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• Review
• Manufacturer's Description

In spite of several high-quality bass amplifiers finding their way to the UK you only have to mention the words "new Mesa/Boogie bass rig" and every player's attention is immediately grabbed.

The company is well established and known for its excellence in bass amplification design, so anything they do is of importance to the industry.

Mesa never compromises on style, build quality or power so you expect your hand to have to go deeply into your pocket, but this is actually less costly than a lot of their ranges. But will it tempt us to blow the nest-egg, or put off that holiday yet again…

Big Block 750 head

The more seasoned among you will recognise the M-Pulse styling, as the Big Block is an addition to that range.

As a regular rack-mountable 2U head this is an attractive design, but who could possibly resist the striking 'boxed' version with the badged carcass in black rhino skin covering with cool retro silver piping?

Okay, it costs a bit more (£200 to be precise) but it's definitely an option worth considering if you're taking this rig on the road. The domed and knurled control knobs are chrome plated but note the stylish positional dimple left in exposed brass.

The Simul-State technology here means that the preamp and tonal circuit is valve-driven (4 x 12AX7) until it meets the dual MOSFET power stage providing great sounds and excessive output.

And when it comes to control options, Boogie is certainly not known for holding back. In fact it often allows adjustments for the most remote possibilities, but it's precisely this attention to detail and the full understanding of what problems can occur for the gigging bass player that has earned the company its pedigree.

Fortunately the M-Pulse range is considerably less complicated than some of their models but there's plenty of tonal adjustment available, particularly in the mid-range.

Having both an active and a passive control as well as a frequency shift gives this amp a unique mid section and provides much of the sound character.

Bass and treble controls handle the more extreme frequencies and that's it as far as the clean sounds are concerned. A bonus is the overdrive channel with two associated controls. One is for the amount of overdrive, and the other for the final level.

It's all very straightforward and nicely set out so it's easy to get to grips with. As usual, the back is stuffed full of features - it is a Boogie, after all! Along with both Speakon and 6.4mm speaker output jacks and dual fan cooling are a plethora of options.

The Big Block comes with a dual-action footswitch for switching to overdrive or killing the sound so you can use a tuner. Thoughtfully, a carry pouch is provided for this.