1976 Mesa Boogie
Original Boogie Amplifier Hand built by Mesa Boogie founder and
President Randall Smith and Mike Bendinelli in 1976. Koa Cabinet Serial # 912. This is the 912th Boogie made and
one of the earliest in Koa. Now known as the Mesa Mark I Combo.
These were not known as Mk I until the MKII came out. This is a 60 watt combo
with a 12” Altec-Lansing speaker. It also has the EQ
and the 2 original foot pedals. (The Altec-Lansing
and EQ were special order upgrades in 1976 when this was built!) The Boogie
name plate is new and was sent to me by the nice folks at Mesa Boogie. One of the original rubber feet is
gone and was replaced a gazillion years ago. I’m
leaving it the way it is. It has tons of character! It has recently been
serviced and is operating in tip top shape. (The grid resistor was replaced and
I’ll include it in the sale if you want it. It’s a tiny part.) This amp is well
traveled and has done a lot of gigging in it’s 30+
years.
The cabinet has recently been waxed with the Bumble Bee wax Mesa uses. I asked their Customer Service what
they used. This is a natural wood cabinet. They did not poly coat these things
back then. You polish it with a bit of Bees wax just like you oil your guitar
fret board to protect it.
It’s a great piece of Mesa
history and a great amp to boot. Just kills with my early PRS or ES-335.
A Little Mesa Boogie History
In the words of Randall Smith from the Mesa web site –
In 1973 I
started building amps one at a time in an old mountain shack and when players
like Carlos Santana, Larry Carlton and Keith Richards got hold of them, word
spread quickly. The complaint then was that it took up to a year to get a Mark
I Boogie.
The Boogies proved to be absolute giant
killers (in more ways than one) and began to re-define forever what a guitar
amp could be and do. A small company working closely with leading players
and fiercely dedicated to innovation and quality made a successful end-run
around the sleeping giants of the industry.
So I moved out of the dog kennel Tone Shack and
started building a two-story garage/studio with reject wood I trucked down
directly from the saw mills. Nearly every part of
those first Mark I Boogies was produced in that garage: nameplates were
silk-screened, sheet metal chasses were hand punched, wiring and cabinet
building were done by hand...even the printed circuit boards were screened and
etched there.
