Mark III HELP!

[Pearce117]

I just got my mark III last Wednesday and it was running great, but about two days ago it started to sound like it was having power surges. The surges get very loud and can be violent. At times it will make my 4x12 cab look like it's going to blow out all my speakers. I was concerned about it being my tubes because it came from guitar center with a 6L6 EL34 setup. so I called them up and they gave me a new 4 pack of GT-EL34's. Now at this point I have all EL34's in it. It is still having the surges, just as bad as before. But now I can see florescence in my tubes when this surge happens, and I didn't see this with the 6L6's in it.

On a side note, is this common with the rhythm mod?
I have a reverb knob on my amps face, and that's now my Middle. This in turn, makes it so I have no reverb. Buy the way I noticed that it works in reverse. 10 being no mid's, 0 being full mid's, and this will change back to normal during the surges. so I called Mesa/Boogie and got Mike B. on the phone, what luck right, well I told him what my head looked like and that it had a rhythm mod done to it (Not buy Me) He told me it was a long chassis and that my 60/100 was my simul class switch so I can have a 6L6 EL34 set. He wants it to be shipped to him for the repairs, in his words "because it sounds like some one got in it and started f*ckin' around thinking they knew what they where doing and may have caused some real damage"

Now get this, with Guitar Center knowing this they will not help me out ONE BIT! even though I got the insurance on it. They want me to pay for the repairs and they say it needs to go to a local repair guy, or I can return it with no compensation.

so here's the question, should I send my Mark III to Mike B. for repairs, and a IIIC+ mod, for an unknown amount of money? or return it to guitar center, and get my $909 back, and try to find a mark IIC+.
I just want the "And Justice", and "Puppets" tone!

 

[treedroppings]

I got my mark 1 reissue re-capped and revoiced.
now its purrrfect :mrgreen: all 19 year old amps need a new set of electrolytics.
I can no longer turn it up past 2-3 unless I have hearing protection! :lol:

(like my first boogie was a Mark 3 w/EQ, simul-class and celestion,
and it ruled on the Class A setting,
you could hear it almost 1/4 mile away!)

this fix, by an authorized mesa-boogie repairman cost me $346
without the mod, it would have cost $265

I can turn the mid up to 10 and the bass up to 4 or 5 (just on a lite ash strat) now If I want to,
its not as muddy as a stock reissue!

do what you feel is right, It will probably be OK if you just get a reputable amplifier tech on it! make sure he hears 're-cap'
but I like my boogie... even without the EQ or simul-class (never thought I'd say that)!
It can now get a good sound like 25 years ago with the Mitchell Pro 100 and 20 years ago with the Mark 3
It doesn't need special NOS tubes either! (although I may get some for special occasions)
AND peter florance and seymour duncan humbuckers come to life with a mark 1's simple signal path :mrgreen:

 

[bartchamdoh]

YOU CANNOT AND SHOULDN,T BE RUNNING 4 EL34,S IN YOUR AMP!!!I would return it to 6L6,s in the center...sounds like you should send it to mike i hear he,s quite reasonable money wise.....read the manual before changing tubes etc!

 

[zebpedersen]

Mark IIIs are cheap and easy to pick up. Send this one back, it's a lemon.

Keep looking for something that's all-original...unless the former owner can vouch for who modded it (are they reputable?) or they've had years of hassle-free performance.

Get rid of this one, it'll be way more hassle than it's worth.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Mark IIIs are cheap and easy to pick up. Send this one back, it's a lemon.

Keep looking for something that's all-original...unless the former owner can vouch for who modded it (are they reputable?) or they've had years of hassle-free performance.

Get rid of this one, it'll be way more hassle than it's worth.

+1
Return it while you can. Otherwise, you will end up paying about $1200 for an $800 amp.
Have patience, you will find a decent one for less than $900.

 

[Pearce117]

Hay every one thx for all the help I think I'm going to send it in to Mesa. I talked to Mike Bendinelli again and he is going to give me a good deal on the IIIC+ Mod and I got guitar center to pay the shipping so I'm cool with that.

 

[zebpedersen]

Hmmm...I think you're making a mistake here, seeing as it needs both a repair and it's having an upgrade done, but hey, it's your money! I just think that given the fact that used Mark IIIs are so common it's probably not worth it (as you could get a cheaper III and still have the mod done). Good luck, and I hope it all goes well when you get it back!

 

[boogiemon]

On the up side, MB will fix it *right*. Boogies have always been a little expensive, but relatively few people have regrets about buying one.

Hmmm...I think you're making a mistake here, seeing as it needs both a repair and it's having an upgrade done, but hey, it's your money! I just think that given the fact that used Mark IIIs are so common it's probably not worth it (as you could get a cheaper III and still have the mod done). Good luck, and I hope it all goes well when you get it back!

 

[Pearce117]

Well we came to a really good price and he said that any repairs will be very low cost and in the end I'm looking at just the price of the Mod. So that's why I'm going to do it. I wanna keep this thing. It has all the bells and stuff with it and I have not seen one like this any place for the price I payed. In the end I think its going to be a kick *** amp.

 

[boogiemon]

Oh yeah, the m3 series can definitely kick some butt.

Well we came to a really good price and he said that any repairs will be very low cost and in the end I'm looking at just the price of the Mod. So that's why I'm going to do it. I wanna keep this thing. It has all the bells and stuff with it and I have not seen one like this any place for the price I payed. In the end I think its going to be a kick *** amp.

 

[zebpedersen]

Well we came to a really good price and he said that any repairs will be very low cost and in the end I'm looking at just the price of the Mod. So that's why I'm going to do it. I wanna keep this thing. It has all the bells and stuff with it and I have not seen one like this any place for the price I payed. In the end I think its going to be a kick *** amp.

He'll do a great job, I hope your dream amp comes back to you when it's done! Good luck man.

 

[Pearce117]

FYI Everyone I got rid of that amp shortly after my last post.. It caught fire.... GC took it back kicking and screaming....

 

[Markedman]

Was it the 4 EL34's that caused the fire?