old fart,new member!

[ndsquared]

Howdy! I'm Nicholas DelDrago...54 year old guitarist and airbrush artist (www.viciouscycles.org)
I've been playing guitar like my life depended on it (it does) since I got my first guitar at 13...that means...gulp...I've been playing guitar 40 years.

5 days ago I acquired a sweet Mesa Boogie MArk IIC 1x12 combo...spending time with it and trying to decide if I 'll be sending it off to Mark Bendenelli at MB sooner or later. I run it dry and slave out to a Rocktron Xpression set full wet into a Seymour Duncan Convertible via the FX return...finally minimizing my rig down to 2 combo amps. Pretty Sweet!

Any of you IIC owners have your babys converted to the + and if so, are you thrilled? I'm mostly hoping for more gain any thoughts? :mrgreen:

 

[stephen sawall]

Welcome to the forum .... I have been playing 39 years myself.
I like your work.

 

[mcnamee]

I checked out your web site, wicked! If you play anything like you paint, wow!

Did you actually do up a guitar for Joe Satriani? Sweet!

 

[chipaudette]

Hi,

I bought a IIC from a fellow board member, lived with it for a couple of months, and then sent it off to Mesa to get converted to a IIC+. After a couple weeks of break-in (and learning how to dial it in), it sounds really good. No regrets.

Even if you don't get it upgraded to IIC+, you'll want to send it in just to get a 100,000 mile check-up. Your "new" amp is really quite old and many of its electrolytic caps probably need to be replaced, some of your pots may be highly degraded, your tubes might be surprisingly old, and your reverb tank might be stuffed with bits of partially-disintegrated foam. MikeB takes care of all that.

So, I would send it to Mesa either way. It's up to you whether you want the IIC+ tone. Oh, and since you use outboard effects, the effects loop after the IIC+ mod is far superior to the bizzare implementation on the IIC.

Chip

 

[Greenevil]

Welcome to the board! I have a IIC that I converted to the plus as well (along with a simul upgrade) and I can assure you, coming from the man himself, a IIC upgraded to a plus is the same as owning a stock IIC+. Trannys aside, it will sound like a stock IIC+, very well worth it but that is my humble opinion. If you are looking at it from a collectors stand point, then you will not get back a solid return if you chose to sell the amp (not orig. parts, circuits, etc.). I myself could care less that I have an upgraded IIC b/c honestly you cannot tell the difference (I have extensively A/B'd the upgrade and a few stock IIC+s) and as I said earlier, Mike B. stated himself that the upgrade is the same as owning a IIC+ circuit board. I LOVE mine!! No regrets at all, hope this helps!

 

[ndsquared]

Welcome to the board! I have a IIC that I converted to the plus as well (along with a simul upgrade) and I can assure you, coming from the man himself, a IIC upgraded to a plus is the same as owning a stock IIC+. Trannys aside, it will sound like a stock IIC+, very well worth it but that is my humble opinion. If you are looking at it from a collectors stand point, then you will not get back a solid return if you chose to sell the amp (not orig. parts, circuits, etc.). I myself could care less that I have an upgraded IIC b/c honestly you cannot tell the difference (I have extensively A/B'd the upgrade and a few stock IIC+s) and as I said earlier, Mike B. stated himself that the upgrade is the same as owning a IIC+ circuit board. I LOVE mine!! No regrets at all, hope this helps!

I absolutely planon doing the upgrade! How important is the simulclass option and how much was that upgrade?

 

[ndsquared]

I checked out your web site, wicked! If you play anything like you paint, wow!

Did you actually do up a guitar for Joe Satriani? Sweet!

Yes I painted that axe for him, Joe and I are old friends having played in a bands at the same time in and around the SF bay area...he was in the Squares and I was in a really hokey band called Metropolis...

 

[Greenevil]

Well the simul class option is great if you plan on running 6L6/El34s together. I run all 6L6s however there is def. a tone difference from Class A to Simulclass, if memory serves the total was about $400 but I could be wrong...

 

[ndsquared]

Well the simul class option is great if you plan on running 6L6/El34s together. I run all 6L6s however there is def. a tone difference from Class A to Simulclass, if memory serves the total was about $400 but I could be wrong...

Yep! I spoke w/ MB today and he said it was about $400.00 for the simul class mod...but I'm just glad I can scare up the $300 for the + mod and $150 for the "tune up"...I'm sure once it's all buttoned up again I'll be soooo glad I did it!

 

[Greenevil]

Sweet, glad you decided to get the upgrade(s)! When are sending the amp out to Boogie?

 

[ndsquared]

Sweet, glad you decided to get the upgrade(s)! When are sending the amp out to Boogie?

Hopefully tomorrow...I'm trying to justify the $300.0 to Mark + 150 to boogie...I just bought the IIC for $1600.0 .I know the end result will be a dead on Mark IIC+ w/graphic/60-100 switch and I know it'll be worth it!

I really thought about getting the Mark V ($2100 shipped brand new) but several die hard IIC+ fans said they got them and re-sold them immediately...no deep knob and just not the same.I'd rather have 2 killer tones than 3 good ones!

I'm hoping to have it done while I'm in SF for this big benefit my friends are throwing for me at Slims on January 31st...that way it might be waiting at home for me when I get back!

 

[Greenevil]

Yeah I would skip the Mark V, a good friend of mine had one and has owned various amps throughout the years and knows what he wants and how to get it out of an amp. However, he just couldn't get that golden tone out of the Mark V. He quickly sold it! haha We both A/B'd the Mark V to both the Mark II and IV, and it was def. no comparison. We even jammed on the amp in a live setting and it really lacked a lot of what makes a Boogie and Boogie! Ultimately the amp failed in the real world test and setting.

