You are not missing anything but heartache. I was a Mesa service tech in the 1990s and to my grief, some people still manage to find me and bug me to repair their Mesa amps. I find that they have far far far I mean far too many potentiometers, switches, switched jacks in effect loops, fragile, redundant eq sliders, all crammed into way too small of a hot space right often next to a crazy heavy speaker. The component density on their often stacked and or dual-sided printed circuit boards is vastly too concentrated considering the heat, voltages, and vibration a tube guitar amp must endure. They are difficult to service, and are getting worse. Transformers are one of the easiest components to source- they are simply wire and steel laminations- that is unless the engineers did something daft like designed a toroidal type in order to cram even more needless complexity into the already overstuffed chassis. You live in UK? Hiwatt. Possibly the best British product ever.

How Gibson is able to buy anything at this point is mind boggling.

Price increases across their entire lineup have been absolutely brutal. When I saw how much the new Mark 7s were, my heart dropped! They’re crazy expensive - and I live in the US. Can’t even imagine what they’ll cost in Europe when they’re finally available. Great info as always. Hopefully they’re able to sort things out.

Now say it like Jar Jar Binks

Good that it's soon to be resolved. I remember when Anderton's made their video on how the dealers in Europe are now working directly with Boogie, rather than a European distributor. Prices were reduced by quite a lot... But then you couldn't get them.

Informative video. I live in Los Angeles and played a Boogie for a decade in the L.A. scene. I was one of the few players in that scene who used a combo, nevermind a Boogie. That's how powerful it was. In the ten years I owned this amp I changed the tubes only three times and I played the hell out of it, never had any issues with it, and it survived some bad falls off long staircases and loading ramps. As much as I love their amps I don't think people in Europe should be that hung up about it. There are plenty of fine amps and multi fx systems available in Europe.

Here at Revv amplification we were ahead of these new regulations and ship to Europe with no issues. 😀

I have owned a few boogies and loved all of them. I beat the crap out of a MKIV with hardwood options for 10 years on the road. It was trailered around from gig to gig stored in the trailer in -20 to 90 degrees. To me it was a tool for what I was doing It was heavy but the sound was crazy from clean to over drive. I never had a problem with it. I had to replace the tubes once in ten years of abuse. I traded it for a new MKV that as a great amp as well. Now I have an old dual recti solo head and love it as well never had one single problem with it. Those were all Randal Smith era amps. I have a new Gibson era Recti verb and love that but that has never left my studio. So I cant speak of the road ruggedness of it. Bit the biggest mistake I ever made was getting rid of my original MkIV. Great video it is interesting to see what goes on other then in the U.S. Thanks for sharing.

As an electronics repair tech i have to the agree with the comments below regarding servicing Messa Boogie amps. You have to find the exact part or it will not fit the small space available, and if Messa can't source parts to make them then there are none available to do repairs. My advice is look elswhere for your next amp or in a few years time when not if your Messa amp fails you will be left with a very expensive door stop.

Always happy to see a new KDH video

Mesa's used to only sell direct from the factory for years. I ordered my first Mesa from Petaluma in 93' and it was quite an experience, in a good way though. I actually loved having a brand new MKIV fresh out of the box (with that lovely smell!) over some amp off the floor with a million guys wanking on it - which was the case for some of the expensive models when The Boogie Shop (not official) opened in Vancouver - where they didn't fly off the floor at the time.

I tried to buy a Badlander when they were first announced and the estimated shipping time was initially 3 weeks. I then cancelled the order when the ETA changed to over a year. Absolutely insane that you still can’t get them in the UK

There are custom amp builders in Europe making fantastic amps for reasonable prices, in my opinion it's a good idea to contact these guys. MLC from Poland, Driftwood or Redstuff amps from Germany, Tube Workshop, Realtone and many more, you name it. Same goes for custom made guitars in Europe vs. Custom Shop US. products, btw. Heavily underrated.

The price increases are disgusting🤢 especially if you're looking for peavey amps. It's crazy out there nowadays.

You can still get the Synergy IICP module in Europe, a preamp designed by Steve Fryette to emulate the Mesa Boogie IIC+, by all accounts it is fantastic

Even here in the states I waited 9months for an order of a Cali Tweed. Thankfully Sweetwater honored the price I ordered at because it went up $600 from order time until delivery.

