Mesa/Boogie Fillmore 25 1x12" 18/23-watt 2-channel Tube Combo Amp Reviews

My first Mesa/Boogie but probably not my last. Quality, versatile light weight tube amp. The tonal range is unbelievable. Well worth the price for a working musician for studio or live gigs.

I am really enjoying my Fillmore 25 combo. It seems that I'm always searching for amps with beautiful clean tones and that classic vintage vibe. I like just a bit of grit now and then too and I can get both out of this amp. I set the first channel clean and the second with some drive, but nothing too gritty. I can flip between them with the included foot switch. This is an amp that does the Fender blackface tones very well. My Sales Engineer thought it might be too loud for my home studio, but I can get it down to suitable bedroom volume with no problem using the gain and master volume. I also use it through a Two Notes Captor X for direct recording and it sounds and feels just like a great tube amp should, wonderful! I haven't used it with overdrive or modulation pedals into the front of the amp, but I would imagine that those would work quite well.

The reverb is very Fender like and maxed out it gets Surf worth, overall it's very nice. I use a delay in the effects loop and that takes it further to some beautiful places.

The amp is solid, beautifully built with great fit and finish. The 12" speaker sounds great to my ears and perfectly matched with the 6V6 tubes. I think this amp is a great home amp and could easily work in smaller venues or for church services. I don't know how I missed getting this amp on my radar, but I'm am totally happy that I did. If the vintage tones of Classic Rock, Country and Jazz is your style, then I say definitely check one out!

I absolutely love this amp. I had two other amps. I sold one and thinking of selling the other. I just don't have use for them anymore. As soon as you plug in you can tell this amp is on another level! I'm beyond happy!! I finally found a forever amp!! Then the reverb just knocks it out of the park!! Great job mesa boogie!!!

First the bad news. Sweetwater sent me the wrong amp, I new something was wrong when I almost got a hernia getting it out of the box. I stared at it a minute and realized "not a Filmore 25 combo", was another MB though. A quick call to Sweetwater and me jumping through some hoops and the correct one was shipped.

I was looking at a Fender DRRI and my sales engineer Nate Kaufman suggested I look at this due the very eclectic sets we play. Well, he was spot on and it was worth the wait, I was literally blown away. The simple 2 channels setup is a game changer for me. I can't wait to get up and play it daily. For our small to medium gigs, plenty of volume and I set up a clean and drive channel and now have all the bases covered. My pedals sound great in either mode. Also, the harmonics in both the clean and drive modes are just stunning. As another reviewer said, not cheap but you get what you pay for and that is the absolute truth here. I love this amp. Also have a Fender HRD IV, Blues Cube Hot, Katana 100mk2, all great amps, but the difference compared to the MB, is like, wow. Finally, the MB F25 weighing in at 35 lbs, means no hernias.

Ok , after going through Mesa trouble shooting vid for tubes , I said screw it , chasings ghosts , replaced all the pre amp tubes (mesa) and installed a special use Mesa 12ax7 for the v1 slot .
Major difference ..... Quite , loud , like a Fender should sound if it could .
Best amp for size and power lots of head room on the clean channel , louder than you would think.

Why a combo? Show up to any venue these days with anything over 30 watts and you won't be invited back. But this amp doesn't sound boxy or feel as if it's being over worked at higher volumes.
We all know Boogies can do dirt and this one sounds late 70's early 80's style Mesa classic sounds to me. It'll do metal but needs help from a pedal for sure.
The clean sound sold me. I think it's the closest Fender clean I've heard from a Mesa combo and that's saying a lot! It's got that clinky punch that I love.
Extremely touch sensitive until it really starts to cook. You can really feel the notes under your fingers. It's just a great playing experience for your hands and your ears. If you want to feel your notes this is your amp. If you want highly compressed metal insanity go elsewhere. But if you add a pedal you've got both.
J from MI

I consider myself to be a tone geek. I have had players twice my ability and stature tell me that they LOVE my tone. I have been through a number of mid-priced amps over the years, always longing for a Boogie but being a poor boy who goes back and forth between electric guitar, acoustic guitar and drums as my primary instrument I have just never had the money or felt justified to put down the coin but here I am and loving it! Just unboxed this thing and ran it through it's paces, and without being broken in, I can still say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

It is super versatile and EASY to find those sweet spots with no pedals and little effort. For a one 12 combo, it's a tad on the heavy side at over 40 lbs. but it's worth a little extra weight and is still considerably lighter than it's big brothers in the rest of the Mesa lineup.

