Mark III Channel switching confusion
- Thread starter bloodbath666
- Start date
Help Support The Boogie Board:
"Is there a way to get to channel 3 without any footswitches? I've been pulling and pushing knobs and plugging in footswitches for an hour now and I'm pretty confused."
If this is your first mkIII , I'd suggest unplugging everything except your guitar including effects , for starter's and start from scratch with the crunch rhrthm /screaming lead settings . With the r2 pot at about 7-8 . push in the middle r2 engage pot .Your guitar volume setting should be around 7+ for this test .
you should have a somewhat clean r1 setting . Next pull the mid pot out .
it should break up nicely . push it back in . Do the same with the lead drive pot . (pull lead) . If all the hair burns off your legs and your contact lenses fuse to your eyeballs , everything is working properly .
Now plug the lead /rhythm footswitch into the Front panel jack , AND with the lead driveswitch pushed in try switching . It should go from the selected rhythm to lead .
Unplug the footswitch from the front panel , and Plug it into the r2 jack back panel . You should be able to switch between r1 &r2 . 8)
If this is your first mkIII , I'd suggest unplugging everything except your guitar including effects , for starter's and start from scratch with the crunch rhrthm /screaming lead settings . With the r2 pot at about 7-8 . push in the middle r2 engage pot .Your guitar volume setting should be around 7+ for this test .
you should have a somewhat clean r1 setting . Next pull the mid pot out .
it should break up nicely . push it back in . Do the same with the lead drive pot . (pull lead) . If all the hair burns off your legs and your contact lenses fuse to your eyeballs , everything is working properly .
Now plug the lead /rhythm footswitch into the Front panel jack , AND with the lead driveswitch pushed in try switching . It should go from the selected rhythm to lead .
Unplug the footswitch from the front panel , and Plug it into the r2 jack back panel . You should be able to switch between r1 &r2 . 8)
bloodbath666
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2006
- Messages
- 29
- Reaction score
- 0
Well, I'm deffinately reaching the lead channel, and I have been reaching it actually since I got it. I figured out that if I pull R2 I get the crunch channel, so I figured that the lead would work the same was and it does work like that. I didn't think I was on the lead channel because it didn't deliver that nice high gain boogie sound, just a crunch. Now I can mix it with a pedal and get a nice sound, but that's not what I paid for. The seller is not the original owner and told me that the amp was like that when he got it. He didn't disclose what seems to be modded lead channel. Like I said I'm on the lead channel, I've tried different preamp tubes and such, but nothing. The channel itself works fine all the controls respond to it, but it seems to have been modded into another different crunch channel.
ToneAddictJon
Well-known member
Try turning the treble up, that also adds gain.
bloodbath666
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2006
- Messages
- 29
- Reaction score
- 0
I put the treble up as well. I used to have a mark IV, so I've tried all the tricks I've learned from setting a mark series amp. I've even tried cranking everything as well, but nothing. I'm convinced this amp has a modded lead channel on it now, especially now that the seller was saying that there wasn't much gain on it when he received it, and suggested putting a pedal in the mix to get me there. That's not what I paid for, and I know for a fact that the mark III has a nice high gain channel, not 2 crunch channels. I've tried switching preamp tubes, tons of settings. The amp is actually pretty easy to navigate, after some tweaking, and I thought I wasn't reaching that lead channel because of how low gain it was, but I'm deffinately reaching it, and granted it gives out a nice sounding crunch similar to R2, but not as much bottom end. The lead gain works, the lead master works on it, but it's still a nice sounding crunch not a mark III high gain tone.
ToneAddictJon
Well-known member
Tech Time
bloodbath666
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2006
- Messages
- 29
- Reaction score
- 0
Ok, here are some gut shots. This is my first time photographing gut shots, so just tell me if I need to photograph certain parts of the amp more thoroughly............
http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z25/bloodbath666_/
http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z25/bloodbath666_/
scottcrud
Well-known member
My buddy just got a MKIII and it sounded like a Marshall, the lead channel was weak. He took it to Jeff Seal in Houston and it's a bad opti-coupler. I guess it gets stuck in crunch mode and won't switch to lead mode.
Yeah it looks like time to get it serviced .
It looks like d211 has a chunk missing out of it and overheated along with the diode next to it .(pic 52) The bias supply caps look funky also , along with some solder joints .
It looks like d211 has a chunk missing out of it and overheated along with the diode next to it .(pic 52) The bias supply caps look funky also , along with some solder joints .
Seeing as I am the seller of this amp I might as well chime in here...
