A note on the tone at the end of the vid... I accidentally left the overhead room mic on too loud during the jamming parts, so you'll notice some distorting here and there. That's why.
Hey Brad! If you're interested in a professionally-made recording of this amp's various tones... i used this very amp, in all its wonderfully restored glory, for all but one of the guitar tracks on an EP recorded at Nitrosonic studio two weeks ago and released today, over here: metricsoul.bandcamp.com/releases Those tracks include a '90 Gibson Flying V (the '67 reissue, my main squeeze) and a '98 PRS McCarty Soapbar (P90s!!!) through this Boogie head into a Marshall 2x12 cab, master volume on about 5, "clean" gain ("Volume 1") on 10, dirty gain ("Lead Drive") on about 3. (The outlier is a rhythm track on a Danelectro U1 through a silver face Fender Champ-Amp... you'll know it's not the Boogie.) Oddly enough, the engineer put the microphone in front of the cabinet instead of in front of the head. :shrug: Some people... Thank you for giving new life to this beast. I may need you to look at my Champ-Amp sometime. ;-)
Even though I have absolutely no idea what in the hell you are talking about more than 3 quarters of the time, I love watching your videos!!!!!! Thanks for posting..... Also, do you live in Kentucky??? You were mentioning Richmond KY, and Louisville KY.... That's why I was asking.
MB is Mike Bendinelli was the 1st employee at Mesa and the co-creator of some of Mesa's most famous amps like the Mark II C+. He checked and signed off on most of the early amps thus the MB near the AC plug and still keeps the vintage Mesas touring.
darryl t He still is the greatest, too. I had him convert a IIC to a IIC+ last year, and had several conversations with him throughout the process, both on the phone and in person. Answered all my questions, and was the nicest guy you'll ever meet. He told me he has a mortgage to pay off, so he'd be at Mesa for at least another few years.
The "Slave" is for enslaving your audience to the service of the Dark Lord. :P ...and also you can plug a cable from that jack to another amplifier and get your overall tone with the Mesa and use the slave amp as just clean amplification of your Boogie tone.
jinxx Iwasawa Well Metallica used Mark IIC+'s slaved into JCM800's on Master of Puppets. So it was definitely good for 80s metal, not sure how well it could do modern metal though.
EVER SO SLIGHT clean-boost, and this amp will chug faster than a Kentucky ....... uh....guy who chugs beer. Well, I butchered that one. (audience boos, "Get off the stage!")
The "Oil On Your Fingers" destroying vacuum tubes is based on the same idea as Halogen light bulbs. Halogen bulbs get SUPER HOT, and anything that would get on the glass could cause extra heat. When you get new headlights for you car, you'll note they ask you to wear rubber gloves. This MAY have an effect on SUPER SUPER high power broadcast tubes that glow bright as the sun... but general audio tubes don't apply.
And of course 5 seconds after I hit Submit, you comment the same idea/concept. LOL. I just had a fun fix up... I got a Conn ST-6 Strobotuner... like the one Led Zeppelin used on tour.
I truly think the strobes do a better job than the electronic ones... I've tried some really pricey electronic ones too. The strobe is annoying to use, but the result was amazing.
You'll get that effect on things like projector tubes, either in televisions or actual projectors. In that case you can get anything from burnt on fingerprints to a popped bulb.
It's amazing how far ahead of the game Mesa was on overdrive. There was simply no other amp that could get this level of solid gain at the time. And I'm not even talking about the Mark IIC Plus, like what Brad Gillis used, and I think still uses. I never liked the Mark III or IV or V, or the Rectifier. But I love the 50 Cal Plus (owned a combo), the 38 Special, Studio .22 (including the rack mounted preamp), the Mini Rectoverb 25, Lonestar, Stiletto (not as bad as people say. Di Meola loves it) and the Petrucci model because it has a Mark II C Plus preamp, which has a lot more clarity than later Mark series.
I have a 1989 50 Caliber + 1x12 combo 6L6 version. Absolutely love it! The lead channel is glorious, the clean channel takes pedals very well in the front, and the eq is great. I replaced the stock speaker with an Eminence Wizard. Just WOW!!!!
I can tell this amp would be especially sensitive to a microphonic V1. I can just imagine the auditory fireworks that might occur if V1 was microphonic.
To combat this problem the late 70s Mk I and the Mk IIa came with an optional FETRON for V1, this was basically a JFET in a 12ax7 sized can. These didn't sound particularly good and had a tendency to spontaneously fail so most would just replace them with a tube; there was a switch next to v1 on top of the chassis to select which you were running. Since it was unanimously hated, with the Mk IIb, Mesa started supplying an additional 12ax7 in place of the FETRON.
Scott Cramer i recently scored a minty 85 mesa SOB combo, and included the fetron. it dramatically cleaned up the noise, but without loop or reverb, no way to change channels, it jis gna be a pedal amp for me. thinkin of modding it for footswitch, but i dno... i like the fetron... schematic came with, has it listed to use fetron, im usin fetron. :)
If it says Boogie you don't want it. They stared getting too creaive and are pains. All of your Mesa videos prove this. Mesa Engineering is the stuff. I chose a Carvin X amp combo over the Mesa back in 1988 and am glad of it.
I just picked a Mesa boogie amp up on crates list for $730 dollars. I got it serviced I had them put new groove tubes in it. I also put a Emenince Swamp twang speaker in it this amp is awesome. I can't believe I finally got my dream amp. Plus. I just traded my Telecaster and $300 dollars for a USA Les Paul standard Pro 2013 .i am ready to Rock. Pat Romero Denver Colo. Cheers.
Yep, I just posted the same thing, and I scroll down and, well, ya beat me to it fair and square. I had a Mark III short chassis head (blue stripe, simul-class, but no EQ) and it had the fan in it.
Just a few bits of info for you.I own a very early Mark II from 1978. At the time Boogies were built to order & took about 6-7 months to get. The basic amp was 60 watts then you could add 100 watt, reverb & eq, You also had a choice of EV or Altec speaker in 12"or 15" & choice of black, cream or a exotic hardwood cabinet.Mine is was ordered with everything (including a flight case) except for the eq.The extra tube was actually because there was a switch that allowed either the tube or a solid state device to be installed in one of the sockets (perhaps the beginnings of the Dual Rectifier?) tube was warmer , the solid state device gave more gain. Love the channel ,its one of my regulars & maybe you could help me with some advise. the amp has been in its road case untouched for close to 20 years & I would like to start using it again, was told by a local tech ( Chicago area) to just plug it in & fire it up (all that Variac stuff is not nessesary if stuff is going to go wrong, its going to go wrong anyway )I'm thinking he just might be looking for an expensive repair job. What do you think?
bishton22 there is probably enough in this vid if you get a variac and dial up slowly, you might save your caps for a while and avoid repair. You can buy a 3A variac for $50: amzn.to/2uPAX9u
The Guitologist I bought that same variac and it is functioning as expected. I like the LED readout you modified yours with, I had a box of analog gauges that needed a purpose to exist so I went that route, but that readout on yours is better and if I had it do again I would include it in my Amazon order for the variac. (For anyone who missed it, the Guitologist made a video that shows you how to install the readout)
I remember that Smith was building these in his converted dog kennel up in Lagunitas CA and it did take months to get one. I ordered mine in the fall of 1977 and received it in the late spring of 1978. $880 shipped. These were dual footswitch models-front switch for the lead channel with a red LED and a double footswitch that connected to a switchcraft jack on the underside of the chassis for Gain Boost and EQ or Reverb. That little plastic clip held a 9 pin tube, the amp came with a FETRON 9 pin device in the V1 socket and a toggle switch if you chose to run the tube instead. All in all I found the amp problematic, the relay switching was noisy, balance between channels was difficult to achieve and it was a heavy little bastard. That said I did keep it for 15 years before selling it.
