MESA/Boogie 50th Anniversary - CHAPTER ONE: How it all began.
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- Опубликовано: 17 мар 2020
- MESA/Boogie Ltd., the Original Boutique Amplifier Company, celebrates 50 Years in Business here with Founder, Designer and President Randall Smith and many of the Guitar Legends that have relied on, and in some cases, who’s trademark Tone has become synonymous with his designs and the Boogie Sound.
In this series of short videos, Randall and iconic guitarists look back and touch on the things that first drew them to the “Family” and share what the amplifiers have done for their playing and their music. From the early inspiration and beginnings in the late '60s and early ‘70s, through the “Big 80s” and Guitar-Culture sea change of the 90s, up through the new Millennium and today, Randall and his team of fiercely passionate “band mates” as he calls them, have contributed every major feature found on modern amplifiers and a universe of iconic Tone to the sound of the electric guitar, changing it forever more.
In this first Chapter, we hear from Founder Randy Smith and Icon Carlos Santana about the early inspiration for the Mark I, Carlos' reaction to the newfound possibilities of limitless sustain separated from volume, and how Carlos’ involvement in this early Tone Revolution spread the news about this pivotal development in electric guitar sounds among the World’s top Touring Artists like the Rolling Stones and other Guitar Greats from the Bay Area and beyond.
From inventing the pivotal High Gain Preamp in the first Mark i's, to Footswitchable Modes and Effects Loops in the Mark II's, to Multi-Channel/Multi-Mode Preamps in the Mark III's, IV's and V's and Dual Rectifiers, to the several patented tunable Tube power, wiring and operating class configurations found throughout, the innovation and pioneering spirit has remained at the forefront of the small Northern California Company’s ethic.
Enjoy this up close and personal look into the history of MESA/Boogie with Randall and company highlighting points along a 50-year journey that would lead to MESA's cult status leaving an indelible mark on the sound of amplified guitar and modern music. 
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Thanks!MESA/Boogie! After years, I'm gonna switch back to you!
I am sold
you know here's the thing.......I love marshalls and fenders and all kinds of amps.....but as I got into playing decades ago, and I was learning how to play and listening to artists and learning about tone, my ears just on their own, without advertising, was drawn to the Boogie Mark series sound. When I finally had enough money I took the plunge and became a Triaxis owner and then eventually a Mark V owner........the Mark series tone has been "my sound" for over 20 years now.....not because anyone else plays it, but because I love it. I love nearly everything I have ever heard from Boogie......they know how to make great amps. I will be a user the rest of my life.
Hear, Hear!
I was 14 when I heard of MESA/Boogie via a full page ad in Guitar Player. The Mark III came out then. In the late 80's there was a store in Hollywood called Lab Sound, it became the MESA Boogie store and still is til this day. Around the early 90's MES had came out with the Mark I Reissue, MK 4, Studio 22, 50 caliber and Dual Rectifier series.. I never met Doug West, but I remember attending a clinic in the West L.A. Area when they were in partnership with the former West LA Music(Now Guitar Center, yuk). He was there and Roy Ashen was doing demos of the amp. If you remember Roy, he played Robin Guitars and did two handed tapping with all 8 fingers. Roy also did little lessons in Guitar Workd Magazine. I've tried out most of All boogie amps made between 89-92 or so.
Thank you MESA/Boogie for your beautiful sound!
Wish Randall was lit as well as Carlos. Great idea for the series and very worthy of a nicely put together retrospective package.
Mesa amps are truly the best amps and cabs I ever played
Growing up in Portugal I remember reading in music magazines about these mystical amps "the americans built" called Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier back in the 90's! It was something so unbelievable expensive for a Portuguese that all I could do was dream about them... I am 39 now and own 4 of these amps, definitely a dream come true!!! Mesa defined the sound of Metal/Nu Metal/Metalcore and now Djent! Trust me, hook a PRS or ESP guitar to one of these amps and you will write not a riff but an entire album in the blink of an eye!
