Mesa/Boogie Gold Mine Overdrive Pedal Reviews

This pedal produces a thick sustain that seems to last for days. The leads seem to pop out. They got the design right on this one. Mesa quality is top notch.

Covers the range from Mark to Rectifier sound.

I've been a fan of all things overdrive for decades now, and as someone who owns over a dozen high gain tube amps, and probably 75 overdrive pedals. I can't say enough about how awesome this pedal is and how much it just feels good. It genuinely feels like a classic mesa Crunch channel. Awesome sounds, top notch build quality, A+ quality components, and just looks great. Mesa definitely hit a home run, maybe even a grand slam with this little box of joy.

So first off, this is a very nice overdrive/distortion pedal. To me its medium gain, like a jumped Plexi pushed with boost. Its smooth, and has a cool note bloom, not ICE PICKY at all. It has a ton of bass, you will probably need roll some off. I kinda think of pedals like this with Bass, Treble, and Mid tone knobs as more a Pre-Amp in a box type pedals. You can set your clean amp the way you like it, and then EQ this pedal to sound good when switched on. What I like most about the Gold Mine is the note clarity it has when you use this pedal with modulation/delay effects. It just sounds good, and isn't too bright, or muddy.

I use a REVV G3 Purple for really heavy distortion, this Gold Mine for medium gain rock stuff, an OCD for single coil Hendrix stuff, and a Fulltone Full-Drive for the lower gain edge of break up sound. Warning, if you try to stack this Gold Mine pedal with anything else you will need to turn down the gain big time, it doesn't need any help in producing its sound. I found the Mesa Gold mine sounds best running into a really clean amp.

Lastly, I have tested this pedal with a pair of Katana Artists MKII amps running in stereo. The Katana amp models sound pretty good, but I wasn't 100 percent satisfied with the higher gain amp models, hence the board in this picture with 4 drive pedals. I have a big Mesa Road King half stack, but its so heavy, I only take it to really big gigs in huge bars, or out door stages. The little Katana's paired with the Gold mine sound really good. Tube amps rule for sure, but this pedal and the Katana's make for a really light and good sounding substitute.

I bought this pedal thinking I would use it as my main lead sound. As soon as I plugged it in I liked it! First impressions matter! However I decided to use it as rhythm/ lead OD keeping my amps overdrive channel for a lead tone. I don't normally think of versatility when it comes to pedals but.... this is a very versatile "amp like" pedal!

Great distortion sound, it can give you various sounds. I am really enjoy it, I think its better than Strymon SUNSET.

I'm a huge fan of Mesa amps, but not their pedals. So it was definitely crazy of me to preorder this. Especially not even knowing what it sounds like. But I'm a tone junkie and like to experiment .
I received it earlier this afternoon. Plugged right in, dialed everything at noon, and hit a power chord. If you could only see the grin on my face. This thing is pretty awesome.
I have to point out this is not an OD pedal. It's a distortion pedal. Also it's not the typical Mesa amp chug tone but it packs a punch. Like a Marshall on Mesa steroids. Chunky rhythm and warm/creamy leads. So much better than their throttle box.
I tweaked a bit and tried diff settings. It all sounds great. I even flicked the tone EQ switch inside. But I prefer the tight sound it comes set to from the factory.
Now...when I put a boost in front of it (Electric Eye Audio's Mud Killer), that's when the metal chugs came through. I was jamming on this thing for a good 3 hrs. I didn't want to stop lol. Definitely inspiring tones for days.
So with all that said I'm very satisfied with my purchase, and highly recommend checking it out.

Thanks Mesa!

This pedal is fantastic. I am very much in the camp of preferring amp generated gain. However, this pedal is one of the best examples of an amp in a stomp box I've heard. It authentically recreates the sound of a high gain amp, while also providing controls that can dial down the gain and give a mellow, more "transparent" tone. It's a great product and worth the cost.

Well...this is the first review I have written about a Mesa product that was not 5 stars as i own a number of Mesa amps and pedals. I received the Gold Mine with great expectations that it would be a more modern version of the already awesome pedals that Mesa has made. I have the Flux Drive, Tone Burst, and Throttle Box with EQ. I drive the clean rhythm channels on my Mesa Triaxis and Rectifier amps near breakup with the OD pedals primarily. I used this same setup with the Gold Mine pedal. The first thing i noticed was that the Gold Mine pedal did not have the same built like a tank feel the previous generation of pedals have...still substantial, but i doubt as road worthy. Then power up...the noise level of the pedal was higher than my other Mesa OD pedals at the same gain level...didn't care for that too much...makes stacking this pedal really noisy. The tone of the pedal was actually quite good like a cross between a Flux Drive and a Throttle Box, a bit more transparent. I didn't care for the 3 band EQ much...I preferred to leave the controls flat and adjust EQ at the amp. The gain tone was good for a more modern sounding OD pedal, but not as good as the Walrus Ages pedal i bought recently...my plan was to try both the Ages and the Gold Mine, keep one of them, send the other back....and the winner is....the Ages pedal. I sent the Gold mine back...i am very happy with my older Mesa Pedals.

Started my 1st pedal board. The Gold Mine is a well made pedal, and offfers all the OD you could ever need, and still remain "musical". However it is way more drive than I will need or use. Still a great pedal, and would recommend it to any one looking for a strong Classic Rock sound.

Tried it with various guitars and amps. Conclusion? Way too much mid range. With the mids turned down all the way on my amp and pedal both, still overpoweringly mid-rangy. I can dial in a decent classic rock tone. That is it.
I should know better than to by online without trying it first. Lesson learned. Not a fan of this pedal... at all. An EQ pedal might help but I'm not going to buy another pedal to try to save this pedal.

I bought this pedal because Mesa boogie has a great reputation, and when I saw it had bass mid & treble tone controls, I thought I would be able to easily dial in the tones I would be looking for. Not the case. All you get is honking mid range. There is no brightness or bite in the sound. No articulation that will cut through while you're playing. No matter how you set the tone controls, you get mid-range muff, like someone talking through a face mask. At $, this is SO DISAPPOINTING! Don't get it.