In know it's pricey but trust me, it's worth every penny and more!

Love this little amp. Have only had it a few weeks but it does everything I need. I have yet to use any pedals with it. It is not a power house but gets louder than I need. I had an Electra Dyne that was awesome but at 45/90 watts the sweet spot was ear shattering. I play only at home these days so power is not an issue for me. I am primarily a blues/blues rock player and find this little amp very versatile. As with every Mesa amp I have owned the EQ is dynamic. The simplicity of the layout is something I appreciate and find the identical channels an asset. I can set one up for lower gain single coil guitars and one up for hotter humbucker guitars. The reverb is also very dynamic as it will go from just a little to full on surf guitar. I replaced a Blues Junior with this amp and am happy I did. I found the juniors reverb to be useless above 2 and to my ear it had a very boxy sound. This amp sounds much bigger than it is and at 35lbs it is easy on my 70 year old back. No regrets here. Just want to add that Kurt Martin was very helpful as always, in my decision to go with the Fillmore 25.

I thought I would need two amps to get the gorgeous cleans and crispy overdrive I love. But the Fillmore 25 does both wonderfully. The cleans are naturally chimey, but can also be EQ'd to a creamy warmth for lush ambient tones. Switch to drive mode and this things growls like beast. The OD is tight and powerful for bold, commanding rock tones. All in a lightweight, portable package. Incredibly versatile!

Play this with a mccarty 594 and strat. Everything I was hoping for this will be a lifetime amp for me.

Love this amp, I was looking for a 6v6 1x12 combo with an effects loop.

I chose the Fillmore 25 over some others due to the versatility of the design and Mesas reputation for durability.

The three channel modes are all great, I love edge of breakup tones and this amp delivers.

My sales engineer Andy was awesome and kept me informed throughout the shipping process.

I've spent the past 12 years with a Fender Blues Jr. Tweed Edition, which up until this year has been perfectly reliable (input jack and power tubes went within a couple months of each other). I've since fixed it up, and it will remain my backup amp for as long as it runs.

After my issues with the Blues Jr, I began a search for a slightly higher quality amp that would offer better Fender-type clean tones. I was going back and forth between a Princeton Reverb Reissue and the Deluxe Reverb Tone Master. I loved everything about the Princeton except for its lack of a gain setting (as I would be playing at home and mostly without pedals), and loved everything about the Tone Master except the fact that I would be paying $900 for a Chinese made solid state amp.

I was getting to the point where I was convinced that the Princeton Reissue was going to be the amp that I was going to buy, when I somehow came across the Fillmore 25. I literally discovered this amp the day before buying it, and I'm so very glad that I did.

The best way that I can describe it is a combination of a Princeton and Deluxe Reverb, with the addition of a gain knob and various gain modes. It is lacking tremolo that most high end Fender amps have, but makes up for that with a tube buffered effects loop in the back.

The gain knob combined with gain modes makes it easy to dial in any tone at any volume - even bedroom level rock tones sound great.

The amp has 3 modes: Clean, Drive, and Hi (Gain). The amp also has 2 identical channels, which at first I didn't quite get the point of, but it's really a brilliant design. The use has nearly endless possibilities of configurations, the most common being clean on channel 1 and some level of drive / gain on channel 2. The channels are selected either via a front panel switch or the supplied foot switch.

The best way to describe how the 3 modes of Clean / Drive / Hi function is to consider each mode as a continuation of the gain dial. If one can assume that the gain dial goes from 1-10, then Drive at 1 would roughly equal clean at 8, and Hi at 1 would roughly equal Drive at 8...if that makes sense.

The spring reverb controls are at the back of the amp and have separate controls for each channel. The reverb can also be activated/deactivated by an aftermarket foot switch. The reverb, to my ears, sounds perfect in a traditional Fender sort of way. It even functions well when a higher gain signal is pushed through it.

Overall, Mesa really hit it out of the park with this amp. It's more expensive than any Fender amp of this size / build type, but it's also a setup up in quality, and should hold value and last for many, many years.

Fender Amp guy all my life, with an occasional Marshall thrown in. I even have a handwired custom Octal Princeton I had made for me. Hands down the Fillmore beats them all. You can dial in any tone you want. Once you go Mesa Boogie you won't go back to any other amp.

This amp is everything I had hoped for- from sublime cleans, slight clipping, overdrive all the way to total saturation and all in a small package, easy to handle.
My only complaint is that this amp wasn"t available 25 years ago!
I love the amp and the customer service I received from Sweetwater and their staff was the best ever!

