Bought my first Mesa Boogie 1975, I was 18. I drove to Randall Smith’s garage in Lagunitas in my ‘69 Plymouth Fury III to pick it up. It was 100watts 6L6s with graphic EQ and 15” JBL. Why I ordered it with a 15” I don’t remember. I cost almost $1000, a lot for a kid like me. I played 7 nights a week with that thing. Sure wish I still had it… I got a Lonestar Special years ago which I love!
Wow, that beats my story, I mail ordered my Mark2-B with a hand filled out order form and a 1/3 down payment check. $1,300 hardwood, EV speaker 5 band EQ. Had a couple of calls from Mark Bendinelli along the way, good times
Like you, I drifted away from my Mark IV (purchased in 1993 - I also had nice parents), but I’ve kept mine. 30 years on, it’s still a killer amp. Unlike a lot of people, I was drawn to Boogie because Johnny Marr had played one with The The (he had a Quad preamp paired with a Boogie power amp), Keith Richards had a Boogie onstage when he played with Chuck Berry, and (crucially) Porl Thompson played a Mark IV with The Cure on their Wish tour. After that, I just HAD to have one 😃
The eq on the mark amps is before the distortion circuit. The knobs are for shaping the way your guitar hits the distortion, and the Graphic eq is for the actual sound sculpting. Most metal guys run the bass 0-1 mids 1-2 treble 7+
I've had the Mark V:35 for maybe 6 years now and I absolutely love it. It was my first mesa amplifier so there was a bit of a learning curve, but thankfully there's lots of good resources online for learning how to dial in this beast. Hope you're making some awesome music!
hey RJ!!! for a crushing heavy tone tone try the mark IV mode with the regular EQ set at: treble=2-3 o'clock, mids=7-8, low=7-8...gain at 3...presence 2-3...GEQ in the V shape to taste, mids pretty low...cheers all!!!
I still own my Mesa Boogie Mark III 1987 Red Stripe I bought from the Mesa Store in Garden Grove CA. I had it serviced a few years ago. I need to fire it up this week! I have it connected to my KHE amp switcher.
Dude you had a dream rig for a high schooler that yellow Ibanez and a MKIV. We all go through different phases every one eventually wants a real channel switching amp that can do it all. The Mark series are the best for this. Then we go through the phase of I just want a single channel amp simple and to the point without a ton of knobs to dial in, I’ve wanted an OR15 for this reason. The Mark is the only amp that can convincingly do fender cleans all the way through to modern metal and everything in between. I really liked the MKIV though something about it.
Congratulations on the new amp R.J. I really like Mesa Boogie amps, they're really unique but like you've mentioned having too many knobs can be annoying. That's why i really dig California Tweed and Fillmore. They're obviously not in the same gain range as the Mark VII but they still have that unique Mesa Boogie flavor.
I had a Mark III in the late 80s and it was all because of Lukather. Probably the best sound I've ever had and of course I ditched it and have been casing the sound ever since. Probably should check out the Mark Vll
Been playing with Boogies for almost 20 years. Tried other amps but I always want to hear the OG IIc+ and since about 2 years ago I added a Mark III no stripe that to me sounds a lot like my other IIc+. I had a Mark V 25 for a while and I loved playing with it but I gave it to my brother cause he didn't have a tube amp.
Sounds great in every mode. There are so many great amps and pedals these days. The OD and metal sounds are incredible-everything from Malcolm Young to Hetfield and beyond. They definitely have their own clean sound which is great. Great video as always R.J.!
Sounds great. I run a Mesa Fillmore 50 as my daily driver these days with a pedalboard, but still have my Mark V head for the rare occasion when I want to get really heavy. Just love the tones.
I will always be a big, big Metallica fan - they were my first metal band (not like I'm alone in that). But my first meeting where I actually heard Boogies and knew it was when I bought the Jeff Watson Star licks vhs. Amazing tone, and what a guitar player he is. Saw the Luke clip in the trailers and bought his tape and the Brad Gillis one too. Some amazing Boogie tones in those vids. And this was one great video, as well! ❤
Great video R.J. I bought my first Mesa Boogie amp and it was the Mark V back in 2008 and to this day I still have it and I am not looking for another tube amp...it's the best amp that I have ever played through and the sound and feel of the amp is special... now playing gigs at my local bar no I don't use it as it's just a little too heavy with my Mesa 2x12 cab, instead I use the Ampero 2 Stomp for those gigs... but I do loose the sound and feel of a real tube amp pushing air nothing beats that but the digital world is close and it's alot more convenient... cheers from Canada.