First off, I bought it off this forum from forgivenman. He told me it was running perfectly, gave me "the tubes have a lot of life" line, etc... so I bought it and found out the 2 6L6's were old and mismatched (427, 430), the capacitors were fried, the bias needed to be reset for mesa tubes (was messed with by probably another previous owner) and there was broken glass in the cab from some kind of EH tube.....real nice. I bought brand new Mesa El34 and 6L6 power tubes and had it fixed up. It cost me about $200 for everything.
I recorded with it for about an hour and realized my Mark IV was more to my liking so I took it with me as a possible trade for a 3 channel DR. We fired it up, sounded great, no noise, worked perfectly, good gain on rhythm 2 and lead with a slight gain increase on the lead channel. We both agreed that the DR had a lot more gain which was to be expected. He didn't take it for a trade, but I still bought the DR.
Listed it on ebay about a week later, original poster bought it. I packed the hell out of it and sent it off. He emails me saying he can't get the pedals to work and there was minimal lead gain. Eventually got the pedals working, but tells me there is still not enough lead gain and it doesn't sound just like some 80's recording he has. Unless you're in the 80's at the same time, same studio using the same gear it never will!
Emails me again threatening me with negative feedback if I don't give him his money back for sending a "Nonfunctional" amp. Nonfunctional means not working, broken, etc, it doesn't mean not enough gain for your liking. I have told him to take it to a tech and have it checked out. My guess is that there might be a problem with the lead push pull or possibly a previous owner had something done with the lead channel. The tech didn't see it and I've never played a Mark III before so I had no idea how much gain to expect. According to another post, a diode looks overheated, etc.. If something happened in the short time it was played or if the tech wasn't up to par, I wouldn't know and I definitely couldn't hear a change. It was played for literally 2 hours after being worked on. I told him to have it checked out and whatever repairs (if any) would be very little. Try new preamp tubes, etc. I even mentioned having a gain mod added for the lead channel if that's possible.
Bottom line is he got a very nice Mark III with a rhythm 2 volume mod, brand new power tubes, bias correction and new capacitors. He's complaining about how he spent a few dollars more, etc... I never called forgivenman to ***** about the condition of the amp even though I easily could have gotten my money back. I put a lot of money into the amp and took a loss selling it. I can't even remember how many times I've bought an amp, dumped a bunch of money into it, didn't like it and sold it. That's what we do, buy and sell, live and learn. It will cost less to have it checked out/modded than to ship it back to me anyway. If you want more gain, buy a freaking rectifier!!!
First off, I bought it off this forum from forgivenman. He told me it was running perfectly, gave me "the tubes have a lot of life" line, etc... so I bought it and found out the 2 6L6's were old and mismatched (427, 430), the capacitors were fried, the bias needed to be reset for mesa tubes (was messed with by probably another previous owner) and there was broken glass in the cab from some kind of EH tube.....real nice. I bought brand new Mesa El34 and 6L6 power tubes and had it fixed up. It cost me about $200 for everything.
I recorded with it for about an hour and realized my Mark IV was more to my liking so I took it with me as a possible trade for a 3 channel DR. We fired it up, sounded great, no noise, worked perfectly, good gain on rhythm 2 and lead with a slight gain increase on the lead channel. We both agreed that the DR had a lot more gain which was to be expected. He didn't take it for a trade, but I still bought the DR.
Listed it on ebay about a week later, original poster bought it. I packed the hell out of it and sent it off. He emails me saying he can't get the pedals to work and there was minimal lead gain. Eventually got the pedals working, but tells me there is still not enough lead gain and it doesn't sound just like some 80's recording he has. Unless you're in the 80's at the same time, same studio using the same gear it never will!
Emails me again threatening me with negative feedback if I don't give him his money back for sending a "Nonfunctional" amp. Nonfunctional means not working, broken, etc, it doesn't mean not enough gain for your liking. I have told him to take it to a tech and have it checked out. My guess is that there might be a problem with the lead push pull or possibly a previous owner had something done with the lead channel. The tech didn't see it and I've never played a Mark III before so I had no idea how much gain to expect. According to another post, a diode looks overheated, etc.. If something happened in the short time it was played or if the tech wasn't up to par, I wouldn't know and I definitely couldn't hear a change. It was played for literally 2 hours after being worked on. I told him to have it checked out and whatever repairs (if any) would be very little. Try new preamp tubes, etc. I even mentioned having a gain mod added for the lead channel if that's possible.
