Saw a mark 1 Boogie today

ThePrettyDamned

Had real relic'ing - you know, the kind that would put people off rather than the pretty stuff that comes from shops.

Didn't hear it, but first impressions - Aww, it's so cute and small... Shit, 4x 6l6's? Bloody hell, is there a star in the transformer, it weighs a ton! Cool, graphic eq...

Never seen one before. Was a nice little piece of history, I'd love to hear it but alas, although the shop offered I politely declined.

ICBM

My favourite Mark series - maybe the only one I quite like. There was a similarly road-worn one in the shop last year, without the graphic EQ.

They're very different from modern Mark series Boogies - much less gain than you would expect, even with the volumes turned up. The distortion is quite gnarly rather than smooth, unless you also crank the master as well... then they really sing, but the volume is astounding! Yes, 4-6L6, a full 100W and a very efficient speaker whether it's the Altec or the EV. They were said to be as loud as a full Marshall stack, and it's easy to believe - at least if you're on-axis, they're extremely directional too. Definitely the nuclear deterrent of amps if you're in a loud band - ie "turn down or I'll point my amp at you" .

I did think about buying it just to have - it was cheap when it came in as it needed a fair bit of work - but it would really only have been useful as a pedal platform, for me. That said Simon Cleave of The Wedding Present, Cinerama etc got a great sound out of one for that...

ThePrettyDamned

Yeah, I have to admit, this thing oozed mojo - it was a proper relic - not pretty, proper fucked in places, but it had off-white tolex and... I can't get over how cute it was.  How did they fit so much in?! This one had an electro-something speaker (EV I guess?).  

The lady in the shop said a man came from Blackstar to rep their own amps, and as soon as he saw it, he plugged in and jammed out for ages... Then he said B* are good amps, too, and proceeded to rock out on those.  Then he had one last go on the Boogie!

Must be awesome.  They hadn't put a price on yet, but it would be well out of my price range in the next ten years

ICBM

You might be surprised, they don't go for that much despite the history - because they're neither that modern-sounding, nor truly vintage. The EV speaker makes it either a later original or an earlier reissue, which they started long enough ago for a road-worn one to be a 'new' one.

The most valuable old Boogie is the MkIIC+ - there are even different revisions with different coloured panel stripes that the Boogie nuts get obsessed over - but to me that's when they started to get that more annoying 'smooth' compressed Mark series sound that I don't like .

ThePrettyDamned

I'm going to say late original - it had all the signs of an amp that's gigged for years and years, and even the label on the speaker was worn.  Looked old - actually, looked a lot older than some old fender and marshall amps from the 60's I've seen!

custom1981

ICBM said:

You might be surprised, they don't go for that much despite the history - because they're neither that modern-sounding, nor truly vintage. The EV speaker makes it either a later original or an earlier reissue, which they started long enough ago for a road-worn one to be a 'new' one.

The most valuable old Boogie is the MkIIC+ - there are even different revisions with different coloured panel stripes that the Boogie nuts get obsessed over - but to me that's when they started to get that more annoying 'smooth' compressed Mark series sound that I don't like .

It was The MKIII that had the stripes not the MKIIC+ the MKIIC+ never had any stripes

ThePrettyDamned

I heard it the other day. It's 800 quid.

And fuck me, that would be the best 800 quid amp you can buy. Some bloke was playing a mayones they have through it, and it sounded great - sorta jcm800 ish, but rounder.

Could hardly believe it was from a tiny 1x12.

ICBM

custom1981 said:

It was The MKIII that had the stripes not the MKIIC+ the MKIIC+ never had any stripes

Thanks, I wasn't sure I had that right! I'm actually not a great fan of the Marks at all despite my love of Rectifiers, so I wouldn't be interested in a MkII at all, really...

welshboyo

ThePrettyDamned said:

I heard it the other day. It's 800 quid.

And fuck me, that would be the best 800 quid amp you can buy. Some bloke was playing a mayones they have through it, and it sounded great - sorta jcm800 ish, but rounder.

Could hardly believe it was from a tiny 1x12.

this is the whole essence of what a Boogie really is, forget the rectifier series, thats just their attempt at keeping up with evolving musical tastes/tones..*Ducks for Cover*

The true Boogie sounds are to be had from the MK series ONLY and even though I have flown the nest so to speak, I still have a massive soft spot for them and would be hard pushed to pass a MKI by if I was offered one..

ICBM

welshboyo said:

this is the whole essence of what a Boogie really is, forget the rectifier series, thats just their attempt at keeping up with evolving musical tastes/tones..*Ducks for Cover*

I know you're kidding, but you couldn't be more wrong . The Rectifier wasn't keeping up, it started the whole thing.

The Rectifier was designed as a hair-metal amp... really! Mesa's answer to the SLO. It was only a bit later than it came to define the sound of nu-metal. In fact, the very early ones sound a bit different and are still sought-after by more old-school metal players, rather than the newer ones.

I also think it was probably the last great guitar amp evolution, for exactly that reason - there really hasn't been anything which has redefined the sound of an electric guitar and guitar music in the same way since. Every modern high-gain sound owes at least something to the Recto. And that's more than twenty years ago now...

The same was true of the Mark series in its day too - it redefined what an electric guitar could sound like. Both true classic amps.

welshboyo

ICBM said:

welshboyo said:

this is the whole essence of what a Boogie really is, forget the rectifier series, thats just their attempt at keeping up with evolving musical tastes/tones..*Ducks for Cover*

I know you're kidding, but you couldn't be more wrong . The Rectifier wasn't keeping up, it started the whole thing.

The Rectifier was designed as a hair-metal amp... really! Mesa's answer to the SLO. It was only a bit later than it came to define the sound of nu-metal. In fact, the very early ones sound a bit different and are still sought-after by more old-school metal players, rather than the newer ones.

I also think it was probably the last great guitar amp evolution, for exactly that reason - there really hasn't been anything which has redefined the sound of an electric guitar and guitar music in the same way since. Every modern high-gain sound owes at least something to the Recto. And that's more than twenty years ago now...

The same was true of the Mark series in its day too - it redefined what an electric guitar could sound like. Both true classic amps.

As its you, I'll agree
:P

57Deluxe

They just doing a LE of it again now...

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Mark_Series/king-snake/king-snake.html

ThePrettyDamned

57Deluxe;111899" said:

They just doing a LE of it again now...

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Mark_Series/king-snake/king-snake.html

Ah, this one has the graphic eq.