Mark III "Stripes" - What was done on the circuit board..?

[#2121313]

Just a couple data points for those interested.

i've got no-stripe & a black dot: both 60 watts, no 105 xformer in either one. The no-stripe also has reverb.
Tubes & speakers are the same in each.

The "dot" is somewhat more articulate & clear, the no-stripe is darker, rounder, smoother.
C30 in the no-stripe is a *stock* 2000; i don't know what the C30 value is for the dot.

both are monsters of course. The no-stripe is going in for the "+" mod tomorrow.

How much is the C+ mod going for these days? I have a red stripe I may want to get modded, did they gave you a time line?

I'm guessing you spoke to Mesa already...

Thanks.

 

[boogiemon]

$200 + any needed repair work, ~2-3 weeks. oh, i guess shipping would be xtra, but that doesn't apply in my case.

Just a couple data points for those interested.

i've got no-stripe & a black dot: both 60 watts, no 105 xformer in either one. The no-stripe also has reverb.
Tubes & speakers are the same in each.

The "dot" is somewhat more articulate & clear, the no-stripe is darker, rounder, smoother.
C30 in the no-stripe is a *stock* 2000; i don't know what the C30 value is for the dot.

both are monsters of course. The no-stripe is going in for the "+" mod tomorrow.

How much is the C+ mod going for these days? I have a red stripe I may want to get modded, did they gave you a time line?

I'm guessing you spoke to Mesa already...

Thanks.

 

[boogiemon]

Just brought the no-stripe back from the shop. It's got the "+" mod now but i had him leave the presence cap & the C30 cap unchanged (2k).

How's it sound? well, before it was a little dark in the clean channel and the gain (3rd) channel was very smooth if not particularly articulate. Now, the clean channel is brighter & has lost some of its lower-end & mud. (It sounds similar to the stock clean channel of the "dot") The 3rd channel is still smooth but is more vocal sounding now. Apparently, the black-stripe & no-stripe IIIs did not have a certain post-gain tone circuit that virtually all the other Marks have. The "+" mod adds this back in if it's not there. This is my understanding anyway.

Just a couple data points for those interested.

i've got no-stripe & a black dot: both 60 watts, no 105 xformer in either one. The no-stripe also has reverb.
Tubes & speakers are the same in each.

The "dot" is somewhat more articulate & clear, the no-stripe is darker, rounder, smoother.
C30 in the no-stripe is a *stock* 2000; i don't know what the C30 value is for the dot.

both are monsters of course. The no-stripe is going in for the "+" mod tomorrow.

 

[McBarry]

Folks, can a couple of guys please, pretty please have a look inside their amp and let me know what value the cap circled in yellow is?
It's the smoothing cap on the DC supply for V1, I've got a 1000uf but see 3300uf on diagram.
Thx heaps, Dave

 

[Restless Rocks]

I just replaced one of those this morning and it was 3300uf.

 

[McBarry]

Hey thx RR,
I though no one was listening...
were U getting ripple/drama downstream??
My prev tech nicely pulled up the tracks and so I've got a delicate repair going on - luckily the board is out..
Dave

 

[Restless Rocks]

Yeah, it really makes me cringe at the thought of the inexperienced attempting repairs on the mark circuit boards. You absolutly must be careful to use a low temp pencil and be EXTREMELY careful or you'll pull traces and worse those little thru dots right off the board. Then as you're finding out it can get really messy. I had to lift a PCB and since the cap was 27 years old it was just the right thing to do. You have to cut the cap apart otherwise and then remount in a "lay down" fashion. I really like to leave an amp looking as close to stock as possible and under the board is the only way one can replace these stand up radials.

 

[McBarry]

I guess I'm a little lucky coming from a health background, where doing it the "right" way is the way to go. If the amp needs to be pulled apart majorly and U need to stand on your head and chant special rhymes while operating the soldering iron which you've bought specially, and waited 2 weeks for the special part, then that's what is done.
I agree, replace like with like, and mount the same etc etc.
My reverb transformer in the Mk IIB died, so it's getting rewound rather than simply buying a new one and toss the original in the bin. Amp will still look original..
Can't wait for the new 3300uf cap to arrive - I've done the rest of the electro's.
Also waiting for a few carbo comp's as some are drifting a bit.
But oh... the endless waiting...(groan...)

 

[boogiemon]

no, but so what?

The C+ doesn't sound like a III either.

Does the + mod to a mark III make it just like a C+?

 

[boogiemon]

Sorry, no harshness intended.
That's just a really open-ended question so i thought i'd nip it in the bud so to speak.

no, but so what?

Geez why the harsh response?! I was just aking a simple question?!

The C+ doesn't sound like a III either.

Really? I thought they all sounded a like but the III being cheaper was more desireable?

little sarcasm here? the III is no longer as underrated as it was: still cheaper than a C+ though.

All the marks sound similar depending on how acute your hearing is. The C+ owners will tell you it's more of a "feel" thing: maybe it is.