My god man. This type of jam isnt my normal, but this is incredible. I just made my way here because I'm looking at oddball mesa amps, but man your tone and chops are incredible.
Just snagged a 45 combo off Craigslist. The knobs were a bit tricky at first, but after some trial and error, I dialed in great tones across all three channels. It's definitely not a modern-sounding amp like my Mark V or Peavey 6505. While Channels 2 and 3 offer a "modern" mode, they’re actually more like hard-clipped vintage modes. This amp has that classic Mark I warmth that older Mesa amps are known for, and the result is exactly what you'd expect: a perfect amp for smooth, soulful leads, rather than high-gain, modern metal tones. That said, I can totally see how adding a 10-band EQ in the loop could easily push it into Mark III territory.
Were it not for this video I don't think I would ever have considered the Nomad 45. I picked one up a few days ago and I'm happy to say that your assessment is 100% accurate. I've owned a Mark V and V25 and I prefer the Nomad. I did the loop mod and run my Boss fx unit in the loop and cut 6.4k to kill the fizz since I play at home these days. It sounds amazing even without an OD and with one it easily does Petrucci style tight, heavy and smooth tones. I can confidently say this is my favorite Boogie I've ever owned. Not sure what the problems were and why this amp got such a bad reputation but it's completely undeserved. Probably people who didn't read the manual or couldn't understand how the controls work. Anyways, thanks for the video John!
I have a Nomad 55 head. Getting a Nomad 45 1x12 combo this afternoon for 550. Steal! How to dial in a Nomad or any amp-don’t look at the numbers-just turn the dials in tiny increments until the sounds register to your ears the sweet spots! This is a killer amp!
I've had mine four about a year and a half now. I have the 55 Head version and I do love it a lot. Been wanting to do a video about it for a long while.Your tone is amazing btw!
I have one. I had to put some money in to get a few volume pots fixed but it’s really was the predecessor to all the multi channel lower gain amps mesa made in the 2000s. Solid tone.
i have one and with my strat it sounds so fantastic! very rich harmonics, and with my les paus the feed back is outstanding and the clarity is superb. killer amp
I plan to pick one of these up locally later this week because of this video. I've had most of the Mark series amps and many of the others as well. Can't say that I've heard a better lead tone from any of them than what you're getting here. Sounds very Mark like to me but maybe a bit less bright, which is perfect!
Great Video! When I got mine years back the amount of tones available was a bit daunting. The first year I had it the compression on the clean channel fascinated me. Such a sweet tone for a Les Paul or 335.
Dude thanks for this comment… surprised to hear it has a compressor, which I have in pedal form and that it sounds good with a les Paul. I’ve always loved Mesa amps just haven’t been able to afford one …. Yet
I only used two of the 3 channels on the Nomad. It was a very powerful and flexible 45 watt amp. I had been using a Boogie 20/20 power amp with a Marshall JMP-1 pre amp, which I paired iwith a 4X12 cab It was my last foray into "rack world." I really wanted an amp with knobs and NO programming. The Nomad lead the way for me to return to a big 6L6 amp, and that turned out to be the Lone Star Classic. It took me about a year to start getting into pedals again. I'm trying to integrate a HX Stomp into a small pedalboard,. Yes, back to programming. John is such a hip player who navigates between the world of Helix and tube amps as well as anyone. I hope we can hear more VLOGS from his live shows. I'd love to see John in an environment where people talk about guitars, amps, and the various effects for guitar. After all we are living in the Platinum Era of guitar gear. If there were only such a UA-cam show!
I have one of these I bought about 20 years ago. I love some of the sounds but never really got on with channel 3 but then my playing isn’t a patch on yours. You didn’t mention the extreme switch on the back which changes the amp sounds again - possibly something for the future? I’m intrigued by how you’ve set up your effects and what sort you’re using. I used to plug my Lexicon reverb into the effects loop but it sucked all the tone out of the amp and when I used it before the input I got so much noise from the digital electronics that it sounded awful on channels 2&3. Anyway, congratulations on a great video. It’s made me want to fire the thing up again and have a noodle.
