Buying old amps

[Jon BCN]

I'm contemplating the possibility of buying a Mesa Mark IIC+ or a Mark III, but something that always make me gave up on the idea is the fear that the components of those amps are 30 years old and maybe on their last years of life. I mean, I have seen a lot of those amps for sale with the transformer rust as fuck, and that really scares me.

I'm being too insecure?

 

[Racerxrated]

Yes. I've had a TON of vintage amps, and never had any problems. And some will say 'change the caps' but unless they are bulging or leaking, I don't bother. If you buy a vintage Mark 2/3, send it to Mesa for a checkup. They are very reasonable. When I sent my 2C in for the + mod, he left the caps alone. He said they were fine. Mike B is a legend in the amp tech world, and he clearly believes that if it ain't broke don't fix. As far as rusty transformers go, many of my old amps had that. Didn't affect anything.

 

[jdel77]

Rust on transformers can look pretty feral, but it's just surface.
I'll stand here as much as a guy can on the internet and say every single magical amp I've had, it's in the transformers.
That's where the feel and projection is. Preamp is tone but the output section is the balls.
If you want that sound, either buy a new amp with kickass iron, or get something that was that kickass amp from back in the day.
Mesa MKIII's are the tits. Very close to a IIC+ in sound, do the R2 mod and you've got a sub $1000 amp that can easily hold its' own against anything out there for that clean Fender, crunchy British style mid gain and liquid high gain sound.

 

[Jon BCN]

Thanks guys. I have zero experience with old amps, so I was being precautious (that word exists?).

Yes. I've had a TON of vintage amps, and never had any problems. And some will say 'change the caps' but unless they are bulging or leaking, I don't bother. If you buy a vintage Mark 2/3, send it to Mesa for a checkup. They are very reasonable. When I sent my 2C in for the + mod, he left the caps alone. He said they were fine. Mike B is a legend in the amp tech world, and he clearly believes that if it ain't broke don't fix. As far as rusty transformers go, many of my old amps had that. Didn't affect anything.

Problem is I'm from Europe, so sending the amp to Mesa Boogie headquartes would be a pain in the ass.

 

[Racerxrated]

Thanks guys. I have zero experience with old amps, so I was being precautious (that word exists?).

Yes. I've had a TON of vintage amps, and never had any problems. And some will say 'change the caps' but unless they are bulging or leaking, I don't bother. If you buy a vintage Mark 2/3, send it to Mesa for a checkup. They are very reasonable. When I sent my 2C in for the + mod, he left the caps alone. He said they were fine. Mike B is a legend in the amp tech world, and he clearly believes that if it ain't broke don't fix. As far as rusty transformers go, many of my old amps had that. Didn't affect anything.

Problem is I'm from Europe, so sending the amp to Mesa Boogie headquartes would be a pain in the ass.

Understandable. With a vintage Marshall, filter caps are easy to check because they're on the outside of the chassis. With a Mark you have to take the chassis out. I'm sure any competent tech can check for you. But if it sounds good I'd be hesitant to change anything. Side note-If you want a 2C+ tone, get a real 2C+. I've had 2 Mark 3s, cool amps. But they aren't a 2C+.

 

[Jon BCN]

Thanks guys. I have zero experience with old amps, so I was being precautious (that word exists?).

Yes. I've had a TON of vintage amps, and never had any problems. And some will say 'change the caps' but unless they are bulging or leaking, I don't bother. If you buy a vintage Mark 2/3, send it to Mesa for a checkup. They are very reasonable. When I sent my 2C in for the + mod, he left the caps alone. He said they were fine. Mike B is a legend in the amp tech world, and he clearly believes that if it ain't broke don't fix. As far as rusty transformers go, many of my old amps had that. Didn't affect anything.

Problem is I'm from Europe, so sending the amp to Mesa Boogie headquartes would be a pain in the ass.

Understandable. With a vintage Marshall, filter caps are easy to check because they're on the outside of the chassis. With a Mark you have to take the chassis out. I'm sure any competent tech can check for you. But if it sounds good I'd be hesitant to change anything. Side note-If you want a 2C+ tone, get a real 2C+. I've had 2 Mark 3s, cool amps. But they aren't a 2C+.

As a huge Metallica fan the 2C+ is my dream amp, but actually I started to love the Mark III more for what they are and less for how close they can get to the 2C+.


For example, I found out a little while ago that Daita, the japanese lead guitar of Siam Shade, used one Mark III as his main amp for the most part of his career.

 

[SpiderWars]

As mentioned, the rust is generally just surface rust but don't try to clean it off. Allegedly that can be bad (never tried it).

I also agree on the transformers. One interesting tidbit is that the Mark IIs had huge iron and the very early Mark IIIs (black/no stripes) had leftover Mark II iron. So those are much more desirable. But the very early Rectos had leftover Mark III iron and those Rectos are more desirable.

Here is a youtube comparison of the IIC+/III/IV and imo it gives a decent representation of the clarity the IIC+ has over the other two.

 

[psychodave]

I'm contemplating the possibility of buying a Mesa Mark IIC+ or a Mark III, but something that always make me gave up on the idea is the fear that the components of those amps are 30 years old and maybe on their last years of life. I mean, I have seen a lot of those amps for sale with the transformer rust as fuck, and that really scares me.

I'm being too insecure?

You can send these amps back to boogie for a full service. The best part is they are cheaper than most amp techs and you're getting the amp serviced by the same people that have been involved with the amps when originally built. If you ever decide to sell, you have paperwork from boogie which will help people know some back wasn't inside. lol

 

[RockyStar]

If you are worried about buying used you have the option of buying the new Petrucci amp.

 

[SpiderWars]

FWIW, there is a Mark III head on GC.online for $699. No pic so it's potentially beat (or maybe no GEQ or something) but if interested just call the store.

 

[Marc_Nitschke221B]

I also had a couple of slightly older amps. Have a IIC* now.
The repair part is a bit tricky, but there are guys in europe who can handle an american amp. I'm thinking of sending mine to mesa though. but the time that this would consume, is what's keeping me from doing it for now.
Also, I wrote to Mesa/ Mike via the contact Form on the Mesa site and never got a response... anyone else had that problem?

 

[GJgo]

I've had Mike go through 2 of my older amps, great experience both times. You have to email the service manager Rich to set it up. rduvall@mesaboogie.com