Why did they stop making the MKIIC+ so early?

[Russ]

That was the reception of the early Reissue Super Leads. It carried over to the 2203's a little too. Marshall has now had better luck with the obvious attempt in their HW but this just proves your point. The IIC+ RI would have to be absolutely perfect. Then the question becomes: With or without EQ? or maybe Simul or not? Head or Combo? Wide or short? Do they give it a facelift or even offer custom options? How many to produce? etc.

 

[JOEY B.]

How about ALL the options available in 1984? Let the buyer choose which ones. Just like the good ol' days.

 

[igfraso]

The sad reality is that there are not components that are magical in the IIC+ that cannot be duplicated. CTS can still makes the pots, Shumacher can still wind the trannies and all the LDR's are still in use. The only issue i can think of is the silver content of the preamp and power amp boards. They never tarnish, so there has got to be some silver content as opposed to copper like in the rest of the Mesa boards. The current generation boards are thin, copper traced and come in stacked batches that basically are perforated to break apart, populate and install. Even the small EQ amp board could be made. It all really leads to progress and design evolution. Stemming from the MK III and IV, I can guarantee that they were more profitable and less labor intense amps to make.

Boogiebabies:
you have an excellent point here.

The Mark III was issued at the end of 1985, at the time of the Superdollar. Whoever is old enough (like me ) and used to read newspapers at that time, knows that the US dollar was so strong (and exchange rates were so unfavourable) that products imported in the US were very cheap.

Most probably, Mesa realized a couple of years before that they could not sustain the production of amps (like the Mark II's) that were expensive to produce and, thus, came out with a newer design that could compete with foreign amps and allow them to regain previous profitability.

Funny thing is that immediately after, during 1986, the dollar lost around 35% of its value in a period of a few months. That strong devaluation of the US dollar surely gave Mesa a good cushion but, at that time, the Mark III had already replaced the IIC+.

Se non e' vero, e' ben trovato.

Regards
Daniel

 

[Boogiebabies]

Man, tell me about it. All I wanted in life was a MK IIC+ for $ 1200 and a Charvel Strat for $ 1400. I was 14 and made $ 3.50 an hour working construction during the summers. From 86' on, all I have done is work my *** off to where I could afford to buy 4 old Charvels and 3 IIC+'s. They were basically the same price they were in 86'. So much for depreciation.
The C+'s are like haunting ghosts. When you tracked one down while you were young, you could never get the $ 600-800 dollars to buy one, now, when you track one down, you cringe at $ 3500-$4000. Happily, my empire of Mesa's were purchased before the big boom. After searching for over a decade, three basically fell into my lap in a 1 year span and I had the means to pull the trigger on all of them without a lack of funds.
Thank god for the prime earning years. Sadly, I will probably have to sell all of my gear for my kids. I've got 11 years to buy 2 Volvos and send two to college.

Thanks for bringing back the Reagan years. :wink:

 

[Shep]

BB..this reminds me of last year and getting a mkiv...I was 17 and i had been wanting a mk iv for about a year...thats all i wanted..so i worked a heap and i fianlly found one and got it.... i was 18 when i got it..

now mesa will be the only thing i will ever play..

 

[Aart]

Haha, its the same here.

The Mark IV was the one and only good amp for me, but i couldn't afford one. That was when I was 13.
Got one finally when I was 16, but that one was mistreated by the previous owner so I had to get another one.
I play Mark IV's now for 2 years and probably will never sell it.

 

[Shep]

hey the music shop i work at told me about a guy in sydney who is coming up with a Mk II of some sort FULLY loaded and i mean FULLY...Imbuya cab ( combo with a 15" speaker) eq slimi reverb and pedal's..and this guy might trade it for somthing in the shop...i am going to be there first thing if it come's...i am the person who deal with the mesa's at my shop ..so i can't wait to hear this..

 

[Elpelotero]

i turn 21 next wednesday and i (so far) have a rig that some professionals would drool at. not to be cocky, but it's just natural to be proud of the results you get after lots of hard work and patience! i got my first mesa after my freshman year of college. since then, i've gotten 2 pre500's and a C+ and the daddy of all Warwick basses. I just need to upgrade the guitar