Mesa/Boogie was founded in the 60s of the last century. At that time, Carlos Santana, the leader of the famous band Santana, praised the reworked loudspeaker of the brand's founder, Randall Smith, and called it "That little thing really Boogies!". Boogie is a form of music common to Blues, Jazz, and early rock music, hence the name Mesa/Boogie.
Mesa/Boogie was in the business of modifying Fender loudspeakers until 1972, when Randall Smith finally built the first guitar amp he developed, the Mark I, and the famous Mark series began. The original Mark has many of the tonal characteristics of a Fender loudspeaker, but with more distortion, a thick texture and a continuous sustain. In 1980, the Mark II was introduced to truly carry forward the Mark series and catapult Mesa Boogie to the top loudspeaker manufacturers. The Mark II inherits the heavy tone of the first generation, but the sound is more layered and more open. The Mark II made the high-gain loudspeaker more tearing and aggressive, and was popular with metal musicians who were beginning to develop at the time. The famous Dream Theatre album Scenes From A Memory, as well as Metallica's self-titled album, were both recorded with Mark II C.
Today, Mesa/Boogie continues to develop and update the Mark product line. The latest Mark V was introduced in 2009 and new models have been introduced ever since. The Mark V has a clear layout logic, with 3 channels on the panel, 3 modes each, a total of 9 tones, and users can also adjust their power, EQ, gain, and master volume individually. Each of these 3 channels has its own characteristics, channel 1 CLEAN mode has plenty of headroom at 90W power, heavy bass and high-frequency response, and the sound is atmospheric and shiny; Channel 2 is more British, with a classic Mark I tone, which is especially suitable for electric guitar strumming with humbucker pickups; Channel 3 starts with another MESA legend, the Mark IIC, stacked with more gain and closer to the metallic tones of the early '80s. Although the price of the Mark V amp is as high as 17000 yuan, it not only contains the classic tone of the Mark series, but also gives users plenty of tonal freedom, for guitarists with senior playing experience and a variety of playing styles, it is still an all-round speaker.
After introducing the Mark series, it is natural to mention the Dual Rectifier series. It was the launch of Dual Rectifer that made Mesa/Boogie a favorite of heavy metal and hardcore rockers to this day. In keeping with the increasingly ferocious musical style of the time, Mesa/Boogie used a cascading gain section design in the Dual Rectifer, which allowed guitarists to no longer have to sacrifice their hearing to get the terrifying buff effect by increasing the number of tubes and widening the channel. In distortion mode, it has a burst sound character and an infinite sustain lead tone, making it a favorite of heavy guitarists. With improved loudspeaker design and a shift in musical style, the use of Dual Rectifier is no longer the preserve of metal musicians. The newer version of the Dual Rectifier has a wider range of features and sounds, so no matter what style of musician, you'll find something to suit your needs. In recent years, the price of the 100W Dual Rectifier head is around 15,000 yuan.
In addition to the above two classic series, Mesa/Boogie launched a new series of TCs in 2018, which is based on the Dual Rectifier, but with redesigned circuitry and configuration. Compared to the Dual Rectifier, the TC has a more modern tone and features, from the high-quality, pure Clean Tone, to the tight and ferocious Crunch, to the over-rich Chorus high-gain lead or punch-to-flesh heavy-duty distortion. The positioning of the TC series is slightly lower than that of the Mark V, and the price is around 13,000 yuan.
