Mark III Mods ?

[lesterpaul]

How is that destroyer of speakers, Mike? Still purring?

yessir..!been slaving into it via my twocious maximus for maximum stun-she is currently undergoing a makeover-a well known board member is slappin' some new tolex on her-will provide pics!

 

[Buddy]

what's the IIIc+ mod?

Okay , This is what I understand about this :

You pack up the amp and send it to Mike..or .There is a board member or three with the power and abilities , also .

He swaps out some component's etc ., to make your amps board(s) , if not , topologically , but electronically similar to the IIc+ circuit . (there the magic resides ? )8) Hmmmm.

Some board member's have praised the resulting tonal change in the amp's character/response .

Also, some Mk III's are easier to mod than other's .

Not quite the same , never heard/played the mod , myself .

 

[jay]

Me and Joey B did the vol 2 mod on my red stripe mark III and on his mark III coliseum tonight. We used a 250k/250k concentric pot on the red stripe. We put the presence and the vol 2 on the concentric pot since the presence is also 250k audio taper. Everything went smooth and worked great. So you guys that don't have a free hole to mount a vol2 pot and don't want to drill on your amp, this may be a good alternative for you. Here are some pics of the mod.

 

[GIG4FUN]

what's the IIIc+ mod?

Okay , This is what I understand about this :

You pack up the amp and send it to Mike..or .There is a board member or three with the power and abilities , also .

He swaps out some component's etc ., to make your amps board(s) , if not , topologically , but electronically similar to the IIc+ circuit . (there the magic resides ? )8) Hmmmm.

Some board member's have praised the resulting tonal change in the amp's character/response .

Also, some Mk III's are easier to mod than other's .

Not quite the same , never heard/played the mod , myself .

MB has MY MARK III right now! I will talk to him Monday....

 

[GIG4FUN]

Me and Joey B did the vol 2 mod on my red stripe mark III and on his mark III coliseum tonight. We used a 250k/250k concentric pot on the red stripe. We put the presence and the vol 2 on the concentric pot since the presence is also 250k audio taper. Everything went smooth and worked great. So you guys that don't have a free hole to mount a vol2 pot and don't want to drill on your amp, this may be a good alternative for you. Here are some pics of the mod.(snipped them)

That is a gosh darn good thought ! You nailed it! godlike.... :lol:

 

[JOEY B.]

That is a gosh darn good thought ! You nailed it! godlike.... :lol:

.... and most of you guys think we only play banjos and mouth harps down here in the South. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[lesterpaul]

well done,brothers!!!I think the "J" in "Jay " and "Joey" has to stand for "Jenius" 8) (and they think we can't spell down here,either!!)

 

[rvschulz]

i just got my "new" purple stripe and want to add a R2 volume. mine does not have reverb - it looks like a spot is available on the back next to the presence knob - an unused hole plugged with rubber.

i'm down in LA - if someone can recommend the exact pot to get and would do it, i would gladly enrich them.

 

[Restless Rocks]

Mesa will not upgrade a 60watter to simulclass or 100watt version: requires both trannies to be swapped out and off course tubes socket holes punced and a complete rebuild of the power section etc. The 60 watt version is a bit unique unto itself anyway as both the preamp and power sections are voiced differently than the simul. There are those who can do the "IIIC+ Mod" but Mike B. approaches each amp as an individual custom mod and will ask you many questions about your desires and expectations from the amp and therefore does not follow a specific set of simple swap overs but will taylor the amp more to your wishes. It will not be a true C+ without the "105 power trannie" which was discontinued after production of the MkIIC+ (with the exception of a handful of the first MkIII "no stripes" which are rare indeed.)

 

[GIG4FUN]

After talking with Mike B. I decided to NOT mod mine to IIIC+. I like what I have for tone and even though he would replace parts and make it "scope' the same as a IIC+ it would not be as expresive and be one ha ha !.... I did not want to risk losing the great tone I had grown to love from my III green stripe.