Said this before but i had the maple cab wicker front mkIV combo with verb and i looovvved it and wish id never sold it. It was amazing yes the clean and drive stages were so complimentary to each other….perfect singing sustain at higher driven tone…i never used it for metal but the higher gain was so beautifully nuanced it was great for larry carlton/robben/santana type stuff. The cleans were so spanky and spongey but tight…Only thing : heavy as fuck…even with the rolling flight case it was brutal to take anywhere. But i miss it.
He’s just not ready to look ordinary hahah. It makes you wonder what the hell he does for his day job. No respectable company would allow a person to look that way.
Similar to you, my first "real" tube amp (coming from Line6 Spyder, lol) was a Mesa Boogie (though mine was a Mark III combo). Eventually sold it when I started clearing out gear to get a vintage Strat and Two-Rock. Now many years later I'm really liking the look and sound of the Mark VII as it is more classic Boogie sounding (I did try a Triple Crown for a bit). Might need to pick one of these beasts up if I can find one for a good price. Thanks for the great demo!
All great Tones, and you know how to play them! Watching run through them is seductive. I had a IIC back in the 90’s, and I definitely didn’t know how to work it. Also, I’m much more in the Vintage Tone mode now. I’m pretty happy in the Tweed Deluxe land + Fuzz (when I want crazy gain)…hang loose Definitely agree with the observation that great distortion in the amp, beats a pedal by itself ALL DAY LONG.
I have the V 90w - the VII seems to have some odd (confusing) channel selection choices with fat and crunch on both channel 1 & 2? The VII also on 2 but being quite gainy also a strange choice to me...Aside from those minor comments - what a stellar amp. Will keep my V for now but great to see Boggie still bringing it. Enjoy it RJ!
Great review and story including old photos 🙂 the clean channel is great for that certain kind of clean sound but I prefer the clean channel of my wonderful Fuchs Fullhouse 50 combo as it has such a sweet tone with just the right amount of mids and it shines in the highs without ever getting too fizzy. The best clean channel I ever played since I started playing electric guitar in 1995.
People get lost on the pre amp EQ actually changing the gain structure and relying on the GEQ to tweak actual EQ for taste. I run my Mark IV with the treble nearly all the way up, mids at 1 or 2 and bass almost completely off and use the GEQ to sculpt. Channel 3 sounds like a wall.
rite on brother!!! i can attest to those settings as well...i play my IV in a stereo rig with a engl fireball 100, what a fucking monster!!! cheers brother!!!
As a Rectifier addict, I never liked the tight low end of the Mark series when playing high gain. I play the MkII C+ for the clean and the crunch. I still play the 1992 Revision F Rectifier witch is the pinnacle of what Boogie made in the high gain territory. I hate this thing with the Boss SD1 or the Maxon OD808. My trick is to plug the Recto in a Matamp Deluxe 4x12 cab loaded with V30. Sounds massive for the riff. For soloing : Engl 4x12 V30 (sharped tone) or Bogner 412 V30 too (woody tone). For the crunch : Friedman loaded with Greenbacks. And for the clean, Friedman loaded with Heritage HP. And this is better than this graphic EQ I never liked. The EQ on the Rectifier (same as on the Soldano SLO100) is the best EQ ever. Just my experience, my humble opinion.
I miss my old Mesa Boogie Quad preamp like crazy… but they’re sadly silly money these days - especially in Europe - so I have to “make do” with my Diezel VH4s.
Sounds great but you’re hair is amazing. I feel like it might roll out of the screen at any moment and start painting the world around me with brighter colors
I had a Mark V and sold it for a Mark VII. There are pros and cons. I miss some of the controls of the Mark V, but overall the VII is better. It gives you less options, but it delivers the ones it has better. More raw, less processed. A lot of people will prefer that, because it’s less complicated. And then it has all of the options for playing silent and direct, which is a basic necessity these days. It’s an amp you can’t go wrong with. Best amp being made today.
Good choice plus it has the feel you want . I have a triple rectifier and a Mesa Road King cab , larger than me and too heavy to get up the stairs. So I have a Mini rec and the Mini 1 x 12 cab for the bed / studio . perfectly loud when needed but generally amazingly versatile Metal amp. thanks
I still have the magazine :) Awesome.... and I still have my Peavey Studio Pro 110 amp. Just installed Speaker Out to use with bigger Cabs. Great Amps...
