Vintage Mesa Boogie?

[noahstepro]

Hi, I got this amp off craigslist and am trying to figure out some of the history - it looks like an old princeton boost, but says amplitech on the inside - any help?
Here is what the craigslist ad says:
This is a highly modified Pre-CBS 1964 Fender Princeton that was basically made to function like a Mesa Boogie Mk II. Some people might know that Randall Smith of Mesa Boogie got his start upgrading Fender Princeton's just like this one (I don't know if Randall did this one. The only clue of the origins of the mod is a stamp in the back that say Amplitech Engineering). The amp has been hotrodded to about 30-40 watts with new transformers (the power transformer is a huge Hammond) and 6L6 tubes. The original 10" speaker has been replaced with a high wattage Fane 12" speaker which is famous for their use in Hiwatt Amplifiers in the '60's. There is also channel switching (footswitch included) with a seperate gain and master for the second channel. The amp also has Presence, Treble, and Bass controls and an active tube buffered effects loop with adjustable send and return on the back. The amp works fine and was serviced with the bias adjusted and the main filter caps changed a couple of months ago. All the work appears to be clean and only quality components were used. The amp still has the original cabinet, chassis, a lot of those great sounding blue Fender caps, and Pre-CBS logo with the tail.

 

[babow2]

I can't tell you much, but I can tell you this, Randy Smith never did business under the name Amplitech or anything like that. He was the amp guy and part owner of Prune Music in Mill Valley when he started developing the multiple gain stages and "boogie-ying" Fenders. I grew up in Mill Valley in that era. I had a Fender Dual Showman that was modded at Prune Music. Their work never looked like that, with no grille cloth and funky badges.

So, this isn't a pre-Boogie from Randy if that was what you were hoping to discover.

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of guys/shops out there who did and still do mods on Fender amps to "Boogie-fy" them. Some are very good, some are okay, some aren't.

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Yep, sorry bro. This isn't a piece of Randall's work for sure. Odds are just someone's homemade hotrod, it happens alot. Phyrexia (who sold me my Mark III) recently took his very awesome vintage Princeton and began making his Boogie clone - there are probably many more afoot.

With a Hammond transformer, they were probably going for some sort of frankenstein amp, Boogies used pre-CBS trannies in the original modded Marks (only a couple hundred in circulation and accounted for), and custom Schumacher trannys on the ones after those. They would also be Mesa labeled. Pretty obvious.