When i listen high notes been played in boogie mark 5, at least to me, it looks very similar with a violin. Now i find out by Randall himself that violin was kinda a inspiration to "build" the sound that mesa amps use to have. Of course we all pay for purchase mesa products but we have to thank this man called Randall Smith for exist!
San Francisco native here bass player 1st time I heard a boogie was a jam on twin peaks with a guitar player with marshall half stack I have acoustic 370 drummer 2 24 inch bass drums and a guy with a boogie combo 1-12 1975 smoked the marshall enough said I later bought a Boogie 400 with a 1-15 cab ev smoked everything at that time still to this day use Mesa amp right now have walkabout and subway 800 still love the sound and people in Petaluma
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I fell in love with Mesa Boogie as a 90s kid. All my favorite bands used them. First favorite band was bush who used tremoverbs. Then I got into Metallica who obviously used Mesa, then I got into the 90s punk rock scene and most of those guys used rectos. I also love the eagles and I know they used mostly Tweed but some mark I amps also. So I kind of grew up with that Mesa sound. Now that I mostly play blues and classic rock I've found home in a Fillmore 50. Best mesa imo and I've owned most Mesa amps.
I was fresh out of college in 1978 and joined a band. I still lived alone so I saved my money and bought a Boogie amp. It had to be one of the first Mark IIB models made. Loved that amp. I had a problem with it once, so I called Boogie and Randy Smith answered the phone. He said pack up the chassis and send it back to me. He sent it back to me working good as new. I've owned 12 or so Boogie amps in the last 42 years. When I tried something else, I always came back to Boogie.
It was probably a Mark IIA (which I have) because the Mark IIB was released in 1980.
Thanks to Randall and everyone that's ever worked at Mesa. I've always loved my Mark amps and no matter how much I love the one I have, I always look forward to the next one. In my humble opinion, I think the little Mark 5:25 head is THE best sounding hard rock/metal amp, especially for lead and heavy rhythm. Sure there's bigger, louder and more aggressive but those little EL84's are something special. You can drive that power section without killing your hearing and get that Godlike compression for an almost Schenker like lead tone (MkIIC+ setting channel 2 or Crunch on channel 1) but at the same time you can get a really heavy but focused rhythm tone but still hear every string and all the overtones (Mark IV channel 2). How is this even possible? I really liked the Mark IV head but the Mark IV mode on the 5:25 with the EL84's - it warms all the happy places whilst even with just 25 watts it can vibrate all the happy places too!
If you have an amp for a number of years and it still makes you feel like a kid on Christmas day, it's a winner.
Thanks Randall.
The Mark III is the best amp they ever produced. I' ordered a full stack in the late 80's and they said ok, it will be about 7 months. i waited and got it in 6 months, been playing them ever since.
Have you tried a markV yet?
Ha, see my post on my ordering mine in November 1989......yes took months to arrive.
To me, the Mk.III is very underrated! I believe they came out around '83 or '84, and remember seeing the ad for them in GP magazine. I think Steve Lukather was using that particular series.
The first Boogie I ever used was the Subway Blues, then I tried, or owned, the TremoVerb and HeartBreaker heads, Nomad 45 and 50 combo, Blue Angel combo, RectoVerb 50 head and combo, Mk.1 Re-issue, ElectroDyne, and finally, using a Blue Angel head that a friend sold to me a few years ago. Since I love single channel amps, this has been a godsend to me. But in true Randall Smith style, there's more to it than meets the eye! All of the amps mentioned have their features that made them unique, but the RectoVerb combo and the Blue Angel were the best and most useful to me.
Great to see.
Story was Keef says "We don't pay for amps" Ampeg being what they used.
Randall, "I can't afford to give stuff away...." They got it and bought them.
Mesa Boogie. The best amps and cabs. Pure power and tone thank you keep up The great work
My 1982 S.O.B that I bought new in '82 will still rip your face off. Dirty or clean; Strat or Paul - it sounds great no matter what guitar I plug into it.
