Amplitudes: The Mesa Boogie Blog

Various Mark I amps circa 1978 in the original Lagunitas shop (click to enlarge)

MESA/Boogie Founder, Designer and President, Randall Smith, explains some of the more technical details behind the birth of all-tube, analog, cascading high-gain as created in the, now classic, Mesa/Boogie Mark I.

With the birth of cascading preamp gain in the Mark I in 1970… and with help of an up-and-coming guitarist at the time by the name of Carlos Santana (who finally found his signature tone in that amp), and a groundbreaking album called Abraxas, a great phenomenon was born. The story behind cascading preamp gain is just one of the many innovations brought to the table of amplified rock-n-roll history introduced by Mesa.  It's also a story shared by the man who actually started the 'boutique amp' concept. Randall Smith continues, to this day, proudly designing some of the world's most articulate, wide-ranging, inspiring and reliable vacuum-tube electric instrument amplifiers.

From Randall and all of us at Mesa to all of you who make up the worldwide family of Boogie players – thank you for your trust in us as a company and with something as important as your music and your tone. We wish you all the best in your musical pursuits.

Randall Smith tech'ing a Mark I Super Sixty with Reverb back in the day circa early 70s (click to enlarge)