REISSUE Rumor: Mark IIC+ and 2ch Recto

[frontline205]

I just got mine out the box and used my mark iv setting immediately and recorded the first notes I played on it. I had an OD I turned off then on randomly in the video.

 

[danielpasco]

I just got mine out the box and used my mark iv setting immediately and recorded the first notes I played on it. I had an OD I turned off then on randomly in the video.

How do you like it? It's a little hard to tell how it sounds from a phone recording, but I'm not complaining. It's the hottest of takes, right? Nice playing

 

[frontline205]

How do you like it? It's a little hard to tell how it sounds from a phone recording, but I'm not complaining. It's the hottest of takes, right? Nice playing

I like it a lot so far. I never played an OG to compare but this one is nice. I almost immediately got a better tone than this video. My tone here is super bright due to the Full Shred pickups and me turning on the bright switch. It sounds better with no bright switches pulled for my setup

 

[bandit2013]

I like it a lot so far. I never played an OG to compare but this one is nice. I almost immediately got a better tone than this video. My tone here is super bright due to the Full Shred pickups and me turning on the bright switch. It sounds better with no bright switches pulled for my setup

Sounds good. That reminded me of the Mark III I used to have.

 

[bandit2013]

As he mentioned it's in the manual (and others) and you simply turn it down enough until it goes away and or modify your gain staging a bit. Has nothing to do with the demos

He did state that. I do recall something like that in the Mark III manual, different wording though, squealing was the term. Mark IVB also had issues when going nuts with some of the controls, It was just a given nature of the beast. Much of that got fixed with the Mark V, JP2C and the Mark VII. Using a fixed set of resistors or network switch with relays or JFETS will do the same thing as Volume 1 but controlled by pull pots on the gain or by channel changes. Yes, I can get the JP2C or Mark VII to self oscillate but only when the guitar is plugged in and the guitar volume is too high or not muting the strings. However, with the guitar volume at 0, it is difficult to get it to squeal. Ok, Mark IV mode on the VII with the gain maxed out, treble boosted and the bass dialed out. It sound great in IIC+ mode but IV mode it can be coaxed to squeal without a guitar plugged in. JP2C will do that when using the shred mode. I guess that is normal. Nothing to worry about. Just curious from those that have the OC, will the amp to the same thing as that video? It could just be a bad preamp tube, not like that never happens with a new Mesa, it does. Been there a least 7 times. Anything can happen during transit. Not like those delivery trucks hitting every pothole have an air ride suspension.

 

[mace]

The comment that none of his other amps do it and therefore something is "wrong" or there is a "gotcha" with the IIc+ RI is a wrong conclusion, IMHO. The squeal is a result of multiple conditions and basically a probability calculation of all individual probabilities in the system. The fact that some amps squeal more easily than others is a normal thing (my Mark V in IV mode can squeal with very high gain, treble and lots of bass in GEQ). And Mesa is honest enough to acknowledge this in the manual. And the guy still keeps talking "I'm not into conspiracies... but....".

 

[mace]

Seems your dogs approve of the new re-issue!! Sounds good for sure

 

[mace]

Hey all, just as a reminder of this comparison video from Ola from about a year ago. I hope he (or someone soon) does another one and adds in the IIc+ RI.

 

[gts]

He did state that. I do recall something like that in the Mark III manual, different wording though, squealing was the term. n.

The following is copied from the MKIII manual (bold is mine).
Fwwi the Ferrari analogy is a pretty good one.

"CAUTION
The Boogie is intended to offer its full range of great sounds at any volume from soft to extremely loud. And in order to do this, the
controls must be very powerful. When turning up the Masters and playing louder and louder, you should expect to reduce the settings
of Lead Drive, push in the Lead Bright and possibly reduce Volume 1 or the Presence. Otherwise you push the 12AX7 preamp tubes
beyond their feasible range and feedback and ringing may begin to occur. This is normal and there is usually nothing wrong. It is like
having a Ferrari that handles corners great and will also go 160 on the straight...it still can't be expected to go 150 around a tight
hair-pin turn! Learn to balance your sensitivity controls (Volume 1, Lead Drive, Lead Bright and Presence) with your power controls
(Master, Lead Master). Having them all too high at once increases the noise and problems without improving the sound. Like the tires
on the Ferrari, you will have to maintain your 12AX7 preamp tubes much more carefully if you insist on "flying around those hairpin
turns" with everything wide open!"