No trouble at all, I have a MkIIa from around 1980, it has all the options except the 'Simul-class which I believe only came out as an option on the 'b'. I do get the audible pop on switching channels but it does not really bother me as I can work around it :)
I agree, on the MB, the early marks, II's IIb's IIC+'s and IIIs have sharpie markings next to the power cord based on who inspected them, and thats one of the things people do when they get their factory IIa or IIb converted, they take a sharpie and add the C+ mark. thats also where the mark III's get their types, red stripe,blue stripe,black stripe...its check mark in whatever color sharpie they used at the time.
Great job with the cap at the 26 minute mark. Love that you talked out why it is the right decision. I will definitely be using this method if needed in the future! Awesome video!
I use that method anywhere I feel that pulling the board would risk more than would be gained by achieving a cleaner look. Sometimes it just isn't worth the risk.
The Guitologist I'm curious about this, isn't there some concern for the integrity of the joint below the pcb? Since you couldn't check it visually after doing this, I would be worried that the heat transferred from the iron through the original lead would weaken that joint. Please understand this is curiosity and not criticism, I've learned quite a bit from your videos and enjoy tuning in
Extra stamp at 20:53 would be for an ungrounded outlet for your amp that was utilized if you ordered it with the cooling fan. I had a Mark ii-B which was 60/100 watts with reverb, EV speaker, and effects loop...but no EQ. Later I got a Mark III which had a 2 conductor AC outlet right there for it's fan, so I guess maybe the fan was an option in the Mark II as well, since that punch is in the same spot.
I love seeing those old service stickers on amps. Years back I bought a Fender Twin that had started life in the USA, and it had a few service stickers on the chassis from various cities, one looked very 70s
It's had the rectifier replaced at least twice. I swapped the power tubes myself (and the retainers were already down when i got it, twenty-some years ago).
Hey Brad, cool video and good call with the cap on the input board. The thing really that got my attention is the fact you were on point when testing the amp. Great playing. It sounds as if you've been practicing a bit. No insult to your playing in past videos but you've obviously improved. We should jam someday. :)
Thanks. As much as I'd like to believe I'm improving, I think it's just a case of being a bit better warmed up from experimenting with tones. In most videos I literally just flip the amp on and start cold. My window of time for filming anything is usually small.
You're right on with this. I have seen quite a lot of broken joins that were repaired this way. Some where the previous tech expected an end-to-end butt join to hold; of course it didn't. And besides that, the fact is that it simply looks amateurish, even if it never breaks. Even though I am against this type of repair, on occasion I have had to do so out of necessity, but I certainly didn't like doing so. Thankfully, 99.9% of amplifier repairs can be made without resorting to this type of shortcut. And, in quite a number of his videos Brad has expressed disdain when he encountered an eyelet board amp where a previous tech did a repair job by soldering a lead across an eyelet, instead of through it. But, one is just as bad as the other, isn't it?
Interesting aside, in high school I got a lemon of a Hot Rod Deville 212 that was bought new. It would work for awhile, then cut out completely. It went in twice for warranty work at that same place in Richmond, however, was never made right. Needless to say, it went back to the shop for an exchange. The replacement amp served me well for years! This was way back when the guitar shop was next to a pizza place. Appreciate your channel, Guitologist, as a former Kentuckian.
As i suggested on another vid, what would be great is for you to do a more design oriented video, say looking at a Princeton circuit, and following it through to explain what is going on in the circuit. Then, you could show maybe (or in a follow up video), how Randall Smith took that amp and turned it into the first Mesa Boogie? Not sure if that's something you would be interested in doing, but i bet a lot of us here would love to watch!
Wow....this is the first time I have seen you play !!! Not only are you a whiz fixing amps....you can make em scream too !!! All killer....no filler...nice licks !!!
The myth about tubes burning up when the oil from your hand gets on them comes from the fact that the lamps (lightbulbs) used in theatrical lighting fixtures, and other high intensity lights will be destroyed when you get the oil from your skin on them. The glass gets so hot that if there is any oil on it, it will get blackened and form bubbles where you touched it. A lot of these lamps look very similar to vacuum tubes so that's why people get confused.
i remember tube testers at Thrifty's. I'd go there with my Dad and look at the $35 Teisco's while he'd check TV tubes then we'd get a, ice cream cone for like 35 cents. Those were the days.
Thanx for the response, Guit. It was a nice time. I was mainly referring to what some people would be concerned about when touching tubes. Someone mentioned new headlight bulbs. That's probably a where the fear may have started. BTW, great vid. You tore it up, man !!! Amp sounded killer!!!!
I took your advice and miced up the head the way you said. We recorded the whole album like it. The studio tech wasn't happy but I trusted you more than him. So roomy!
42:10 I believe the myth about the oil from your hands getting on to the tubes and destroying them comes from certain light bulbs that heat up to ungodly temps and handling the bare glass with your skin can cause temperature variations across the glass in operation and can shatter the glass...I think? EDIT: Ahhh, yea, you just mentioned the lights haha
I've had "Engineers" do it at shows... You know it's going to be a long night when the engineer mic's the head instead of the cab, or he comes to you with a 1/4 inch cord wanting to take a line out of the amp. Ouch
The guy at audio video in Richmond ky is a wizard. He fixed my peavey ultra. He's retiring in a few years which leaves the amp repair in lexington very hard to find.
You are correct, the don't touch tubes myth comes from people confusing them with high wattage lights that supposedly can break from uneven heating caused by oily fingerprints on the glass. I've never seen it happen but apparently it can. Of course a tube never gets anywhere near that hot so it's no problem.
After making this video, I got more curious and decided to research it. Turns out, the reason not to touch halogen lights is the quartz: www.bulbs.com/blogs/light_source/post/2010/10/18/Quartz-Halogens-Handle-With-Care!.aspx
yah. I blEW one few yrs . back by leaving a fingerprint on once ,,you could leave no fingerprints on em at all! but never tubes , would never hurt TO WIPE em though. just saying
Great video! And great playing. I have been wondering what these older mesas sound like for a while now. Pretty cool. Glad you went with the new mic set up a while back for these amp demos.
The extra small rectangular punched chassis hole is for if you ordered the optional cooling fan, that's where the AC outlet to plug the fan in went. I had a Mark IIb and a Mark III, my III had the fan outlet there.
I have a 1982 SOB 💯. It used to sound amazing . But now , I can't dial in a tight gutsy sound . Spent hours (after installing new valves) tweaking the knobs ,,, I would get a somewhat acceptable sound , then in less that (1) minute the tone would morph back to kazoo meets loose floppy bass . Wish I could get back that Twin Reverb on steroids sound again. That amp has with its remote switching, has all the diversity that any guitarist would ever need .
Came back to re watch and Im at the "touching the tubes"question.I trained as an electrician and we fitted b loads of halogen floods.I remember we could not touch em,as if you did they blew the moment they were switched on.Maybe thats why people get mixed up?
The extra holes are for the E.Q. and the reverb send/return. all 50 watt chassis had those. The 100 watt chassis are stamped different and were separate chassis by 1982. BTW, those early boards Mesa used had horrible traces and break and flake very easily. MusicMan had a switchable RD100 amp with 2 channels that came out in 1980. Had 2-EL-34's(or 6CA7's) that put out a 100 watts.