They seem to get their new amps to Ola in Sweden pretty quickly tho 🤔

I have been to Mesa Engineering in Petaluma California. You would be surprised how small they are They have purposely stayed small and carefully chosen their market, but now that Randall has sold Mesa to a larger company, supply problems aside, who knows what their production will look like as we move forward

I had a triple rectifier years ago it was my main amp for playing with a band. I downsized to a 6505 a few years ago and couldnt be happier with it.

Now on my 3rd Boogie. Love them when they work. If you are going to run a Boogie make sure you have an amp tech lined up who is good with working on them. They are relatively complicated beasts. Not all amp techs are up to working on them and plenty of the ones who are would rather not (I found mine, if you are anywhere near Coney Island!).

2:12 Mesa's problem started when they started branching out from the Mark Series. The Mark IV/V are still their best products. I had a .22, and it was an EL-34 nightmare.

I had a soft spot for MESA/Boogies, in part because a good friend had a lovely Mark IV, and back in the day my son had a Subway Rocket Reverb that was quite handy. Lately, however, I've been watching the videos on MESAs on the Psionic Audio, and Brad's Guitar Garage channels ... and not so enamoured. 😕

Thanks for this info KDH. Really wanted to try out a Fillmore, they look like great amps. Guess I'll be waiting a while longer...

I have a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp (from the 90s I think) and a Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp to match it in my studio in Italy. I never even thought about buying a new Mesa, I always buy used stuff anyway

I was browsing for Mesa amps yesterday and I was asking myself the same question. This video couldn't hit a better timing.

Even when they were available in Europe Mesa Boogie products had a bigger surcharge than most American amps so I expect the pricing to be just foolish if & when they'll return. I remember before covid seeing their 4x12 cabinets at 1800€ and laughing. There is expensive and there is offensive, manufacturers should understand that unless they target only a very specific group of people. BTW, Bogner amps are more or less the same, you rarely find their amps new in Europe.

We have Mesa amps in the Middle East and suddenly we had no support and the dealers did not provide any support whatsoever. Amp had to be shipped to CA from the Middle East for changing a part that was less than 10 USD (yes, actual part bill). So not only were supply issues, but aso technical support that understands the difference between a board issue and a simple capacitor change. Mesa in CA was great and did a great job.

Wow, so glad I picked up my JP2C before the pandemic! Amazing amplifier but I don't think I could do the current pricing... Hopefully we'll get to try those Mark VIIs soon!

Ola Englind keeps getting all the Mesa's. He as a Road king, Dual Rec, Mark 2c+, Mark 2 jcp+, badlander, and a Matk 7. The real problem is Ola Englind hording them all.

Very well timed! I was just looking last night, even in the pre-owned market there's basically nothing. Hopefully whoever this new enthusiastic supplier is they also get the prices at a better price for EU buyers

Great stuff, man! 😁👍 Thanks for this vid, at least there's something to go on.

I played a Mark V:25 for a few years. Bought it from their Sunset Blvd storefront, which is now closed. I've since sold the amp for an Orange 50w head which I prefer much, much more. I can't believe MB amps are even MORE expensive in Europe than here, where they are still quite boutique and expensive.

I'm Irish and currently live in Germany, been a player for ages and I've still never plugged into a boogie, really would love to own a duel rec some day, they're crushing

I own a 2014 rectoverb 25 1x12 combo. It served me quite well for several years as the gun I brought to the punk-rock guitar amp knife fight that was my previous band. This fight ensued when 5 or 6 guitarists showed up at my (now former) band's rehearsal free-form free-for-all jams. Bummer the spigot went dry for all y'all Limeys over there. Consider flying here to Los Angeles and buying one off the showroom floor in Hollwood. Leave it in the box, nail a crate up around it, and check it as baggage for your return flight. Tell Customs it's a really big toaster or something. That little MESA combo is a BEAST. If you ever get a chance to play through one, do it! You'll be heard over anything anyone can carry on stage with one hand, I gaurantee that. You'll sound really, really good doing so if you take the time and wear the industrial ear-plugs required to get the beast dialed in semi-safely. That thing played like an icepick to the heads of my erstwhile musical opponents. An AK-47 vs a bunch of kids with fender and Marshal cap-guns. One guy who tours with Sublime tried to smoke me one night with his Kemper through a Roland JC 100 twin. He failed. Total masacree I tell ya! You won't need a pedalboard either. Or a tuner if you're playing with - "The Farmers" - in Hermosa Beach. I'm the autistic guy on the SG, and I'm playing through that little MESA flamethrower on the song "Suck My D##k" here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/itN6l9J9ks6Xl3U.html Yea - it always got sucked good when I brought that amp alright. It was/is an amazing little amp, but I use analog drive pedals, pre-amps and digital effects and IRs cab sims through a pair of lightweight solid-state BOSE S-1 Pro mini line array PA speakers to get my sound now. Because I currently gig solo in more polite settings like this Farmer's Market: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d7aHpLFq3J7Gnac.html Make no mistake - my BOSE and Pedal rig will still take your head clean off if I need it to - and it sounds better than my MESA boutique bling doing so because it's in stereo. It's all battery powered too. You know - for Busking! Ahhhh technology....

