So I must be the luckiest guy in the world...

[deaconschwaz]

I bought what I thought was a mark III back in 1996 from a guy advertising it in the paper. I was only about 20 years old and had never bought a tube amp before, but having been a big fan of Santana, and John McGloughlin at the time I had always read how sweet mesa boogies were. So having virtually no experience with them,( I hadn't ever even seen one in a store) I decided to bite the bullet and call the number. I went to the guys house and was kind of taken aback by how small it was, being that my friends had twin fenders and marshall stacks and the like. It was a little beat up, blonde tolex with a brown cloth grill, but I decided to go for it and gave the guy 650 bucks for it, which at the time was quite a lot of money for me. It unfortunately did not have an owners manual, and having never had a tube amp before I must say I was quite unfamiliar with dialing it in. I had no idea what I was doing, and therefore could never really get a great tone out of it. Anyways I played it for years and one day it started blowing fuses like crazy, and I let that be my excuse for buying a new amp. So for the last 4-5 years it has been sitting in my closet gathering dust, and recently I thought about selling it. So I dug it out, dusted it off, and went online to see if I could fix it and try and figure out a value. I downloaded the settings and manual for the mark III and found out it was probably some bad power tubes. But one thing caught my eye, one of the knobs was not a push-pull like in the manual. So I dug a little deeper. It began to look more like a IIC, so I googled the value for one of these and started seeing all this hype about the IIc+. As it turns out that's what it is, and I have been absolutely gobsmacked for the last week, I downloaded settings and manual, retubed it with boogie tubes and have been totally blown away by the tone that thing is kicking. However I have to admit that this is all relatively new to me having never really set it up correctly before. So I'm finding myself with more and more questions. First when I went to buy the tubes I thought I was getting tubes for a mark III, so I bought a pair of 6l6's and a pair of el34's. Does anyone know if these are okay to run in this thing? I have to say it sounds pretty good, but I don't want to damage what has turned out to be such a valuable amp. The second question is when I push the master volume up to 3 on the lead channel, I get a ringing. I've read that it was probably the first pre-amp tube which I have replaced, but I'm still getting the ring. It's not that big a deal because the thing is so loud I really don't need to crank it to get sweet tone. I also have an Ibanez with some pretty hot pickups so maybe I need to crank those down a bit? The third question is what is the best way to run this thing? My amp has the switch between class A and simul-class, and I read in the manual that if you're going to run in class
A, you should run an 8ohm speaker off of the 4ohm out. This seemed odd, but it was in the manual so it must be right. If you are switching to simul-class do you need to run it with the 8ohm out? I have a Boogie Black Shadow 12 in the cabinet if that makes a difference. Also does mesa boogie recondition amps, and if so has anyone done it? I'm thinking of having the amp gone through and cleaned up, as well as having the tolex replaced. How might that affect the value? Should I just leave the cab alone? The amp has the reverb unit, simulclass switch, and eq, original footswitch, it seems the only thing it doesn't have is the export transformer for foreign voltages. If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful. Thanks!

 

[chuck steak]

Thats insane,I would do horrible things for a IIC+ :twisted:

 

[primal]

Unbelievable!

That is awesome. The IIC+ is the Holy grail of the Mark series

 

[tony777]

You can run both 6L6 and EL34's, but the El34's has to be in the outer sockets.
If you only use one 8ohm speaker, it is supposed to be in the 8 ohms output, it doesn't matter if you use simul or class A.
There is a ton of info about the C+ on this forum, and you'll get to know the amp a lot more.

Good luck.

 

[deaconschwaz]

Thanks for the tips. I just discovered this site in the last week so I am still figuring out how to navigate.

You can run both 6L6 and EL34's, but the El34's has to be in the outer sockets.
If you only use one 8ohm speaker, it is supposed to be in the 8 ohms output, it doesn't matter if you use simul or class A.
There is a ton of info about the C+ on this forum, do a search, and you'll get to know the amp a lot more.

Good luck.

 

[mule#1]

You may really be the luckiest guy in the world!

 

[Tfunk Ian]

A, you should run an 8ohm speaker off of the 4ohm out. This seemed odd, but it was in the manual so it must be right.

Yes it is ok to do that. It is a higher load for the amp which doesn't harm it, it just cuts down on your power. However, don't drive a 4 ohm speaker with an 8 ohm output. That could potentially damage the amp.

Congratulations on the amp BTW. I'm sure it will provide you with a lifetime of sonic bliss.

 

[MusicManJP6]

Cool story! You should find all the answers you need on the forum somewhere. Use the search and see what you can find.

