Mesa/Boogie has released the holy grail Mark IIC++ as a production model, putting the ultra-rare custom amp head within reach of regular players for the first time in its history.
In the world of heavy metal and hard rock, Mesa/Boogie tube amps are some of the most revered out there, but the Mark IIC++ – a custom model from 1985 that was only ever created at the request of artists – is hallowed in its own right.
As Mesa/Boogie explains, the first Mark IIC++ was born out of a request from Vivian Campbell. In the mid 1980s, Campbell was playing with Dio, but asked for a modded version of his traditional Mark IIC+ in order to tap into “added gain and girth”.
The resulting creation quickly became the talk of the tone town among Mesa/Boogie circles, and though the IIC++ never became an official mod, it did become a favorite among a suite of A-list players, and was created on an ad hoc basis for those guitarists who required them.
As such, before its release today, it may just have been one of the most exclusive metal amps ever. An exact number of IIC++s created isn’t confirmed owing to the obscurity surrounding them, but the firm estimates only 20 were made. It’s an almost Dumble-level rarity and scarcity, which makes this launch all the more enticing.
After Campbell pioneered the IIC++, it was later used (perhaps most famously) by Metallica, who used the affectionately dubbed Crunch Berries amp (owing to the sticker they used on their own model) to shape the sound of heavy metal in the 1980s.
Speaking of the IIC++’s influence on the Metallica sound, Hammett once told MusicRadar, “They made very few of those Boogies and we happened to get a few. And those amps, along with EMG pickups were defining our sound.
“They enabled us to get the sound that we needed to get across. If it wasn’t for those Mesa/Boogie amps and EMG pickups, I don’t know how much further we would have got with just Marshalls. With the Boogies it was something different.”
As for what sets the IIC++ apart from the standard IIC+ – which also received a reissue last year – the additional ‘+’ basically translates to additional gain and a tighter low-end. On the surface, the IIC++ looks the same as the IIC+ (save the mod-specific plate on the grille cloth), but it won’t behave like one.
In practice, it offers increased gain in the preamp, which only affects the Lead mode. The Clean mode will operate as normal, but the Lead offers more to-end gain, an enhanced low-end, and an overall “thicker” sound with more dynamic harmonic layering.
“Experience one of the rarest and most coveted vintage amplifiers ever, the Mark IIC++, in solid new form built by the same artisans who built the originals 40 years ago,” Mesa/Boogie writes. “These awe-inspiring gain machines have fueled some of the most iconic rock sounds ever captured on record.”
Only 200 of the Mark IIC++ will be made and, by the looks of things, they’ve all already sold out.
Visit Mesa/Boogie to find out more.
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