Wanted a Mesa since I read Kim Thayil used them, but they were always expensive and limited supply, hard to try out before investing 'a lot' in one.

i have a mesa boogie 5:50 express i got it second hand for £650 around 8 years ago, i seem to remember only a few options at that time all very expensive and i managed to find a bargain - it works perfect and has a great distortion and a great clean tone would recommend as a flexible amp - its a well made amp sad that they are slowly becoming less available as you cant beat the real thing

Man, thanks for the video! You are the first youtuber that I know who is adressing the issue and bringing clarity. I did some research and was shocked that no online store has mesa boogie amps in stock. I ended up getting a mini rectifier, supposedly new, from eBay. Problem is that the led stripe doesn't seem to work and I have to use transformer to use it in Germany. ):

Love your work!

I gave a mark iv and I'm going to keep it for playing at home and recording. For band practice and playing live I'll just go with engl and/or peavey. Costa about a fourth of a mesa head and is available pretty much everywhere in europe if anything should break on tour or so.

I once got kicked out of a newly started Death Metal band because the drummer was adamant that everyone has to use Mesa Boogie amps and I really didn't want to drop over a grand I didn't have buying another amp just to play with them 🤷‍♂

I've learned your youtube secret. Your voice over work is Marvelous!.

Great points you mention 🙏❤️🎸

Thanks - this is useful information!

I love your videos on rather unique topics

My M9 was heavy as lead and chock full circuit boards. However with only a pre amp tube it was super reliable. My now D800 has no valves, is light weight and super reliable. My mates Lonestar on the other hand was a dog the day he bought it....

One local store has had a lot of used Mesa Boogie amps, because people get rid of them after finding out how heavy they are. And as a result they are offering less if you want to trade one in. Because it might be coming back This is in Canada. So kind of off topic,but could impact things

My Mesa 300 watt Bass Combo is called the Walkabout Scout 15 inch version. I bought it over10 years ago. I have taken the amp out of the combo to transport separately - it's designed for this. The rig is a giant killer and can hold its own with two guitars and drums. Obviously I have had the cover off the amp and it looks like an expensive hifi amp. The amp does have a cooling fan which is moderately loud. This means it can't be a practice amp but this baby wasn't designed for that. Anyway, I would like to change the fan for a quieter version. It can be an issue to get technicians in Northern Ireland to work on Mesa but I know a couple. Now this is a bass players view. When I bought the Mesa circa 10 years ago it was the the beginning of the "make it lighter" demand particularly for old people like me aged 70 into loud Led Zeppelin etc. But I have yet to hear the untamed roar of the Bear which the Mesa does in any other rig. I have played through Marshall and Ashdown stacks and the hair on the back of my neck does not rise in the way the Mesa performs. That said, Mesa are now horribly expensive here and a high quality 50 watt amp is probably enough put through the PA. Boy am I glad I missed the whole Backline plus PA design with earbuds. I am getting deaf now. That's the way rock bass players are meant to be, lol PS. My original real gear in the 70's was two Hiwatt 4 x 12 cabs and a Sound City amp of 120 watts I think. Now that would have brought down the walls of Jericho. I don't know what happenned but Watts are not as loud as they used to be. The Sound City rig liked to push me forward to fall off the stage. Thank you for this post highlighting the Mesa production problems. It does worry me from the point of view of serviceing; I just hope I die before it does.