Another good place to get cleaning brushes is your local Gun Shop......they use them for cleaning barrels, and make little ones you can even clean Valve sockets with.....they come in all sorts, Brass , Nylon etc etc......you can also buy a little handle they screw into........they use the handle for cleaning pistols.....very handy.....oxy tip cleaners are also good for smaller valve sockets.......the touching tubes myth def comes from the halogen lights issue.
I'm i the process of moving house and that means putting together a new and better workshop. In my last shop, I inset my test speaker in the drywall stud space behind my bench (sounded surprisingly good) and hard mounted my multimeter to the left side of the bench. I'm always looking for ideas - have you ever consider doing a shop ideas video?
The pull-shift control on the treble pot only lowers the bottom of the frequency range by adding another capacitor parallel with the existing one thus letting also high-mids to pass to the pot. It has nothing to do with the centering of the pot. The treble pot only controls the amount of the signal and the frequency range is selected by push/pull switch. Removing the bypass capacitor from the cathode of the 1.st stage would reduce gain alot. Instead of removing the cap (25uF) you could replace it with a smaller capacitor (470n). That way you would still get the same gain on higher frequencies but get rid of the excessive bass. The presence pots are often scratchy because there is often dc present on the wiper. Wiggling the preamp tube causes the pilot light to flash, because the tubes heater wiring is drawing quite a lot of current and it also affects the primary side of the power transformer, where the pilot light is connected.
Killer playing, amazing riffing there....I had a 180W tweed-covered (twill cloth a la Fender) Mark IIB head, ran it through a newer 4x12 Marshall (in the 90s). What a sound, these Mark IIB's are my favorite Boogies (they're all really good). sick mids and crunch, if you need over-the-top, put your pedal in front. My right ear rings all the time because of that Boogie.
Brad, You are clearly having WAY too much fun doing these vids, and we, your loyal following, are having too much fun watching...the thought police cannot be far behind...don't change a thing, but just be aware...:)
The bare hand myth is from Halogen bulbs. The oils cause the heat to not distribute evenly and ruin the bulb. But you are correct, it doesnt affect vacuum tubes
The tungsgram tubes are a nice sounding tube and last ages. Luckily ive a Hungarian girlfriend and she found this guy who has a lot of nos tungsgram tubes. they give a plexi a more mellow attack in V1 and a generally more balanced overall tone.. when you spend a few days trying every tube ever made in V1 on your amp it really gives you a good knowledge of what tubes do what etc. its subtle but really noticeable to . like tungsol [i mean tungsol different to tungsgram]12ax7s sound soft and when you look at the tube chart they are less herbs. the Eh 12ax7s are quite un even in there tone compared to the tungsgram. but to someone else that might be there flavor. but i suggest you all try this and do it to every pre tube [not so much phase invertor]] and you will have some weird combinations but your amp will sound like a new powerful beast. i do it after i put in new power tubes and bias to. if i did a vid on this test it would stop people saying pre tubes make little difference.cheers ps; heavy metal wanking ha ha ha ha. i bet that old ibanez roadstar 2is one of brads fav guitars.old ibanez axes are soooooo great.ive a 74 les paul ibanez..its the shit
What's that music playing in the background when you're replacing the caps, starting at 23:47? It reminds me of Al Stewart, but I don't regognize it. Also, that meditative guitar you played starting at 46:33 was beautiful. Original?
They are called Interdental Brushes.They don't replace floss, and they are not single use :D I've learned a lot from you (although I've only built one amp head case,and a few stompboxes) , now you've learned something from me :)
Tungsram's are really nice sounding tubes. You can always spot them by the little metal badge near the top structure. V-2 is actually an old Mullard and probably sounds great.
I have Mesa/Boogie Blue Angel from about 1997-1999 according to the serial number, which is 10xx of 2K, and it is blowing fuses when it first turns on. It got left on for a long time with the cover on it, my ex-girlfriend put the cover on it when it was on and didn't turn it off, and I didn't discover it until 2 weeks later, as I live in a small apartment, and usually use either my laptop, Roland Micro Cube, of Fender G DEC 30 for daily practice. I wasn't happy when I found out my amp wasn't working anymore, I am disabled because of health issues so I can't work and money is tight. I have been saving up to get it fixed either at Inner Sound in Portland, OR, or the Mesa/Boogie authorized repair guitar shop.
great vid, wish i could resurrect some old amps where i live but there's not many people to get em off, so i'll continue to live vicariously through your videos lol.
I Mic Guitar Amps the same way but, I like the tone better with it more off axis than you demonstrated. I come right in the back, pointed directly toward the output Xformer on Bass amps for better Sub freqs. Believe it or not, once on a live gig we forgot half the Mic stands and I taped MICS TO THE HANDLES ON TOP OF BOTH Guitar and Bass Amps. sounded really good but, it may have just been that room.
Do you recall if it was decent quality? I've look at getting another & they want arms & legs for the damned things! Mine sounded pretty awesome after getting it tweaked by a guy named Jose out in LA
I was lent a similar amp, the one with the eq sliders, for a gig. It was very loud and I struggled to get the sound that I thought it would have.....I never realised it had the push pull knobs,
I ended up using a small EQ boost pedal in front of it which turned it into a total beast! In between songs I had to turn the volume on the guitar to zero to stop all sorts of squealing and howling....but when I was playing , with the pedal, it sounded great: It was like riding a wild bull or something!
I've used this head for 20 years with the same Marshall 2x12 cabinet and pretty much the same settings: Volume 1, which I think of as "clean gain," at 10, pulled out. (It's always dirty. I use the guitar volume knob and a light touch to get actual clean tones.) Bass at 3, mid at 7, treble at 9, shift pulled out. Lead gain around 3 or 4, bright at 7. More than that and it turns to mush with a high output guitar like my Flying V. Master between 2 and 4, depending on how hard the drummer hits and how big the room is. It's bottom heavy, but I love that. In truth, I use the crunchy "clean" channel most of the time, saving the lead channel for shameless wanking if the song calls for it.
@Leah Arrington....wish I had access to the amp now, I'd love to really try it out more. The one I used was very loud....but not as loud as the 100 watt Marshall Super Bass some idiot was trying to get me to use in a small club...turn the volume above 1 and you got stunned into unconsciousness by the sheer deafening blast of sound..ha! ha!
Do you remember an electronics store called "Specialty"? The went out of business in the 1980's. I used to get all my supplies from Specialty's. It's hard to believe that dirty sockets will cause so much trashy sounds. The noise in tube amps is too much for me. When I turn the volume up I don't want to hear any noise. That's why I like my transistor (solid state) class D amp. When I turn it all the way up it is silent with no hum or noise.
The MB usually in Blue Sharpie sometimes Black is Michael Bendinelli's sig. he's ben with Mesa Boogie since the Lagunitas days, and now part of the design team and a museum of tone guy. He services all the early stuff and frequently answers questions on the phone on anything about early Mark series Boogies , he knows all the data on the MKIIC+ .
That's a nice Roadstar.... No doubt it's been well cared for over the years. I have one of the later MIK models, but I can imagine it don't hold a candle to those old MIJ's. That thing just looks like it has a nice feel to it.
Brad, I can't thank you enough. I used this video to recap the power supply on my Mark2b. It was real nerve wracking bringing it up little by little on the variac. But it sounds awesome and much less noisy even on high gain.
