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Vintage Vault: Late-’70s Mesa/Boogie Mark I and Mark II Combos

Mesa/Boogie

These four Mesa/Boogie combos were made around 1978. The pair on the left are Mark I models,

while those on the right are early Mark IIs.

Travel back in time to celebrate the birth of high-gain guitar amplification.

Randall Smith became fascinated with electronics at an early age. Then as a teenager, he was captivated by cars and would repair them for his friends. By 1966 he was playing drums in a rock 'n' roll band, putting his technical skills to use by repairing band members' amps. This led to his opening Prune Music in Berkeley, California, with his bandmate David Kessner.



While Smith did repairs in the back, Kessner manned the counter. Eventually many popular West Coast bands, including the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, had their amps serviced at Prune Music.

While most companies gave the Stones amps for free, Smith charged the band for his handmade Boogies.

Around 1969 the roadies for Country Joe & The Fish decided to play a prank on lead guitarist Barry "The Fish" Melton. They had Smith modify Melton's 12-watt Fender Princeton to "do something really wild." Smith installed the classic Fender Bassman circuit and squeezed in a 12" JBL speaker, and the result was a 60-watt amp shoehorned into the small Princeton box. After trying Smith's creation, Carlos Santana declared, "This little amp really boogies." Thus the amp's name became "Boogie."

By the early '70s, Smith had started his own company, Mesa Engineering. Using more gain stages and a master volume control, he came up with a "cascading preamp" concept that could generate sustaining overdrive at any volume level. Santana received one of these amps (eventually known as a Mark I) and used it both onstage and on the epic Abraxas album.

Right at home: A 1995 PRS Santana Prototype rests against the vintage Boogies.

Hearing Santana's sound, other top guitarists wanted Boogies too. Because Smith personally assembled and inspected every amp, the wait time in the late '70s could be up to seven months. Keith Richards contacted Smith in 1977 and eventually purchased several Boogies over the years. (While most companies gave the Stones amps for free, Smith charged the band for his handmade Boogies due to the small size of his company at the time.) Boogies can be first heard with the Stones on side three of Love You Live taped at Toronto's storied El Mocambo Tavern. Boogies remained the Stones' go-to amps through 1993.

The four Mesa/Boogie amps pictured this month date to about 1978. The two on the left are Mark I models, while the two on the right are early Mark IIs. Featuring a hardwood cabinet and wicker grille, each amp has Mesa's classic '70s look. The price for each of these amps was about $1,200. Their current value is $1,500.

Early Boogies sported funky-cool Dymo labels. Now that's boutique!

Because Santana played such a pivotal role in early Mesa/Boogie history, we posed a 1995 PRS Santana Prototype (from the first Limited Run) next to the amps. The current value for this guitar is $7,500.

Sources for this article include Amps! The Other Half of Rock 'n' Roll by Ritchie Fliegler, Rolling Stones Gear: All the Stones' Instruments from Stage to Studio by Andy Babiuk and Greg Prevost, and an interview with Randall Smith by Trent Salter archived on Mesa/Boogie's website.

[Updated 10/12/21]

Elliott Easton’s Countryfied Solo on “My Best Friend’s Girl”

The Cars’ self-titled 1978 debut record changed the world of power pop forever. Guitarist and co-vocalist Ric Ocasek penned all the tunes, but lead guitarist Elliott Easton transformed them with his tasteful 6-string stylings. This time on Shred With Shifty, Easton sits down with Chris Shiflett to show him how to play the solo from “My Best Friend’s Girl.”


Darkside's Dave Harrington Rig Rundown

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Alongside Nicolas Jaar’s electronics, Harrington creates epic sagas of sound with a team of fine-tuned pedalboards.


Tipping Your Cap: Simple Mods for More Capacitance in Your Signal Chain

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This follow-up to May 2025’s column shows you a few basic techniques to inject some capacitance into your rig.

Hello, and welcome back to Mod Garage. This month, we will dive into the details of how to add additional guitar-cable capacitance—the right way. Time to get started!

Custom-Ordering Guitars—the Belltone, Gibson, Kiesel, and Fender Way

Custom designing an instrument and its appointments from a menu of options makes ordering a new axe easy. Four manufacturers share their process.

It’s never been easier for any player to get a guitar made to their liking, and without being an expert, or even an educated amateur in wood, wiring, and other aspects of lutherie. Sure, you can find a builder who will spec out a guitar for you from tree to neck radius to electronics, but for most of us, we’re looking for something easier, less costly, and, often, more familiar.


Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander Core Review

Boss streamlines the size, features, and price of the already excellent Waza Tube Expander with little sacrifice in functionality.

Many of our younger selves would struggle to understand the urge—indeed, the need—to play quieter. My first real confrontation with this ever-more-present reality arrived when Covid came to town. For many months, I could only sneak into my studio space late at night to jam or review anything loud. Ultimately, the thing that made it possible to create and do my job in my little apartment was a reactive load box (in this case, a Universal Audio OX). I set up a Bassman head next to my desk and, with the help of the OX, did the work of a gear editor as well as recorded several very cathartic heavy jams, with the Bassman up to 10, that left my neighbors none the wiser.


Vox’s Valvenergy Tone Sculptor

Two new pedals from the Valvenergy series use a Nutube valve to generate unique dynamics and tone ranges that can be used to radical ends.

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Significantly smaller and lighter than original TAE. Easy to configure and operate. Great value. Streamlined control set.

Air Feel Level control takes the place of more surgical and realistic resonance controls. Seventy watts less power in onboard power amp. No Bluetooth connectivity with desktop app.

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Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander Core

boss.info

5
4.5
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Boss streamlines the size, features, and price of the already excellent Waza Tube Expander with little sacrifice in functionality.

Many of our younger selves would struggle to understand the urge—indeed, the need—to play quieter. My first real confrontation with this ever-more-present reality arrived when Covid came to town. For many months, I could only sneak into my studio space late at night to jam or review anything loud. Ultimately, the thing that made it possible to create and do my job in my little apartment was a reactive load box (in this case, a Universal Audio OX). I set up a Bassman head next to my desk and, with the help of the OX, did the work of a gear editor as well as recorded several very cathartic heavy jams, with the Bassman up to 10, that left my neighbors none the wiser.

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- YouTube

Alongside Nicolas Jaar’s electronics, Harrington creates epic sagas of sound with a team of fine-tuned pedalboards.

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