Bottom line is he got a very nice Mark III with a rhythm 2 volume mod, brand new power tubes, bias correction and new capacitors. He's complaining about how he spent a few dollars more, etc... I never called forgivenman to ***** about the condition of the amp even though I easily could have gotten my money back. I put a lot of money into the amp and took a loss selling it. I can't even remember how many times I've bought an amp, dumped a bunch of money into it, didn't like it and sold it. That's what we do, buy and sell, live and learn. It will cost less to have it checked out/modded than to ship it back to me anyway. If you want more gain, buy a freaking rectifier!!!
I've just taken delivery of my first Mesa Boogie Amp - an old Mk III, very happy with the Rhythm 1 and 2 channels but the lead channel is really quiet. Sounds like a similar problem to that experienced by Bloodbath666. What was the anser to this? (if one has been found)
I think you have to be prepared to spend a bit of money on these amps after all they are nearly 20 years old , all the boogies i have had , and the two i have in my possession at the moment i have spent money on just a part of owning and loving that boogie sound ( would'nt have any other amp , best on the planet ) 
I bought my Mk III red stripe new in '87 . I will own no other amp unless a IIc+ falls into my lap . There are setting's available in the III that can sound anywhere from clean and sweet to puppy killer on crack ..... And then you have the lead channel to play with . It should have an appalling amount of gain . I have played this amp for 20 years and am still finding tasty unknown nuggets of tone .
Unless you have a tech that has been working on these amps for year's and he or she can still remember ( it was the 80's after all ... ) what they are supposed to sound like , you pay your money and take your chances .
Unless you have a tech that has been working on these amps for year's and he or she can still remember ( it was the 80's after all ... ) what they are supposed to sound like , you pay your money and take your chances .
phyrexia
Well-known member
I'm not sure what all the difficulty is. There's only one way that these amps switch with footswitches. The footswitch jack on the front changes the amp from lead to whichever rhythm you've selected. The footswitch jack on the back changes the amp from R1 to R2.
If you're using two footswitches, leave the push-pulls that control channel switching pushed in.
If your amp functions right, you can have three distinct sounds this way. If you want to go from R2 to lead you just hit the footswitch that's plugged into the front of your amp. If you want to go back to R1 you hit your rhythm switch and then your lead switch. If it doesn't work like that then your amp's broken.
If you're using two footswitches, leave the push-pulls that control channel switching pushed in.
If your amp functions right, you can have three distinct sounds this way. If you want to go from R2 to lead you just hit the footswitch that's plugged into the front of your amp. If you want to go back to R1 you hit your rhythm switch and then your lead switch. If it doesn't work like that then your amp's broken.
Thanks for the footswitch tips but that isn't an issue with me. The problem I have with my MkIII is that both the R1 and R2 channels are more powerful and have much more drive/gain than the lead channel. I didn't think this would/should be the case when I bought it. I bought it thru a web auction site (I live in New Zealand) so didn't get to try it before I bought it. Still love the amp but don't think the Lead channel is working as it should. I might see if there's anyone in NZ that knows about tubes and try replacing them.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way of contacting Mesa Boogie other than phone or fax which isn't very convenient from NZ, but I guess it doesn't matter much whose tubes I use as long as they're matched and good quality? Any tips here are very welcome.
Also, when I bought the amp it was advertised as a purple stripe - not sure what this means as there's no colored "stripe" on the amp at all - anyone know of a site where you can search the serial number to get the model/age of the amp?
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way of contacting Mesa Boogie other than phone or fax which isn't very convenient from NZ, but I guess it doesn't matter much whose tubes I use as long as they're matched and good quality? Any tips here are very welcome.
Also, when I bought the amp it was advertised as a purple stripe - not sure what this means as there's no colored "stripe" on the amp at all - anyone know of a site where you can search the serial number to get the model/age of the amp?
hi dougal try swapping valve number 3 , looking at the back of the amp it's the third 12AX7 from the right hand side , if you have'nt got a spare swap it with one of the others one at a time V3 is the lead drive
As far as the stripe you will find it above the power cord , as they made chages to the circuit on the mark 3 amps mesa put a different coloured stripe above the power cord i think they went in this order black dot , purple stripe , blue stripe , red stripe , green stripe the blue and the green being the most popular , but they are all great amps , good luck with the volume problem . regards Murray.
As far as the stripe you will find it above the power cord , as they made chages to the circuit on the mark 3 amps mesa put a different coloured stripe above the power cord i think they went in this order black dot , purple stripe , blue stripe , red stripe , green stripe the blue and the green being the most popular , but they are all great amps , good luck with the volume problem . regards Murray.
Similar threads
Sold / Withdrawn
1999 Mark III+
