Mesa TA-15 Transatlantic

 Call me crazy, but when you see a Mesa head for half-price, you buy it. I tried the TA-15 a few years ago, and was impressed, but without an effects loop, I felt it was just a bit too expensive. Paired with the Mini Rectifier, this amp gives me versatility beyond my wildest imagination.
In this post, I'll review the amp on it's own, and as a part of my complete guitar rig.

Technical

In a nutshell, this amp is a lunchbox-sized, two-channel, all-tube head, sporting four 12AX7 preamp tubes and a pair of EL-84 power tubes. Channel one is voiced like a Vox, and channel two has a selectable voicing to mimic three other legendary vintage amps. It is constructed to survive the apocalypse and has a radioactive blue LED glow emanating from within. On the front it has the typical input and footswitch jacks, on the back it has 8 ohm and 4 ohm speaker jacks. Mesa's Dynawatt technology allows the amp to be switchable to 5w, 10w and 25w power independently on each channel.

Controls and Sound

This is not your typical clean/overdrive channel choice. This amp is more like two lab experiments that you can work with.
 Channel 1 is pure Vox AC30. It has a jangly tone that just begs for Beatles and U2 riffs and chords. It has a Gain, Treble and Bass knobs, and a fourth knob that is basically a reverse presence knob - allowing you to dampen the extreme brightness of this channel; and when pulled acts as a Master Volume, so you can get into overdriven AC30 tones. In addition to the Dynawatt power toggle switch, their is a boost switch that gives this channel an extra surge of gain. Using this channel with the gain up around 3 o'clock, the boost switch enabled and in 5W mode - you can get right nasty, broken-speaker type of grit.
Channel 2 is very versatile. It has a Gain, Treble, Bass and Master knobs, but the versatility in in the Voicing switch. The Tweed mode mimics a Fender tweed tone exceptionally well; The Hi1 mode sounds pure Marshall JCM800; and the Hi2 mode is voiced to reproduce the tone of the Mesa/Boogie Mark 1, as made famous by Carlos Santana.
I can't say I have a favourite tone on this amp - But the Tweed and Hi2 (Boogie MkI) settings are amazing. Contrary to what you may think - the lack of midrange tone knobs doesn't seem like a problem once you hear this amp.

Overall Impression

First things first. This is NOT a Hi-Gain amp. Don't expect Mesa/Boogie MarkIV or Rectifier tones from it. For me, this amp is a workhorse for obtaining classic tone of amps that I love, but would never buy - due to cost, space limitations or excessive output power for my little studio.
My only real beef is the lack of an effects loop. At the price Mesa is charging for these new, it's a real shame they didn't include one.
To plug in any of my guitars, dial up a sound, and hear something totally different every time - is a real experience. At low volumes this amp sounds amazing - but look out - at 25w power with the volume at a 50% level it can definitely compete with a drum kit. Mated with my Mini Rectifier - I have achieved guitar nirvana.