Mark 3 serial numbers

[bartchamdoh]

What serial numbers mark the change to the next dot/stripe in the mark 3 series of amps? The official line is that the mark 3 began and the 2c+ ended at 15000 with the no dot/black stripe. I have 2 purple stripe,s both in the 17000,s whilst my green stripe is 26xxx.Also i am aware that blue/green stripe production overlapped so once again i,m looking for a rough serial number when they kicked off. So anybody with amps near what you think is the beginning or end of these production runs let me know.

 

[igfraso]

You are asking for ballpark numbers. The following numbers give you just some rough idea:

- black ('85~'86): 15001 to 16715
- purple ('86): 16657 to 19059
- red ('87): 19100 to 21863
- blue ('88): 21825 to 24933
- green ('89~'9?): 24940 to 28384

As you can see there is some overlapping and also some blank spaces. Please, keep in mind that serial numbers for heads sometimes extend beyond the above mentioned ranges.
Just trying to help.
Daniel

 

[igfraso]

I made some small last-minute corrections, here below. Whoever has better information, please pitch in.

- black ('85): 15001 to 16715
- purple ('86): 16657 to 19059
- red ('87): 19100 to 21863
- blue ('88~'89): 21825 to 24933
- green ('89~'98): 24940 to 28386

Regards
Daniel

 

[GD_NC]

How do we make this thread a Sticky? This needs the same billing as the IIC+ Guide and the Mark IV thread.

 

[Neptical]

My purple stripe Mark III is over 19059 so we need to change that as well.

All the Best,
~nep~

 

[Guitar Ike]

..Well, I just bought a Mark III Red-Stripe combo, 60 watt non-Simul-Class with EQ. It absolutely grinds and screams on command. It comes in just under 20300. So I'm clueless about this subject but I am eager to learn. Any input fellas ?

 

[Neptical]

..Well, I just bought a Mark III Red-Stripe combo, 60 watt non-Simul-Class with EQ. It absolutely grinds and screams on command. It comes in just under 20300. So I'm clueless about this subject but I am eager to learn. Any input fellas ?

Your answer is here ------> http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/dot.html

Asking in the wrong forum. Come on over to the 'Vintage Amps (Before 1991)' forum, or the sub-forum of it titled 'Mark Series'. See you there!

~Nep~

 

[Bullen]

My purple stripe Mark III is over 19059 so we need to change that as well.

All the Best,
~nep~

That means that my fully loaded red stripe probably is a really early one. My serial # is around 19100, made in march 87. Great sounding amp, but I will do the C30 mod (see vintage amp forum) to it soon, to smooth it out a bit.

 

[Neptical]

My purple stripe Mark III is over 19059 so we need to change that as well.

All the Best,
~nep~

That means that my fully loaded red stripe probably is a really early one. My serial # is around 19100, made in march 87. Great sounding amp, but I will do the C30 mod (see vintage amp forum) to it soon, to smooth it out a bit.

Bullen- My purple is just below 19100 by a hair..probably one of the last purples made. The only mod done to my red stripe was the R2. I didn't have to touch anything to smooth the amp out at all. Just throw in some good NOS tubes, cut some highs on the GEQ (if you have geq), no presence and roll the mids back to '0'. Both my III's are silky smooth but extremely crunchy.

~Nep~

 

[Bullen]

My purple stripe Mark III is over 19059 so we need to change that as well.

All the Best,
~nep~

That means that my fully loaded red stripe probably is a really early one. My serial # is around 19100, made in march 87. Great sounding amp, but I will do the C30 mod (see vintage amp forum) to it soon, to smooth it out a bit.

Bullen- My purple is just below 19100 by a hair..probably one of the last purples made. The only mod done to my red stripe was the R2. I didn't have to touch anything to smooth the amp out at all. Just throw in some good NOS tubes, cut some highs on the GEQ (if you have geq), no presence and roll the mids back to '0'. Both my III's are silky smooth but extremely crunchy.

~Nep~

What month was your purple made?

Yeah. I can get my red stripe pretty smooth with the presence at 0 and lowering the 6600 slider or pulling the deep out and increasing the presence a bit, but after reading the thread about modding the Mark III to III+ specs, over at the vintage amp section, I became interested in the changes those mods make. The C30 change is very easy to do if you can handle the soldering and can just as easily be reversed. With this mod the lead channel smooths out a bit, which isn´t a bad thing to my ears. You can still make it cut and crunch though with slightly higher settings of presence and treble.

There´s also a mod to the precence curcuit, that makes the presence a little more usuable and another that smooths out all three channels.

 

[Neptical]

What month was your purple made?

Yeah. I can get my red stripe pretty smooth with the presence at 0 and lowering the 6600 slider or pulling the deep out and increasing the presence a bit, but after reading the thread about modding the Mark III to III+ specs, over at the vintage amp section, I became interested in the changes those mods make. The C30 change is very easy to do if you can handle the soldering and can just as easily be reversed. With this mod the lead channel smooths out a bit, which isn´t a bad thing to my ears. You can still make it cut and crunch though with slightly higher settings of presence and treble.

There´s also a mod to the precence curcuit, that makes the presence a little more usuable and another that smooths out all three channels.

Awesome. When you get the mod done, let me know how it is. I've just simply been too happy with mine to really do anything to them, you know?

About the dating of my purple III; inside on the chasis Mike B. initialed and dated it 7/87, which is funny 'cause your red is 3/87 --plus my purple's serial number is 1909X which is a few before yours. My red stripe is dated 10/87 sn# 2128X. More proof to show that some of the serial numbers/stripe history can be pretty wacky.

~Nep~

 

[Bullen]

Yeah, the serials seem to be all over the place. I´m pretty sure mine says 3/87, but I´ll check just to be sure.

Will do the mod as soon as I can buy/find the right cap to change to.

EDIT: Well, It´s really hard to see what the date is. It´s almost like a slightly squiggly line. It looks kinda like a cross between a 3 and 7. So it might be 7/87 on mine aswell.

 

[Neptical]

I could make mine out by turning the head upside down and shining a flashlight into the chasis. Yeah, kind of weird to manuver between the tubes and whatnot. I'm assuming that some of the dates/serial numbers got pretty wacky simply because they got behind on the production of the amps.

~Nep~