Mark III ground strap ?!?!?!

[bigjav]

Hi,

could anybody explain what is this ground strap for?

The seller explained to me that the amp was sent to Mesa and completely serviced. They did the conversion from the Purple stripe, which it was originally, to full Blue stripe specifications. That ground strap was also added by Mesa factory. But he doesn´t know what is it for.

I asked if the amp had previously any ground issues, and he swears that never had any issues since he bought it in 1985.

And this is it:

Do you think it is worth buying it?
Thank you fro your help!

 

[bigjav]

nobody?

 

[Restless Rocks]

Without pulling the chassis to see exactly where the other end of it is attached I can only guess. I'd say that it may be attached to the foil in the top of the cabinet to insure that it is grounded. In which case you would probably have to remove the screw before pulling the chassis out of the cab.

 

[DaveP]

Without pulling the chassis to see exactly where the other end of it is attached I can only guess. I'd say that it may be attached to the foil in the top of the cabinet to insure that it is grounded. In which case you would probably have to remove the screw before pulling the chassis out of the cab.

I agree, it looks like because of the sus4 shock mounting system they added a ground strap from the foil to the chassis. Older Mark II cabinets had
an O washer in the mounting screw hole with a braided wire that attached it to the foil for grounding.
Mark III copper that was attached to the chassis and when you installed the chassis it would touch the foil like a fanned fork.

 

[megavoice]

What could happen, if the chassis wouldn't be attached to the foil ? - In worst case ?

I've taken out the chassis of my combo and put it into a head without foil.

Thanks

 

[MrMarkIII]

What could happen, if the chassis wouldn't be attached to the foil ? - In worst case ?

I've taken out the chassis of my combo and put it into a head without foil.

Thanks

More noise. The top of the metal chassis is naked and unshielded. The wood doesn't count.

 

[megavoice]

Strange, there's very little noise, even when I play louder.

The only thing that drives me completely crazy is the cooling-fan.

 

[kdorsey]

What could happen, if the chassis wouldn't be attached to the foil ? - In worst case ?

I've taken out the chassis of my combo and put it into a head without foil.

Thanks

More noise. The top of the metal chassis is naked and unshielded. The wood doesn't count.

*POTENTIALLY* more noise. The foil is a shield to protect from inbound emitted RF interference, so if it's not there and you stack a portable radio on top of the amp, you'll hear more noise. Otherwise, if you're in a low RF environment, you won't notice anything different. I didn't have foil in my rack head and didn't experience any issues...although that is aluminum.

 

[megavoice]

Thanks a lot Mr. Mark III.

Now is there somebody out there who can tell me, what I probably can fix at that place after shooting down that damn helicopter. Maybe a sack of icecubes and a tincan under ?

 

[SonicProvocateur]

I didn't have foil in my rack head and didn't experience any issues.

Ditto.

 

[bigjav]

lol. thanks for the feedback, guys! I really appreciate it.

Let me know one more thing, please:
I was offered this amp, which is Simul-class, but no GEQ
and Inbuya wood Blue stripe with GEQ, but no Simul-class, only 60W

The price is the same for both, which one should I take?
It is urgent, please!

Thank you!

 

[megavoice]

Well, in 1987 I was in a similar situation like you. I had been standing at the dealer in front of two combos, the one was simul the other 60W. I liked the sound of the 60W much more. But all guys I knew at that time told me I have absolutely take the simul because of its versitality and the colourful tone.
I was unexperienced and thought sooner or later I'll find my sound with the simul too.
So my main decision was, that I could switch down to 15W because as a Leadsinger I had enough experiences with too loud guitar-players who could only find their sounds with cranked-up Marshalls.
Well I can tell you, switching down is very, very useful even when you want to play at home.
But this fact should not only be the reason to select one.
It's mostly the SOUND you want to have. The 15Ws give you more "British" colour (but NEVER exactly Marshall like) in the lead-mode, and in simul position the harshness is cut down and especially in higher gain positions it souds cleaner than the 60W.
Very much people say, the Clean-sound of the simul is unbeatable. I can confirm this, I've never heard a better "clean" as my simul has.
Recently a guy who sold his 60W on ebay has told the 60 Ws allowes you more saturation when playing loud. I can't comment this.


Finally I've to add a very important role plays the picups you have in your guitar or the guitar-type.
And nevertheless, hardwood or not. If you are giging around very much, a Tolex-version would be much better for "smashing around". I don't know in what condition the imbuja is, you are talking about.

Concernig the EQ I also can confirm it gives you far more versitality. Lots of guys say you'll never reach a good sound without EQ.

At the end I would say it depends on your music-style you play - and- if you can, check them out both.
Hope this will help you a bit.

Cheers