Mark IIC+: was it real or not?

[michelj]

Every now and then I look at various craigslists around my neck of the woods. This last Friday I saw an add in the toronto craigslist for a Mark IIC+ head that looked to be in great shape. The description said the amp belonged to the seller's deceased father. The seller wasn't a guitar player and needed some money because he was moving so he had it up for $450.

Almost too good to be true! Anyways, I sent this person an email but never got a response. Maybe not too surprising! I tried again today and got a response back from toronto craigslist that the ad is no longer available.

Now just on the off chance that this was for real, did one of you guys get lucky and land this puppy? If so, congratulations!!

Just curious to know.

 

[ytse_jam]

i don't think it was true... if he's not a music player i don't think he could know the model of the amp to tell it's a c+! and, if he went on internet searching for info to know which model it was, he surely would have found out these amps can't be sold for $500!

 

[Boogiebabies]

There is so much information on a real IIC+ today that if you buy a fake it is because the person did not take the time to edjucate themselves. Even most idiot music stores know about the IIC+ now. I highly doubt it was real or a scam as it quickly vanished. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Now, everyone who sees a Boogie with a graphic EQ is trying to pass it off as a IIC+. I would never buy one without detailed pitures of the faceplate, backplate, serial number and photos of the circuit board. My worst case scenario would be high quality photos of the front, back, serial number and keep it between 12,600 and 14,500 with "Pull Deep" faceplates.
If you find a 15" chassis, they may have "Gain Boost" faceplates into the 13,000's. Mesa was too cheap to replace it and used the old IIC stock before making the 15" IIC+ "Pull Deep" panels. Lastly, the early IIC+'s had a few different components that differed from the finalized 1985 schematic.
They should be slightly less bright and have a bit more rounded tone. It was a few components that were removed by the 12,700's. They were carried over from the original IIC and quickly removed.

 

[michelj]

Thanks for your responses.

Yup, It really did sound too good to be true.

What smelled fishy to start with is that this seller had supposedly gone to Steve's Music in Toronto ( a store that should know this stuff) who told him that he had a Mark IIC+. Had that really been the case, somebody from the store would have snapped it up right away if this person was willing to let it go for such a small amount of money.

I had asked the seller for close-up photos but never got a response.

So all in all, I felt pretty sure that this was just a scam. But I figured, hey maybe just maybe, some other boogie board member had beaten me to the punch and was now off on Cloud 9.

 

[Mrmot]

Well, there was this guy about a year ago on the HC forums (i think that he even posted here) who bought a IIc+ in a specialized and big guitar store (GC or musicians friend) for around 500$. One of the preamp tubes was burned so they thought that the amp is faulty and they also thought that it was a IIb. so i guess these things can happen sometimes...

 

[Nick_cor]

yeah i saw that ad too, i got a response saying when do you want to coem check it, and then no response

 

[michelj]

yeah i saw that ad too, i got a response saying when do you want to coem check it, and then no response

Hello Nick_Cor,

All in all a pretty strange set of circumstances.

Michel

 

[6L6C]

Well, there was this guy about a year ago on the HC forums (i think that he even posted here) who bought a IIc+ in a specialized and big guitar store (GC or musicians friend) for around 500$. One of the preamp tubes was burned so they thought that the amp is faulty and they also thought that it was a IIb. so i guess these things can happen sometimes...

At that price I would care if all the tubes where gone and it needed a cap job, that would still be a find. Oh well someone got lucky! The rest of us will just have to dream.

 

[Elpelotero]

There is so much information on a real IIC+ today that if you buy a fake it is because the person did not take the time to edjucate themselves. Even most idiot music stores know about the IIC+ now. I highly doubt it was real or a scam as it quickly vanished. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Now, everyone who sees a Boogie with a graphic EQ is trying to pass it off as a IIC+. I would never buy one without detailed pitures of the faceplate, backplate, serial number and photos of the circuit board. My worst case scenario would be high quality photos of the front, back, serial number and keep it between 12,600 and 14,500 with "Pull Deep" faceplates.
If you find a 15" chassis, they may have "Gain Boost" faceplates into the 13,000's. Mesa was too cheap to replace it and used the old IIC stock before making the 15" IIC+ "Pull Deep" panels. Lastly, the early IIC+'s had a few different components that differed from the finalized 1985 schematic.
They should be slightly less bright and have a bit more rounded tone. It was a few components that were removed by the 12,700's. They were carried over from the original IIC and quickly removed.

what components were different? mine has a serial number in the 12,600's. the amp is also pretty bright, but i have nothing to compare it to

 

[Boogiebabies]

Why not send a gut shot, plus a pic of the inner chassis that shows the back of the tone contol pots.

 

[Elpelotero]

will do this weekend. within the hours of receiving it i opened her up. people look at me and are like why the heck do you carry your amps around the house like that?

 

[Boogiebabies]

Regular people just do not understand the ways of the force.

 

[Nick_cor]

Regular people don't understand why we get so much GAS either