Mesa/Boogie Mark Series

The Mark Series is a line of guitar amplifiers designed and produced by California-based manufacturer Mesa/Boogie since 1972. The first "Boogies," as they were originally known, were based on a Fender Princeton modified by company founder Randall Smith to produce more volume and distortion. The resulting production model, the Mark I, was popularized by guitarists like Carlos Santana and Keith Richards and helped establish Mesa/Boogie as a brand. A Mark II model followed, introducing amplifier milestones like channel switching and effects loops. The line was revoiced in 1983 with the Mark IIC+ variant, which brought a more aggressive sound with a more pronounced midrange and tighter lows. Metallica would famously use the IIC+ on Master of Puppets, a major factor in it later becoming one of the industry's most coveted vintage amp models. Despite its success, the IIC+ was produced for little more than a year. The Mark series, with its constantly-expanding feature set, maintained its status as Mesa/Boogie's flagship offering through Mark III and Mark IV iterations before being supplanted by the Rectifier series in the early 1990s. Mesa/Boogie has since released Mark V and Mark VII models, as well as a John Petrucci signature version and a IIC+ reissue.