Boogie MKIIB Rev Eq 60/100W head

[gitapik]

Looks great! I notice you've got all the sliders fitted with the squared off knobs. I lost three of them over the years, so I now have the rounded off Mark III knobs on mine. They don't make the squared off ones anymore.

 

[mark2boogie]

Looks great! I notice you've got all the sliders fitted with the squared off knobs. I lost three of them over the years, so I now have the rounded off Mark III knobs on mine. They don't make the squared off ones anymore.

Thanks ! - It seems that the suitable slider knobs are scarce to find... My MKIIA also has exactly the same, but I wondered if they were original or substitutionb - I still don't know. In fact, I thought that original knobs would have the horizontal white stripe at the center.

Now I have the 4-knobs footswitch to built from a Laney footswitch box (at right)...

A+!

 

[McBarry]

@ gitapick - sorry about the fracture..
I broke my foot a few months ago - Jones fracture. But I have to say, it was almost pain-free and now only aches with the screw inside..

@ Mk2B- really like the red rear-plates. Noice.
But quality work is becomming par for the course for our Bruno.. kudos!

Re tranny hum - I was working on a '92 reissure fender vibroverb and am staggerred at the hum. With vol on zero AND V1 disconnected it still noisy - makes all of my Boogies seem silent in comparison - and truth to tell the worst of them has only a barely audible hiss and even smaller hum at idle.

re eq slider knobs - I reckon someone with connections to a manufacturer in Asia must be able to source a solution.. surely it's not rocket science, just needs to be cost-effective..
Dave

 

[gitapik]

@ gitapick - sorry about the fracture..
I broke my foot a few months ago - Jones fracture. But I have to say, it was almost pain-free and now only aches with the screw inside..

re eq slider knobs - I reckon someone with connections to a manufacturer in Asia must be able to source a solution.. surely it's not rocket science, just needs to be cost-effective..
Dave

Ouch! Screw inside? Yeah, my doctor told me that, as breaks go, I really lucked out. We'll see this Thursday if I can take the brace off. Hope so.

You know, I went to a shop about an hour from here to check out a Tone King Imperial, today. My impressions:

> It's a really nice amp. Surprisingly large sound for 20 watts. 30lbs is nice. Cleans stayed put pretty well at a higher volume. The Mark IIB is better, but at 20w, I was impressed.

> There was a Mark IIB combo there for $900. Cream tolex, 60/100W, EQ. Basically my amp. It was so beat up. If that one was worth $900, mine's worth twice that.

> I keep playing other amps and end up realizing how nice these older Mark series amps really are.

Have to say, though, that I thought the Imperial was a nice amp. I'll be checking out a Louis Electric Buster this Wednesday. See what that's about.

 

[gitapik]

btw, mark2boogie: now that you've taken out the effects loop mod, can you connect a volume pedal on the underside of the amp? It's one of the things that the IIB is known for. They call it "Gain on the fly", but basically, you can have the same sound at any volume with it. So if you've got the Lead channel maxed out, you can get that same saturated tone at whatever volume the pedal's set at. Similar to power scaling with the Suhr Badger amps. No cut in the gain when you use the pedal to lower the volume.

 

[TiPiMods]

@mcbarry & gitapik: seems we're all recovering right now. good luck to you all. I got off my cast two weeks ago, was so glad to walk without crooks after 8 weeks.

sliders: I was serching for half a year for the right old sliders and didn't find anything. finally I found some guy with a mesa preamp who gave me his old sliders in change for some new ones ( he didn't care)

volume pedal thing: there are two possibilities, I tried both but was not very impressed. you can loop the volume pedal which is like an additional master volume or you do it like that:
"Gil Ayan writes: A cool and little-known option with the effects loop of a Mark IIB (or original Mark II): one can run the output of a volume pedal (without your guitar being plugged into its input) into the 'return' jack, and get on-the-fly preamp gain control. This is a feature that very few tube amps have ever had, even inadvertently - it uses the pot in the volume pedal as a passive limiting device, such that when the pedal is 'wide open,' it allows the pre amp tubes' full voltage to pass into the power section. As the pedal is backed off, it decreases the amount of pre amp signal allowed through the 'loop,' cleaning up the sound. To make use of this feature, setting the clean channel's pre amp to 9 and using an Ernie Ball pedal to vary the overall tone gives many different tone options. In the Mark IIB mannual they describe this, but say that one should use the preamp/amp junction input underneath the chassis."