I have the Nomad 100. I run it 50 watts. I do a couple things to it. First was having the fx loop in series. Then using an Empress ParaEQ in the fx loop. To sculpt the excessive mids. I also can adjust the lows and high end. I put 12ay7 tubes ib V1 and V2. I use the EQ in the amp for lead boost to any channel. I agree it is a miss understood amp. I love it and I think the 12ay7 tubes make it better. I also use 2 noise gates. Boss NS-2 infront and in the loop. I use a TC electronic Iron Curtain after my Maxon OD808. It is nice and tight. I tap di out of my Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8 to druve effects. My gates kill the reverb built it. I use Digiteh Polara and Eventide Black Hole for reverbs. My stereo Two Notes Torpedo Cab M plus IR boxes are sonetimes used to get dual Spring Reverb. It was easy to mod the fx loop.
I've had a Nomad 55 since 1999. I LOVE it. I really like the clean and the orange channel on vintage mode. I also like the modern mode on channel 2 better than the high gain on ch 3, it's got a total Alice in Chains Vibe. I agree that Ch3's Vintage mode is also pretty great. It's heavier than my house though,
@@johnnathancordy Yes, it was the year they came out! I've alternated between the stock 6L6s and class A Yellow jackets. The EQ is very sensitive but I've gotten used to it. Now I'm layering it with the Helix for massive Wet/Dry/Wet madness
Nomad 45, unique, love it. A lot of haters that have problems regardless of the gear. Nomad has a lot of tone variations I do not get out of my other tube amps, powerful and worth having...
Nice-sounding amp, and the 3x2 channel format is intriguing. How did you record it? I see something called X-Load on top; Google suggests it's a Fractal load box. I haven't heard of that one. Are we hearing the Boogie through that? -Tom
Love your playing, got the same amp, bought used quite a few years ago for £500, my favourite channel is also 3, but unfortunately the reverb has gone on that channel.
I just got a 4x10 45nomad. They have terrible reviews. I feel like it was ahead of its time. It does modern mid gain amazingly! Love the clean channel. It was between this and a rockerverb 50. Chose the Mesa.
Thank you, for showing this amps capability. I do have one as well. People turn their nose, but man you put a boots in front, and an eq pedal, and this amp just screams. I have mrk 5 but for some reason I tend to play this amp more.
i have the nomad 55 head it's basically the same other than on the back of the head is a master reverb for each channel but i agree the nomad is a great sounding amp
Nomad sounds great. I remember the ads in guitar world mags back in the day but never had a chance to play one. Have you ever run a triaxis/stereo 2:90 combo? Very versatile setup imo, would love to see you get your hands on that rig at some stage.
How are you recording this? I had a nomad 45 combo for a few years and the cab/speaker sounded absolutely neutered. It needed a separate cabinet to get usable tones.
I love my Nomad 45 but I agree that its an oddball compared to the regular Mesa lineup. Can you describe how you are recording the amp in this demo? Have you ever tried the record out with the speaker silenced?
Fantastic video and playing! Thanks for posting. I've tended to use the "Extreme" rear toggle mode with reduced negative feedback - do you have a preference? It feels "quick" to me with more low end but maybe less smooth. I also wonder if it runs through tubes faster.
@@johnnathancordy makes sense, it’s louder in that mode (similar to switching vintage to modern) but makes a pretty fun edgy rhythm tone. I used it for the right side of this track ua-cam.com/video/-fTl43saQ1I/v-deo.html
Its a great sounding amp. But you really seem to know how to bring out the best in this particular amp. I've always been a KT88 tube type of guy, but them EL84s sound great with this amp!
Have the exact same amp, and I’m giving it a re-cap at the moment. Mesa are notorious for overdoing the circuits with a ridiculous amount of components which is unnecessarily annoying. They do have a good sound, but far too overrated with their inflated head for stupid prices. I don’t have a problem repairing them, but they’re time consuming for repairing. Vox, Marshsall, Fender, and many others that I’ve been repairing since 1978 were never a problem. But Mesa? Uh! I cringe every time when someone brings a Mesa to me……! Btw, nice guitar playing, good work on your video…..👍🇮🇪
Mesa should've put more effort into this amp because I swear it should've been the Mesa Mark V series and the V would've been the 6. But whatever, late 90s early 2000s Mesa was trying to take on every amp company in the world but they also forgot to slow down and improve on the great things they already made
A little hard to follow exactly what you’re saying because you’re jumping all over the place, but the tones alone probably sold a ton of these amps lol.
