blue stripe vs green stripe

[braintheory]

There has been a lot different opinions about the differences between blue and green stripe. Some say the blue is more aggressive, some say the green is tighter and stiffer. As far as I know the only difference is that the green is wired in pentode and that some blues did not have simul class, while all greens had simul class. Does having simul class make the green less aggressive? I'm trying to get to the bottom of what are the real tonal differences between the blue and green stripe.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

There has been a lot different opinions about the differences between blue and green stripe. Some say the blue is more aggressive, some say the green is tighter and stiffer. As far as I know the only difference is that the green is wired in pentode and that some blues did not have simul class, while all greens had simul class. Does having simul class make the green less aggressive? I'm trying to get to the bottom of what are the real tonal differences between the blue and green stripe.

The Blue Stripe to my ears has more gain, aggressive, looser. The green is aggressive too but starts sounding more like a Mark IV, bolder and punchier.

I've had both Green and Blue Stripes, I prefer the Blue by a good margin.

 

[braintheory]

Did your blue stripe have simul class? Also in what sense is it more aggressive? Is it the mids, treble, smoothness, etc.

 

[MrMarkIII]

I currently own blue and green stripes, both Simul-Class.
(All green stripes are Simul-Class, AFAIK).
I've also owned the non-Simul (60/100) Mark III blue stripe, and the Mark IV.
The green has 10 more watts in the two Class A power tube section.
This, along with the pentode wiring, gives the green a bit more headroom, and consequently a bit more stiffer feel, especially in full Simul-Class clean settings. In this regard, the clean green stripe tone is closer to the Mark IV cleans.
The blue stripe has a more spongy, bouncy feel, due to the triode wiring.
It's more felt than heard, although the blue does seem to have a more relaxed treble response, also due to triode power.
This is with the same tubes and speakers, by the way.
So if you like more "clank" and "twang" and less "squish" and "sing" in your toans, especially in your cleans, go with the green.
If you demand even more headroom and little forgiveness for even your smallest sloppiness, get the 60/100, and may God help you.
Me, I like a pushed clean that gets dirtier the harder I dig in, so I prefer the blue stripe.
It's important to note that these differences are not large.
I doubt I could tell the differences in a blind listening test, but could probably tell if I played through the amps. They feel different more than they sound different.
I have no idea what "more aggressive" means. More gain? More clean headroom? More treble? More mids? Scooped mids? Less/more compressed?

 

[braintheory]

Thanks for clearing things up. When I say more aggressive I guess I'm talking about which has more bite, less smooth, more edgy, more abrasive, more raw, sharper on treble strings, sounds more angry when playing power chords, etc.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I have no idea what "more aggressive" means. More gain? More clean headroom? More treble? More mids? Scooped mids? Less/more compressed?

To my ears, more gain, more teeth so to speak to the distortion...The Green Stripes gain starts trending towards the smoothness of the Mark IV (which I also own).


btw to the OP my Blue-Stripe is of the SimulClass variety. I've had many examples of both stripes, and always preferred the blue. As far as headroom, both amps will make your ears bleed before you run out of headroom in clean dept.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

Thanks for clearing things up. When I say more aggressive I guess I'm talking about which has more bite, less smooth, more edgy, more abrasive, more raw, sharper on treble strings, sounds more angry when playing power chords, etc.

Hands down, that's the Blue :wink:

 

[Neptical]

ALL of the Mark III's are insanely TIGHT. The 'blue' stripe ( as long as w/ GEQ) has more hair around the balls. It has that real gnarly thing going on.

You can feel/hear the difference in the green as it starts to compress a bit like the Mark IV ( due to the pentode wiring perhaps?). I was just banging around with one of these and really got to see myself the end result of the Mark III --ex: from my purple to my red to my buddies blue to this green. There really IS a difference oppose to what some may say. It's more or less a 'feel' type of thing like a IIC+ ( heaven forbid I even say that here.HA! :lol: )..but you'd know the minute you played one. I'm just trying to cross reference the similarities. It's funny, but the 'hairy' differences from stripe to stripe actually DO show if you get a chance to play around with them. One of these days I'm gona do a stripe to stripe comparison....one...of...these...days. :lol:

 

[JOEY B.]

There really IS a difference oppose to what some may say. It's more or less a 'feel' type of thing like a IIC+ ( heaven forbid I even say that here.HA! :lol: )..but you'd know the minute you played one.

That's it :shock: , the end of the world is definately near. :lol: :lol: :lol:

On a lighter note, a Pentode/Triode switch can be added to any Simulclass Mark III for the outer Class-A tube sockets. And then there's the c30 mod, and so on............

 

[braintheory]

So if I add a pendtode/triode switch to my green stripe will it be able to sound just like a blue stripe when in pentode mode? Has anyone tried this? Just because it sounds like it would on paper doesn't mean it will. Also, what's the c30 mod and the and so on... :lol: ?

 

[JOEY B.]

So if I add a pendtode/triode switch to my green stripe will it be able to sound just like a blue stripe when in pentode mode? Has anyone tried this? Just because it sounds like it would on paper doesn't mean it will. Also, what's the c30 mod and the and so on... :lol: ?

I do not talk about anything "on paper"

 

[braintheory]

So is that a yes to my question?

 

[JOEY B.]

So is that a yes to my question?

In the Mark V manual, this is how it's decribed.

TRIODE softens the midrange attack and accentuates the upper harmonic region creating a silky, more compressed - almost liquid feel - and lowers overall power output. This setting tends to raise the harmonic haze and sweeten the top end and it shines for expressive high gain solo work or high gain chording that is more textural than rhythmic. It offers more complexity and nuance, but the trade-off is that it may not cut through a mix as well. TRIODE produces less overall power output so it is probably not the choice for very low gain chording unless you are looking for more of a “vintage sag” feel. All original MARK II-C+ amplifiers were hard-wired to TRIODE whereas the MARK IV offered a choice between these two configurations.
PENTODE accentuates midrange punch and lowers the upper harmonic region for a bolder, tighter attack – especially in the low end – and increases output power and headroom. PENTODE delivers a much more immediate dynamics with greater peaks and feels “faster” to play… almost anticipating your next input. This urgent attack means that PENTODE excels at any style where rhythmic nuance and tight-tracking accuracy are essential. This is probably the best choice for solo sounds that pop through a mix and high gain crunch chording that is defined and articulate with huge tight low-end.

 

[JOEY B.]

The C30 mod reduces the brightness and cut in the lead channel by a little bit. The amp pictured had the C30 mod as well as the Pentode/Triode switch. At the end of this experiment, I concluded that I liked Triode for cleans, Pentode for Rhythm 2, and the lead channel Pentode for chording and Triode for leads. There was a noticeable "pop" when I would switch from Pentode to Triode and vice-versa, so making it footswitchable was really out of the question. You might be partial to the Pentode punch, or love the liquid feel of Triode. The worst case is that you could be not so easy to please, like me. :wink: I now use a Royal Atlantic to get my Pentode crunch fix, and a Mark II for the Triode liquid leads. 8)