Mark III Identify year of manufacture

[damugman]

Hi all,

I’m posting in regards to a Mark III bluestripe combo I’ve had since the early 2000’s. I bought this off a family friend who has since passed on. The seller told me it still in its original state. I believe what he said as he was a trusted friend, in addition he sold me the amp for very low - there was no need for sales-y BS.

With that said, I’ve considered the possibility of the amp not being in original state. The cabinetry of this amp would likely have many suggest that the chassis was transplanted into a Mark IV cabinet. That’s possible, however, it seems that this amp would still require a wide body cabinet due to the front side placement of the reverb knob along with the addition of the 1/2 Power/Full Power switch.

I don’t know much about the interchangeability of amp parts, but is it possible to transplant a Mark III coliseum control/front panel onto a typical Mark III combo so as to relocate the reverb and 1/2&Full Power functions up front? That just sounds like a ridiculous project tbh...

Original or not, I’m very happy with this amp - I would not at all mind knowing more about it. I’m assuming (incorrectly?) that this was manufactured sometime after the release of the Mark IV. As I’m not certain, I’m posting here and would like to ask if anyone has further information. Thanks in advance and if I violated forum etiquette in some way my, my apologies.

images @

https://ibb.co/3NvkM7V
https://ibb.co/JmCP7fj
https://ibb.co/jbJySMf

Thanks!

 

[Markedman]

It looks like it's a DC cabinet as the Mark IV would have cutouts for the foot switch. The faceplate is correct for a "long" head Mark III, I had one just like it.

 

[woodbutcher65]

Just email Mesa customer support (or call them on the phone) with your serial number and they can tell you when it was made and maybe tell you if the amp was a custom order in any way. A late Mark III could certainly have been made with the same tolex that you find as standard on a Mark IV.

I'm going to say with a high degree of certainty that the chassis is as it was when it left the factory. It's very unlikely that its configuration was changed after the fact.

Odds are that your amp has never had a major service. It's about 30 years old, and since as you said, it hasn't been played much, it's very
important that you have it serviced and get the filter capacitors replaced. Not using the amp much is what SHORTENS their service life, and
at 30 years old they're at least ten years overdue for replacement.

The cabinet might have been swapped. Mesa factory records might be able to shed some light on that possibility.

A Mark III widebody combo ...is someone TRYING to set a world record for one heavy ass amp? Well, it could have had an EV...which would be
better, in my opinion. But it'd add 8 more pounds to the amp.

I wouldn't even hesitate. I'd order up a new headshell for that and turn it into a head and run a separate cabinet with it.

I had a Mark III DRGX blue stripe widebody head for a while. It was amazing. Best Mesa I've ever owned.

 

[damugman]

Thanks guys

 

[NineShallDie]

Actually Mesa didn’t keep records of when the amps were made back then. But if you open it up there should be year and month of manufacture written with a sharpie on the chassis. As it’s a blue stripe it’s most certainly made in 1988. They came in both short and long versions. So did the Mark IV. Never seen that cabinet on a Mark III, so it has probably been changed. Maybe it was originally a head that was converted into a combo.