Amazing little amp - the clean's are beautiful, and the gain channels are smooth and sweet. Plenty of clean headroom, can't imagine it not being enough anywhere!! And to top it off - it weights 35lbs!!!! Win win

I love the versatility of this amp, cleans are crystal clear without the jagged ice picky highs, the tone shaping sensitivity in the knobs is nice also. the drive modes are dynamic and touch sensitive. simple, classic sounding,like going back in time and buying an amp in 1972. awesome!

I play Jazz, Blues, and Jam-Rock with no-to-low gain and the occasional crunch.
Here was what I wanted in a tube amp (been down the modeler rabbit hole the past 3 years):

-A great clean tone in a Combo style easy-to-carry amp
-6v6 style breakup bordering on Tweed style crunch
-Two channels
-Effects loop
-Reverb

Fillmore 25 checked off all the boxes and then some! The online demos were great and talking with Adam at Sweetwater I knew what I'd be getting. Dialing in a Mesa can sometimes be a chore - but not with the Fillmore. Right away I was able to find BF clean tone with chime, duplicate it on Channel II and with some tweaking get to a crunch tone and away we go! Switch the style to "Hi" and you get that tight OD Santana "Abraxas" lead tone. I play with both HB and SC pickup guitars and this covers all ground. I now have a platform that allows me to focus on guitar playing and simple adjusting volume and tone from my guitar.

Build quality is excellent and is on par with some of the boutique amps I've had in the pasts. Perfect for a coffee house/pub gig, cuts through the mix and if you have a big room gig you can mic it and don't worry. The clean tone stays clean while running up the master volume and even at home levels still sounds rich. I
ll be sure to revisit my review in a couple of months to provide an update.

I bought this amp mainly for clean and blues tones, but there's also 70's hard rock tones in there as well.
I already own the Mini Rectifier and Mark V 25, but wanted something in the 25 watt range that had fender-ish tones without buying a fender, because I love Mesa boogies and wanted to stick with them.
This amp does Tweed & Blackface tones very well and more, very flexible as with all their amps.
Very happy with the purchase and as always Sweetwater's service is the best.
Many thanks to Nick LaMendola for great service as always.

Like a lot of players it seems like the older we get the smaller (and lighter) we want our gear to be. A few years back the guys in the band used to joke that I bought my gear by the pound (I was playing through a 70# Seymour Duncan 100w Convertible combo). I get my OD/distortion tones from my pedals, so a 2 channel amp that I can simply set the second channel to a solo volume was ideal for me. The Fillmore 25 had the 2 identical channels and the single 12" speaker I wanted, but in a 35# package. I queued up the "Instant Gratification" tone settings in the manual (yeah, I actually do read 'em) and the clean tone "out-Fendered" any other amp I've ever owned. I've been playing for almost 50 years, and I have to say I'm getting the most inspiring tones from this amp that I've ever achieved. I really love what I hear from this little amp.

My only two gripes: the two channels don't sound identical with the same tone control settings. Channel 2 is noticeably bright and a bit thinner sounding (both channels use the same set of tubes, so it's not likely a tube issue). I read some similar posts in some of the forums, but by spending a bit of time with the tone controls I can get a sound I'm happy with. And the included cover (with a beautiful embroidered MB logo on it) is too light to provide any real protection out in the world IMO. Good dust cover for the studio or home, but a padded cover would have been a big plus.

Firstly: the quality and build on this amp is superb. The Mesa heritage is clear and its a case of you get what you pay for with the Fillmore. The cabinet, build, wiring, dials etc are all incredibly well made and high quality. The fit and finish is excellent. Every detail is thought out including the storage bag with velcro closure built inside to hold your switch and chords.

I love the setup on this amp. 2 cloned foot-switchable channels you can set up any way you like. Ultimate tone adjustment with clean, drive and high coloring as well as independent master volumes give excellent flexibility. I set up a clean channel and a drive channel: the master let me switch between flawlessly without abrupt volume changes. Great if you need to transition mid song, or want to set up one as a lead channel. The effects loops is clean and works, great. Reverb is solid and what you'd expect from Mesa with awesome separate adjustments for each channel. I didn't notice the 18/23 wattage adjustment. I don't know why Mesa even highlights it as its not really anything you adjust and you don't notice a volume change. That being said, the master volumes help with low volume playing allowing you to still get some great sounds at quieter volumes. You lose some tone, but not enough to worry. The amp is absolutely powerful enough to cut through in a small venue. Opinions always vary on speakers but I found the black shadow a great fit for the amp and hard rock/clean sounds I wanted.

