking for that much.
Click to expand...

You know what... It might be the Road King I was thinking of. It's the only Mesa Rectifier I've actually considered buying. I tell ya... I still like the old 50 Cal's and Mark Series better than anything they've done in the last 15 years, though.
 
I don't know man. I think 5150's get more work in the studio than Mesa's these days. Now, there are definitely more records done with the Mesa cabs than any other I can think of though.
 
Dual recs cost 2600 EUR over here, that's 4 005.56$. For that kinda money, I'll just buy a Diezel VH4 or an Engl SE and leave the mesa for what it is. They are really "elite" amps over here and most of the bands are switching to Peaveys and Marshalls because of the price they ask.
 
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