new to board and identification of Mark I #328

[chupacerveza]

Hello All,

I live in Austin, TX and recently traded a 1961 Gibson classical guitar for what I thought at first was a Mark IIB. Now I'm pretty sure this is a very early Mark I, serial number A328. I've posted several pictures on flickr here:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwMCXvr

Seems to me that it had the 100W and Graphic EQ options, possibly from the factory with the Fender speaker, but waiting on verification from Mesa (any help identifying this speaker model is appreciated regardless of whether it was installed at the factory), and I note that the 100/60 switch is on the front while the EQ switch is on the back. Of additional interest to me is that there are only two speaker outputs instead of three, would these both be 4 Ohms, I wonder?

I don't believe there are any other jacks for FX, etc.

Would this have been made in 1972? 73 maybe?

Thanks for any ideas or comments about finding out more about my new baby!

--Robert

 

[bigmouth]

congrats ! very nice MK1 & welcome to the forum ...

 

[zodiac272]

nice boogie! and curious kitty cat too...

yeah most likely from early 70's... you might find a date written on the chassis somewhere.

not sure about the speaker...

welcome!

scott

 

[chupacerveza]

Thanks guys, I'm going to try to clean it up a little. Some of the sliders are loose and some are tight and I figure a little TLC is in order. Curious to see what date I might find.

I called the El Paso Repair Shop whose sticker is on the rear of the amp, and the guy said that he's worked on a lot of Mark I's over the years and that they are very well made. The only thing he's ever done to them is change the tubes, he said. I was asking whether he had a recollection of changing the speaker and he was fairly certain that he had never done that with one of these, but if I could give him a timeline he'd be willing to check his repair slips. Really nice guy.

 

[igfraso]

Chupacerveza,
just for your info, I am copying this from the "Vintage Mark I manual" (actually it was a letter sent to the new owners).

SPEAKERS: The standard 12 inch speaker is either a Vega, G-12 or, with the Hundred Watt option, an Eminence speaker designed especially for us. It features a 2 3/4" voice coil 4" paper dome, and a 125 watt rating. It is capable of crisp tones over a fairly large dynamic range and is reliable under heavy conditions. As options we also offer the Altec 417-8H Series II (list price now $179) for $85 from us when installed in your amplifier. It is the most popular and highest recommended for its fat tone, and outstanding reliability at high volume, and is the continuing choice of Santana. For jazz and country players the brighter, more sensitive response of the JBL K-120 might be preferable as used by Garcia or Carlton; it has a clearer, more present sound and has the most versatile range of volume-tone response. So, in summary: the Altec is best for continuous loud playing but loses presence at soft volumes, the JBL is best for all around playing at all volumes and clean or funky versatility; the standard Eminence works well with 100 watt amps and loud playing but again lacks low volume presence and clarity. To get super performance from a Sixty watt model, we recommend the JBL K-120. Gauss and Electro-Voice EVM speakers also sound great in a Boogie and have a generally tauter, more rigid sound than the others. They also weigh more make access to the Boogie's tubes a little hampered. In the 15" series, we prefer the JBL K-130 as having the best balanced tone at any volume, again clearer and brighter but still very fat. For the sound of raw power, especially where the amp is used for heavy rock lead, we recommend the Altec 15 as being the thickest sounding but lacking in versatility. All of the above are 8 ohm speakers. The amplifier likes any load between 3 and 8 ohms --4 ohms is ideal-- so extensions can be used very successfully with any amp. Generally though, no more than three 8 ohm speakers should be used at once for optimum performance. All 100 watt amplifiers now come with 8 and 4 ohm outputs which allow a wide choice of power levels and speaker matching when used with the 100/60 watt switch. Four-12 Marshall cabinets work well as is, especially in conjunction with the Boogie one 12 or one 15. Otherwise for maximum power, where a Boogie top and a Marshall cabinet is to be used, you can usually rewire the cabinet for lower impedance.

Hope it helps
Daniel

 

[McBarry]

That's a tasty Mark I there Robert.
Very nice score, and looks generally good nik.
Mine is about 70-odd units after yours, and has many similar bits.
U have some replaced parts (resisters/caps), and my serial dymo is black not blue, but I have seen blue.
I have wear on the faceplate in almost the same places as you.

It's also worth mentioning the the MkI was known for variable quality, and IF yours doesn't sing like you want it to, it is often easily tweaked to a suitable point..
Dave

 

[chupacerveza]

Thanks for the responses! The amp certainly seems to work as intended. Amazing considering it has seen some amount of abuse and is almost as old as I am. I would love to see the rest of the "Vintage Mark I manual" if anyone knows where I might find a copy.

I'm thinking my (only) two speaker outputs are 8 ohms (on the left) and 4 ohms, and it would obviously be worth knowing which is which as I wouldn't wish to use the 8 ohm output in 60 W mode unintentionally.

Knowing that it came as an original option, I have a serial number off the Eminence speaker (Fender Eminence 037617, 121042, 8 ohm, 67-99072580 61, photograph here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9046919@N03/6366450405/in/set-72157628039221271), I'm going to try to confirm whether it had been built in 1973, which is when I estimate this one was originally assembled (although I can't find a date anywhere).

I expect that I'll be sending this one to the "new" factory in Petaluma for maintenance, or at least find a good shop here, but first want to get a really good handle on what I have.

Thanks for the nice welcome to the board!
Robert

 

[igfraso]

Here you are!

http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/MarkIguide.html

 

[McBarry]

For that speaker I get:
Eminence
12"
7th week 1999.
But also the sticker looks too new, not faded or yellowed at all, and not peeling anywhere ie: it looks too "perfect" to be 30 years old.
Is it possible the "61" at the end is actually a "G1" - that would make more sense.

Regardless, terriffic amp - congrats.

 

[chupacerveza]

Thanks Daniel!

McBarry, thanks for the info. On closer reading I'd say that yes, it's "G1" not "61." It's a big help to know the speaker is 25 years too young to be original. Can you point me to the specs for it?

Thanks again for all the help!

--Robert

 

[McBarry]

This is a s good a place as any, although I have an old Fane spkr book which is a little more detailed..
http://www.eminence.com/support/faq/
Good luck, Dave

 

[chupacerveza]

This is a s good a place as any, although I have an old Fane spkr book which is a little more detailed..
http://www.eminence.com/support/faq/
Good luck, Dave

Thanks Dave, I've sent an inquiry about the specifications of the speaker to the contact address listed on the FAQ and am hopefully waiting for a reply from their team. I know the speaker was manufactured in 1999 and the amp was manufactured 1973 or 1974, so I'm curious about how well this speaker matches this amp and what I need to do to prevent overdriving the speaker given the 100W output of the amp.

Everyone has been very helpful and I'm most appreciative of the community.

--Robert