When you were replacing the filter caps on the right you could have saved all that time by cutting them and soldering the leads to the new cap like you did with the Mesa cap. I recap arcade monitors and that whole process would be faster with a desoldering iron like the Hakko FR-300. Also anytime you see branded caps that means they were ordered directly from the manufacturer to spec.
I've already caught hell from one know-it-all tech for even soldering the one on top of the board the way I did. There's no technical reason for it, he just thinks I "violated" the amp by clipping the leads and soldering to those.
I do all my own amplifier maintenance and repairs but if I could not do so and had my amp worked on by a shop and it was returned with the old leads clipped and the new components leads soldered to the old leads that would be the last time that shop touched any of my gear. It has nothing to do with being a "know it all" and everything to do with doing quality work. I have enjoyed your videos... until now.
Walmart QD cleaner works great and has a little lube in it. All the contact cleaners I've tried strip the carbon right off the track. Those old Centralab and US CTS pots don't grow on trees!
This CRC stuff hasn't done that to me on any pots. If the carbon track is peeling off, it was likely worn out anyway, man. Old pots are old pots. That can happen.
The Guitologist I'm using the CRC QD/Contact cleaner w/lube. It's been perfect and safe for older stuff specifically. The Deoxit brand has been the worst. Radio Shack stuff is ok with new pots but both will attack the resin in the wafer/board of old pots and eat carbon off the track. However, if you're careful you can make special value and taper pots with it! (Not really...) The best way to keep pots clean is to install them with the lugs pointed down. Of course nobody ever did that for ease of installation. Oh, the floss brushes work amazingly! There's different bristle size, stiffness and tapers that can get into the tiniest pin holes. I can't believe I didn't try that before, I have a few thousand of them lying around. Better for your gums too!
Huh. So there was once a period when their build quality wasn't horrible. Fascinating. I never got one of those old ones across my bench, just lots of the early 2000s garbage and I just got to the point where I'd turn them away. Those and Ampeg SVT Pros eat diagnosis time and any hope of profit.
Great amps I had one and all the techs in my area were ignorant about Filter caps are upsidedown and that threw them for a loop I think it was the regular Mark 2
i worked two block down from Mesa HQ for almost 2 years on Clegg but never went there. 'down time' as a player. Haven't played one that inspired me later but music stores frown upon getting too loud.
Hello ...I have a Marshall code 100h. The input jacks for the FX loop and the speaker output Is fried (metal clips burnt) ... The amp still works though the headphone Jack, but nothing from the cab nor does the FX loop work. I'm wondering, would it be as simple as replacing those input jacks¿¿¿ ... Thankxxx ... Your videos are awesome btw 👍👍👍
Wow, was that a lot better of a layout than my 1985 Mark 3 was. That thing had so much stuffed into that small chassis it was nightmare to work on. I got rid of it after 30 years of owning it. Started to sound terrible after about 10 years. Never could get it to sound like it did new ever with a cap job. Have had 3 Mesa products and all 3 have had issues in a short amount of time. Just too much crap stuffed into them anymore, not tech friendly at all. Mine had a dual layer PCB with a broken joint on a filter cap for the DC heater circuit they went to on that amp. Had to pull the PCB to fix that(not fun). I could re-cap my Friedman Smallbox 50 in an hour where it took a day+ to do the Mesa. I recapped my Mesa in a similar fashion
Mesa Amps always sound great to me while I'm playing alone, but the throaty mid range never blends with other guitars or instruments at all. I think they are just designed to pull your playing over the rest of the band for solo work, but that's all they really do well to me.
A note on the tone at the end of the vid... I accidentally left the overhead room mic on too loud during the jamming parts, so you'll notice some distorting here and there. That's why.
Hey Brad! If you're interested in a professionally-made recording of this amp's various tones... i used this very amp, in all its wonderfully restored glory, for all but one of the guitar tracks on an EP recorded at Nitrosonic studio two weeks ago and released today, over here: metricsoul.bandcamp.com/releases
Those tracks include a '90 Gibson Flying V (the '67 reissue, my main squeeze) and a '98 PRS McCarty Soapbar (P90s!!!) through this Boogie head into a Marshall 2x12 cab, master volume on about 5, "clean" gain ("Volume 1") on 10, dirty gain ("Lead Drive") on about 3. (The outlier is a rhythm track on a Danelectro U1 through a silver face Fender Champ-Amp... you'll know it's not the Boogie.)
Oddly enough, the engineer put the microphone in front of the cabinet instead of in front of the head. :shrug: Some people...
Thank you for giving new life to this beast. I may need you to look at my Champ-Amp sometime. ;-)
@@leaharrington4472 microphone in front of the cabinet instead of the head!!!!!!?????? Insanity!!!!!
Even though I have absolutely no idea what in the hell you are talking about more than 3 quarters of the time, I love watching your videos!!!!!!
Thanks for posting..... Also, do you live in Kentucky??? You were mentioning Richmond KY, and Louisville KY.... That's why I was asking.
is that a Hondo 2 you are playing at the end??
@@leaharrington4472 There was some crackling in Broken Down,apart from that it seemed ok.
MB is Mike Bendinelli was the 1st employee at Mesa and the co-creator of some of Mesa's most famous amps like the Mark II C+. He checked and signed off on most of the early amps thus the MB near the AC plug and still keeps the vintage Mesas touring.
Mike was the greatest. He would take your phone call and talk you through with your amplifier problems or repairs.
darryl t He still is the greatest, too. I had him convert a IIC to a IIC+ last year, and had several conversations with him throughout the process, both on the phone and in person. Answered all my questions, and was the nicest guy you'll ever meet. He told me he has a mortgage to pay off, so he'd be at Mesa for at least another few years.
DickTruth Miles’s wife makes great amp & cabinet durable covers. Plus a nice lady.
He’s still working at Mesa Hollywood I believe
The cricket is NOT in your house, he's in mine. My daughter named him "Crickey". If we could find him, we'd probably feed him.
...to the dog.
The Guitologist what was the slave knob for could you use this amp for metal back in the 80s? or now these days? thanks
The "Slave" is for enslaving your audience to the service of the Dark Lord. :P
...and also you can plug a cable from that jack to another amplifier and get your overall tone with the Mesa and use the slave amp as just clean amplification of your Boogie tone.
jinxx Iwasawa Well Metallica used Mark IIC+'s slaved into JCM800's on Master of Puppets. So it was definitely good for 80s metal, not sure how well it could do modern metal though.
EVER SO SLIGHT clean-boost, and this amp will chug faster than a Kentucky ....... uh....guy who chugs beer. Well, I butchered that one. (audience boos, "Get off the stage!")
The best metal came out of the 80s. It will be laid to rest with Iron Maiden.
The "Oil On Your Fingers" destroying vacuum tubes is based on the same idea as Halogen light bulbs. Halogen bulbs get SUPER HOT, and anything that would get on the glass could cause extra heat. When you get new headlights for you car, you'll note they ask you to wear rubber gloves.
This MAY have an effect on SUPER SUPER high power broadcast tubes that glow bright as the sun... but general audio tubes don't apply.
Good comment. Thanks!
And of course 5 seconds after I hit Submit, you comment the same idea/concept. LOL.
I just had a fun fix up... I got a Conn ST-6 Strobotuner... like the one Led Zeppelin used on tour.
I had one of those strobes. I was just thinking about it yesterday while doing a setup.
I truly think the strobes do a better job than the electronic ones... I've tried some really pricey electronic ones too. The strobe is annoying to use, but the result was amazing.
