''The rarest Boogie''

[bartchamdoh]

Some may say the rarest Boogie is the hot rodded fender princeton (with only 300 or so made)but if like me you consider the Mark 1 and after to be the proper production models what is the rarest Boogie?Another candidate would have to be the pre-500 recto but there is evidence which suggest these models actually ran well over the 500 mark!A little known model is the transitional Mark 2b it had the all black top hat style knobs of the later Mark and Caliber series amps(the earlier amps had the fender style knobs with concave silver tops!)This should not be confused with models that went back to the factory during the Mark 2c and Mark 3 production run and often had their fender style knobs replaced with the black ones(often on these amps the presence and reverb knobs are still the fender style ones!)I believe during this production run simul-class became an option!!!My research leads me to believe there was about 500 of these transition models and they can be clearly seen in the mesa 1984 brochure (which i have!)mixed in with the new 2c model for the photo shoots.So i,m gonna stick my neck out and say the serial numbers for this model should be between 10500 and 11001 and the year of production should be 1983.Lastly may i just say i,m the proud owner of one of these babies.

 

[zebpedersen]

15" combos are very hard to come by - I've never seen another Mark I like mine for sale. As soon as you get into the revisions, the 15" becomes rarer still: IIC+, III 15" are possibly even more unusual 'Big Brother' amps.

Personally, distinct amp revisions like those are more interesting than cosmetic changes like the knobs on the transitional IIBs, to me anyway.

 

[bartchamdoh]

Nice try Zeb but the 15'' big brother combo,s were an option(as opposed to a proper revision)that ran thru the Mark 1 and the Mark 2a and 2b and if you total the whole production run there were well over a thousand made!

 

[igfraso]

Maybe the "no-A/no B" or "early B" Mark IVs. Around 1,000 amps were built.

 

[zebpedersen]

Nice try Zeb but the 15'' big brother combo,s were an option(as opposed to a proper revision)that ran thru the Mark 1 and the Mark 2a and 2b and if you total the whole production run there were well over a thousand made!

Yes, it was an option, and still for my money more interesting than an anomalous selection of control knobs.

It really depends how pedantic you're being.

 

[bartchamdoh]

Sorry Zeb i,m very pedantic...love that word!!!thats going to be my word of the week lol.I actually had my Mark 2b transition model years ago and a Mark 2c that i sold on(oh well sigh) and had difficulty telling them apart because the 2b was described as having knobs with silver concave tops!I didn't know the last 500 or so had the later style knobs also if the 2b is a revision because it introduced a proper fx loop then the transition model should get some recognition if it introduced simul-class during its run.Also the no stripe black dot mark 3 is sometimes classed as an extra revision so i feel i have a valid rare model...Hey some people say a Mark 2 is a Mark 2, a Mark 3 is a Mark 3 if you don't care you don't care about the revisions...me i'm pedantic lol.

 

[chipaudette]

I think that the Series 300 boogies win this contest...especially if we're talking about a particular flavor (IIB, IIC, IIC+, III)...or if we're talking about a particular form-factor (I didn't even know that there were 15" combos for the Series 300!)

From The Boogie Files:

"The Series 300 amps cames as wide heads and widebody 1 x 15" combo amps. The first Series 300 as mentioned was a IIB. There were 336 of these made. The next was a Series 300 based on the Mark IIC and the Mark IIC+ amp. Of both types, there were 86 made. These were either the 180 watt Class AB model, or could be a 150 watt Simul-Class model. The last Series 300 was a Mark III based model, and again could be a pure Class AB 180 watt or a Simul-Class model. Only about 78 of these were ever made in the various "stripe" versions before the line was discontinued. Clearly, the Series 300 line is a rare production model with only a grand total of 500 being produced."

So, go get yourself a IIC+ Series 300 in a hardwood/wicker 15" combo, and you've got yourself one very rare amplifier. Dang!

Chip

 

[Sixstringpsycho]

What about the early "black stripe" mark IIIs with the 105 pt. Were there only 300ish of this mk III???

 

[zebpedersen]

That $4K+ 300-IIC+ on eBay from a couple of months ago would certainly attest to that.

That 300-series 15" IIC+ on the Boogie Files has to be right up there. I'd be surprised if there were any hardwood of that particular version.

 

[bartchamdoh]

Well i have to concede that the series 300 seems to be the winner so +1 from me as well.

 

[Sixstringpsycho]

+1 from me for the series 300.

 

[lesterpaul]

...always wanted to know how many simul Coli C+'s are floating around-seems like Ed told me he had seen two on this board...86 total /C and C+ Coli's,correct?..would like to know how many out of that # are +'s.. :?:

 

[Fronzil]

coliseum 300 series mark2C? that mrbeatdoctor on youtube said less then 80 ever made in his demo

 

[Neptical]

I would definitely say the Series 300 COL..no doubt!

 

[Fronzil]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuVWiUzJ39A

 

[Silverwulf]

Hmm...Rev. G Rectos with factory serial loops are rare too. Estimated around 20-40 of them.

 

[Neptical]

Man--I need me to get me hands on one of these bad boys. Hmm, I do have a for sale sign I could put in front of my house. :lol:

 

[Fronzil]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuVWiUzJ39A

Nah it's 86

Mark IIC/IIC+ Series 300: K337 to K422 = 86 Series 300 Mark IIC/C+
Actually there might be a few more.
There are some non conforming serial numbered Coliseums.
Meaning those that are 300 Series Coli's but don't have a Kxxx Serial number.

well his is a 2C, i just assumed he meant less then 80 2C, not including 2C+..either way pretty rare ha

 

[bartchamdoh]

Good call silverwulf.

 

[Joel]

What about the Revision E Dual Rectifiers? There are only about 115 of them in existence.