I find it a little too sensitive and not very organic, but it probably depends on the volume pedal, maybe a low ohm (25k) pedal works better. Anyway its much easier to control the gain with your guitar volume (old trick, haha)

power scaling is quite different: as far as I know it reduces the voltage on the plates of the power tubes, so they go earlier into distortion, a bit like the "bold-spongy" switch on mark2boogies new transformer.

btw: Ian Dickeys boogie site is offline! hope not forever, it was a great site with a lot of information.
http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/MarkSeries.html

 

[gitapik]

@mcbarry & gitapik: seems we're all recovering right now. good luck to you all. I got off my cast two weeks ago, was so glad to walk without crooks after 8 weeks.

sliders: I was serching for harf a year for the right old sliders and didn't find anything. finally I found some guy with a mesa preamp who gave me his old sliders in change for some new ones ( he didn't care)

volume pedal thing: there are two possibilities, I tried both but was not very impressed. you can loop the volume pedal which is like an additional master volume or you do it like that:
"Gil Ayan writes: A cool and little-known option with the effects loop of a Mark IIB (or original Mark II): one can run the output of a volume pedal (without your guitar being plugged into its input) into the 'return' jack, and get on-the-fly preamp gain control. This is a feature that very few tube amps have ever had, even inadvertently - it uses the pot in the volume pedal as a passive limiting device, such that when the pedal is 'wide open,' it allows the pre amp tubes' full voltage to pass into the power section. As the pedal is backed off, it decreases the amount of pre amp signal allowed through the 'loop,' cleaning up the sound. To make use of this feature, setting the clean channel's pre amp to 9 and using an Ernie Ball pedal to vary the overall tone gives many different tone options. In the Mark IIB mannual they describe this, but say that one should use the preamp/amp junction input underneath the chassis."

I find it a little too sensitive and not very organic, but it probably depends on the volume pedal, maybe a low ohm (25k) pedal works better. Anyway its much easier to control the gain with your guitar volume (old trick, haha)

power scaling is quite different: as far as I know it reduces the voltage on the plates of the power tubes, so they go earlier into distortion, a bit like the "bold-spongy" switch on mark2boogies new transformer.

btw: Ian Dickeys boogie site is offline! hope not forever, it was a great site with a lot of information.
http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/MarkSeries.html

I used a cheap Boss pedal for a while which was pretty lame. I've got a full size, passive Ernie Ball one, now, which sounds good. I know it's not power scaling, per se, but it's pretty effective.

Bummer about Ian's site. Great source. Hopefully he's redesigning...? I got an email from him, recently (he's a fan of the IIB) and he seemed to be in good spirits.

 

[mark2boogie]

Re tranny hum - I was working on a '92 reissure fender vibroverb and am staggerred at the hum. With vol on zero AND V1 disconnected it still noisy - makes all of my Boogies seem silent in comparison - and truth to tell the worst of them has only a barely audible hiss and even smaller hum at idle.

Most of the transformers for audio and tube amps made today vary from acceptable to pure junk, if we forget some few honorable exceptions... It's not a matter of quality material, but a matter of quality construction. No interleaving windings, bad or no impregnation (a good one must be finished under vacuum), windings too loose, laminations not enough tightened, non insulated tie-rods...

When I worked at ALSTOM as a project engineer, we had a workshop specialized in precision windings and transformers for aeronautics, space industry, etc... It was possible for me to have some audio and power transformers custom made. Needless to say that these were unrivalled in quality : no hum even in overload, super low induction and running temperature... The guys at TAD wanted to explain me how is built a transformer... I wouldn't appear dogmatic but : :lol: :lol: :lol: !

By the way, you're lucky McBarry : For the moment, I never saw a really silent/hum-free Boogie (MKII, MKIII, MKIV, Lonestar Special, Nomad 50, to name a few), I mean as silent as my restored mint SF Princeton Reverb at similar volume... With the exception of my MKIIA, but at the expense of a big job!

I tried the volume pedal facility with an Ernie Ball Volume, but it proved unsatisfactory to me : the treble were tamed when reducing volume by cable capacity (integrator function), and when maxxed, it was not possible to recover full volume as if there were no pedal, and... I found it useless for me, in fact !

