New to Boogie's - Chance of a Blue Stripe for my AC30 ???

[GaryM]

Hi all,
New here but may become a permanent member anytime soon. I currently have for sale my Vox AC30CC2 on the bay and a guy has come along looking for something a little different and he's asked if I'd do a straight swap for his Mark III Blue.

All I've had to go on so far are utube clips and a few pics he sent but thus far I'm impressed. I've not had the AC for long and, TBH, it was a bit of a mistake buying it because it's not the amp I thought it was. The volume on it is either off or efin loud so it's no good for home recording.

I suppose my questions are : -

1. Is this a good deal providing the Boogie is in good condition
2. Can the Mark III be played at low volume (understand the tone loss)
3. What do I look out for.

The guy is comming round tonight as he's local. It looks like on the picture, although not really clear, that there are only two power tubes in there??? Could this be right. The angle and quallity of the picture isn't great so I could be wrong here but could he have pulled two of the valves. If this is the case, is it safe to run the amp like this?

He assures me it's in great condition and looking at the pictures it comes with a stack of paperwork and both foot switches.

What dya think guys? If I like the sound, should I get?

Cheers

Gaz

 

[bgh]

If the MK-III is a 60w version, there are only 2 tubes in it.

 

[GaryM]

It certainly is a 60 watt. That explanes it then. I thought they all had 4 tubes in them. Does this mean I won't have a switch to knock it down to 15 watts?

Cheers

gary

 

[bgh]

IIRC, the only wattage switch offered in that line was the 100/60.

 

[GaryM]

I’ve only gone and got myself a Boogie. The guy came round and he was instantly happy with my AC30. To be fair it was spotless and sounded amazing when turned up a bit.

I had a good look around his Boogie and it too was spotless. For an older amp it’s quite unreal how clean it is. It’s the 60 watt version so just has the two 6l6’s in there (mesa) and a compliment of groovys in the pre-amp. Has the Black Shadow speaker and no mods from what I can see on the outside. It came with a stack of paperwork, two channel switching pedals and an genuine mesa cover.

When we tried it the sound was a quite ropy and the volume was fluctuation somewhat. Now.. I’d already done my home work on this amp and the first thing I tried was a jump lead in the effects loop. It crackled a little but the, presto, the amp came to life with all it’s glory and the awkward apprehension was now over. The guy seemed as genuine as the next guy and he said it’d been in a cupboard for the past 6 months without use. I was going to squirt a little contact spray down the effect loop sockets.

I plan to plug my DD-7 delay in there so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Anyway, played till gone midnight last night. This amp is like a really good book, once you pick it up you can’t put it down. I’m now at work and all I can think about is getting back and playing with my ....amp.

If I had to give a negative on this amp it would most certainly be the weight. OMG. This thing must weigh as much as the 2X12 AC30CC2 I’ve just swapped it with. WHY does it need to be soooooo heavey?

Small price to pay though. I love this amp already and I’m thinking it may be a keeper. Incidentally though, what do these fetch on the UK market. Being a blue strip and in spotless condition?

Looking forward to many a post on here now. Just need to pop over to the Vox forum and cancel my subscription.

Cheers

Gary

 

[bgh]

Welcome to the Mesa family, bro.

Sounds like a good deal. When I first got my Mark IV, I was up until the wee hours of the morning trying different things. I am constantly amazed at the different sets of tones that I can get out it.

PS: Good catch on the effects loop.

Also, if you get your serial number from beneath the chassis and call Mesa, they can usually tell you your amp's birthday.

Enjoy!