As you can see it says "feedback and ringing" which is pretty much what that guy is getting.

As for an original C+ doing the same as in that video give me a couple of days and I'll post what happens using his settings.

 

[Jamme1961]

Is the manual available yet? Can someone post it? Thanks

 

[bandit2013]

He did another comparison with a Mark III. Did the same setup without this issue.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Ahh here we go. DRGX OG vs Reissue DRG.

 

[cgscotto]

He did another comparison with a Mark III. Did the same setup without this issue.

This guy is just wrong that the amp is shipping with a defect that causes a whistle. Moreover, just because his MKIII does not have the issue in no way proves, supports, or provide any evidence that the RI has an issue. The MK III is not the same amp. What if he has a lower gain tube in V1, which is why it does not go microphonic.

Simplest answer to the problem is a microphonic tube. If you have been around tube amps long enough, you just recognize the sound. Maybe somebody should tell him about tapping on the tube with a pencil to see if it goes microphonic. He should set the dial just below the point at which it sets off the self-oscillation and then tap it. It should start to oscillate.

When my MK VII arrived, I started to set the dials for my high gain sound. As soon as the treble hit the higher end of the dial, the amp went into self-oscillation. I found the tubes causing the problem, replaced them with some high gain tubes, and the problem went away and I have not had it since. My MK III, same thing. I spent a good many hours finding the right combination of preamp tubes that were high gain and not prone to going microphonic.

I should also note that that kind of whistle can be caused by a lot of things in a complex guitar rig. I use Mesa Head Trackers in both my rigs. When I first installed them, I got all kinds of whistling. The culprit was bad cables causing a grounding issue. Ground loops can also whistle instead of the usual buzz.

I think it is crazy to encounter a problem like this and jump right to the amp has shipped with a defect. I think this is some kind of Gibsonitis that leads people to jump to these conclusions. Tubes do get damaged in shipping, not matter how well the amp is packaged. How many gentle FedEx and UPS delivery people do you know? Modern production tubes are not up to the realities of shipping these days. We need some modern production JAN type tubes.

 

[Joey1970]

Ahh here we go. DRGX OG vs Reissue DRG.

Sounds like they did a fine job with the re-issue. My old-ass tubes might be the only difference.

 

[Lance Sheffield]

Here is someone finding an issue with the IIC+ Reissue. Is this a common trait of the IIC+ OG or just with the reissue?

I am new here and couldn't speak for the re-issue only the Mark IIC+ that I have owned since Boogie made it...took me a long time to figure that amp out but after I did it was magic. The issue that I just heard on the video was a bad(microphonic) 12ax7 preamp tube; just swap out one by one with a spare for the 4 preamp tubes and also don't forget the reverb and you should be good.
The other thing I saw was that you were running your Lead Master to 8 or 9 if I remember and that is pretty hot when you consider that your bass and mids were on 0. The amp is extremely versatile and should be certainly capable of of those types of settings but for my my ears Bass 2-4 and mid 5ish is a sweet spot.
Hope that helps.

 

[bandit2013]

This guy is just wrong that the amp is shipping with a defect that causes a whistle. Moreover, just because his MKIII does not have the issue in no way proves, supports, or provide any evidence that the RI has an issue. The MK III is not the same amp. What if he has a lower gain tube in V1, which is why it does not go microphonic.

Simplest answer to the problem is a microphonic tube. If you have been around tube amps long enough, you just recognize the sound. Maybe somebody should tell him about tapping on the tube with a pencil to see if it goes microphonic. He should set the dial just below the point at which it sets off the self-oscillation and then tap it. It should start to oscillate.