 

[Sixstringpsycho]

That is a cool story, gratz on being the luckiest guy ever lol

 

[Lesgoldy]

A, you should run an 8ohm speaker off of the 4ohm out. This seemed odd, but it was in the manual so it must be right.

Yes it is ok to do that. It is a higher load for the amp which doesn't harm it, it just cuts down on your power. However, don't drive a 4 ohm speaker with an 8 ohm output. That could potentially damage the amp.

You have two guys giving you conflicting information. But I'll second what Tfunk said. The speakers provides resistance, which the amp needs. So you can always run more resistance. Just don't run less.

 

[JimmyB]

A, you should run an 8ohm speaker off of the 4ohm out. This seemed odd, but it was in the manual so it must be right.

Yes it is ok to do that. It is a higher load for the amp which doesn't harm it, it just cuts down on your power. However, don't drive a 4 ohm speaker with an 8 ohm output. That could potentially damage the amp.

You have two guys giving you conflicting information. But I'll second what Tfunk said. The speakers provides resistance, which the amp needs. So you can always run more resistance. Just don't run less.

This is more appropriate for solid state amps: they're more tolerant of a higher impedance (which is further from a 'short', which would toast the output stage... or at least trigger output protection) while tube amps are more tolerant of lower impedance (which is further from an 'open' circuit, which would fry the output tubes and/or transformer)

 

[stokes]

When using the amp in "class A" you are effectively "pulling" two power tubes,this changes the reflected impedance the power tubes see.For the best match you should use an 8ohm speaker in the 4ohm out,but you wont hurt anything if you leave it in the 8ohm out.Your power tubes will run a bit hotter like this,but they are idling so cold to begin with,it is of little concern.That squeeling may be tamed by turning the gain or volume 1 on the clean channel down some.When using the lead channel the clean channels volume controls are still active.If that doesnt do it,look for a microphonic preamp tube.$650 for a MKIIC+ is a great deal,but I got that beat.I got mine when a studio I worked for was going under,the owner sold me his own C+ for $300,its not a simul class,but I aint crazy about the whole simul thing anyway and this amp was only about 5 years old and hardly used and in a road case,mint.So that makes you the second luckiest guy in the world.I also got a SOB for $200 and a PRS with the tags still hanging for $900 from the same guy,it was indeed the best bargain day of my life.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

If you send the amp in to me, I can confirm if its truly a real IIC+....and I'll even re-tube it at my expense. :mrgreen:

 

[deaconschwaz]

If you send the amp in to me, I can confirm if its truly a real IIC+....and I'll even re-tube it at my expense. :mrgreen:

I have confirmed it, the serial numbers match, it has the correct markings(initials mb and plus sign) built in 1984, and it passes the effects loop test. The funny thing is I had the reverb checked on it by a local shop(PDX) and unbeknownst to me they had placed a decal on the far right outside rib of the heatsink denoting it as a IIC+. It must have slipped their mind to let me on it though, because I only discovered it after doing the rest of the detective work.

 

[deaconschwaz]

When using the amp in "class A" you are effectively "pulling" two power tubes,this changes the reflected impedance the power tubes see.For the best match you should use an 8ohm speaker in the 4ohm out,but you wont hurt anything if you leave it in the 8ohm out.Your power tubes will run a bit hotter like this,but they are idling so cold to begin with,it is of little concern.That squeeling may be tamed by turning the gain or volume 1 on the clean channel down some.When using the lead channel the clean channels volume controls are still active.If that doesnt do it,look for a microphonic preamp tube.$650 for a MKIIC+ is a great deal,but I got that beat.I got mine when a studio I worked for was going under,the owner sold me his own C+ for $300,its not a simul class,but I aint crazy about the whole simul thing anyway and this amp was only about 5 years old and hardly used and in a road case,mint.So that makes you the second luckiest guy in the world.I also got a SOB for $200 and a PRS with the tags still hanging for $900 from the same guy,it was indeed the best bargain day of my life.

Serinfriggindippity man!

 

[DrBazooka]

Hey guys!
I want to challenge you being the luckiest guy in the world! I have finally got hold of a almost mint condition Mesa Boogie Mark III Bubinga with a flight case for about 750$. I live in northern Sweden and there are not that many Mark III that are on the market here. I have used a vintage VOX AC30 Top boost 1964 that is really nice but it can only give you one sound really. The Mark III is something else. I have wanted one like this for 20 years and finally I got the opportunity.
DrBazooka
_____________________
Mesa Boogie Mark III
VOX AC30 Top Boost
Peavey Classic 30
Gibson Les Paul Standards x 4
Gibson ES335
PRS Custom
Fender Stratocaster x 3
Fender Jazzmaster