You'll get that effect on things like projector tubes, either in televisions or actual projectors. In that case you can get anything from burnt on fingerprints to a popped bulb.
It's amazing how far ahead of the game Mesa was on overdrive. There was simply no other amp that could get this level of solid gain at the time. And I'm not even talking about the Mark IIC Plus, like what Brad Gillis used, and I think still uses. I never liked the Mark III or IV or V, or the Rectifier. But I love the 50 Cal Plus (owned a combo), the 38 Special, Studio .22 (including the rack mounted preamp), the Mini Rectoverb 25, Lonestar, Stiletto (not as bad as people say. Di Meola loves it) and the Petrucci model because it has a Mark II C Plus preamp, which has a lot more clarity than later Mark series.
I have a 1989 50 Caliber + 1x12 combo 6L6 version. Absolutely love it! The lead channel is glorious, the clean channel takes pedals very well in the front, and the eq is great. I replaced the stock speaker with an Eminence Wizard. Just WOW!!!!
I love the Mesa Boogie repair videos because I know theres always going to be strange problems with the amp.
I can tell this amp would be especially sensitive to a microphonic V1. I can just imagine the auditory fireworks that might occur if V1 was microphonic.
To combat this problem the late 70s Mk I and the Mk IIa came with an optional FETRON for V1, this was basically a JFET in a 12ax7 sized can. These didn't sound particularly good and had a tendency to spontaneously fail so most would just replace them with a tube; there was a switch next to v1 on top of the chassis to select which you were running. Since it was unanimously hated, with the Mk IIb, Mesa started supplying an additional 12ax7 in place of the FETRON.
Thanks for the comment, Scott.
Scott Cramer i recently scored a minty 85 mesa SOB combo, and included the fetron. it dramatically cleaned up the noise, but without loop or reverb, no way to change channels, it jis gna be a pedal amp for me. thinkin of modding it for footswitch, but i dno... i like the fetron... schematic came with, has it listed to use fetron, im usin fetron. :)
The “MB” is a quality sign off from Mike Bendinelli at Mesa Boogie. I know because I owned a Mark IIB that I had upgraded to a II-C.
Very wise move to solder the cap on the existing leads instead of risking breaking something on the board. Really enjoy your videos.
If it says Boogie you don't want it. They stared getting too creaive and are pains. All of your Mesa videos prove this. Mesa Engineering is the stuff. I chose a Carvin X amp combo over the Mesa back in 1988 and am glad of it.
I just picked a Mesa boogie amp up on crates list for $730 dollars. I got it serviced I had them put new groove tubes in it. I also put a Emenince Swamp twang speaker in it this amp is awesome. I can't believe I finally got my dream amp. Plus. I just traded my Telecaster and $300 dollars for a USA Les Paul standard Pro 2013 .i am ready to Rock. Pat Romero Denver Colo. Cheers.
What model?
The rectangular cutout on the right hand side is for a two prong power plug for the power cord of the cooling fan
Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure on that one.
Yep, I just posted the same thing, and I scroll down and, well, ya beat me to it fair and square. I had a Mark III short chassis head (blue stripe, simul-class, but no EQ) and it had the fan in it.
A sign of a good amp when you can clearly hear the individual notes played without any muddiness.
Why you hear this on the live Dire Straits album _Alchemy_ (1984).
These old Mesa amps are a work of art . Even the circuit boards seem to be hand made. The curved traces are too cool.
Just a few bits of info for you.I own a very early Mark II from 1978. At the time Boogies were built to order & took about 6-7 months to get. The basic amp was 60 watts then you could add 100 watt, reverb & eq, You also had a choice of EV or Altec speaker in 12"or 15" & choice of black, cream or a exotic hardwood cabinet.Mine is was ordered with everything (including a flight case) except for the eq.The extra tube was actually because there was a switch that allowed either the tube or a solid state device to be installed in one of the sockets (perhaps the beginnings of the Dual Rectifier?) tube was warmer , the solid state device gave more gain. Love the channel ,its one of my regulars & maybe you could help me with some advise. the amp has been in its road case untouched for close to 20 years & I would like to start using it again, was told by a local tech ( Chicago area) to just plug it in & fire it up (all that Variac stuff is not nessesary if stuff is going to go wrong, its going to go wrong anyway )I'm thinking he just might be looking for an expensive repair job. What do you think?
bishton22 there is probably enough in this vid if you get a variac and dial up slowly, you might save your caps for a while and avoid repair. You can buy a 3A variac for $50: amzn.to/2uPAX9u
The Guitologist I bought that same variac and it is functioning as expected. I like the LED readout you modified yours with, I had a box of analog gauges that needed a purpose to exist so I went that route, but that readout on yours is better and if I had it do again I would include it in my Amazon order for the variac. (For anyone who missed it, the Guitologist made a video that shows you how to install the readout)
thanks, think I'll give it a try.
I remember that Smith was building these in his converted dog kennel up in Lagunitas CA and it did take months to get one. I ordered mine in the fall of 1977 and received it in the late spring of 1978. $880 shipped. These were dual footswitch models-front switch for the lead channel with a red LED and a double footswitch that connected to a switchcraft jack on the underside of the chassis for Gain Boost and EQ or Reverb. That little plastic clip held a 9 pin tube, the amp came with a FETRON 9 pin device in the V1 socket and a toggle switch if you chose to run the tube instead. All in all I found the amp problematic, the relay switching was noisy, balance between channels was difficult to achieve and it was a heavy little bastard. That said I did keep it for 15 years before selling it.
That looks like the magical Weezer Blue Album amp that Rivers used. HUGE distortion sound on that thing...and can be had at really low volumes
That was a MK 1 with a bright pull knob.
MB I think is Mike Bendinelli, a famed/ renowned Mesa Boogie guru :)
Thanks for clarifying.
No trouble at all, I have a MkIIa from around 1980, it has all the options except the 'Simul-class which I believe only came out as an option on the 'b'. I do get the audible pop on switching channels but it does not really bother me as I can work around it :)
I agree, on the MB, the early marks, II's IIb's IIC+'s and IIIs have sharpie markings next to the power cord based on who inspected them, and thats one of the things people do when they get their factory IIa or IIb converted, they take a sharpie and add the C+ mark. thats also where the mark III's get their types, red stripe,blue stripe,black stripe...its check mark in whatever color sharpie they used at the time.
Wow super clean for being so old all top shelf components looks like. Maybe thats why Mesa's are so expensive.
Yeah, I don't think Mesa was really thinking too much about collectors 30 and 40 years down the road.
Great job with the cap at the 26 minute mark. Love that you talked out why it is the right decision. I will definitely be using this method if needed in the future! Awesome video!
I use that method anywhere I feel that pulling the board would risk more than would be gained by achieving a cleaner look. Sometimes it just isn't worth the risk.
The Guitologist I'm curious about this, isn't there some concern for the integrity of the joint below the pcb? Since you couldn't check it visually after doing this, I would be worried that the heat transferred from the iron through the original lead would weaken that joint.
Please understand this is curiosity and not criticism, I've learned quite a bit from your videos and enjoy tuning in
Extra stamp at 20:53 would be for an ungrounded outlet for your amp that was utilized if you ordered it with the cooling fan. I had a Mark ii-B which was 60/100 watts with reverb, EV speaker, and effects loop...but no EQ. Later I got a Mark III which had a 2 conductor AC outlet right there for it's fan, so I guess maybe the fan was an option in the Mark II as well, since that punch is in the same spot.