I did get R2 Volume mod while he was in it. I am sure I will like that.

It's clear to me that they would gladly take money BUT That is NOT their priority. It was important to do things for me not to me! I am convinced that the customer happy is job 1 with those guys.

 

[Nomad]

After talking with Mike B. I decided to NOT mod mine to IIIC+. I like what I have for tone and even though he would replace parts and make it "scope' the same as a IIC+ it would not be as expresive and be one ha ha !.... I did not want to risk losing the great tone I had grown to love from my III green stripe.

I did get R2 Volume mod while he was in it. I am sure I will like that.

It's clear to me that they would gladly take money BUT That is NOT their priority. It was important to do things for me not to me! I am convinced that the customer happy is job 1 with those guys.

I agree with your aproach to this. I cant see my Mark III being more expressive than it is now. I cant see its Tone being better than it is as we speak. I would be awfly afraid to fruck with it. :lol:

 

[EdgeOfDarkness]

ok, After playing with it for awhile the only thing I would like to have done is RTM2 needs more gain...its almost like 2 clean channels and 1 distortion channel (lead) the way it is right now.
anyone had a mod like that done before ?

 

[camsna]

Try a new tube in V2. I'm using a Hi-Gain JJ ECC83S. An RFT ECC83 would also work great in that position - it's dark and breaks up earlier than any other 12AX7 type!

 

[GIG4FUN]

ok, After playing with it for awhile the only thing I would like to have done is RTM2 needs more gain...its almost like 2 clean channels and 1 distortion channel (lead) the way it is right now.
anyone had a mod like that done before ?

Something must be wrong (as posted above about that tube) because I have a great deal of gain/distortion/crunch in my R2 channel. It is not anything close to clean.

 

[EdgeOfDarkness]

ok, After playing with it for awhile the only thing I would like to have done is RTM2 needs more gain...its almost like 2 clean channels and 1 distortion channel (lead) the way it is right now.
anyone had a mod like that done before ?

Something must be wrong (as posted above about that tube) because I have a great deal of gain/distortion/crunch in my R2 channel. It is not anything close to clean.

hummm I will have to get some preamp tubes and see what happens.
Right now it is almost identical to RTM1,just a tiny bit more gainy, but still pretty clean...I would not even call it mid gain or dirty clean at this point.
Any recommended settings for R2 ?

 

[GIG4FUN]

ok, After playing with it for awhile the only thing I would like to have done is RTM2 needs more gain...its almost like 2 clean channels and 1 distortion channel (lead) the way it is right now.
anyone had a mod like that done before ?

Something must be wrong (as posted above about that tube) because I have a great deal of gain/distortion/crunch in my R2 channel. It is not anything close to clean.

hummm I will have to get some preamp tubes and see what happens.
Right now it is almost identical to RTM1,just a tiny bit more gainy, but still pretty clean...I would not even call it mid gain or dirty clean at this point.
Any recommended settings for R2 ?

can't stay on long...(busy in Iowa with all of the weather..) BUT Do you have the first knob on the left at least on "7"? Toggling from R1 clean to R2 distortion is enough of a "setting" so to speak. Perhaps you have volume one (far left knob) too low. I always have it at 5-8. I still have a pristine clean sound (R1) with that off of a stat with humbucker.

 

[EdgeOfDarkness]

I did have the volume knob low..I turned it up then turned the master down and it did help...thanks.

 

[GIG4FUN]

I did have the volume knob low..I turned it up then turned the master down and it did help...thanks.

That's good news! NO money needs to be spent.

 

[phyrexia]

I have some sort of Mullard in V2 but I do have an RFT I'm going to try.

I did find that choosing preamp tubes was the best way to get a good sound from all three channels.

 

[Nomad]

I have some sort of Mullard in V2 but I do have an RFT I'm going to try.

I did find that choosing preamp tubes was the best way to get a good sound from all three channels.

Hmmm I should try that. I have some 1955 Lonplate Mullards. They dont usually work to well in V1 but might give it a try in V2.