You just gotta love the Boogie! I'm so glad i still have one of the '70s Mark 1 heads. I think I wasn't even called the Mark 1 then. It was called the Super 60. And it's just a wonderful amp.. It has that sound that Santana, John McLaughlin, Larry Carlton and so many other great players back in the '70s had.
I have the great good fortune to own a #7xx Mark I, made just shortly before Keith Richards' amp. It's by far the best amp I've ever owned, and one of the best I've ever heard. Just a magical tone. Randall's signature inside. Thanks, Randall!
I have a '76 MK l... I know whatcha mean ;)
there is NOTHING like a mesa boogie
Thank you Mesa we have been needing some content. You guys and your amps are ground breaking and a true inspiration!
MESA, the ULTIMATE AMP!
I love Carlos' description about a mutation -- that's GOLD!
Best amplifiers ever!
Tibet Sönmez Absolutely agree
Triple Crown! Best amp I’ve ever owned!
Yep!
If only I could afford one.
Thank-you Mr. Randall Smith and the team at Mesa Boogie. I have been playing your amps for near 20 years of those 50! All sorts..Rectifier, F-Series, Lonestar, Mark-Series....I have to say, I've never played a bad Boogie, just ones I like the "voicing" of that were different than others. So grateful that an American company makes such wonderful products and are still around.
Mesa!!
Bought a Mesa/Boogie 1x12 (cream tolex/brown grille) and matching 1x12 cabinet back in Fall 1978.
I believe it was a Mark II. A really sweet amp.
I was probably one of the few guys in NJ to own a Boogie (at that time).
Years later, life went south.
Had to sell it to pay for……………..computer-programming school.
The saddest part: That computer-training did me absolutely no good.
Couldn’t land a computer gig because I had no experience.
Wound-up getting a gig that required zero computer experience.
So I basically sold that amp to pay for training that I would never use.
More than 30 years later…….it still hurts.
Just watched and looked to the side to see my Subway Rocket and one of my VTwins. Love Mesa's stuff, the VTwin is a huge part of my sound, whatever I'm playing =)
Ever since I found out about Mesa/Boogie amps and how they changed the shape of my favorite genre (thrash metal), I knew I had to have one. I’ve been playing guitar for 2 and a half years and was obsessed with the sounds of Metallica’s Black Album and Master of Puppets, and I eventually learned that they used Mark IIC++s on those albums. I don’t have one (I’d never be able to afford one) but I did buy something that tickled my fancy quite a lot. While I like the Mark tones, I also really dig the rectifier tones, so I got a Dual Caliber DC-3 this past November because it sounds like a mix between a Mark and a Recto. Best amp I’ve played. Better than the Fender Bassbreakers I’ve tried, better than the Peavey 6505+ I’ve tried, miles better than any DSL Marshall I’ve played through. It just has this clarity and aggressiveness to the gain structure that punches you in the chest.
I have a Studio .22+ that I bought in the early 90's. I still have it, it's still my main amp. It's still my only amp. Phenomenal thing, amazing sound.
Subway Rocket owner here!
When I got a Mklll, it freed me to express my heart and soul.
I'd say the true innovators in guitar amps would be Leo Fender, Jim Marshall, Mike Soldano, Dumble, and Randall Smith. And if I had to pick one amp to play for the rest of my life, it would be a Boogie. For sure.
Yeah, Mike Soldano and Mike Friedman. Soldano for sure, but Randall started the whole boutique thing. He's the innovator. All these guys will tell you that. He's the king of distortion.
If I could only have one amp, it would be my Mark IV.
"It was so cute it was undeniable"
Exactly, genius.
I listened to that encore performance with the Rolling Stones on RUclips. Carlos' tone, punch, and clarity are way above any other guitar on that stage. The 'splat' is impressive!
