Mesa Boogie amplifiers are difficult to determine the age of, compared with other brands. The serial numbers indicate only the production order of the amp within the series. There is no date information coded into the serial number. In addition, Mesa Boogie makes a large number of special orders for amplifiers, so the presence or exclusion of features is not an indication of the production year. An estimate of the age for a Mesa Boogie amp can be made based on the “Mark” number of the amp. Mesa Boogie produces about 1,000 amplifiers a year, which can be used to refine the estimate slightly more.
Check whether your Mesa Boogie amp is marked as a “Mark I.” This indicates an amplifier that was made between 1971 and 1978.
Divide the serial number of the Mesa Boogie amp by 1,000. Ignore the remainder after dividing the serial number. This is the estimated number of years the amp was made after the Mark was introduced.
Add the number from Step 2 to 1978 for a “Mark II” amp. This is an estimate of the production year for that amplifier.
Add the number from Step 2 to 1980 for a “Mark IIB” amp to get the production year estimate.
Add the number from Step 2 to 1984 for a “Mark IIC” amp to get the production year estimate.
Add the number from Step 2 to 1985 for a “Mark III” amp to get the production year estimate.
Add the number from Step 2 to 2000 for a “Mark IV” amp to get the production year estimate.
Add the number from Step 2 to 2009 for a “Mark V” amp to get the production year estimate.