The Mark V just doesn't have that umph that the other Mark heads have. The IIC+ mode is an absolute joke, in my humble opinion that is. Bottom line is, if you want that C+ tone get yourself a Mark IIC+ or in your case an upgraded IIC! To my ears the Mark V seems to have a lot in common with the Triaxis (that's another rant right there! haha), now that is not a bad unit but I would hardly say it's Mark series worthy!

Good move about getting the upgrade done while in SF, being that I live in NJ I am always apprehensive to ship my prized amps to Cali, you never know what UPS/Fedex/USPS will do to them! I briefly worked part-time for UPS as a loader and believe me, I have witnessed first hand how the package handlers treat our valuable items!! Anyway, I am getting off topic here! haha So yeah enjoy the upgrade and take it from me, you will not be sorry!! Let me know how things turn out for you!

 

[ndsquared]

Yeah I would skip the Mark V, a good friend of mine had one and has owned various amps throughout the years and knows what he wants and how to get it out of an amp. However, he just couldn't get that golden tone out of the Mark V. He quickly sold it! haha We both A/B'd the Mark V to both the Mark II and IV, and it was def. no comparison. We even jammed on the amp in a live setting and it really lacked a lot of what makes a Boogie and Boogie! Ultimately the amp failed in the real world test and setting.

The Mark V just doesn't have that umph that the other Mark heads have. The IIC+ mode is an absolute joke, in my humble opinion that is. Bottom line is, if you want that C+ tone get yourself a Mark IIC+ or in your case an upgraded IIC! To my ears the Mark V seems to have a lot in common with the Triaxis (that's another rant right there! haha), now that is not a bad unit but I would hardly say it's Mark series worthy!

Good move about getting the upgrade done while in SF, being that I live in NJ I am always apprehensive to ship my prized amps to Cali, you never know what UPS/Fedex/USPS will do to them! I briefly worked part-time for UPS as a loader and believe me, I have witnessed first hand how the package handlers treat our valuable items!! Anyway, I am getting off topic here! haha So yeah enjoy the upgrade and take it from me, you will not be sorry!! Let me know how things turn out for you!

It's all packed and ready to be picked up today! UPS sez it' arrives at Boogie on Tuesday, Mike sez 2 weeks, then about another week for the return trip...I can't wait!

 

[Jim Ed Love]

I have a MKIIC simulclass that was upgraded to a C+ by Mike B. at Boogie. I couldn't be happier. I also have a MKV and it is awsome. The V can do many things the C+ can't do. The C+ mode on the V ain't that far off the real C+. The V blends in beautifully with the MKIIC+.

 

[ndsquared]

I have a MKIIC simulclass that was upgraded to a C+ by Mike B. at Boogie. I couldn't be happier. I also have a MKV and it is awsome. The V can do many things the C+ can't do. The C+ mode on the V ain't that far off the real C+. The V blends in beautifully with the MKIIC+.

thanks for the response! Did you find that after the Mod you had a lot more gain? That's what I'm hoping for...

 

[Jim Ed Love]

I have a MKIIC simulclass that was upgraded to a C+ by Mike B. at Boogie. I couldn't be happier. I also have a MKV and it is awsome. The V can do many things the C+ can't do. The C+ mode on the V ain't that far off the real C+. The V blends in beautifully with the MKIIC+.

thanks for the response! Did you find that after the Mod you had a lot more gain? That's what I'm hoping for...

Well, I always had the simulclass feature and it was plenty loud before and after the mod.

 

[dodger916]

I have a MKIIC simulclass that was upgraded to a C+ by Mike B. at Boogie. I couldn't be happier. I also have a MKV and it is awsome. The V can do many things the C+ can't do. The C+ mode on the V ain't that far off the real C+. The V blends in beautifully with the MKIIC+.

thanks for the response! Did you find that after the Mod you had a lot more gain? That's what I'm hoping for...

Having both a C and a C+, the + does have more gain and remains tighter and smoother as gain increases.

 

[ndsquared]

I have a MKIIC simulclass that was upgraded to a C+ by Mike B. at Boogie. I couldn't be happier. I also have a MKV and it is awsome. The V can do many things the C+ can't do. The C+ mode on the V ain't that far off the real C+. The V blends in beautifully with the MKIIC+.

thanks for the response! Did you find that after the Mod you had a lot more gain? That's what I'm hoping for...

Well, I always had the simulclass feature and it was plenty loud before and after the mod.

not looking for more volume, more distortion in the lead channel and more headroom in the clean channel

 

[ndsquared]

I have a MKIIC simulclass that was upgraded to a C+ by Mike B. at Boogie. I couldn't be happier. I also have a MKV and it is awsome. The V can do many things the C+ can't do. The C+ mode on the V ain't that far off the real C+. The V blends in beautifully with the MKIIC+.

thanks for the response! Did you find that after the Mod you had a lot more gain? That's what I'm hoping for...

Having both a C and a C+, the + does have more gain and remains tighter and smoother as gain increases.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear! Thanks so much

 

[Greenevil]

No problem, always willing to help a fellow Boogie Boarder! After the upgrade the gain went through the roof! I was actually worried about the gain issue myself but it seriously made that much of a difference! The IIC tone was cool but wow, it lacked so much gain that it was unplayable to me, well at least for the style and sound I am going for.

The only bad thing about getting the upgrade is waiting for everything to be done and having the amp back in your hands! When it comes to that part, I have zero patients! It is very well worth it, trust me!