Shhhhh, dont tell anyone, people turn their noses up at this amp and its the best all rounder I've ever owned.
My god man. This type of jam isnt my normal, but this is incredible. I just made my way here because I'm looking at oddball mesa amps, but man your tone and chops are incredible.
Nice overall tone! Spectacular chops, too!!!
I love how many great tones there are out there sitting in non-trendy amps. Sounds really good, especially that vintage mode channel 3.
Crazy init, I've got a mark 3 next to it and of any amp I've ever played, I swear that Nomad has my favourite lead tone
Just snagged a 45 combo off Craigslist. The knobs were a bit tricky at first, but after some trial and error, I dialed in great tones across all three channels. It's definitely not a modern-sounding amp like my Mark V or Peavey 6505. While Channels 2 and 3 offer a "modern" mode, they’re actually more like hard-clipped vintage modes. This amp has that classic Mark I warmth that older Mesa amps are known for, and the result is exactly what you'd expect: a perfect amp for smooth, soulful leads, rather than high-gain, modern metal tones. That said, I can totally see how adding a 10-band EQ in the loop could easily push it into Mark III territory.
Whoah. That k-line strat sounds so pure, almost like an acoustic through that clean channel. Sounds like a really dynamic and responsive amp.
Were it not for this video I don't think I would ever have considered the Nomad 45. I picked one up a few days ago and I'm happy to say that your assessment is 100% accurate. I've owned a Mark V and V25 and I prefer the Nomad. I did the loop mod and run my Boss fx unit in the loop and cut 6.4k to kill the fizz since I play at home these days. It sounds amazing even without an OD and with one it easily does Petrucci style tight, heavy and smooth tones. I can confidently say this is my favorite Boogie I've ever owned. Not sure what the problems were and why this amp got such a bad reputation but it's completely undeserved. Probably people who didn't read the manual or couldn't understand how the controls work. Anyways, thanks for the video John!
Can you tell me about this loop mod?
I have a Nomad 55 head. Getting a Nomad 45 1x12 combo this afternoon for 550. Steal! How to dial in a Nomad or any amp-don’t look at the numbers-just turn the dials in tiny increments until the sounds register to your ears the sweet spots! This is a killer amp!
I've had mine four about a year and a half now. I have the 55 Head version and I do love it a lot. Been wanting to do a video about it for a long while.Your tone is amazing btw!
Came for the licks and tones, stayed ... for the licks and tones! Sick!
never played a "bad" mesa. sounds great!
Your playing I'm always exciting!!
The best demo of this amp on you tube! 🙏🙏🙏
I have the Nomad with 4 10" speakers , this amp is Magical ,makes it hard to put your guitar down.
This video made me get one today finally. Couldn’t be more excited!
I have one. I had to put some money in to get a few volume pots fixed but it’s really was the predecessor to all the multi channel lower gain amps mesa made in the 2000s. Solid tone.
i have one and with my strat it sounds so fantastic! very rich harmonics, and with my les paus the feed back is outstanding and the clarity is superb. killer amp
Love your playing! Very musical ideas! Thank you for the music!!!
I plan to pick one of these up locally later this week because of this video. I've had most of the Mark series amps and many of the others as well. Can't say that I've heard a better lead tone from any of them than what you're getting here. Sounds very Mark like to me but maybe a bit less bright, which is perfect!
Great Video!
When I got mine years back the amount of tones available was a bit daunting.
The first year I had it the compression on the clean channel fascinated me.
Such a sweet tone for a Les Paul or 335.