I always wanted a Mesa amp since 1986. Got a Mesa Mark V35 head in custom color and matching 1x12" Thiele cab in 2016, when I was looking for lighter and more compact gear, using a Marshall 6100 and JCM900 1960A before. I was interested in the Fillmore too. Moreso, since I am the bassist in the band, I wanted a smaller bass rig, Mesa's Subway TT800 and 1x12" cab sounded interesting. But I have really become weary looking for gear that is not available. I might get a Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Bassman 800. The Bassman isn't really a class D "pocket amp" and Fender doesn't have small cabs that match the head. But hey, it just sounds great. I think I am done with Mesa gear.

Inflation after the pandemic is killing everything from food to amplifiers. The jump in prices has been crazy. It cost my friend 5000$ to own the new MKVll, and it sounds great! Talk about the ability to cut through a mix….this amp has it. It saddens me that more Mesa products aren’t available. The price differences in the 90’s was crazy. I remember visiting Scotland, and seeing Marshall’s 500$ cheaper, and Peavey bandits at close to a thousand dollars! Import tax and such over the years has been an interesting hurdle. Great video! Glad you had a good time at NAMM too! Rock on!

Really interesting video, but amazed that such a time honoured range now owned by Gibson haven’t been able to overcome supply chain issues and EU paperwork in 3 years! The competition must have seen a big increase in sales .

Hi KDH, thanks for the good content you keep creating! I've got a three-channel Dual Rectifier (no multi-watt) I got second hand for €1000, came with a full set of backup valves. It was pretty good deal, but recently I've noticed especially second-hand Rectifier prices coming down quite a bit here in Finland. To me this is a bit perplexing as new ones have definitely not been coming in, I assume it's mostly due to the price point making Mesa the choice for a more "serious" guitarist, many of which are now moving towards digital gear. I've been considering a Quad Cortex myself, but not to be used as an only amp. I'm just emotionally too attached to the huge stacks and the way they scream rock'n'roll.

Back in the 90s I owned a mk2c and mk 1 reissue. The mk2c was one of the best amps I have ever owned.They had authorized service shops in my area but frankly they never did a great job.I had a problem with my mk2c which was from the 80s and the shop couldn't figure it out. I called boogie and they said send it in.Not only did they fix it for free and pay for shipping they put a fresh set of tubes in it.I live on the east coast in the states.I have never had better customer service from any company before or since.I haven't dealt with them in years but compare to all my other experiences with bigger companies it still amazes me.Sending an amp for repair from the UK is probably not an option.I have read in the past that the reason they're not sold overseas is because of warranty and repair concerns.

Luckily I got my Cali Tweed just as Covid struck then managed to get a later edition Mark IV B and 2x12 cab second hand so I'm covered for my Mesa needs for now! I did have a JP-2C on order for a long time before deciding to go for the Mark IV

I live in the US and have wanted the JP-2C since it came out. It was less expensive than the Mark VII when it came out and then they raised the price to compensate. I was upset by that. I consider it to be more versatile in tone shaping options even with only 1 voicing and I hate that the older amp became the new flagship even over the brand new standard amp. Marshall made the same arbitrary decision by making the JCM 800 over a grand more expensive than the Silver Jubilee despite being less versatile. The Studio Classic and Jubilee however are still the same price as each other but for some bizarre reason the big heads have such a huge price gap.

Great video!

Finally someone talk about this issue

I have a Fillmore 50 combo and I do love the old school tone. That being said, I understand that I am in for some heartache if and when I ever need to have it worked on. I also think that I might be able to find some thing that sounds just as good for a lot less money. The vox AC 30 and the right pedal might just be preferable? Just my opinion…I hope that helps. 😊

Man what a relief to hear that they are working on getting them to the US. I don't know what i would do if Engl didn't exist to fill my high-gain amp needs...

At Thomann there was a possibility to order all kinds of amps and cabs with more than 6 months delivery time, till a few months ago. Now there is nothing for sale anymore

In the early 2000s my band borrowed a big vintage mesa boogie amp and quad box that this old lady was using for her keyboard! We recorded a song and overdubbed the guitars to make it sound huge! The song was 'march of the albatross'

Its such a pity, I was upgrading my rig quite extensively over the past year and would have absolutely considered Mesa gear had it been available in Europe. Instead I opted for a lovely Diezel VHX and a pair of Hesu 4x12's from Thomann. I wouldnt change a thing now but that likely would have been a good few grand going to Mesa had their gear been available. I'm sure there many more like me too. Hopefully they get their shit together in the next few years before my next gear refresh.