My first real amp in high school was a single Rectifer. 50 watts. I loved it and it was as solid as a tank. Now I’ve gone through a similar journey to you RJ. I use less complicated amps with pedals. I miss the no need for gain pedal approach but I don’t play metal anymore and when I have revisited Mesa amps I found them less to my liking these days. So I don’t think I’ll go back to Mesa.
I've had an Express 5:25 and a Lonestar Classic. I was impressed by neither of them. I too like my amps simple. One channel, basic controls, maximum tone, not a lot to go wrong. I would like to try the JP2C and the California Tweed, however.
I have to admit, I never had much use for the Boogie sound. So brittle usually. You make it sound good though. Funny enough, I started with a very similar Peavey amp (the 2x12). It was fancy cause it had chorus.
I have the Mkv. Totally overkill confusion and power never use it. I'm sure it's great on 10. I have neighbors and ears I'd like to keep....I have the Katama 1 50 watt. All I use for home past 6 years....
Nice demo. I have a MKIV wide body combo with an EVM12L speaker. I had another Mark IV that I sold in the 90s to finish a recording project. Regretted selling it almost immediately. So I bought another one later on. It was cool in the 90s because every feature could be controlled with a rockman MIDI octopus and controller. I even switched in a boss delay with their remote loop. That and a Alesis quadraverb. I also switched in a DBX160x on the clean sound. That was the poor man’s studio rack. Now I use it kind of as a really nice deluxe with 6v6’s. One thing with Mark IVs is you can change power tubes for either 6L6s, EL34s, or with 6V6’s. I mainly leave it in the studio as it is super heavy with the EV.
Question for you about your Mark IV; How the hell did you fit the EVM12L in there? I, too, have a wide body and couldn't fit it and wound up putting in a G12K-100. I like that speaker, but I've always wondered if the EVM would take to the next level. It originally had the C90 in there and I'm not a fan of that speaker.
I guess I'm not the usual Mesa player. I play mine (Mark V) with an inverted "V" on the EQ, I love channel 2, and rarely go to channel 3. Too much gain for me, and I never liked Metallica or Dream Theater. Now Prince used Mesa's though and I really dig Prince. When I saw him live they had a Dual Rectifier on stage. Seems odd, but its Prince so his call for sure.
Didn't mean it sounds bad just to many things/ knobs and crappy diodes, it is not a distortion pedal from the 70s. Some of boogies knobs and or switches are actually harmful. No I don't mean it sounds bad...
Read the manual. I have a DC5 and the interaction and settings on the controls are not at all like most amps. Mid in particular functions totally differently and between like 3 and 5 it has a big impact. Above 5 it's a gain boost. The manual is your friend with a Mesa don't try to second guess it, there is too much going on. They won't sound good if you treat it like you would other amps and yes the EQ is a must I think. They sound great miked with an E906 flat and they absolutely bark and want to be loud so if you set it at low volume it will sound like shit when you turn it up and the interaction to the power tubes begins. Not a beginner amp for sure. Dare I say this one sounds like it's being played at relatively low volume.
The MB amps are good sounding amps. No doubt about it. But, with all of those options comes stacked, printed circuit boards which are virtually impossible to repair. A tube amp will need service and/ or repair at some point and the MB's do not appear to be a long term amp for a lower level musician.
I grew up in the 90's. My only point of reference with Mesa Boogies was Metallica. While I certainly went through a Metallica phase in't didn't last long. I guess that association to Metallica has never left me. I didn't realize 80's shredders played them.
I see the link to the Tyler guitars but I don't see the finish on their web page. Would you mind giving me the details of the guitar I would love to get one in that finish.
Had a 2 channel Mark V35 and just got the 3 channel Mark VII. Plugged it into my 1x12 Mesa Rectifier cab with Vintage 30. This combination just didn't knock me out. Just bought a 1x12 Mesa Boogie cab with the Black Shadow C90 Speaker. Wow! What a big difference in a good way. I would like to ask what cab you were running the head into and, if you have used the DI, what cab setting did you like on the 3 channels?
I had a 1x12 with the Mark V 90W and burned through three of them before realizing it needs at least a 2x12. It puts out more than a 1x12 can handle. I have a Mark VII now with the 2x12 rectifier cab. It’s a different sound from the 1x12. Bigger and more open, with more bass. A 4x12 would be ideal. This is a big boy amp.
I will be using the DI to the front of house board and using the 1x12 with the 90 watt speaker as my onstage monitor. The volumes will most likely be on 2 or 3 so I shouldn''t have to worry about blowing the speaker. I agree the 2x12 would sound better but I opted for the lighter weight cab. It sounds great by the way. @@vaportrails7943