The couple things that didn't work--firstly weird that Mesa doesn't include the reverb channel in the switch and you have to buy a separate switch plugged into the back to turn it on/off. FYI I tried a latched Fender on/off switch and while it worked it hummed so badly the amp was unusable with it plugged in. I never tried another switch, but I assume it was the shielding or something on the Fender switch--the Mesa switch (sold separately) most likely works great.

Biggest challenge for me: the amp had a non stop medium level white noise type hiss from the speaker. It didn't matter if anything was plugged in or not, didn't matter where the volumes were set etc. In standby it went off of course and if you rolled the gain up it got way worse, but even with the gain completely down it was there and steady. It was loud enough I could hear it over playing at low levels on a clean channel. It was not a "gain" his or normal amp buzz. It was louder and through the speaker directly. This may have had some easy fix, or be a rare issue, but in an amp this expensive and brand new I decided not to roll the dice and I returned it. Because of that and how much I like the amp I rated it at 4.5.

I'll likely end up with a Fillmore head unit in the future, I liked it that much and miss its simple and effective setup already. But for now I passed. Overall great Mesa sound, incredibly flexible without the complexity of the Mark V series.

This is my first brand new tube combo. The options allow me to play anything I want from jazz, blues, hard rock and with a boost from a Eq or overdrive pedal I can get a good metal tone. I recommend this amp to anyone.

It's a cloneable two channel, three mode amp with some epic tones to be had... and it won't break your back!

The clean mode is better than your average clean channel. It's warm and fat with no harshness *and* you still get control over the gain. You can leave the gain low and get lots and lots of pristine clean tone with wide dynamics and a brighter sound or dial it up just a bit for a warmer more compressed sound short of breakup. If you dial it all the way up and really dig in then you can certainly push the preamp enough to get a slight bit of edge to your tone too. Hit it with a bit of clean or slightly dirty boost and you've got a clean *and* amazing sounding light overdrive channel just in ONE mode. This channel also responds well to pretty much any overdrive you might put in front of it -- especially with the gain dialed up just a bit.

The drive mode has a very wide range of tones from slight overdrive to solid crunch -- depending on guitar of course. It's a very lively and "open" sounding channel with loads of harmonics overtones. You can hit this channel with a bit of clean boost and push it into fatter overdrive with even greater harmonics too. This channel can sound absolutely amazing even at very low volume with very little EQ work.

The hi mode left me scratching my head a bit. I expected it to be just *more* of what the drive mode gives you but in reality it possesses quite a bit warmer and darker voice -- especially at lower volumes. In a live situation though it opens up a bit as you dial up the master and the power section gets crunchier. The tonal difference between this channel and the drive channel is at first a bit jarring. Mesa/Boogie does an excellent job explaining the voicing of this channel and provides some great tips on using it in the provided manual though. Kudos. It's got more gain than the drive channel but is still certainly falls well within the hard rock genre of styles.

The standard Mesa/Boogie speaker has a very warm the tone in all modes and provides plenty of bass despite the small cabinet. It sounds fantastic at even lower volumes given the stature of the amp too. At higher volumes it breaks up a bit more though while still keeping a very even response. It has a nice "growl" to it with the voicing of the drive and hi modes.

The build is solid and extremely reliable with very high quality components but the assembly execution reduces my overall rating to 4.5 out of 5. There were small cosmetic defects here and there that could have been avoided with a bit more care during final assembly but certainly not worth returning a product over. Bottom line though is that Mesa/Boogie has been -- and still is -- producing some AMAZING amps for the masses and is still doing a great job at it!

Amp is amazing as far as tone , volume, etc . Light and compact and loud and musical.

Started having preamp tube problems , so we'll see

Full disclosure :I purchased this amp from Sweetwater and I am exchanging it for a Mesa Rectoverb. The cleans on this amp are great ,as is the reverb.Its a way better clean sound than any Fender or Vox that I have played .The amp is light for a tube amp and seems very well made.My only gripes are that the OD is not nearly as strong as your typical Mesa amp, at the highest setting it's more like a classic rock sound not at all into metal or hard rock territory and that its not real loud .Its advertised as a 25 watt but I think I've read where it is 18 watts clean and 23 full out with OD.Having said all this, a good OD pedal will solve these issues but I'm not much of a pedal guy, except for a looper, just plug in and play.This is still a great amp though and very well made!