Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+

The Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ is a guitar amplifier produced by California-based manufacturer Mesa/Boogie as part of its Mark series. The Mark IIC+ was released in 1984 as the final update to the Mark II model and became popular for the saturated and compressed character of its "high-gain"—or heavily distorted—rhythm and lead tones. Session guitarists like Michael Landau, Dean Parks, and Steve Lukather used the Mark IIC+ on hundreds of hit songs at the time, while Prince adopted the amp beginning with his Purple Rain Tour. The amplifier is most closely associated however with metal players like Dream Theater's John Petrucci and Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, with Master of Puppets commonly cited as the Mark IIC+'s most famous use on a recording. Around 3,000 copies were made before it was superseded by the Mark III in 1985 after only fourteen months in production. Despite its short run, the Mark IIC+ was one of the most influential amplifiers of the 1980s in pop and rock music, alongside the Marshall JCM800. The Mark IIC+ has since become one of the industry's most sought-after vintage amp models. Mesa/Boogie reissued it in 2024.