80s Boogie Mark IIB - Are They Any Cop?

JookyChap

I've been offered an 80s Boogie Mark IIB amp as a trade for something I've got on ebay, but know nowt about Boogies (Mesas?) at all. It apparently has a walnut cab and the chap tells me it sounds like a Fender  Princeton. It has been  converted to 240V and he has had it from new/never gigged/waxes it daily etc.

I'm waiting for fotos, but apparently it looks like this...

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Mesa-Boogie-Mark-II-B-Tube-Amplifier-1x12-Combo-Hardwood-Cab-w-Slip-Cover-/00/s/MTAxNlgxMjQ2/z/nIUAAMXQlgtS--4M/$_57.JPG

(Which says it is cherry, rather than walnut, but whatever).

Anybody know what they are like or worth come the usual flip in a fortnight's time?

He's in Aberdeen so it will be a postal thing, but he is happy to send his first so I'm not worried about that side of things..

All info gratefully received

richardhomer

If you like the way they sound (and I do) - an all time classic. The Mk11c is 'the' one but these are truly great amps.

They have a lovely, mid-heavy, medium gain singing sustain. People like Larry Carlton used to use them.

ICBM

If he thinks it sounds like a Fender Princeton it's a reasonable assumption that he's never played a Princeton…!

Originally the very first proto-Boogies were heavily-modded Princetons - or more accurately a new amp built inside a Princeton cabinet and chassis - but they still don't sound at all alike.

Extremely loud, extremely directional, quite midrangy (unless you set the graphic to the classic Mesa 'V' - don't buy one without the graphic), and with less gain than you may expect given their reputation. They're capable of great cleans - a bit Fender-like, but much bolder and 'forward' and outstanding overdrive, but can be difficult to set for both at the same time, and the controls are *very* fussy. They also do need to be cranked a bit to avoid sounding like a nest of hornets.

And feel like they're made from depleted Uranium, so make sure he's going to cover the shipping...

JookyChap

Yeah, already discussed the shipping

Must admit saying it sounded like a Princeton surprised me somewhat..but I've really never tried anything like this and  I'm nothing if not curious.

Might be worth a go then, thanks both

richardhomer

ICBM;235364" said:

And feel like they're made from depleted Uranium, so make sure he's going to cover the shipping...

I had a Mk111 which did a excellent impression of being bolted to the floor.

The 'difficult to dial in' reputation is a bit over-done in my opinion. If you have the manual, you can be up an running with great tones in no time.

Once you understand how the gain controls interact, they are actually quite straight-forward.

I'd happily have mine back....

Loobs

I love the hardwood heads. So cool. 

ThePrettyDamned

There was a proper old one with an ev speaker in a local shop recently and it sounded fabulous. Stupidly loud for such a small amp!

Heard they're directional, but I didn't check that. I was just awed by how cool a relic amp looks and sounds - pretty legendary little thing.

ecc83

I remember a review of one and the tag line was..." Looks like a 1940s wireless set. Sounds like a flying bomb!"

Dave.

JookyChap

Well, the deed is done - it should be here next week, so we shall see what we shall see..

eventhelosers

I owned a Boogie Mk2b, that looked just like the one above, for quite a few years. Thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences on/of it with you.

1. First and foremost, these amps sound great but are very, very loud. Mine only really started to chime when the master volume got to number 2 on the dial, by which time which ever pub I was playing in was usually in ruins. I once played an open air festival with it, which involved a 15k rig, at which I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to stretch its legs, so I turned it all the way up to 3! Afterwards the sound engineer said he didn't bother using the microphone on it as it was the loudest thing he could hear coming off the stage, even after he'd walked 400 yards back up the hill! I replied, PARDON, WHAT?!!.

2. I found that the best way to use the two channels was to run the clean channel as such and stick a nice transparent OD into it for crunchy rhythm tones, then use the lead channel as a solo boost. You can still download the manual from t'internet I think. Worth a read.

3. The graphic, in my experience, is pretty much integral to the overall sound. I tried playing with it switched out but it just didn't sound meaty enough somehow. It adds a nice fat warmth to the whole thing.

4. There's no getting around it, they are about as heavy as a Boeing 747, flightcased, an Airbus A380. The main reason I sold mine was that my back was taking a bit of a hammering lugging it in and out of the car. Come to think of it, the car took a hammering too... It was worth the effort though - it must have been, I lugged it around for over ten years. The upside of this is that they are utterly bomb proof.

5. If you can, get a matching extension cabinet. It's a fantastic amp to start with but its even better with the extra cab. It sounds less focused and more wide open, if that makes any sense?

Anyways, hope you enjoy it, I'm sure you will.

ICBM

richardhomer said:

I had a Mk111 which did a excellent impression of being bolted to the floor.

The 'difficult to dial in' reputation is a bit over-done in my opinion. If you have the manual, you can be up an running with great tones in no time.

Once you understand how the gain controls interact, they are actually quite straight-forward.