Dude thanks for this comment… surprised to hear it has a compressor, which I have in pedal form and that it sounds good with a les Paul. I’ve always loved Mesa amps just haven’t been able to afford one …. Yet
The eq is just really nuanced and it takes some serious dialing in. Small pot movements yield big tone changes. But it’s cool AF.
I only used two of the 3 channels on the Nomad. It was a very powerful and flexible 45 watt amp. I had been using a Boogie 20/20 power amp with a Marshall JMP-1 pre amp, which I paired iwith a 4X12 cab It was my last foray into "rack world." I really wanted an amp with knobs and NO programming. The Nomad lead the way for me to return to a big 6L6 amp, and that turned out to be the Lone Star Classic. It took me about a year to start getting into pedals again. I'm trying to integrate a HX Stomp into a small pedalboard,. Yes, back to programming.
John is such a hip player who navigates between the world of Helix and tube amps as well as anyone. I hope we can hear more VLOGS from his live shows. I'd love to see John in an environment where people talk about guitars, amps, and the various effects for guitar. After all we are living in the Platinum Era of guitar gear. If there were only such a UA-cam show!
I have one of these I bought about 20 years ago. I love some of the sounds but never really got on with channel 3 but then my playing isn’t a patch on yours. You didn’t mention the extreme switch on the back which changes the amp sounds again - possibly something for the future?
I’m intrigued by how you’ve set up your effects and what sort you’re using. I used to plug my Lexicon reverb into the effects loop but it sucked all the tone out of the amp and when I used it before the input I got so much noise from the digital electronics that it sounded awful on channels 2&3.
Anyway, congratulations on a great video. It’s made me want to fire the thing up again and have a noodle.
I have a tweed 4x10 Mesa Nomad 45. I’ve been offered a lot after friends have used it for a live show. Enjoyed the video.
Great tone, great playing especially the phrasing.
Great playing and arrangements brother! Thanks for the review! \,,/
I got a Nomad 55 combo. It sounds great.
Forgot to add, I really like your playing.🤘
I have the Nomad 100. I run it 50 watts. I do a couple things to it. First was having the fx loop in series. Then using an Empress ParaEQ in the fx loop. To sculpt the excessive mids. I also can adjust the lows and high end. I put 12ay7 tubes ib V1 and V2. I use the EQ in the amp for lead boost to any channel. I agree it is a miss understood amp. I love it and I think the 12ay7 tubes make it better. I also use 2 noise gates. Boss NS-2 infront and in the loop. I use a TC electronic Iron Curtain after my Maxon OD808. It is nice and tight. I tap di out of my Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8 to druve effects. My gates kill the reverb built it. I use Digiteh Polara and Eventide Black Hole for reverbs. My stereo Two Notes Torpedo Cab M plus IR boxes are sonetimes used to get dual Spring Reverb. It was easy to mod the fx loop.
I've had a Nomad 55 since 1999. I LOVE it. I really like the clean and the orange channel on vintage mode. I also like the modern mode on channel 2 better than the high gain on ch 3, it's got a total Alice in Chains Vibe. I agree that Ch3's Vintage mode is also pretty great. It's heavier than my house though,
I've never tried the 55 or 100....I guess it's a matter of time though...did you buy yours new?
@@johnnathancordy Yes, it was the year they came out! I've alternated between the stock 6L6s and class A Yellow jackets. The EQ is very sensitive but I've gotten used to it. Now I'm layering it with the Helix for massive Wet/Dry/Wet madness
I have the Nomad 100 watt. i really dig it
Nomad 45, unique, love it. A lot of haters that have problems regardless of the gear. Nomad has a lot of tone variations I do not get out of my other tube amps, powerful and worth having...
Nice-sounding amp, and the 3x2 channel format is intriguing. How did you record it? I see something called X-Load on top; Google suggests it's a Fractal load box. I haven't heard of that one. Are we hearing the Boogie through that? -Tom
Nice playing
Nice playing and tones. Sounds like Eric Johnson.
Love your playing, got the same amp, bought used quite a few years ago for £500, my favourite channel is also 3, but unfortunately the reverb has gone on that channel.
