Got my newly converted C+ back from Mike today...

Hello all,

I've been pretty quiet for the last few weeks, as my IIC combo was visiting her Dad in Petaluma. My amp started life as a very late IIC combo...60 watts with reverb, Pull Deep faceplate, but no GEQ. I believe it's known as a SR. Anyway, Mesa had no record of my amp ever being serviced, and from the looks of it, it hadn't been serviced anywhere else either.

I sent her to Rich Duvall, and he (or his crew?) gave her a full service...cleaned 32 years of dust and grime out of her, re-tensioned the tube sockets, replaced the AC cord, both jacks, pilot light, a faulty pull switch, and all caps. Then, she was given to Mike Bendinelli for the C+ conversion. I must say, I was blown away by Mesa's customer service. Rich called me only two and a half weeks later to tell me my amp was done. Shipping home took 7 agonizingly long days via UPS.

I must say I was stunned when I plugged her in. My amp had great clean tones when I sent her off, and she still sounds wonderful clean. But the lead tone sounds so much better now it's ridiculous. Since my amp doesn't have GEQ, I bought the Boogie Five Band Graphic pedal while I was waiting for my amp's return. HOLY FRIGGIN' CRAP!!! The C+ circuit with the graphic in the loop sounds amazing. I know everyone talks about the feel of the C+, and they're right. It's phenomenal. But the warmth of the lead channel with the mids scooped sounds fantastic. It sustains so much better, then morphs into a harmonic...almost like feedback, but it's musical. And I'm not talking about with a brutal Master of Puppets tone. Even with the gain backed off, it's just oozes mojo.

I know some guys are saying to leave IICs alone, because so few are left stock. But for the types of music I like to play, it was absolutely worth converting. I couldn't be happier. Now I just need to let my gear fund replenish a bit, then I'll get a Thiele cabinet for it.

Congrats. They are killer amps.

Fine, that you`re SO pleased......
But would you tell us how much did you pay for all that work, excluding the shipping costs ?

$200 for the refurb, and $350 for the mod.

POOOOOOOHHHH!
That`s a lot, exspecially for the mod..............

"POOOOOOOHHHH!
That`s a lot, exspecially for the mod.........….."

Worth every dime!

I don't think that was expensive at all. Personally, I think it was a tremendous bargain. If im being totally blunt, I think it's amazing that it's possible that the gent who developed the circuit still works at Boogie, and makes himself available to guys like me, who have just purchased a 32 year old amp, and will work on it for them. I know Mr. Jim Marshall is deceased, but to me, this is pretty much the same thing as sending a used JTM to Marshall, and having Jim tweak the circuit. Talk about service wayyyyy after the sale. Amazing!

Congrats!
The +mod is SOOOOO worth it, and you can use your FX loop as well.
IMO there is no reason for a IIC to not be a +.

ENJOY!!

I recapped my MKIIA a year ago. Parts are not cheap and it takes some time to do the work and put things back together. Sounds like a great deal, especially considering the skill set.

Glad you like it. If your amp gets the sounds you want to hear, that amount of money is a drop in the well. Enjoy.

Mike and Rich did a recap and Mike did his III+ mod to my Mark III Purples Stripe. It sounds very close to my Mark IIC+ now and I also now have a volume knob for channel 2. Great customer service and Mike called ME up to chat about the amp for well over 20-30 minutes!!!

I paid about the same as you and it was worth every penny. Mike sent back a big bag of components that he swapped out, by no means is it an easy and fast job to do.

Congrats Brad! I'd love to hear it. Let me know if you put up any clips or play out some time.

Thinking of doing the same what proof do you now have that MB did the mod to a c+ if and when you want to sell.

amberman said:

Thinking of doing the same what proof do you now have that MB did the mod to a c+ if and when you want to sell.

Click to expand...

Do the plus mod, I had one I sent to M/B and it was worth every penny and then some in tone improvement alone not to mention the increase in resale value for getting it pulsed. I know Mike did the mod himself, I talked to him a couple of times about changing a component to the original part as well as a few other things. When you get your amp back it comes with the yellow work order and it lists the work done as well as the tech that did the work, which was Mike B.