I love seeing those old service stickers on amps. Years back I bought a Fender Twin that had started life in the USA, and it had a few service stickers on the chassis from various cities, one looked very 70s
I couldn't see anything they did unless it was just a cleaning and tube swap.
It's had the rectifier replaced at least twice. I swapped the power tubes myself (and the retainers were already down when i got it, twenty-some years ago).
Hey Brad, cool video and good call with the cap on the input board. The thing really that got my attention is the fact you were on point when testing the amp. Great playing. It sounds as if you've been practicing a bit. No insult to your playing in past videos but you've obviously improved. We should jam someday. :)
Thanks. As much as I'd like to believe I'm improving, I think it's just a case of being a bit better warmed up from experimenting with tones. In most videos I literally just flip the amp on and start cold. My window of time for filming anything is usually small.
You're welcome. Still, great pickin'.
You're right on with this. I have seen quite a lot of broken joins that were repaired this way. Some where the previous tech expected an end-to-end butt join to hold; of course it didn't. And besides that, the fact is that it simply looks amateurish, even if it never breaks. Even though I am against this type of repair, on occasion I have had to do so out of necessity, but I certainly didn't like doing so. Thankfully, 99.9% of amplifier repairs can be made without resorting to this type of shortcut. And, in quite a number of his videos Brad has expressed disdain when he encountered an eyelet board amp where a previous tech did a repair job by soldering a lead across an eyelet, instead of through it. But, one is just as bad as the other, isn't it?
Jeff Yost I'm very curious as to the reasoning behind each of your statements, specifically.
Interesting aside, in high school I got a lemon of a Hot Rod Deville 212 that was bought new. It would work for awhile, then cut out completely. It went in twice for warranty work at that same place in Richmond, however, was never made right. Needless to say, it went back to the shop for an exchange. The replacement amp served me well for years!
This was way back when the guitar shop was next to a pizza place.
Appreciate your channel, Guitologist, as a former Kentuckian.
Thanks for the comment, fellow Kentucky Colonel.
As i suggested on another vid, what would be great is for you to do a more design oriented video, say looking at a Princeton circuit, and following it through to explain what is going on in the circuit. Then, you could show maybe (or in a follow up video), how Randall Smith took that amp and turned it into the first Mesa Boogie?
Not sure if that's something you would be interested in doing, but i bet a lot of us here would love to watch!
Wow....this is the first time I have seen you play !!! Not only are you a whiz fixing amps....you can make em scream too !!! All killer....no filler...nice licks !!!
Thanks for watching Patrick. I appreciate the compliments.
The myth about tubes burning up when the oil from your hand gets on them comes from the fact that the lamps (lightbulbs) used in theatrical lighting fixtures, and other high intensity lights will be destroyed when you get the oil from your skin on them. The glass gets so hot that if there is any oil on it, it will get blackened and form bubbles where you touched it. A lot of these lamps look very similar to vacuum tubes so that's why people get confused.
Something about ending with Randy and just switching off the amp.
I enjoy your videos. Thanks, Brad.
Love the Roadstar,I have two of them , and am considering buying a Mesa Mark II Myself! Love your channel and you expertise!
I had two Roadstars many years ago, and really miss them. I would love to get my hands on one again someday.
i remember tube testers at Thrifty's. I'd go there with my Dad and look at the $35 Teisco's while he'd check TV tubes then we'd get a, ice cream cone for like 35 cents.
Those were the days.
Sounds like a piece of heaven.
Thanx for the response, Guit. It was a nice time. I was mainly referring to what some people would be concerned about when touching tubes.
Someone mentioned new headlight bulbs. That's probably a where the fear may have started.
BTW, great vid. You tore it up, man !!! Amp sounded killer!!!!
I took your advice and miced up the head the way you said. We recorded the whole album like it. The studio tech wasn't happy but I trusted you more than him. So roomy!
Right!?
42:10 I believe the myth about the oil from your hands getting on to the tubes and destroying them comes from certain light bulbs that heat up to ungodly temps and handling the bare glass with your skin can cause temperature variations across the glass in operation and can shatter the glass...I think?
EDIT: Ahhh, yea, you just mentioned the lights haha
hahaha that mic the head bit was hilarious
I've had "Engineers" do it at shows... You know it's going to be a long night when the engineer mic's the head instead of the cab, or he comes to you with a 1/4 inch cord wanting to take a line out of the amp. Ouch
David Ouellette I was wondering what the hell he was on about. Lol
Think it was a joke? I was really worried...
mic the head LMFAO
Yep, me too!
The guy at audio video in Richmond ky is a wizard. He fixed my peavey ultra. He's retiring in a few years which leaves the amp repair in lexington very hard to find.
The rectangle hole is for an a/c receptacle for a computer style fan used on 100w models. the other holes are for reverb.
You are correct, the don't touch tubes myth comes from people confusing them with high wattage lights that supposedly can break from uneven heating caused by oily fingerprints on the glass. I've never seen it happen but apparently it can. Of course a tube never gets anywhere near that hot so it's no problem.
After making this video, I got more curious and decided to research it. Turns out, the reason not to touch halogen lights is the quartz: www.bulbs.com/blogs/light_source/post/2010/10/18/Quartz-Halogens-Handle-With-Care!.aspx
yah. I blEW one few yrs . back by leaving a fingerprint on once ,,you could leave no fingerprints on em at all! but never tubes , would never hurt TO WIPE em though. just saying
a mentor of mine once told me we don't bend it we reform it ... great videos I am hooked .. silvertone rules!!! thank you
Great video! And great playing. I have been wondering what these older mesas sound like for a while now. Pretty cool. Glad you went with the new mic set up a while back for these amp demos.
bwgti I kinda screwed this one up cause the overhead mic was too loud and clipping a bit. But eh.
Dude, you're killin' it @51:45.
What's with the heatsink attached to the chassis? What are they sinking heat from in that location?
Sinking heat from the chassis in general. With 4x power tubes, the whole area will be hot.
I enjoy your guitar playing a very original sound ,you were really flying on the fingerboard, great movie
Thanks, Frank. Appreciate that, man.
Covid-19 Lockdown Fest 2020: Guitologist vid marathon keeping me sane during these trying times!
Yup, I'm on it!
Same here
The extra small rectangular punched chassis hole is for if you ordered the optional cooling fan, that's where the AC outlet to plug the fan in went. I had a Mark IIb and a Mark III, my III had the fan outlet there.
Watching this again today (3/31) and saw the date written on the chassis which is 3/31! How weird... Love your channel Brad!
im 49 yrs old (I'm old ass dude lol) and i wish i cld visit and jam w this guy. He's a good soul. 💪👊
Soooo what are the 1/4" phone and RCA jack on the bottom of the chassis between the pre and power section boards?
rebelcat420 Reverb tank???
I have a 1982 SOB 💯. It used to sound amazing . But now , I can't dial in a tight gutsy sound . Spent hours (after installing new valves) tweaking the knobs ,,, I would get a somewhat acceptable sound , then in less that (1) minute the tone would morph back to kazoo meets loose floppy bass . Wish I could get back that Twin Reverb on steroids sound again. That amp has with its remote switching, has all the diversity that any guitarist would ever need .
Hey, those initials are probably for Michael Bendinelli, long time employee and amp wizard. He is the only one to service my Boogies (F50 and DC-3).
Pretty good for an amp from the 80's. Shredding done well sir!
Best amp channel on youtube. Great amp!
