There is something about rediscovering old gear. It’s like getting something for free. A piece of gear that you forgot about shows up on the radar and all of a sudden you have a “new” piece of gear.
This just happened to me. Three years ago I found a 1985 Mesa Boogie Mark III 100 watt head for $499.99. I had already been playing through a Rivera R55 1×12 combo (and still do) and even though it didn’t seem like the most practical thing for me at the time, I jumped on it.
It was hard to find some practical uses for such a powerful head and in most cases I just used my Rivera combo.
Then I went to Colorado Springs for a year to take part in the New Life School of Worship. It was an amazing time of learning from great teachers and also from peers and practitioners.
I could only bring the gear that would fit into my Ford Taurus. Good bye, Mesa Mark III. See you in a year.
When I got back to the happening metropolis of Des Moines, Iowa, I had an opportunity to play guitar for Brian and Jen Johnson at a pretty big church. This seemed like the perfect time to dust off the old Mesa.
When I started to set up for the “gig” the Mark III was acting up. I couldn’t get it to work. As near as I could tell, it had to be retubed. Hello, Rivera R55.
After using the Rivera for another year, I finally decided to get the old Mesa fixed. So today I sat down with my amp and a friend’s Eric Johnson Strat (recently equipped with Dimarzio 58, 58, 61s) and plugged it in and cranked it up.
It works!
What the heck? How is this possible? Have I been sitting on a brilliant, great-sounding amp all this time and not known about it?
Yes. And why? Because of a little something called “User Error.”
Once I appropriately punished myself, I got a great feeling of rediscovery. This amp has a lot of character and sounds that I haven’t discovered yet. Now, three years after buying this amp, I get to take that journey and “bless” a church with it’s heavenly harmonic overtones and classic Marshall-like crunch.
This is going to be fun.
Keep sharp and keep checking your closet for forgotten gear treasures.
-Jed
#1 by Quentin - September 14th, 2009 at 14:33
I wonder whose ej that was….
#2 by admin - September 15th, 2009 at 17:00
Definitely mine.
#3 by Karl - October 6th, 2009 at 04:13
Score! Yikes bro, all I ever find in my closet is old tubes. But I’m checking right now to see if there’s a Mesa in there.
#4 by admin - October 6th, 2009 at 17:46
Ha ha. Look closely, Karl, you too may have a magic Mesa closet.