Boogie early history & more

[VoodooGuitar]

Hey guys, wrote a piece about the origin and early history of Boogie amps, thought some of you might dig it...

http://voodooguitar.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-joke-named-boogie-early-years-of-mesa.html

Cheers!
JP

 

[Elpelotero]

Well written, congrats!

 

[s-fresh]

Nice! Thanks for posting this.

Does anyone know anything about the period in the 90's where Mesa transitioned from made-to-order amps based on evolving models into the company they are today selling set models with no real custom options to speak of? The transition makes sense as the custom business model probably doesn't scale very well. But seeing how long the Mark III went into the Mark IV production is really strange. Would love to understand that period and all the choices made during that time. Obviously they are doing very well now, but I tend to appreciate the older stuff more knowing each one has it's own unique character.

 

[VoodooGuitar]

I believe the shift into more of a mass-produced product line was around 1993... the original Mark IVs were called the "A" models, and built more like the old hand-made amps. My DC-5 is an early model with built-in AC cord, and solid as a tank. A buddy had an early Dual recto that sounded incredible, miles above any others... it was Soundgarden Superunkown in a box, also with the AC built in. there were something like 6 revisions of the Recto circuit between 92-93, so thats a tougher one to nail down. I'm guessing that once they decided on a finished version, it went into bigger production.

 

[bgh]

Nice article. Nice, homey style. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SamuelJ86]

That was a pleasure to read! Thank you!

 

[VoodooGuitar]

thanks for the kind words guys, much appreciated! i love researching & writing this kind of stuff.

 

[lovetoboogie]

Awesome piece of writing. Very cool... It was nice to see you used one of my old Mark IIA's as a reference photo. I sold that one to a cat in Australia last year. As a side note...you have a simple typo in the Mark I control description... Input 1 is the cascading high-gain channel whereas Input 2 would be known as the lower gain Fender-ish, Bassman-ish channel. Very concise and enjoyable read!

 

[VoodooGuitar]

Awesome piece of writing. Very cool... It was nice to see you used one of my old Mark IIA's as a reference photo. I sold that one to a cat in Australia last year. As a side note...you have a simple typo in the Mark I control description... Input 1 is the cascading high-gain channel whereas Input 2 would be known as the lower gain Fender-ish, Bassman-ish channel. Very concise and enjoyable read!

Thanks for that! Just edited it. The hardwood w/wicker grill IIA?? Man, that was one of the nicest i'd found... i've seen black tolex with wicker, but this was much nicer. I reckon i'd have bought that if i saw it for sale first!

 

[VoodooGuitar]

Does Randall or any of the older names from Boogie ever post on here? I was hoping to get this piece fact-checked by a reliable source.

 

[gts]

Does Randall or any of the older names from Boogie ever post on here?

Not that I've ever seen.

Btw nice job on that web page!

 

[Ldthomas]

Nice job. Must have been fun doing the research

 

[VoodooGuitar]

Nice job. Must have been fun doing the research

It was, i really enjoy this kinda stuff. Glad you liked it!

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Does Randall or any of the older names from Boogie ever post on here? I was hoping to get this piece fact-checked by a reliable source.

I ran this by Mike B...after reading it, he said there are definitely a few things that need correcting. I'll re-visit it with him when he has time...

Thanks

 

[jhilbert]

Nice write up. The '84 IIC+ Dagame is mine. Pretty neat seeing the pic in the history.

 

[VoodooGuitar]

Nice write up. The '84 IIC+ Dagame is mine. Pretty neat seeing the pic in the history.

It's absolutely beautiful! I tried to find the best examples possible.

 

[jhilbert]

Nice write up. The '84 IIC+ Dagame is mine. Pretty neat seeing the pic in the history.

It's absolutely beautiful! I tried to find the best examples possible.

Thanks! Very recently purchased, she's wicked!!

 

[s-fresh]

Pretty sure that dagame cab was not original. I feel like I contacted the seller on Reverb and they had made it custom. Cool head no doubt, but not sure it fits in with the history lesson being that it's aftermarket.

Also, thanks again for posting this. I'm trying to put together an interactive timeline of all the Mesa models offered so this is helpful information.

 

[Tiki295]

Excellent work

 

[VoodooGuitar]

Excellent work

Thanks! Much obliged.