Came back to re watch and Im at the "touching the tubes"question.I trained as an electrician and we fitted b
loads of halogen floods.I remember we could not touch em,as if you did they blew the moment they were switched on.Maybe thats why people get mixed up?
I had the combo version, best amp I ever had.
In which tuning is that guitar 48:00 ?
Regards!
The extra holes are for the E.Q. and the reverb send/return. all 50 watt chassis had those. The 100 watt chassis are stamped different and were separate chassis by 1982. BTW, those early boards Mesa used had horrible traces and break and flake very easily. MusicMan had a switchable RD100 amp with 2 channels that came out in 1980. Had 2-EL-34's(or 6CA7's) that put out a 100 watts.
These traces actually seem nice. A lot nicer than many modern amps, especially this Chinese crap flooding the market now.
I have a Mark IIB with the graphic, the power switch at the back is marked "60-100 watt" It's been dated to '82 by Mesa. nice vid.
Great playing! Nice job, I wish you where in my band back in the day! Just AWSOME!
Thanks, bro. I wish I was in your band back in the day too. We'd have gotten ALL the chicks! :D
The Guitaologist, I'm showing this to your wife.... :D
She knows how lucky she is...although she routinely denies it.
Another good place to get cleaning brushes is your local Gun Shop......they use them for cleaning barrels, and make little ones you can even clean Valve sockets with.....they come in all sorts, Brass , Nylon etc etc......you can also buy a little handle they screw into........they use the handle for cleaning pistols.....very handy.....oxy tip cleaners are also good for smaller valve sockets.......the touching tubes myth def comes from the halogen lights issue.
I'm i the process of moving house and that means putting together a new and better workshop. In my last shop, I inset my test speaker in the drywall stud space behind my bench (sounded surprisingly good) and hard mounted my multimeter to the left side of the bench. I'm always looking for ideas - have you ever consider doing a shop ideas video?
These are sooo cool. So many little features that aren’t so apparent, like I would do if I was to customize an amp like this. Rad.
MB = Mike B.. Randall's main man back then. He was doing most of the QC. The Quad pre and Strategy amp I used to own both had the "MB"
There for a second, I seriously thought you were rapping. Lots of alliteration in there.
The pull-shift control on the treble pot only lowers the bottom of the frequency range by adding another capacitor parallel with the existing one thus letting also high-mids to pass to the pot. It has nothing to do with the centering of the pot.
The treble pot only controls the amount of the signal and the frequency range is selected by push/pull switch.
Removing the bypass capacitor from the cathode of the 1.st stage would reduce gain alot.
Instead of removing the cap (25uF) you could replace it with a smaller capacitor (470n).
That way you would still get the same gain on higher frequencies but get rid of the excessive bass.
The presence pots are often scratchy because there is often dc present on the wiper.
Wiggling the preamp tube causes the pilot light to flash, because the tubes heater wiring is drawing quite a lot of current and it also affects the primary side of the power transformer, where the pilot light is connected.
Thanks for the comment.
I wonder if the same treble pot shift applies to the Carvin X amps as they are almost the same.
Killer playing, amazing riffing there....I had a 180W tweed-covered (twill cloth a la Fender) Mark IIB head, ran it through a newer 4x12 Marshall (in the 90s). What a sound, these Mark IIB's are my favorite Boogies (they're all really good). sick mids and crunch, if you need over-the-top, put your pedal in front. My right ear rings all the time because of that Boogie.
She was a beast, for sure.
Brad,
You are clearly having WAY too much fun doing these vids, and we, your loyal following, are having too much fun watching...the thought police cannot be far behind...don't change a thing, but just be aware...:)
The bare hand myth is from Halogen bulbs. The oils cause the heat to not distribute evenly and ruin the bulb. But you are correct, it doesnt affect vacuum tubes
The tungsgram tubes are a nice sounding tube and last ages. Luckily ive a Hungarian girlfriend and she found this guy who has a lot of nos tungsgram tubes. they give a plexi a more mellow attack in V1 and a generally more balanced overall tone.. when you spend a few days trying every tube ever made in V1 on your amp it really gives you a good knowledge of what tubes do what etc. its subtle but really noticeable to . like tungsol [i mean tungsol different to tungsgram]12ax7s sound soft and when you look at the tube chart they are less herbs. the Eh 12ax7s are quite un even in there tone compared to the tungsgram. but to someone else that might be there flavor. but i suggest you all try this and do it to every pre tube [not so much phase invertor]] and you will have some weird combinations but your amp will sound like a new powerful beast. i do it after i put in new power tubes and bias to. if i did a vid on this test it would stop people saying pre tubes make little difference.cheers ps; heavy metal wanking ha ha ha ha. i bet that old ibanez roadstar 2is one of brads fav guitars.old ibanez axes are soooooo great.ive a 74 les paul ibanez..its the shit
In the early 90's mesa boogie was what all my hero's used. As soon as I could afford it I started buying every boogie I could find.
the brackets at 11min40 are for support of the chassis when removing the top screws (servicing purpose)
What's that music playing in the background when you're replacing the caps, starting at 23:47? It reminds me of Al Stewart, but I don't regognize it. Also, that meditative guitar you played starting at 46:33 was beautiful. Original?
umac76 music at 23:00 was me, other stuff at end was just making stuff up
They are called Interdental Brushes.They don't replace floss, and they are not single use :D
I've learned a lot from you (although I've only built one amp head case,and a few stompboxes) , now you've learned something from me :)
Thanks for watching, dude. Actually, already had a link for them on amazon in the description. But you're right...interdental brushes.
Tungsram's are really nice sounding tubes. You can always spot them by the little metal badge near the top structure. V-2 is actually an old Mullard and probably sounds great.
I have Mesa/Boogie Blue Angel from about 1997-1999 according to the serial number, which is 10xx of 2K, and it is blowing fuses when it first turns on. It got left on for a long time with the cover on it, my ex-girlfriend put the cover on it when it was on and didn't turn it off, and I didn't discover it until 2 weeks later, as I live in a small apartment, and usually use either my laptop, Roland Micro Cube, of Fender G DEC 30 for daily practice. I wasn't happy when I found out my amp wasn't working anymore, I am disabled because of health issues so I can't work and money is tight. I have been saving up to get it fixed either at Inner Sound in Portland, OR, or the Mesa/Boogie authorized repair guitar shop.
very cool sir watched the whole service you can't kill the METAL!!
Metall up your a**!!!
You're playing is freaking amazing. Also this amp sounds incredible.
great vid, wish i could resurrect some old amps where i live but there's not many people to get em off, so i'll continue to live vicariously through your videos lol.
I know nothing about electronics but I really enjoy the way you explain what’s going on inside the amp and damn you can shred!
There was also a high power model that had a 1/2 power full power switch and the presence control on the front panel.
Wow, I was just looking at MKII schematics this morning while you were uploading this! Synchronisity! Great vid and demo again
That happens to me all the time. I swear, it's God saying, "yes, you dumbass, I'm here, and you are SOOOOOO gonna get it!"
Who ever says they don't like heavy metal is off their rocker... Sweet licks...
I Mic Guitar Amps the same way but, I like the tone better with it more off axis than you demonstrated. I come right in the back, pointed directly toward the output Xformer on Bass amps for better Sub freqs. Believe it or not, once on a live gig we forgot half the Mic stands and I taped MICS TO THE HANDLES ON TOP OF BOTH Guitar and Bass Amps. sounded really good but, it may have just been that room.
Also of note is not only how heavy the chassis on these is, but note that the corners are spot welded for rigidity...
