1980 Mesa Boogie Mark II B Vintage Tube Amp Head & 1x12 Cab w/ Altec 417-8H

Up for sale, a 1980 Mesa Boogie Mark II B head and matching 1x12” extension cabinet in excellent condition and in perfect working order, outfitted with the original Mesa STR-415 power tubes. A very early example of this pioneering Mesa Boogie circuit, this Mark II B is the 60 watt iteration.

This Mark II B 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 an external footswitch (not included), a feature introduced via Mesa's Mark series and now widely considered industry standard. Controls include Volume 1, Master 1, Lead Drive, and Lead Master knobs, with Pull Bright, Pull Shift, Gain Boost, Pull Lead, and Pull Bright (Lead) push/pull controls, as well as a three-band EQ. The Presence control is on the back panel, along with the Slave Level knob, and Effects Loop Send/Return.

The circuit retains the original transformers manufactured by Schumacher, with a fairly wide date span from late 1977 to 1979. The CTS pots have visible date codes from the 29th week of '77, and the chassis is hand-dated 11/5/80. The power supply retains the original Mallory caps, and the preamp is loaded with the stock Sprague Orange Drops and carbon comp resistors. The tube complement comprises all Mesa-branded valves, with the original pair of STR-415 power tubes. These highly celebrated tubes are re-branded Philips/Sylvania 6L6GCs made specifically for Mesa, known for their exceptional build quality, high plate voltage tolerance, and long lifespan. The preamp is outfitted with modern Mesa-branded valves.

The cabinet is loaded with the original Altec 417-8H Series II 12" driver with its heavy duty Alnico V magnet, offering exceptional wattage handling. The original black tolex is well-kept on both the head and extension cabinet, and the original grillcloth is also present and similarly preserved. The faceplate graphics are quite clean, and all of the original knobs are present.