But how can I nu metal without a Mesa Boogie?

Nice video, just got a dual Rectifier sh, no new ones online and almost the price of a new one, but it growls like a beast

I didn't even notice they were gone! I do Like their earlier products, '70s and '80s stuff

Please do a video like this on BC rich and how they keep releasing new Ironbirds that nobody ever sees in real life

While prices are going up for all the amp brands, I’m unsure if I’ve ever seen a price increase as big as that petrucci model.

Missed out on a triple rectifier last year, kicking myself for it

I bought a Mesa head back in the 90's. I could mimic any amp with it. So much you can do with them. Playing live, I never went above like 2 or 3, so powerful.

Okay, thanks for the video, this is very helpfull. I was hoping to get one of those little California Tweed 10" for my 50th birthday ..... I think I will have to wait a bit more to celebrate my retirement leave ! or maybe I'd better look at what KOCH has to offer. I understand people are attached to Mesa due to THAT heavy sound you can ear on most of metal records, but when you are looking for clean / crunch sounds, you have a whole lot of choice !

Amazon has these wall tiles that are textured. They have some that match your oranges stripes pretty well.

Interesting video Thanks!

I did not spot Boogies in shops for quite a while. Maybe they got too expensive or they're just not available anymore. I had a Caliber which was not a particularly juicy amp with so so cleans. I tried a Nomad in the shop but found it hard to dial in/find the sweet spot. Bought a Rivera instead. Since 2004 I play Orange Rockerverbs, simple and pristine sounding amps.

I noticed this last week when I was looking what was out there so this video just feels like an answer to my arghhh

Very enlightening, been pondering the mesa boogie "shortage" for a while. Ty for doing the legwork and reporting. Peace

Mesa are a relatively small operation too which doesn't help. Makes me wonder why Gibson don't expand them to help meet demand. Part of me thinks it's deliberate to drive up the prices of the amps.

Got a surf-green Fillmore 25 last August for $1500. It's pretty sweet. I've wanted a Boogie for 30 years, and I really like it.

what a luck that i got my uncles vintage blue angel a while ago... so i am fine... i don't know about their modern amps, but this old one is a wonderfull beast with lots of character... and the young guitar players in our little studio, long time from being born when the amp was build, they realy love the thing.

Own a couple of Mesa's. They aren't easy to maintain if something goes away in them.

The main problem with this situation is that is almost impossible to get spare parts for amp repair. While some of them are easy to replace with stock parts others are not.

Good luck to you guys over in the EU. I have a Mark V and its the best amp I've ever had, and I have owned a 66 Super Reverb, 76 Marshall Master Volume,. and Several black/silver panel Bassman/Bandmaster's.

There was a time in the 80s und 90s here in Germany, where you could buy any MESA-BOOGIE Model (new or second hand) & speaker cabinets. No problem. The only thing you needed was money. No produkt-delays. The stuff was there for the taking. Now, in the EU (which was proclaimed as the best free market to begin with) you can't get the stuff, because of so called safety standards, which in my humble opinion is total bullshit. And then the parts: how can you get the vital components from a supplier somewhere in China who stoped working and symply doesn't exist anymore? That happened to me with my Fender Supersonic Twin Reverb Bias-Control unit. That little thing gave up the gost and the whole amp was dead! Couldn't be replaced and had to be bypassed by a technician. Didn't cost the world but the value of the amp dropped dramatically. I had to sell the amp (which btw. was heavy as hell) for 600 Euros! To make a short story long: I don't play amps anymore.

i don't mourn there not being mesa amps. but their oversized rectifier cabinet is something i'd fancy to own. i like my Diezel front loaded cab, but it'd be nice to have a mesa just to get some actual tonal change into my rig every now and then.

Mesa/Boogie, the amp that makes Marshall seem reliable. BTW the Euro safety standards are why Fender amps now have those crappy jacks and pots with the plastic threads. If you ever have to work on one you have to hope you don't strip any of the plastic threads as you reassemble it. I don't notice it on amps but on welders it is obvious if one is made to the Euro standards because the mains switch will be on the back near the power cord. Ones built just for the North American market will have a power switch on the front. It is nice not having to reach around back every time you want to turn it on.