Great video! I just love the early stories! Like when Carlos tried out a prototype in Prune Music and said, 'Man, that little thing really boogies!' Living in Australia, I got my first Boogie in the early '80's, a woodgrain/wicker MkIIc. Still got it. Since then my fleet has expanded to a Tremoverb 2x12" combo, Triaxis/Simul 2:90 rig through 2 x EVM loaded 1x12" cabs, Transatlantic TA-15 and TA-30 heads through Transatlantic 1x12" cab, MkV 1x12" combo, MkV:25 head, Triple Crown TC-50 head through Mesa 4x12" cab, Rosette 300/Two Eight acoustic combo, and the latest additions - a Fillmore 100 1x12" combo and a California Tweed 1x12" combo. Accessories include a Recto Recording Preamp, CabClone, V-Twin, and Flux Drive & Flux Five pedals. My bass playing wife, Lyn, has an M-Pulse Walkabout 300 combo and M-Pulse 600 and Subway WD800 heads through 2x10" and 1x15" cabs. Yes, we love our Boogies!! Over the past 38 years since I got my MkIIc, our Mesa amps have seen hundreds of playing hours on stage, on tour and in the studio, and they've never let us down. In 2013, Lyn and I were in California to demonstrate at the NAMM Show, and we made a trip up to the Bay Area and the Napa Valley. We called in to the factory in Petaluma and were treated to a factory tour by Rich Duvall. Wow, what an experience! We are Boogie players/devotees for life!
I like the sound of that....”...my fleet....”. I salute you, Commodore...
@@titus2120 Haha! Cheers titus2120! Full steam ahead!
I have a MK 1 reissue, one of the last ones Mesa made...blonde with the wicker grill. Being a 70's Santana fan, I love this amp for having "that" tone. The only thing I'm disappointed in is the reverb. I have to crank it all the way up and it's still pretty weak. Granted, I only play at home now and play at low volume and maybe that's part of the problem. The first time I heard Carlos and his Boogie was at Winterland in 1973. I was blown away, not only by the band but by Carlo's tone......that sunburst Les Paul through the Boogie. Most beautiful lead tone I'd ever heard live to this day. So glad I have that amp now.
Very cool video - Brings back so many memories. I still have my November 1989 Mesa Boogie MK III combo, Simul-Class, Reverb, EQ, Black Tolex, Celestion speaker. with Road Case. Cost back then, shipped from Petaluma CA to Mississauga ON Canada - Amp cost - $1,325 and Road Case - $250 - total $1,575! Serial Number is 26996 Red Stripe. Came also with "Lead/Rhythm' and' Rhythm 1 and 2" pedals.
Sounds as awesome today as it did when it arrived. I've changed the tubes a few times, all matched original MB tubes.
So, no internet back then. I typed letters and sent money orders through the postal system and received confirmation of deposits by return mail. I phoned and kept up to date with Amy Larum (Administration) and Scot Sier (Sales Department) to keep up with the build and status of my amp. This amp was being custom built to my specs. There was no inventory at the time, nor were they sold in any stores in Canada. On one or two occasions, I actually spoke with Randall Smith who advised me of the various options to suit my playing needs.
I still have to this day all correspondence, invoices, order information, paid in full confirmation and customs/duty information.
Thank You Randall and Mesa-Boogie for applying yoiur knowledge, desire and expertise in building the best amplifiers in the business.
Rob - Ontario, Canada.
I am proud to say that I am a boogie owner :D
The best metal amplifiers ever🔥
My Mark IV does anything I want.
Now waiting for papa het!
I've been wanting a Mesa for 12 years.When I was younger, it was all about metal and no clean tones, so I always got cheap amps and used distortion pedals. Then I heard a Dual Rectifier and I was blown away, the tone was huge and the way it handled down tuning was beautiful. I always wanted one, but the price tag for someone that had enough trouble saving for guitars was bad enough. Skip forward 12 years and I bought a Triple Rectifier. That thing is not only a monster, but those cleans are beautiful (I've learnt to properly dial in my tones). Lol. Thanks Mesa, next is the Road King, I need 4 channels of diversity. Love your work!.
