Up for sale, a 1979 Mesa Boogie Mark II A 1x12” combo in excellent condition and in perfect working order, featuring both Reverb and EQ and complete with the original footswitch. This early example of the iconic, pioneering Mesa Boogie amp dates to the first year of Mark II production, predating the approval of Mesa Boogie’s patents for the revolutionary Mode Switching (channel switching) technology introduced with this model.

Complete with the original Electro-Voice EVM-12L speaker, this Mark II A delivers quintessential Mesa cleans and rich, focused overdrive, with a wide range of versatile, vital tones easily accessed via the deceptively simple control configuration. There’s a natural fatness and punch to the sound, engineered to complement just about any pickup you throw at it, and dialing up the higher gain settings yields a harmonically-complex, unrelenting distortion. The clean/gain channels can be toggled back and forth with the external footswitch, a feature introduced with this very amp and now widely considered industry standard. Controls include Volume 1, Treble, Bass, Middle, Master 1, Lead Drive, and Lead Master knobs, with Pull Bright, Pull Shift, Gain Boost, Pull Lead, and Pull Bright (Lead) push/pull controls. Additionally, a five-band EQ provides even more surgical tone-sculpting precision, and the Presence, Reverb, and Slave Level knobs can be found on the back panel.

The circuit is virtually untouched, with original transformers manufactured by Schumacher, dating between the 40th week of ‘77 and the 36th week of '78. The CTS pots have visible date codes from the 33rd week of '78, and the chassis is hand-dated January, 1979. The tube complement comprises a bevy of vintage Amperex-branded valves and one modern EH tube, while the power tubes are a pair of Groove Tubes 6L6s. The Electro-Voice EVM-12L is widely considered EV’s flagship speaker, famed for its dark, expressive sound and fantastic power handling, featuring a rugged frame and date code translating to the 22nd week of ‘78.

The oak hardwood cabinet is exceptionally clean, with just a few minor marks on the enclosure, and the original wicker grillcloth is pristine. The faceplate includes its original witch hat knobs and all but one of the slider tips. One slider has been snapped off, but is still functional and adjustable.

The original footswitch is included.