My Mark IIB after Mike B. Did effects loop mod

[dino2sf]

First of all thank you everyone on this board. I have been lurking for a couple years learning so much from a lot of you. Anyway I bought a 60 watt mark iib combo rev no eq a couple years ago. The clean channel was/is amazing however the lead channel was crappy so I just used pedals in front of the clean channel. I had seen several comments about the effects loop mod for this amp and finally went ahead with it. I called Mike B and you guys are soooo right he is the nicest guy you could ever want to deal with. He talked to me on the phone for a half hour and never made me feel like he was rushing to get off the phone. SO about 2 weeks ago I drove the 60 miles to Petaluma and met Mike in person to drop the amp off (AGAIN I couldn’t ask for a nicer guy to deal with) He explained everything to me (which I pretty much knew thanks to you guys) he talked me out of having an eq installed. He said a pedal in the loop will do just fine. Went to pick up my amp on Wednesday and all I can say is OH MY GOD ! This thing is amazing the loop works perfect the reverb is 100 times better and the lead channel is outstanding. I no longer need to use all my dist / OD pedals. I AM VERY HAPPY I WENT AHEAD WITH THIS MOD. He also performed a maintenance on it (changed caps, adjustments etc.) I’ve never played a mark iic or c+ and I’m sure they are awesome. But this is the best sounding amp I’ve ever heard with no pedals in front of it. Mike said it’s between a iic and iic+ now as far as gain. This thing rocks!! Anyone who has a mark iib GET THIS MOD DONE NOW!!!

Thanks for all the great info I have learned from all of you,
Jon

 

[screamingdaisy]

Nice. If I ever happen across another IIB I'll keep this in mind.

 

[GD_NC]

Very cool. I had a IIb as my first mesa back in the 80's. Great amp.

 

[JOEY B.]

I AM VERY HAPPY I WENT AHEAD WITH THIS MOD.

It sounds like you should have done the mod a couple of years ago. :wink: The very first Boogie that I heard was a IIB with this mod. That was in the mid-1980's. A life changing moment, for sure.

 

[dino2sf]

i just cant stop playing it. its like a whole new amp ! Thanks again everyone

 

[zodiac272]

hey thanks for sharing! keep playing!

scott

 

[zebpedersen]

Rarely (if ever) hear a bad word about Mike B or indeed the loop/reverb mods for the IIB. Would love to have it done myself, but I don't have the luxury of living in California! Good for you though man and enjoy the amp.

 

[Ultron]

Funny, I was jamming on mine this weekend, after putting it into a GTS headshell. I sent mine to Mike a few years ago for maintenance and the FX loop mod. Sent from Chicago via fedex cost me $35 (sent chassis only)...not too bad.

The amp absolutely rips....I run it into a 2x12 vertical cab with Eminence Super Vs and it's smokin'.....a lot of usable gain...much better than the stock lead channel.

 

[zodiac272]

hey , how much did you invest in the fx loop mod plus whatever else the did at mesa?

thanks

scott

 

[Ultron]

hey , how much did you invest in the fx loop mod plus whatever else the did at mesa?

thanks

scott

I believe the FX loop mod is $300...seperate payment to Mike, not Mesa. The rest of the work (recap, reverb tweak, some new pots, new eq sliders) was like $150.

 

[gonzo]

I have never really understood this effects loop mod........


i have a 81 mark2b, GEQ, no reverb...

my effects loop works perfectly fine.

my lead channel sounds killer.

i wouldn't want to change a thing.

is this a problem with only the reverb-equipped units?

i can plug footpedal effects (say, chorus and analog delays) thru the fx loop, unplug them, guitar sounds exactly the same.

for many years, i used rack effects thru the loop, with the appropriate send and return levels controlled by the rack fx, for unity gain......

and now, i use a Yamaha DG Stomp, that has 2 different input level settings, plus output control, again, i set them for unity gain, and there's no difference in the sound when i plug and unplug the fx unit, except for the added effect.....

??

