The useless boogie trivia thread.

[JimAnsell]

This is a thread for the true boogie geek.
I want everyone to post those really small, nerdy, detail oriented pieces of boogie knowledge that you know of. you know what i mean. the stuff you would have never thought of, but mike bendinelli told you about.
stuff that only the techies, geeks, freaks, and obsessive folks among us will appreciate.

i'll start.

Heat dispensation and air circulation (using a fan) is more important in a mark IVa than a mark IVb.
mark IVa's have 2 voltage regulators on v1. this is to keep the hum down, and it also assists in the footswitching. mark IVb's, have a relay and a single voltage regulator.
if you run a mark IVa in a compact head shell without a fan, and you're playing the **** out of it loud and proud for a few hours, it might just start to cut out on you.
and thats because those regultors get hot, and when they get too hot, the amp will cut out.
you won't loose gain, you won't get crackle and hum. it'll get gradually get quiet, and eventually, no sound.
here is a crappy picture from my personal gear photo archive to prove it. i don't seem to have any hi rez mark IVb gut shots

thats an A on the left and a b on the right.
so keep those fans going!

ok, whose next?

 

[JimAnsell]

another:

blue angels and subway rockets both have this rectagular patch of circuit covered in black epox, which houses a sort of slight compression circuit. if you ever got ahold of a good working blue angel or subway rocket, and wondered why they were discontinued, i'll bet this is the reason.
if someone went wrong in these circuits, they whole board needs to be replaced. so if you're playing your blue angel or sub rock and all the sudden you hear PPWFFFFFFF FFFF FFF PPPWWFFFFF FFFFFFF!! then thats your problem. mesa will replace replace the board, and you'll be fine.

here is a picture if a replacement blue angel board without the Dumble-esque black gunk covering the circuit.

its the big load of components loaded together outlined in white on the top of the board.

 

[Restless Rocks]

You can get a small aluminum heat sinks that can be attached to the regulators with a screw and nut.

 

[Elpelotero]

This thread is genius.

 

[Old BF Shred]

This thread is genius.

I'll second that......but it may turn out that the info here is anything but useless!

 

[Boogiebabies]

I can't remember the specifics but Mike once told me there was a difference in the Mark series footswitches that are used to go from clean to lead mode. So one for a MkIII may not work correctly in say a IIB.... **** I just don't remember exactly what it was/ is about these footswitches.

The LED in the footswitch may draw too much current and not have enough to switch the relay ?

The gooped up section on those amp is called the " Mojo Module".

 

[kiff]

I can't remember the specifics but Mike once told me there was a difference in the Mark series footswitches that are used to go from clean to lead mode. So one for a MkIII may not work correctly in say a IIB.... **** I just don't remember exactly what it was/ is about these footswitches.

The LED in the footswitch may draw too much current and not have enough to switch the relay ?

Are there issues using a footswitch without an LED (or an amp switching unit) on the amps that do have LEDs on their FS's? Like, not having enough resistance in the circuit?

 

[MrMarkIII]

The Mark III reverb is pre-effects-loop.
What about the other Marks?

 

[phyrexia]

I have a schematic for the mojo module. It's a graphic EQ without external control. Maybe it can be used for compression too.

Green Stripes are all Simul-Class. Blue Stripe continues until the end of the Mark III era for 100/60s and 60w amps.

The first Dual Rectifier was housed in a Mark series chassis.

 

[Elpelotero]

There should be an award given to the person who comes up with the most trivia. But it has to be legitimate trivia to count. You can't just go around look up stupid stuff and copying and pasting or things of the sort...

 

[bryan_kilco]

The first Dual Rectifier was housed in a Mark series chassis.

really?

I'd really like to see a pic of this!

 

[Elpelotero]

The first Dual Rectifier was housed in a Mark series chassis.

really?

I'd really like to see a pic of this!

I'm not so sure about this...R001 is a regular recto. Nothing odd about it. I have pics of it in my laptop. Now, it's totally possible the first prototype was in a mark series chassis.

 

[jonarobb]

All Mesa Boogies have to be plugged into an AC outlet to work. :roll:

 

[Chrissmoth]

The "Mojo Module" potting / gunk / gloop - call it what you will was not the reason for excessive hum on the original Subway Blues

Mesa Boogie amps don't work correctly unless you plug a guitar into them.

 

[bryan_kilco]

All Mesa Boogies have to be plugged into an AC outlet to work. :roll:

pffft.....I got a badass battery pack that fits inside my rack that powers my Boogie. Nasa Engineering.

 

[jonarobb]

All Mesa Boogies have to be plugged into an AC outlet to work. :roll:

pffft.....I got a badass battery pack that fits inside my rack that powers my Boogie. Nasa Engineering.

That, my friend, is not useless trivia, that is just plain badass.

 

[Boogiebabies]

The "Mojo Module" potting / gunk / gloop - call it what you will was not the reason for excessive hum on the original Subway Blues

Mesa Boogie amps don't work correctly unless you plug a guitar into them.

One cap change and the hum is gone.

 

[phyrexia]

No, not R001, that was the first production amp...

IV on the right, Recto on the left

 

[kiff]

IV on the right, Recto on the left

whoa, sounds like an adult film

 

[Elpelotero]

So on the middle shelf, from left to right there's 4 amps. A clean silver amp, 2 rusted, and a black. You're saying the silver one is a recto? The one with the 5ar4 also seems like it could be recto.

That picture is worth a thousand words. Tell us more about it.