When my MK VII arrived, I started to set the dials for my high gain sound. As soon as the treble hit the higher end of the dial, the amp went into self-oscillation. I found the tubes causing the problem, replaced them with some high gain tubes, and the problem went away and I have not had it since. My MK III, same thing. I spent a good many hours finding the right combination of preamp tubes that were high gain and not prone to going microphonic.

I should also note that that kind of whistle can be caused by a lot of things in a complex guitar rig. I use Mesa Head Trackers in both my rigs. When I first installed them, I got all kinds of whistling. The culprit was bad cables causing a grounding issue. Ground loops can also whistle instead of the usual buzz.

I think it is crazy to encounter a problem like this and jump right to the amp has shipped with a defect. I think this is some kind of Gibsonitis that leads people to jump to these conclusions. Tubes do get damaged in shipping, not matter how well the amp is packaged. How many gentle FedEx and UPS delivery people do you know? Modern production tubes are not up to the realities of shipping these days. We need some modern production JAN type tubes.

If you saw all three videos, I believe the 2nd one was after he took the amp to his dealer, they tried the SPAX7 as a few people suggested including myself. I also recommended using a JAN/Phillips or JAN/GE 5751 in V1 to see if that corrects the issue. According to his statements they got the local Mesa rep involved. He claims he does not want to return the amp, just pointing out there may be some settings that get the squeal. Nothing more. His intent was to ask other Reissue owners if their amp will do the same thing. This is only one person's experience and does not reflect the masses. Heck, I have an ice pick Mark V90 I bought in 2012. I should have returned it but opted not to do so, how it is a 65lb pile of trash. (combo amp). CH3 was more usable than it is now, all it does is squeal with no guitar plugged in. It could be just bad preamp tubes. It suddenly died into the squeal mode when trying the amp with the Mesa 410 guitar cab.

With no signal at the input. self driving feedback could be an issue. If that is the nature of the beast, so be it. That is the same reason why I do not use the shred mode on the JP2C as that does the same thing unless I am playing at bedroom level.

 

[bandit2013]

I am new here and couldn't speak for the re-issue only the Mark IIC+ that I have owned since Boogie made it...took me a long time to figure that amp out but after I did it was magic. The issue that I just heard on the video was a bad(microphonic) 12ax7 preamp tube; just swap out one by one with a spare for the 4 preamp tubes and also don't forget the reverb and you should be good.
The other thing I saw was that you were running your Lead Master to 8 or 9 if I remember and that is pretty hot when you consider that your bass and mids were on 0. The amp is extremely versatile and should be certainly capable of of those types of settings but for my my ears Bass 2-4 and mid 5ish is a sweet spot.
Hope that helps.

I do not have the IIC+ reissue yet, I am on a long waiting list. I only shared the video as this person is in the facebook Mesa boogie owners group. I found it on youtube first. I doubt this is a major issue, more or less going too far with the settings and component tolerances may be at play here as well. This individual has done some other recordings of the IIC+RI that sound good. He is using one of the vintage cabs with expanded metal grill loaded with EV speakers.

This is the same person's video, he did a few but made an observation on the squeal issue.

 

[bandit2013]

This person is getting some good sounds with the Reissue and using high volume 1 settings. Later, the settings change with higher lead master settings still retaining the volume 1 above 8. In some clips it was between 9 and 10.



I will get mine sometime in February. Yay, I have to wait for it.

 

[gts]

Is there any info about how the reissue responds to pick attack?
A nuance such as pick attack were/ are one of those ‘magical’ qualities of the OG IIC+. Does the reissue respond similarly?

 

[Doug Doppler]

I just got mine out the box and used my mark iv setting immediately and recorded the first notes I played on it. I had an OD I turned off then on randomly in the video.

Sounds great, and as noted by @mace your dogs are digging it too Nice to see another Halfback cab in the mix!