 

[zodiac272]

hey gonzo,

from what I have read, not all IIB's need the FX loop mod. some of them work fine. and I'm sure not all were created equal, I mean that there will probably be slightly more or less gain from IIB to IIB. plus maybe the OP wants a little more drive in his lead. I don't know enough to say that it's a no-brainer like getting mike b to mod a IIC to a IIC+, but i think most are happy with the IIB FX loop mod. Those who aren't happy with it speak up. In the end it's all about the player's ear, and what makes you happiest.

scott

 

[Ultron]

Here's my take on the FX loop mod. My Boogie was dated 10/27/80, so I knew it was overdue for a maintenance/cap job. Before I sent it to Petaluma, I read on BoogieBoards about the fx loop mod. I wasn't too concerned with the fx loop, but the lead channel was awful, buzzy and crappy distortion, and the reverb was bad too. After reading the reviews here, I decided to take the plunge. Mike B. did a lot of work on my IIB, and didn't gouge me on labor costs. The fx loop mod vastly improved the lead channel...the gain is much more pleasing and smoother...not sure how close it is to a IIC or IIC+ (never played either), but it's a huge improvement over stock IIB. The improvement of the actual FX loop is a bonus to me, my main goal was to fix the crap lead channel. Mike also added extra headroom on the clean channel...lol....as if it needs any more.

 

[Ultron]

I have never really understood this effects loop mod........


i have a 81 mark2b, GEQ, no reverb...

my effects loop works perfectly fine.

my lead channel sounds killer.

i wouldn't want to change


??

Distortion is a matter of personal taste. One mans buzzy is another mans tasty. I personally found the stock IIB gain to be severely lacking. Be happy you enjoy your lead channel, you just saved yourself $300.

 

[gonzo]

yeah, you can listen to ANY of my posted tunes in the song forum, and hear that there's nothing buzzy in there.

that's why i don't get it.

my lead channel is rich.

i'd love to hear one of these amps that have this bad lead channel thing going on, one of these reverb equipped units, so i'd know what everybody's talking about.

here's a perfect example of the tone of my 2b, straight up miced, with a slight boost from an old boss DS-1 pedal.

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/85252-workitout.mp3

 

[Ultron]

yeah, you can listen to ANY of my posted tunes in the song forum, and hear that there's nothing buzzy in there.

that's why i don't get it.

my lead channel is rich. IMHO. YMMV

Fixed.

 

[zodiac272]

yeah that's a pretty awesome lead tone gonzo.

scott

 

[dino2sf]

For me the improvement in the lead channel alone was well worth the money. Before the mod I only used the clean channel with od pedals for lead tone. The lead channel was soooo bad (loose, flubby, and unfocused) plus the reverb and anything in the loop sounded horrible (distorted or overloaded I guess ??) Not to mention not being able to get a balanced clean volume and lead volume without touching the knobs. The clean channel is soooo awesome on this thing and takes pedals so well I just kinda pretended there was no lead channel. Now all of these things I hated about this amp are gone.


I have seen many comments from IIB owners saying it’s their favorite mark of ALL (including c+) I used to think they must be crazy...... Not anymore. This is my first boogie (played or owned) so I can’t compare to others but I can’t imagine an amp sounding much better than this...... ITS PERFECT! I hope someday I can hear a c+ in person to see the difference. As it stands now I would NOT trade this amp for any other amp ....well..... maybe a dumble. lol.
I AM JUST AMAZED WITH THE WHOLE PACKAGE NOW. And the best part is all I have to do is put an mxr eq pedal and boss delay pedal in the loop and I can get any tone I want. No more wasted money on pedals/mfx units. They sound kinda fake when compared to the real tube drive sound. Ive always heard people talk about it and now I completely understand (finally).

THANKS FOR ALL THE COMMENTS AND INFO GUYS

 

[beltrash]

Mike said it’s between a iic and iic+ now as far as gain.

did he mean the amount or the character, or both?

 

[zodiac272]

Well probably both, but more about the amount. They are both close in the mark family, so they will be similar tone wise... they both have the great mark lead/rhythm, but I think he was really talking about the amount of gain on tap.

scott