Back when I bought my G100T Acoustic, I was in the market for a Mesa. Money dictated getting the Acoustic back then.
I have a video of one of those somewhere around here...
Do you recall if it was decent quality? I've look at getting another & they want arms & legs for the damned things! Mine sounded pretty awesome after getting it tweaked by a guy named Jose out in LA
I was lent a similar amp, the one with the eq sliders, for a gig. It was very loud and I struggled to get the sound that I thought it would have.....I never realised it had the push pull knobs,
That's why you struggled. I had them all pulled and pretty much all the pre controls dimed, except the bass, which was cut all the way off almost.
I ended up using a small EQ boost pedal in front of it which turned it into a total beast! In between songs I had to turn the volume on the guitar to zero to stop all sorts of squealing and howling....but when I was playing , with the pedal, it sounded great: It was like riding a wild bull or something!
I've used this head for 20 years with the same Marshall 2x12 cabinet and pretty much the same settings: Volume 1, which I think of as "clean gain," at 10, pulled out. (It's always dirty. I use the guitar volume knob and a light touch to get actual clean tones.) Bass at 3, mid at 7, treble at 9, shift pulled out. Lead gain around 3 or 4, bright at 7. More than that and it turns to mush with a high output guitar like my Flying V. Master between 2 and 4, depending on how hard the drummer hits and how big the room is. It's bottom heavy, but I love that. In truth, I use the crunchy "clean" channel most of the time, saving the lead channel for shameless wanking if the song calls for it.
@Leah Arrington....wish I had access to the amp now, I'd love to really try it out more. The one I used was very loud....but not as loud as the 100 watt Marshall Super Bass some idiot was trying to get me to use in a small club...turn the volume above 1 and you got stunned into unconsciousness by the sheer deafening blast of sound..ha! ha!
Do you remember an electronics store called "Specialty"? The went out of business in the 1980's. I used to get all my supplies from Specialty's. It's hard to believe that dirty sockets will cause so much trashy sounds. The noise in tube amps is too much for me. When I turn the volume up I don't want to hear any noise. That's why I like my transistor (solid state) class D amp. When I turn it all the way up it is silent with no hum or noise.
MB in sharpie on rear of the chassis is Mike Bendinelli, who did the final inspection and burn-in . Guess I'm late to the party
Lol brad you’re better than like %90 of the youtubers out there.
The MB usually in Blue Sharpie sometimes Black is Michael Bendinelli's sig. he's ben with Mesa Boogie since the Lagunitas days, and now part of the design team and a museum of tone guy. He services all the early stuff and frequently answers questions on the phone on anything about early Mark series Boogies , he knows all the data on the MKIIC+ .
That's a nice Roadstar.... No doubt it's been well cared for over the years. I have one of the later MIK models, but I can imagine it don't hold a candle to those old MIJ's. That thing just looks like it has a nice feel to it.
OMG...
This is my current amp!
I will watch this when I get time today. I have the 60 watt 1 12 combo with eq and reverb. It needs some work for sure.
Cool man. Shoot a demo and link here!
Brad, I can't thank you enough. I used this video to recap the power supply on my Mark2b. It was real nerve wracking bringing it up little by little on the variac. But it sounds awesome and much less noisy even on high gain.
The tube touching thing is maybe from RF transmitter tubes that run at 100's and 1000's of watts. They are as hot as halogen bulbs basically.
50:30 damn, man! These videos are fantastic, but they go over the edge because of your playing. That was some serious shredding!
touching projector bulbs screws up heat dissapation
Does it though?
Wow! That blue guitar hanging on your wall was my first guitar!
When you were replacing the filter caps on the right you could have saved all that time by cutting them and soldering the leads to the new cap like you did with the Mesa cap. I recap arcade monitors and that whole process would be faster with a desoldering iron like the Hakko FR-300. Also anytime you see branded caps that means they were ordered directly from the manufacturer to spec.
I've already caught hell from one know-it-all tech for even soldering the one on top of the board the way I did. There's no technical reason for it, he just thinks I "violated" the amp by clipping the leads and soldering to those.
I do all my own amplifier maintenance and repairs but if I could not do so and had my amp worked on by a shop and it was returned with the old leads clipped and the new components leads soldered to the old leads that would be the last time that shop touched any of my gear. It has nothing to do with being a "know it all" and everything to do with doing quality work. I have enjoyed your videos... until now.
I remember when these amps got released, my buddy owned one. It was a great sounding amp, I truly envied him, lol.
Walmart QD cleaner works great and has a little lube in it. All the contact cleaners I've tried strip the carbon right off the track. Those old Centralab and US CTS pots don't grow on trees!
This CRC stuff hasn't done that to me on any pots. If the carbon track is peeling off, it was likely worn out anyway, man. Old pots are old pots. That can happen.
The Guitologist I'm using the CRC QD/Contact cleaner w/lube. It's been perfect and safe for older stuff specifically. The Deoxit brand has been the worst. Radio Shack stuff is ok with new pots but both will attack the resin in the wafer/board of old pots and eat carbon off the track. However, if you're careful you can make special value and taper pots with it! (Not really...)
The best way to keep pots clean is to install them with the lugs pointed down. Of course nobody ever did that for ease of installation.
Oh, the floss brushes work amazingly! There's different bristle size, stiffness and tapers that can get into the tiniest pin holes. I can't believe I didn't try that before, I have a few thousand of them lying around. Better for your gums too!
The "MB" on the back is for Mike Bendinelli who still works at Boogie.
That's what others are saying as well. Thanks!
Huh. So there was once a period when their build quality wasn't horrible. Fascinating. I never got one of those old ones across my bench, just lots of the early 2000s garbage and I just got to the point where I'd turn them away. Those and Ampeg SVT Pros eat diagnosis time and any hope of profit.
Great amps I had one and all the techs in my area were ignorant about Filter caps are upsidedown and that threw them for a loop I think it was the regular Mark 2
Gun cleaning bushes work real well for cleaning jacks as well. Something like a 9 mm or a .40 would be a good size
i worked two block down from Mesa HQ for almost 2 years on Clegg but never went there.
'down time' as a player.
Haven't played one that inspired me later but music stores frown upon getting too loud.
Hello ...I have a Marshall code 100h. The input jacks for the FX loop and the speaker output Is fried (metal clips burnt) ... The amp still works though the headphone Jack, but nothing from the cab nor does the FX loop work. I'm wondering, would it be as simple as replacing those input jacks¿¿¿ ... Thankxxx ... Your videos are awesome btw 👍👍👍
Sounds like it probably has bigger issues than just jacks.
Wow, was that a lot better of a layout than my 1985 Mark 3 was. That thing had so much stuffed into that small chassis it was nightmare to work on. I got rid of it after 30 years of owning it. Started to sound terrible after about 10 years. Never could get it to sound like it did new ever with a cap job. Have had 3 Mesa products and all 3 have had issues in a short amount of time. Just too much crap stuffed into them anymore, not tech friendly at all. Mine had a dual layer PCB with a broken joint on a filter cap for the DC heater circuit they went to on that amp. Had to pull the PCB to fix that(not fun). I could re-cap my Friedman Smallbox 50 in an hour where it took a day+ to do the Mesa. I recapped my Mesa in a similar fashion
Mesa Amps always sound great to me while I'm playing alone, but the throaty mid range never blends with other guitars or instruments at all. I think they are just designed to pull your playing over the rest of the band for solo work, but that's all they really do well to me.
Why you hear this on the live Dire Straits album _Alchemy_ (1984).