On my MKIIB, there is still an FX loop facility, but passive, which will be fully usable via an external active battery powered Loop Box of my own, but I must cure the remaining noise before going further in that field.

TiPimods : After taking measurements, the Bold/Tweed switch gives the equivalent of 20% drop in the mains supply voltage, by increasing the primary voltage admittance of the transformer to 275V instead of 230V. It doesn't offer the power scaling that you would expect, say, if you switch from 100 to 60W or from Pentode to Triode, but it limits the maximum clean power by "sagging" if you play loud enough. I did not took the time to measure the decrease in power output between Bold and Tweed, but I should. On a Pentode to Triode switching, the power output decreases by a factor of 2.5 - 3 from the nominal.

A+!

 

[gitapik]

Re tranny hum - I was working on a '92 reissure fender vibroverb and am staggerred at the hum. With vol on zero AND V1 disconnected it still noisy - makes all of my Boogies seem silent in comparison - and truth to tell the worst of them has only a barely audible hiss and even smaller hum at idle.

Most of the transformers for audio and tube amps made today vary from acceptable to pure junk, if we forget some few honorable exceptions... It's not a matter of quality material, but a matter of quality construction. No interleaving windings, bad or no impregnation (a good one must be finished under vacuum), windings too loose, laminations not enough tightened, non insulated tie-rods...

When I worked at ALSTOM as a project engineer, we had a workshop specialized in precision windings and transformers for aeronautics, space industry, etc... It was possible for me to have some audio and power transformers custom made. Needless to say that these were unrivalled in quality : no hum even in overload, super low induction and running temperature... The guys at TAD wanted to explain me how is built a transformer... I wouldn't appear dogmatic but : :lol: :lol: :lol: !

By the way, you're lucky McBarry : For the moment, I never saw a really silent/hum-free Boogie (MKII, MKIII, MKIV, Lonestar Special, Nomad 50, to name a few), I mean as silent as my restored mint SF Princeton Reverb at similar volume... With the exception of my MKIIA, but at the expense of a big job!

I tried the volume pedal facility with an Ernie Ball Volume, but it proved unsatisfactory to me : the treble were tamed when reducing volume by cable capacity (integrator function), and when maxxed, it was not possible to recover full volume as if there were no pedal, and... I found it useless for me, in fact !

On my MKIIB, there is still an FX loop facility, but passive, which will be fully usable via an external active battery powered Loop Box of my own, but I must cure the remaining noise before going further in that field.

TiPimods : After taking measurements, the Bold/Tweed switch gives the equivalent of 20% drop in the mains supply voltage, by increasing the primary voltage admittance of the transformer to 275V instead of 230V. It doesn't offer the power scaling that you would expect, say, if you switch from 100 to 60W or from Pentode to Triode, but it limits the maximum clean power by "sagging" if you play loud enough. I did not took the time to measure the decrease in power output between Bold and Tweed, but I should. On a Pentode to Triode switching, the power output decreases by a factor of 2.5 - 3 from the nominal.

A+!

Damn, man...I wish you lived next door.

:lol:

I don't use the volume pedal much at all. I found that it worked pretty well. Never really spent a lot of time on it, though. Enough to know that the Ernie Ball pedal worked better than the Boss one. Otherwise, I don't really like to lug another pedal around, so I just use my volume control and a boost on my board.

 

[mark2boogie]

Well,

As the guys at TAD asked me for technical informations - just to see if I wasn't an ugly painful guy claiming for nothing when I said that their transformer was a "5-Euro ****-quality built" - I gave unquestionable arguments files (pictures, measurements), and they agreed (with apologies) and will proceed to an exchange with a new VERIFIED one...

But this time I will be suspicious - instead of being logically confident as everyone would be - and made complete preliminary tests before any instalment (which represents at least half-day job spent to be done correctly and properly) : now they know that I have the equipment for that... A faulty unit is always possible, but I really suspect that it is nonetheless poorly built transformers anyway, no matter the sample...

Wait and see !

