It's rumored that Mesa Boogie’s new Mark VII may be the last Mark Series amp designed by the company’s founder, Randall Smith (although we’re given assurance it’s not his last Mesa, Boogie or new Gibson design). If so, it’s a crowning achievement for a man who played a significant role in many of the most beloved guitar tones and modern amp features of the last five decades.
In the spirit of the very first Mesa Boogie amp, which delivered a revolutionary new high-gain preamp that signified the dawn of the modern guitar amp (along with the performance of a 100-watt stack packed into a small Fender Princeton combo), the Mark VII’s compact 19-inch, 40-pound chassis is loaded with an unfathomable variety of features and first-class tones – so many that I’m going to cut to the chase to cover as many of them as this space allows.
