Amplitudes: The Mesa Boogie Blog

Blues City Music - Cordova, TN

"Blues City Music, LLC., was founded by James L. Burke III in 2005, initially operating out of an existing local brick and mortar music store location, in the Memphis, Tennessee area. Several months later, BCM moved into the largest daily recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, and was there for 11 years. American Recording Studio was responsible for some amazing records from very impressive artists such as our own Elvis Presley, Jeff Buckley, Loretta Lynn, T. G. Shepard, The Wilco's, The Box Tops, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and many more. Our own Donald "Duck" Dunn of Stax Records, Booker T and the MG's, and the Blues Brothers, was our godfather. He was the executive producer for James Burke's daughter, Christina Marie Burke. She's a professional classical Soprano 1 singer in Nashville, Tenn.

IN 2016, BCM opened up their own 2,200 square foot brick and mortar location in the heart of east Memphis right off one of the busiest streets in Tennessee. 

We are primarily a very high end boutique store front with an amazing encrypted web store, specializing in custom shop rigs, but we also have the finest full array band stand that rivals any club in the Memphis area. We installed a 6,000 watt QSC active PA system tuned for the room with DBX and Allen and Heath rack gear, 2 monitor mixes, 2 vocal mixes, DI's for keys and acoustic guitar, and mics and sound shields for all drums and all guitar and bass amps. We have this available for any customer to use so he or she can see what their purchase will sound like in a complete band setting. All it takes is to choose a an amplifier or guitar and we can quickly change it out on our band stand where they can rock out. 

We are thrilled to be a large stocking dealer for Mesa Boogie. Our goal as was Mesa's, was to make BCM a custom shop destination, and so far we have been very successful in doing so. We also carry Diamond, Diezel, Friedman, Mezzabarba, Louis Electric, Matchless, and Quilter guitar and bass amps. For guitars we have Ventura County Vintage custom electric guitars, Diamond, Seagull, Oscar-Schmidt, and Traveler. We stock Lava, Solid Cables, and Georg L's instrument, speaker, and mic cables. You will also see that we are an American DJ stage lighting dealer, Veritas Instrument band equipment rental location, and a LunaStone, ZVEX, Mesa Boogie, Diamond, Friedman, Diezel, and Creation Audio Labs pedal reseller. On occasion we have several select vintage guitars and amplifiers for sale. "

Shop Vibe

"Our vibe is absolutely unlike any other musical instrument retailer in this industry. That's a fact. Our customers come to BCM for an experience not a 3 for 1 sale. They can stay for as long as they like, and when they are ready to play any of our 105+ guitar amplifier heads, cabinets, and or combos, they can play for as long and as loud as they like. We could book Def Leppard in our shop and none of our neighbors would complain. Matter of fact, most wouldn't have a clue what was going on since they couldn't hear much. 

The BCM store is mostly only open for private appointments, but all the while the web store is up and running very smoothly. We have 8.5" thick walls in our shop with a new acoustical panel ceiling. Sound quality is really nice in the main show room, but we have a "one off" amplifier demo room utilizing custom Bob Bradshaw and Tone Bone amplifier switching systems. Right now we have 20 amps and 5 4x12" speaker cabinets in this room. 

For those looking for more of an intimate solo demo of a certain rig, we have 3 acoustically correct smaller demo rooms available too. In one room, we provide a custom made Hermit Cabs 2x12" ISOLATION cabinet as well. Here you can run the amp really hard but keep the exterior volume way down. This way customers can really see what this amp does when you open it up.

We also have a sectioned off area for family members to chill out while their loved ones are checking our shop out. Here they will find a 2,000 watt turntable system, hundreds of LP's to choose from, or they can access our 48" 4K monitor hooked up to every social media platform available."

Clientele

"Most of our customers are professional players whether major label, Indie label, local musicians, or singer song writers. We also have a large amount of players that are former pros, but are now tucked away into the business arena. They still love to jam while at home or in the office, so we help them find a rig suitable for that environment now. 

We have made dozens and dozens of custom rigs for customers. You name it, every color of the rainbow, full power, half power, pentode, triode, loop bypass, dual over drive, single over drive, +4db serial loop, post master volume effects level loops, crazy speaker combinations, and even some really cool custom vinyl and wood grained head shells. 

Blues City Music wants to do this exact same thing with Mesa Boogie. Blues City Music has brought Mesa Boogie on board as their primary anchor store, period. They have made a huge purchase in everything Mesa including many different custom shop pieces and look forward to putting together some amazing pieces."

Industry Trends

"Blues City Music is finishing up the best year we've had since inception. It isn't even close. We are up 220% year to date right now. Custom, custom, custom. That is also where our market is today and what we specialize in building. Guys aren't collecting anymore. They are downsizing their basic rigs, combining cash from these sales, and then buying less but more personal custom rigs of their choice. That's what is so amazing about Mesa Boogie. You can customize anything you want. If it's doable, they will try to accommodate. 

We also see that guys are moving away from modeling and profiling amps with their rigs. Life is too short and most agree, why not play the real thing? We make sure to ask a customer what it is they want their rig to do and where. Once we find this out, we can custom tailor a rig for them that's perfect for their setting. 

Our mantra has always been. Turn It Up. And we do, so do our customers."

Thanks for checking out our featured MESA/Boogie® dealer! To visit the shop online or via social, find their detailed contact info here.