Dear Mesa/Boogie,

The day my new Lone Star [Combo]arrived, the writing was on the wall for my existing amps. Ten months of completely trouble-free ownership later, the Lone Star has put the lot of them out of work, in the shade...and onto eBay.

This is because ask the Lone Star any tonal question and it answers in awe-inspiring style, which becomes addictive. In cool black, it's a strikingly loud and handsome beast that really means business and I can’t get over the thoughtful and logical design, totally focussed around the player and completely devoid of silly quick-fix gimmicks. In short, the Lone Star has everything you need and nothing you don’t.

The proof of the pudding is obviously in the playing and the Lone Star now always accompanies me to every musical outing. Dialing in the sound is quick and easy, irrespective of the size of venue at which it’s being used. Not only do the controls actually work, but it is a sufficiently well-honed and sensitive amplifier to really do justice to what-ever you plug into it. Whether or not I play my 335, PRS Custom, Les Paul, Strat or Tele, the Lone Star has its own take on all of them. None of them sound even remotely as soulful through anything else.

I play many different styles, from jazz through to blues and versatility is important to me, so get this: you can switch between 100w/ 50w/ 10w Class A, Tweed or Full power, choose reverb voicing, diode or tube rectification,
or how about switching out one of the two gain controls on Ch2, or any combination...you’re getting the message. I never used to believe that one amp could do it all. I do now.

Not only am I enjoying my tone a lot more these days, but I also enjoy the sight of jaws dropping and eyes widening in wonderment at the noise coming from this amp. Of course, I’d like to take all the credit for this, but I can’t, so whatever else is destined to roll off Randall Smith’s workbench in the future, the boys in Petaluma have done it again and created one of the best Boogies ever. Bravo, Boogie!

Bill Greenwell
United Kingdom