Mesa is expensive here in Canada, same with Marshall. Same with anything you can buy anywhere in Canada. We pay more for things that we make.

Ah much like Rickenbacker here in Australia. Not only were they crazy expensive, but dealers would take orders that never got fulfilled. Because they can sell all their production in California alone 😐

Just as a side note, thomann used to have some mesa stuff about 6 months ago (maybe slightly more), I was looking for a 412 and was between the orange and the mesa one. When I finally decided to buy the mesa, it was gone not even a mention to mesa name. I even thought I was on a different thomann region by accident, nop, no longer selling mesa stuff.

Marshall has the same problem with the JBM...has much More to go wrong but same thing with cars like Mercedes, personally I would be happy with the Express 550 212 ...great pedal anmp among other things

Thank you for this video. I stumbled about this 3 weeks ago while thinking about getting a set of new tubes for my Trem-O-Verb. With Gibson buying Mesa Boogie, I don't expect to see Boogies soon over here... ...unfortunately. I also wrote Thomann and they wrote back "please give us a call, that will be easier to explain"...

Had an orange th30 that has no master and was hard to use at home. Meant to get a mini rectifier but the shop owner misunderstood and ordered me a 100w dual rec. Bought it anyway and was initially super bummed that I payed over half of what I intended but the th30 didn't last long after I started playing the rec. The clean channel is, admittedly, kinda meh, it's still a little hot. But aside from that, I love the control and usability I have with such a beast of an amp. I can't say I recommend them because the pricing is so high but the quality and details of the amps is comparable to that of a core prs, in my opinion. Curious to see how the quality is affected with gibson at the helm.

I like Boogie amps-have had a Mk ll head in 1982 (R&G $1200), an early Rectifier head ($12-$1400), still have my Mk lll Simul-Class head with R&G was $1400+ in 1986. All that is at least $3000 for the Recto and $35-$4000 for the others. Although it’s not the only expensive amp out there, it kind of prices a player out of the market. Plus, I tried a Mk IV not long after they came out and noticed it sounded colder with less personality than my Mk lll head, so even that year I thought they started sounding a little worse. The Petrucci model sounds interesting though.

And here we are in march 2024 so almost a year after the video and still no mesa in europe xdd but last week or so gibson opened new shop in the UK so that should mean there will be new mesa gear in the upcoming months atleast in UK which could potentially atleast boost the used marked with the new mesa stuff, still it looks li we wont get new mesa in EU anytime soon...

Some months ago I went in a big guitar center in my country which I hadn't visited in like 10 years, just to spend some time. As I noticed they had no Mesa amps I found it weird and went out of the store a bit sad, but didn't suspect that it could be an issue all across europe..

I have 2 Mesa amps. A TC100 head and a Fillmore 100 combo. Zero issues so far. I bought a Marshall JVM215C and compared to the Fillmore the build quality was insultingly poor. All of the tone pots and selector buttons were loose. When you press a button everything moved. Also the white piping around the grille looked like a school kid assembled it, whereas the piping on the Fillmore is perfect. I literally boxed it back up and sent it back 24 hours after unboxing it. So I guess based on your personal luck with an amp brand your story will vary.

Feel my Marshall pain! I love my MB Filmore 50. I like the sounds of the Mark series, but I don’t feel like putting in 30 minutes to dial in a sound.

Latest info from Mesa/Gibson: Boogie amps will be on display at the Gibson Garage London starting Feb 24, 2024, followed by the EU/UK sales relaunch in April 2024 (exact date TBA). Considering past developments, this could also slip into May/June, of course...

I ordered a triple crown here in the USA 3 years ago, and its still on back order! But I got it locked in at $2,499 and now its $3,499! So whenever they do come in I get it at the original price when i ordered it.

If I still had my MK IV I’d gladly ship it to Europe for a decent price. I couldn’t dial that amp in for crap. It changed its EQ settings overnight when I was sleeping, I believe.

Dried up in Australia too.

Even if they become available, not many of us will be able to afford a new one. I can't imagine how much Gibson will increase the prices here in the UK? But I have a feeling that my now departed MK III was both my first and last ever Boogie.

Something similar may happened with Peavey, since 2 or 3 years I don't find any new 6505+ heads and neither the 6505 II nowhere to buy in Europe..