True - and actually, the more you turn them up the less fussy they are… with the caveat that you may be beyond the point anyone will let you play at that volume. They can be very frustrating at low volume though, even with the manual. I had a MkIII very briefly, and just couldn't get happy with it - and I'm normally good at dialing things in.

eventhelosers said:

1. First and foremost, these amps sound great but are very, very loud. Mine only really started to chime when the master volume got to number 2 on the dial, by which time which ever pub I was playing in was usually in ruins. I once played an open air festival with it, which involved a 15k rig, at which I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to stretch its legs, so I turned it all the way up to 3! Afterwards the sound engineer said he didn't bother using the microphone on it as it was the loudest thing he could hear coming off the stage, even after he'd walked 400 yards back up the hill! I replied, PARDON, WHAT?!!.

He was probably still more or less straight inline with it. My DC-5 was like that. I took it to a festival gig in a big indoor venue once and another band's guitarist asked to use it, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to hear what it sounded like out front. I went right to the back of the room next to the mixing desk, and I could still hear the little thing directly from the stage, right over the top of the multi-KW PA. But even a few feet off to the side - luckily including where the sound engineer was standing - it was just 'in the mix' and clearly coming mostly via the PA.

eventhelosers said:

3. The graphic, in my experience, is pretty much integral to the overall sound. I tried playing with it switched out but it just didn't sound meaty enough somehow. It adds a nice fat warmth to the whole thing.

Interestingly - and Mesa are *very* cagey about this - the GEQ is a solid-state circuit using four transistors. Who would have thought it, transistors improving the tone of a valve amp! But they really do.

eventhelosers said:

5. If you can, get a matching extension cabinet. It's a fantastic amp to start with but its even better with the extra cab. It sounds less focused and more wide open, if that makes any sense?

Definitely. It's the little cab with a (relatively) oversized, front-loaded speaker and a mostly open back which makes them so focused and directional. The 'Thiele' ported cab they were designed to go with makes a huge difference to both the tone and the way the sound spreads out. Even the three-quarter-back cab helps.

p90fool

Chop it into a head, seriously. The one I had sounded perfect at exactly 14.3 degrees off-axis, muddy any wider and genuinely, painfully vicious straight in front.

You end up not daring to turn it up to the point where you can hear it because it'll part the audience like the Red Sea in front of it if you do. The only other option is to lie it on its back somewhere behind the drummer.

Ok I'm exaggerating a little, but if you're not careful they will genuinely cut a swathe through a crowd, leaving an area where people just do not want to stand.
It wasn't just my playing either, the two other guys I knew at the time who had them had the same problem, I overheard non-musician audience members say "the guitarist's a bit much isn't he?" on a few occasions.

Use with caution.

ICBM

p90fool said:

The only other option is to lie it on its back somewhere behind the drummer.

Springsteen does that with his Marshall cabs. It looks odd, but it does work. With a Boogie you would probably have to issue a warning to Air Traffic Control though…

Cacofonix

p90fool said:

Chop it into a head, seriously. The one I had sounded perfect at exactly 14.3 degrees off-axis, muddy any wider and genuinely, painfully vicious straight in front.

You end up not daring to turn it up to the point where you can hear it because it'll part the audience like the Red Sea in front of it if you do. The only other option is to lie it on its back somewhere behind the drummer.

Ok I'm exaggerating a little, but if you're not careful they will genuinely cut a swathe through a crowd, leaving an area where people just do not want to stand.
It wasn't just my playing either, the two other guys I knew at the time who had them had the same problem, I overheard non-musician audience members say "the guitarist's a bit much isn't he?" on a few occasions.

Use with caution.

You could get one of those doughnut insert things, or would that make it worse?  You could put the foam in front of the cone, with supports of some kind, I suppose.

koneguitarist

My favourite boogie, wish I had never sold mine. Set it for raunch OD, and use guitar volume for clean. Very very good amps, loud but also very directional, which was one of the reasons I eventually got rid of it. Mate still has one, and he's a bedroom guitarist !

Misty

I used a Mk2b for twelve years, sold it probably fifteen years ago now. Good amp for sure, and pretty much everything about it has been said already, but one problem I had was that the effects loop was unusable as the send level was boosted when switching from clean to dirty. Eventually I wrote to Mesa, (in the days before email!), who were incredible helpful and sent a circuit diagram for a mod which they recommended, and which basically cured the problem. It was still line level, so no pedals in the loop, but it worked OK for rack units.

lento

If I remember rightly, you could also use a volume pedal in the return to control preamp gain ....... something that is unique to this amp !

welshboyo

@Jookychap

if it doesn't work out for you, give me a shout, I dearly miss my early MK...

matt1973

I used mine as a big clean amp and coloured it with pedals. I was a bit fender(ish) to my ears but with a turbo-charge bottom end. Good amp.

JookyChap

welshboyo said:

@Jookychap

if it doesn't work out for you, give me a shout, I dearly miss my early MK...

The guy has gone quiet on me, but if it happens I'll give you a shout @welshboyo as I must admit, curious though i am, it sounds a wee bit loud for home use