This is a list of musicians who have made notable use of Mesa/Boogie amplifiers in live performances or studio recordings.
Aleksandar Živojinović, known professionally as Alex Lifeson, is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded a band that would later become Rush, with drummer John Rutsey and bassist and lead vocalist Jeff Jones. Jones was replaced by Geddy Lee a month later, and Rutsey was replaced by Neil Peart in 1974, after which the lineup remained unchanged until the band's dissolution in 2018. Lifeson was the only member of Rush who stayed in the band throughout its entire existence, and he and Lee were the only members to appear on all of the band's albums.
Kirk Lee Hammett is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2003, Hammett, along with bandmate James Hetfield, was ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.
James Alan Hetfield is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally performs lead guitar duties and solos both live and in studio. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler. Metallica has won nine Grammy Awards and released 11 studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays, and 24 singles. Hetfield is often regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal rhythm guitar players of all time.
John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced all of Dream Theater's albums from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) to A View from the Top of the World (2021), and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011). Petrucci has also released two solo albums: Suspended Animation (2005) and Terminal Velocity (2020).
Hunter Benedict Shepherd is an American musician best known as the bassist of rock band Soundgarden. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden.
"Fade to Black" is a song and the first power ballad by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released as the first promotional single from their second studio album, Ride the Lightning (1984). The song was ranked as having the 24th best guitar solo ever by Guitar World readers.
Mesa/Boogie is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969.
Hughes & Kettner is a German manufacturer of instrument amplifiers, cabinets and effects boxes.
Diezel Amplification GmbH is a company based in Bad Steben, Germany, founded by Peter Diezel and Peter Stapfer, that builds high-end guitar amplifiers. The company was established in 1992.
Dino Cazares is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares popularized the use of digital amp modelling processors, as well as the use of seven and eight-string guitars in metal music.
Dumble was a guitar amplifier manufacturer in Los Angeles, California.
Shred guitar is a virtuosic style of electric guitar performance. Categorized by its use of advanced techniques, shredding is a complex art form. Shred guitar includes fast alternate picking, sweep-picking, diminished and harmonic minor scales, tapping, and whammy bar use. Often incorporated in heavy metal, guitarists employ a guitar amplifier and a range of effects such as distortion. This creates a sustained guitar tone and may facilitate guitar feedback.
Daniel Joseph Donegan is an American musician who is the guitarist, keyboardist and one of the founding members of heavy metal band Disturbed.
Mårten Hans Hagström is a Swedish musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band after the release of their first album, which allowed Jens Kidman to focus on his vocal performances and give up rhythm guitar duties. He and fellow Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal are known for their complex rhythm guitar playing. Hagström has cited Rush, James Hetfield, Squarepusher, Autechre, Strapping Young Lad, and GISM as influences.
Drop C tuning is an alternative guitar tuning where at least one string has been lowered to a C, but most commonly refers to CGCFAD, which can be described as D tuning with a 6th string dropped to C, or drop D tuning transposed down a whole step. Because of its heavier tone, it is most commonly used in rock and heavy metal music.
John Marshall is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist for the heavy metal band Metal Church. He was the guitar tech for Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. Marshall also became the fill-in rhythm guitarist for Metallica's James Hetfield on two occasions when Hetfield was injured. First in 1986 while Hetfield's wrist was broken, and again in 1992 when Hetfield was recovering from burn injuries. Marshall joined the band onstage for a performance of "Sad but True" during Metallica's four-day 30th anniversary concert in December 2011 at the Fillmore in San Francisco. He also briefly played in progressive thrash metal band Blind Illusion.
The Marshall Major was a bass guitar amplifier made by Marshall. It was introduced in 1967 as the "Marshall 200". It had a plexi panel and two inputs in one channel, but in contrast with the 100 watt heads made by Marshall, the first series had split tone controls similar to the Sound City amps. For the second series, in late 1968, Marshall reverted to ordinary passive tone controls, and was called "Marshall Major". Some authors claim the first version had active tone controls but this is incorrect, the schematics for all versions are available online.
Wampler Pedals is a company located in Martinsville, Indiana that produces effects units to be used with guitar and bass guitar as well as guitar amplifiers. Founded by Brian Wampler in 2007, Wampler Pedals is considered part of the boutique guitar pedal industry.
Gnosis is the eighth studio album by American post-metal band Russian Circles. It was released on August 19, 2022, through Sargent House.
Fractal Audio Systems, often shortened to Fractal, is an American audio equipment manufacturer founded in 2006. Fractal became pioneers of the high-end digital amplifier modeling market with the release of the rack-mount Axe-FX, which has been credited as the first amp modelling and effects system convincing enough for professional use.