Tell me about this Mark II please (pictures)

[HMCMedic]

I'm looking to probably pick this up tomorrow. How does it look to you Boogie experts?

I believe it is a II B? No reverb, no graphic eq, made in 1979.

Any info or thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

[droogie]

Not an expert but that's a 60-watt IIA.
Beautiful clean sound and nice warm breakup on that channel. And loud.

IMO the lack of verb and EQ isn't a big deal. The verb on mine is so noisy it's practically useless anyway; if you need EQ to tweak one channel you can always go outboard. The EV in there will sound great.

This baby does make a noticeable pop if you're playing while switching channels that they fixed with the IIB.

 

[HMCMedic]

Cool, thanks for the info. How would you describe the gain on this model? Sounds like Santana? Journey? I don't mind the lack of verb either, I don't really use it and I have Fender reverb on my other amps. I've always wanted to get one of the older Mesa Boogies

 

[droogie]

It definitely does the Santana thing and related sounds. Not going to give you mega-metal chug. Also there is a bit of grit to the distortion unlike the super smooth sound of a Mk III red stripe (but the III can't match the II's clean sound).

 

[carlosasi]

droogie, well said. The Mark IIA is a fantastic amp. The clean channel is underated and is really what makes this amp such a great find. I have a 60/100 no eq / no reverb and have no problem with it. I use the fx loop with great success. The Lead channel is very nice and as droogie stated it has a grittyness that I really like. I have become very attached to this amp and I think you will too.

 

[HMCMedic]

Picked it up last night and so far have only spent a couple hours with it but I'm digging it! The clean is incredible, I'm still working on dialing in the dirty sounds. It came with a "fetron" or something? It has pins on it like a tube but it looks like a small little piece of metal. What does this thing do?

 

[RR]

If you like Fenders, then you'll feel at home with this amp.

Its like having a Fender with added midrange and don't need stomp box for add gain. Early Santana about "Europa Era" for sure.

In my opinion, after the Mark IIs, MESA went in a different direction adding more gain, for liquidy solos. But if you asks me, they got away from the Fenderish tone. Not necessarily a bad or good thing. Likely for the demands from guitarists at that era.

I envy you because its a 60 watt so you could get some power tube saturation warmness. The 100 watter pretty much gets you kicked out of the clubs. :lol: These amps are LOUD!

MESA Boogie's Mark I, II has the most headroom cleans tube amp I've encountered.

Sweet catch.

 

[carlosasi]

the fetron was meant to cut down on microphonics in high gain applications. Mesa Boogie can remove it and clean up the circuit.

The IIa was clearly Mesa's best amp before they went and messed things up with that complicated C+ circuitry.

 

[HMCMedic]

Thanks for all the great info guys, I'm really feeling good about this amp.

 

[RR]

Try the two preamp volumes about "7" then adjust the masters accordingly.

Note, some preamp tubes 12AX7 brands have different gains.

I one time changed all my tubes and lost some of the preamp gain. I put back the original 12AX7 and the preamp gain was returned.

 

[HMCMedic]

The Fetron thing came with the amp but it's not in place, there appears to be a toggle switch next to one of the small tubes. The guy I got it from said that he believed you flipped that switch when you put the fetron in. He didn't know much more about the amp than I do. He got it from his bass player that was the original owner. His bass player ordered it in 1979.

 

[carlosasi]

I believe the switch allows you to take the fetron in or out of service using the Preamp tube in V1 or the Fetron in its place. I had the same set up in my Mark IIA. I sent it into Mike B. at Mesa to remove it. He said he wanted to clean up the circuitry, replace the caps and filters and balance the volume out between the channels. Whatever he did, this amp sounds fantastic.

 

[droogie]

PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:05 pm Post subject:
If you like Fenders, then you'll feel at home with this amp.

Its like having a Fender with added midrange and don't need stomp box for add gain. Early Santana about "Europa Era" for sure.

In my opinion, after the Mark IIs, MESA went in a different direction adding more gain, for liquidy solos. But if you asks me, they got away from the Fenderish tone. Not necessarily a bad or good thing. Likely for the demands from guitarists at that era.

I envy you because its a 60 watt so you could get some power tube saturation warmness. The 100 watter pretty much gets you kicked out of the clubs. Laughing These amps are LOUD!

I feel the same way regarding the change in overall direction away from the Fender sound of the II. My III red stripe has a different midrange character that sounds a little thinner to me; it works if you're playing a clean rhythm part, but for me it lacks the body to play single-note melodies unless you add some dirt to thicken it up.