Mark III stripe missing+ tube recommendation

[Zoner]

Hey all, I've recently come back to the "fold" after selling off my long-chassis green stripe MKIII head when I quit my band last spring, and was a little puzzled by the lack of a stripe on my new combo. I bought a fully loaded MKIII with serial #2441X and it has nothing in the usual spots except the common MB initials. 2/89 for the chassis date. No stripe or any indication of a stripe, but the chassis is a bit "roughed up" where the stripe would have been. Why anyone would take an abrasive to their booogie is beyond me, but I am curious about which version it might be. There is also a red "R" written on the chassis by the power cord which I assume indicates a reverb mod? Could this be a Red striper? It sounds different from the Green stripe head in lead mode(through the same Marshall 1965A 4x10), seeming to me to be less "smooth", but I have not re-tubed it yet. What tubes do you MKIII users favor? Thanks. Z

 

[Zoner]

Oops, wrong area to post this in. Sorry. Z

 

[Schmoog]

its better to go by date than by serial number. given the date of 2/89, the date of my blue stripe being 6/88, and the serial number of 2441x versus my 2202x, I am gonna venture a guess and say that its a blue striper. the only real sure fire way to tell is to pop it open and see if pins 3 and 4 on either of the outer pair of tubes are connected. if they are connected across a resistor, then its a blue stripe, if they are not connected then you have a green stripe. as far as tonal differences go, be advised, that as these are handmade amps, there can be some slight tonal differences from one green stripe to another. and also, don't put too much stock in the stripe color, in the end, as long as it gets you a tone you love, who cares what color it is.

you are also correct about the R, the R indicates that it has had the reverb mod.