My Snakeskin Bass 130 is still singing...50 years later...nice work Randall ;)
Miss my F50, i'll own a Boogie again for sure.
Although I now use a Studio preamp & 50/50 power amp, I really miss the .22 combo I used to own. That was the best amp I ever heard. They need to make a 50th Anniversary reissue of the .22!!!
Great series! Keep me coming!
So great!
5:25 Express Plus 1x12 with a 1x12 extension cab is my gig rig...absolutely love it. Had a Mark II back in the day and never got "the sound" until I sold it to a friend who ran it through a 4x12 cab and bingo! Oh well, I'm happy now. Last amp I'll ever own.
The most metal amps ever!! 👊
Mesa boogie eh sempre mto bom. Timbre massa.
Abraços e bends
"The next thing I know, The Rolling Stones were all using Boogie Amplifiers, man." 🙌🏻😂❤️
And they wanted 'em for free, but Randall hung tough and they ended up buying them. I think they bought 42 in total...
Ya I want a boogie bad....but theres alot of things I cant afford tho.....I do love the boogie tone.
Sold all my amps except the Mark V. MESA boogie is my faith! That’s all.
That's awesome! I love my Dual Rectifier head
Why its a Soldano preamp in it. I mean exactly to. Only difference is the power section.
He actually stole Mike Soldanos idea and his SLO preamp..
Ask Mike himself.
Guess it was so good and he couldnt top it so he stole....pretty fucking low dont u think???
Great fucking story Carlos!! love it.
Mesa number one
Carlos hit them Rolling Stones with a SPLAT..."...the next thing I know, the Rolling Stones were all using Boogie amplifiers"
So sad, with the Gibson purchase. Best wishes to Randall and the staff. Probably hard to keep up a business in California; modeling becoming so prevalent; Covid; old school guitar becoming rarer.
I own 4. A 1992 Mark IV wood/wicker combo w/custom wood/wicker extension cab; 2015 Mark V combo; 2019 Mark 5: 25 head with bottom and slant cab, all leather; and a 2021 Recto-verb 25 combo.
i can't wait to get my jp2c!
I bought a jp2c when they first came out. Money was kind of tight and I'm sort of what you would call a C+ snob so I sold it, actually for $100 more than I paid for it because they were backordered and this guy didn't want to wait. I've always regretted selling at and strongly thinking about getting another one. They're very performance friendly and they straight up rock. Enjoy your amp bro you're going to absolutely love it.
I wonder if the original Princeton that Randall modified, or any of all the others he did, are still out there. He says in a 2019 video on the Sweetwater channel "I basically modified all the Princetons in the Bay Area." I'm guessing that would be dozens and dozens of amps, at least. I've done some basic looking around the internet a few times but I've seen no reference to them. I'd sure love to see a video demo. Wow. They must be some of the most collectible amps ever.
Heartbreaker ....
Make Mesa Bass Tube Amps Great Again!!!!!!!!!!
You guys are lucky to know santana personally.
When are you gonna be on ToneTalk with Dave Friedman? I would love to see you there and pick your brain :)
Mesa Mark - 50th anniversary. A mark 6 in other words Available as a 100 watt head/combo, 35 Watts and 25 Watts. Both head and combos. 25 watt having 10 inch speaker. Incoming?
A classic user was Cliff Burton...
Can honestly say if Boss never came out with their Waza/Katana amps, I would be either be a Mesa or Blackstar guy 😊
Bought a SOB with factory JBL for $250 in 1999. 😆 I basically stole it.
Background music is little too loud.
Proud owner of a 1987 mark 3 blue stripe and recently got a mark iv Rev b which rips! Check out my channel for some boogie love!
WhEn yOu PlAy mUsiK
Music just a tad too loud. Great otherwise, thanks for this
Boogie sold out to Gibson !!!! What a Damn Shame !!!
Da.. dad? That you?
Carlos, just stick to playing.. keep the tech talk to.. well.. the technical people..