 

[TiPiMods]

there is one guy in Germany who makes high class transformers http://www.ig-transformatoren.com/startseite.html
I played an amp with this transformers which sounded fantastic.
you can order them at tube town http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/index.php/cat/c15_Transformatoren.html
I din't see any Boogie transformers, but maybe he makes one on special order.

but let's see what TAD delivers next to you.

 

[mark2boogie]

Yes TiPiMods,

I usually work with TT : they're cheaper, have a better website, they ship fast, and have as good products as TAD - and I would say probably better for some of them :twisted: . You're right, I did not see Boogie MK trafo at TT, so if TAD hadn't it, I would have ordered a power transformer for SF Twin Reverb 100W version from TT. TAD has some rarities that TT do not have, but they're sold the price of gold, and if it's "mojo-junky products", it's useless...

Thanks for the link to ig-transformatoren, where it would be with no doubt easy to find or have built to specs an unit of real good quality. But let's see what TAD will propose : I'm dubious...

I should also re-activate my friends in the transformer business, but I am afraid that they're all retired...

A+!

 

[gitapik]

Well,

As the guys at TAD asked me for technical informations - just to see if I wasn't an ugly painful guy claiming for nothing when I said that their transformer was a "5-Euro sh!t-quality built" - I gave unquestionable arguments files (pictures, measurements), and they agreed (with apologies) and will proceed to an exchange with a new VERIFIED one...

But this time I will be suspicious - instead of being logically confident as everyone would be - and made complete preliminary tests before any instalment (which represents at least half-day job spent to be done correctly and properly) : now they know that I have the equipment for that... A faulty unit is always possible, but I really suspect that it is nonetheless poorly built transformers anyway, no matter the sample...

Wait and see !

Ahhh...a "verified one".

That's exciting and cause for celebration!!!!

:lol:

It seems that there's a two tier system when it comes to merchandise and service. I don't know about France, but it didn't used to be as much this way in the US until the last decade or so. We really need to assert ourselves in order to get the "verified" merchandise and first class service.

One example which I'm very sad about is Apple. I bought the AppleCare Premium with both my iPhone and iMac. $100 each. The last 5 times I've called them for technical service and advice I've been on the line for a half hour with someone who's no more knowledgeable about the problem than myself.

Aah! Ranting. Sorry. I'm glad they're going to rectify the situation. Should be interesting to see what the quality is like on this new, improved version.

 

[mark2boogie]

Well, yes, there is some kind of similar situation in France, but it may be not so dramatical than in USA, because we have a strong public services imprint and culture here, which act traditionally as an "implicit barrier against unacceptable downgrade", hoping that it will last and resist against maniac liberalism, which has really established labor to capital substitution as an open rule since -yes, you're right - something like 10-15 years...

I'm glad they're going to rectify the situation. Should be interesting to see what the quality is like on this new, improved version.

It will occur in early september - I do not believe too much to miracles, but who knows ?

A+!

 

[Triaxstasy]

I´m from Germany and can highly recommend JRE Electronics

The owner (Joerg Ritter) built a custom tranny iaw specs for my 50/50 when I converted it from 110(US) to 230V....
Cost me 80€ plus shipping and the craftsmanship is awesome. They do output trannies as well....

 

[mark2boogie]

I´m from Germany and can highly recommend JRE Electronics

The owner (Joerg Ritter) built a custom tranny iaw specs for my 50/50 when I converted it from 110(US) to 230V....
Cost me 80€ plus shipping and the craftsmanship is awesome. They do output trannies as well....

Thanks Triaxstasy for this information : I record it also for future reference, as the one from TiPiMods - I am located in France, so buying in Germany is welcome.

For the moment, let's see what TAD will send... Hoping there will be a miracle... :? :?:

A+!

 

[gitapik]

Hey TiPi: how do you like that modded Blues Jr? BillM lives nearby and I'm considering that over changing the Boogie. Lightweight grab and go alternative. How does it take pedals?

