MESA/Boogie advances California Tweed Series with new “vintage expanded” 6V6 2:20 amps

MESA/Boogie California Tweed 6V6 2:20
(Image credit: MESA/Boogie)

Continuing their storied tradition of building high-quality tube amps by hand in Petaluma, CA, MESA/Boogie has introduced three new designs to their celebrated California Tweed Series.

Adding to the existing ‘50s Fender tweed-inspired 6V6 4:40 1x12 Combo and Head models comes the more compact 6V6 2:20 1x12 Combo, 1x10 Combo, and Head guitar amps.

Featuring a single channel with Low and Normal inputs, the amps have been designed with an immediately familiar front panel layout that includes Gain, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence, and Master controls.

Mesa/Boogie California Tweed

(Image credit: Mesa/Boogie)

Dual 6V6 power valves offer “smooth highs and natural tube compression” while three power levels of 20W, 10W and 1W – selectable via the Multi-Watt switch positioned on the far right of the front panel – allow for more headroom when required, along with sag and breakup at lower volumes.

Utilising patented technologies, this flexible power amp section provides two operating classes and three wiring configuration options, as follows:

  • 20 Watts - 2x 6V6 Class A/B Pentode – Fixed Bias
  • 10 Watts - 2x 6V6 Class A/B Triode – Fixed Bias
  • 1 Watt - 1x 6V6 Pentode, Single-Ended Class A – Cathode Bias

The preamp section comprises one 12AT7 and five 12AX7 tubes, while silicon diodes have been employed for rectification.

Mesa/Boogie California Tweed

(Image credit: Mesa/Boogie)

Send and Return jacks for the amps’ fully buffered, tube-driven effects loops are located on the rear panel along with a footswitch jack for remote switching of the all-tube spring reverb (an adjacent knob adjusts reverb amount).

While the combos come fitted with a custom-designed Jensen Blackbird Alnico 40-watt speaker (either a single 10- or 12-inch, depending on the model), all three amps feature a single 8 ohm and two 4 ohm speaker output jacks for added flexibility.  

Visit MESA/Boogie for more information.

Rod Brakes

Rod Brakes is a music journalist with an expertise in guitars. Having spent many years at the coalface as a guitar dealer and tech, Rod's more recent work as a writer covering artists, industry pros and gear includes contributions for leading publications and websites such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Guitar WorldGuitar Player and MusicRadar in addition to specialist music books, blogs and social media. He is also a lifelong musician.