Wedged between the Mark I that started it all and the high-gain Mark IIC+ of ’80s metal legend, the Boogie Mark IIB doesn’t get much attention. For many guitarists, though, this humble Boogie was the most versatile early Mesa.
Mesa/Boogie has come to mainly represent the massive crunch of Metallica, the singing shred of John Petrucci, and the much associated with good old rock and roll. Meat-and-potatoes rock is where the brand started, though, in a circuit designed to attain the cranked-up overdrive of a big non-Master-Volume amp at more-usable decibels, and to be more portable than your average Marshall stack.
Among the artists plugging into the Mark II and similar models in the ’80s were Prince, Todd Rundgren, Larry Carlton, Berton Averre (The Knack), the Michael Stanley Band, Mark Knopfler (who played a Mark IIB on much of Love Over Gold and Brothers In Arms), Al Di Meola, Mick Jones of the Clash, Lindsey Buckingham, Jerry Garcia (mostly with the Jerry Garcia Band), Michael Gurley (dada), Johnny Marr, and Paul McCartney. Before the Mark IIB’s arrival in 1980, the Mark I had been added to the backlines of Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, who introduced their sound for the recordings released as the 1977 album Live at the El Mocambo and the tours that followed (see our feature on one of Keith Richards’ Boogie combos in the March ’23 issue).
That amp that would become known as the Boogie Mark I started hitting the street in prototype form circa 1973, following founder Randall Smith’s conversion of 200 or so Fender Princeton combos to his high-powered, high-gain specs in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Mark I amps had two inputs – one for high-gain lead sounds and one for clean. The Mark II added footswitchable Rhythm and Lead modes, a feature that earned Smith his first patent. But there were several other important circuit upgrades.
One of the biggest changes to the amp’s sonic signature was moving the Mark I’s added gain stage in Lead mode after the tone stack in the Mark II, so there was then just one triode preamp/tube stage prior to the tone pots rather than the two in the Mark I’s Lead mode. Yet another triode stage was added after the tone stack. The resultant gain staging slammed the tone stack a little less while still increasing the amp’s overall gain, and offered a more-controlled EQ in Lead mode as well as a tighter overdrive sound.
In addition, the Mark II added a Lead Master control to better balance the Rhythm and Lead modes, meaning the amp had seven front-panel knobs versus the Mark I’s six (both had Presence on the rear panel). Four of these – Volume 1, Master 1, Lead Drive, and Lead Master – were dedicated to governing gain and output, and in Lead mode, the signal passed through all four. Later users have noted that the configuration can make it tricky to find an ideal balance between Lead and Rhythm volumes, yet the arrangement afforded a lot more control than most amps of the day, and habitual Mark IIB users can easily find their sweet spots.
The Mark II circuit found the Boogie’s gain staging fairly close to that of the Dumble Overdrive Special, which had a similar two-knob overdrive stage after the tone stack. Both are often referred to as “two-channel” amps offering clean and overdrive sounds, but properly speaking, they are single-channel with an added overdrive stage that can be engaged/appended to the “clean” signal chain. An independent Bright switch for the Lead mode was also added to the Mark II (as a push/pull switch on the Lead Master control), the new model gained a Pull Shift switch on the Treble control that boosts the upper-midrange frequencies, and the Gain Boost push/pull was moved from the Volume 1 to the Master 1 control.
Despite all these significant changes, one of the more talked-about additions to the Mark IIB is the buffered effects loop. The Mark IIA had a rear-panel jack labeled “Pre Amp Out/Pwr Amp In,” but no obvious effects loop. Another jack on the underside of the chassis, however, provided a “send” from the preamp that could be used to chain effects between it and the “Pwr Amp In.” The Mark IIB arrived with this loop in place via proper Send and Return jacks on the rear panel, and a tube-buffering stage besides, with the “Pre Amp Out/Pwr Amp In” jack on the amp’s underside. Even so, many guitarists complained about its function, in particular its propensity to drive some effects too hard. The Mark IIC of 1983 improved the buffer circuit so it operated better with a wider range of external units, but it also lost one nifty trick – the ability to plug a passive volume pedal into that junction between the preamp and power amp for remote control of the Master 1 level.
Prior to the C’s unveiling, the higher-powered B was given an innovative new output stage that Mesa dubbed Simul-Class. Instead of the 60-/100-watt option, the rear-panel switch enabled the amp to run on two of the four output tubes for a stated 15 watts in Class A, or all four with two in Class A and two in Class A/B for a totally output of about 75 watts. Circa 1984, the final iteration of the circuit saw the Mark IIC+ adding significant gain and high-end sizzle to the Lead sound, creating one of the most collectible Boogies in the process. This sound formed the cornerstone of so many metal and heavy-rock artists of the era, but for those merely seeking a beefy, crunchy lead tone, it was too much.
The Mark IIB featured here is a characterfully worn example from the heart of the period. It exhibits the juicy overdrive and singing sustain that solidified the Boogie’s reputation, without being so searing and saturated as to be excessive for middle-of-the-road lead sounds. Often noted, too, is how good the amp’s clean (a.k.a. Rhythm) sounds are – a robust, dynamic, and balanced tone in the camp of the bigger late-’60s and early-’70s Fender amps upon which many elements of the circuit were based, arguably with better gain-versus-output control.
Fancier Boogies of the day display optional extras such as reverb, graphic EQ, 100-watt output rating (with 60-/100-watt switch or Simul-Class), exotic hardwood cabinets, and an upgraded EV or Altec speaker (from the standard Celestione Black Shadow; our featured combo has a replacment Jensen Jets Tornado Classic). But if you were a hard-working musician stretching your budget to buy your first Boogie, the Mark IIB is likely what you went for, which proved to be sturdy road warriors for the happy guitarists who landed them.
This article originally appeared in VG’s December 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.