You play like I've always wanted to, beautiful, I've got the same amp and three is my favourite, but my reverb has stopped working on that channel
I have one and i love it. Great playing!
I just got a 4x10 45nomad. They have terrible reviews. I feel like it was ahead of its time. It does modern mid gain amazingly! Love the clean channel. It was between this and a rockerverb 50. Chose the Mesa.
Thank you, for showing this amps capability. I do have one as well. People turn their nose, but man you put a boots in front, and an eq pedal, and this amp just screams. I have mrk 5 but for some reason I tend to play this amp more.
i have the nomad 55 head it's basically the same other than on the back of the head is a master reverb for each channel but i agree the nomad is a great sounding amp
Seen a "relic'd" one for sale yesterday.
Where?
Popped up on my Reverb feed.
Looked like it fell out of a truck.
Great tone! Are you using any pedals to get that buttery smooth tone? Awesome job sounds great.
I’m a very happy owner of a Nomad 45 ❤
Awesome 👏
Nomad sounds great. I remember the ads in guitar world mags back in the day but never had a chance to play one. Have you ever run a triaxis/stereo 2:90 combo? Very versatile setup imo, would love to see you get your hands on that rig at some stage.
How are you recording this? I had a nomad 45 combo for a few years and the cab/speaker sounded absolutely neutered. It needed a separate cabinet to get usable tones.
dude, is it possible for anything to sound bad under your fingers? absolutely beautiful tones and playing.
Sounds like a Lonestar through UA-cam
I love my Nomad 45 but I agree that its an oddball compared to the regular Mesa lineup. Can you describe how you are recording the amp in this demo? Have you ever tried the record out with the speaker silenced?
Fantastic video and playing! Thanks for posting.
I've tended to use the "Extreme" rear toggle mode with reduced negative feedback - do you have a preference?
It feels "quick" to me with more low end but maybe less smooth. I also wonder if it runs through tubes faster.
Hey Chris - I've never really used that - in the manual it does say it will chew through tubes a bit quicker though, you're right
@@johnnathancordy makes sense, it’s louder in that mode (similar to switching vintage to modern) but makes a pretty fun edgy rhythm tone. I used it for the right side of this track ua-cam.com/video/-fTl43saQ1I/v-deo.html
could u emulate such a tone on the stomp!!
Hi man and thanks for this video! Whats are your delay settings in the video?
I have 45 2 x 12 in mint condition. Dallas Fort Worth
I'm in Denton. How much are you asking?
Is this recorded through recording out to interface?
Hi, how do you rate this combo against the beautiful sounding Cornford Carrera (great test!)?
Does yours have V30's? Great vid! 💚 🎸
I have one wrapped in the original purple tolex
Its a great sounding amp. But you really seem to know how to bring out the best in this particular amp. I've always been a KT88 tube type of guy, but them EL84s sound great with this amp!
Have the exact same amp, and I’m giving it a re-cap at the moment. Mesa are notorious for overdoing the circuits with a ridiculous amount of components which is unnecessarily annoying. They do have a good sound, but far too overrated with their inflated head for stupid prices. I don’t have a problem repairing them, but they’re time consuming for repairing. Vox, Marshsall, Fender, and many others that I’ve been repairing since 1978 were never a problem. But Mesa? Uh! I cringe every time when someone brings a Mesa to me……! Btw, nice guitar playing, good work on your video…..👍🇮🇪
Mesa should've put more effort into this amp because I swear it should've been the Mesa Mark V series and the V would've been the 6. But whatever, late 90s early 2000s Mesa was trying to take on every amp company in the world but they also forgot to slow down and improve on the great things they already made
1:13 sweet
Yo is this good for metal tones
what pickups do you have in that guitar?
Lollar dirty blondes
Eric Johnson harmonies
I have the nomad 45 head.. wanna but it?
Whereabouts are you based?
It’s pronounced “May-ssah”. It is the Spanish word for plateau.
A little hard to follow exactly what you’re saying because you’re jumping all over the place, but the tones alone probably sold a ton of these amps lol.
It has a bad reputation because it is one of Mesa/Boogie's least reliable amps. Hence the low resale value.