I do the BillM mods (aka TiPiMods) and some of my own, down here in Austria and Germany. I know Bruno does not like this little guy :wink: (The reason why they often sound sh!t is: because of the super high bias the output tubes are gone after a few month of playing)
But after the mods this amp easy rivals some black and silverface relatives, like the Deluxe or the Princeton. It opens up the amp a lot and all the boxiness is gone. The Princton is a great amp, but I prefer 12" speakers when playing with overdriven sounds, and the Junior is much louder. I would like to have one, but they getting expensive more and more.
Plus the BJ is a much hotter amp, it has two gain stages before the tone stack, much closer to a marshall or a tweed bassman and sounds very good overdriven.
I would recomend the basic mods: tonestack, bias, twinstack, coupling caps change. what I allways do is clipping the treble bleed cap over the reverb poti, it makes the reverb sond much fuller and warmer. And if you want to spend a little more money (50 $) get the TO20 output transformer, its worth the money twice.

I use the BJ a lot on club gigs, often its 15W is just right to crank the amp and play it just when it starts to overdrive, which gives a rich and rough sound, and put some pedals in for more drive.

mine is a special edition with a sunburst wooden cabinet, looks great too:

http://imageshack.us/g/28/1002838r.jpg/

Yesterday I had some time to kill, so I went to Sam Ash and sat down with a Blues Jr. For all the knocks on it, I have to say that the clean tone just speaks to me. So I answered a Craigslist ad and bought a NOS tweed one, used, at a great price. Mint condition.

Today I sent the unit to billM. I'm planning on getting all the mods, including the conversion to 30 watts. I've heard the amp in that form and it's fantastic.

I sold a MusicMan Silhouette last week for almost the exact price of the amp and mods combined. It'll be ready when I return from a 2 week vacation in Vermont. I'm very, very excited about it.

 

[TiPiMods]

Sounds great. The basic mods on the tone controls plus the change of the coupling caps do a lot. seems like this amp is kind of strangled and when you open up the rope it can breath. One day I have to get another one and do the 30W conversion.

I just changed tubes on my MkIIB and it sounds fantastic, some nice short bottle 6L6 GC and JJs for the preamp. A gold version of the 12AX7 for the first gain stage and the phase inverter. A little more crisp than the usual russian Sovtek tubes Boogie normally uses.

And I have a 100W Silver Jubilee 2550 on my bench, which was in quite bad shape, full of dirt, nearly every poti was to resolder and I had to clean the whole amp, the tolex was more black than silver. Now restored to it's original glory it looks and sounds gorgeous: Man, I can understand, why Bonamassa loves this Amp, thats a serious tone machine, fat and bold. I think I have to buy it, the owner wants to get rid of it, cause he doesn't play it anymore.

 

[gitapik]

Sounds great. The basic mods on the tone controls plus the change of the coupling caps do a lot. seems like this amp is kind of strangled and when you open up the rope it can breath. One day I have to get another one and do the 30W conversion.

I just changed tubes on my MkIIB and it sounds fantastic, some nice short bottle 6L6 GC and JJs for the preamp. A gold version of the 12AX7 for the first gain stage and the phase inverter. A little more crisp than the usual russian Sovtek tubes Boogie normally uses.

And I have a 100W Silver Jubilee 2550 on my bench, which was in quite bad shape, full of dirt, nearly every poti was to resolder and I had to clean the whole amp, the tolex was more black than silver. Now restored to it's original glory it looks and sounds gorgeous: Man, I can understand, why Bonamassa loves this Amp, thats a serious tone machine, fat and bold. I think I have to buy it, the owner wants to get rid of it, cause he doesn't play it anymore.

Yeah...two different sounds between the 15w and 30w. I'd like to have both...but it didn't take me long to make the choice between the two, seeing as I only have one. It's still got plenty of bite and what it lacks, I can get from a pedal. It'll handle the mid size clubs and bars (noisy ones) easily. Without a PA.

What's funny is that I was looking for a grab and go. This amp will be more than just that. I don't sense any compromises. Looking forward to hooking it up to an added extension speaker, too. Should be fun.

A great Marshall amp is pretty amazing. The only one I ever spent any time on was the JMP-1 preamp. I gigged with it for a couple of years. I was floored by the OD sounds, but never bonded with the cleans. If I ran a stereo rig, I'd have kept it. How do the cleans sound on that Jubilee?

 

[TiPiMods]

The clean sound of the Jubilee is pretty ok, also because the tone controls are more effective than on other Marshalls. Its a matter of taste anyway. But in IMHO nothing comes close to the cleans of a Boogie Mk II or a good Fender. Thats a Benchmark.
But: who plays a Marshall because of its clean sound... :mrgreen: