MkIII going in for some TLC...

[CoG]

Well, when I went to slide the chassis into its new rackmount home the other day, I couldn't help thinking, "man, this amp really does look like it's 21 years old. Some of the caps look awful skinny,"

So I decided to take advantage of an upcoming road trip (when I won't be playing it for three weeks anyway) to send my purple stripe down for the Mike B. treatment.

Anything specific I should ask for besides "change out any caps that don't have 10 more years in them?"

Everything on the amp works great, with the exception of the R2 volume mod which I think was done wrong... it seems to affect R2 drive, not volume, and affects the volume of the other channels instead :? I basically just leave it dimed anyway, and shape R2 with my guitar's volume...

 

[Nomad]

I'm certainly not up on the latest and greatest things you can do to a Mark III.

I would pose this question to Mike and ask him to give it what it needs. I would definately either have him make sure the R2 Mod is up to snuff or have it removed.

For me with my Mark III I dont use R2. I use Channel one Clean and Dirty (with a Pedal in front of it). I use the Lead Channel set for Crunch and throw a pedal in front as well when I really need to. In that reguard I dont need an R2 or an R2 Mod for that matter.

I would have em go over it from one end to the other. Aint nothing like having the experts go over your Boogie! 8)

 

[Stonge]

Mike will probably only do the caps if they need it. Otherwise he will talk you out of it. He is the type that isn't going to recommend pointless work. What looks like **** cosmetically..may still have enough "ughhff" left in them. I wasn't the original owner on my boogie, but whoever had it last, serviced at mesa before me..Mike replaced only 1 cap. I sent it about 2months ago and he said flat out. This thing is running in tip-top shape. There was no need to replace anything besides my tube sockets (which is an entirely different story). My amp is 08/84 and that was only it's 3rd time being at boogie..counting the time it spent there getting built.

 

[Ultron]

Agreed....when I sent my III bluestripe to Mike, I asked for a full recap....he said they were all fine, and mentioned something about adding to the landfills. I've heard several techs say replacing caps after 10 years can be overkill.

 

[CoG]

yeah, my amp's 22 years old though... the visual difference between a few caps which have obviously been replaced and the rest of them is pretty surprising. I'm not looking for any tone, I hope the amp comes back sounding more or less the way it did when I boxed it up.

Mainly I have no idea how the amp was treated/played prior to me getting it, and it's become a 2-hour-a-day player at age 22. I'd like to get problems headed off before something fails catastrophically and takes out a transformer or traces on the board or something, and I end up on Ebay looking for another MkIII...

 

[Nomad]

I agree. I would have her checked over completely. Its allways a good idea tokeep em up. Dont have to be done often but does need to be done.

 

[stokes]

Your amp is 21 years old,if you replace those filter caps you will definately realize a big difference in the amps overall response.I have done cap jobs on many,many amps,including a lot of Boogies,and have never had a customer not absolutely floored by the improvement in the amp,even after Mike B. has told them the caps were fine,no need to change them.Filter caps,unlike your basic coupling caps,have a finite lifespan,even the manufacturer will tell you not to use caps that have been on the shelf over ten years,of course they may last longer,and most often do.But in my experience,20+yr old caps are like a disaster waiting to happen.I know there are a lot of opinions out there on the subject,and if you choose to leave the caps till they explode,thats your business,but its the kind of thing that keeps us in business.

 

[flip33]

What happens if they explode?

Does it total your amp, or do you just replace the detonated caps?

Ken

 

[stokes]

What happens if they explode?

Does it total your amp, or do you just replace the detonated caps?

Ken

If they explode you get to try to clean all the caustic innards they spew all over your chassis,as well as replace any components they take with them.I say you get to clean the mess because,I cant speak for all techs,but I would not take an amp in that condition,I've done it before and will never do it again,you couldnt pay me enough.If they only short out,you are a little luckier,theres no mess to clean up,just cross your fingers and hope everything connected to the shorted cap didnt go south with it.

 

[GIG4FUN]

Mine just left For the mother ship a few hours ago.... It played out super but had a bit of crackle noise when idling (between songs). After a tube change it was still there so I did the right thing. I miss it already.

It don't have the R2 volume mod. I would consider it. I had no volume drop between R1/R2 and I use all three channels regularly. I liked everything so no complaints. I am only considering getting a nice mod while it is already there and all.

Is there a thread someone could point me too. (I have been searching..)
This may be all I need to read...I edited to add this:
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=18520&highlight=

I think mine has the Reverb mod??? There is a very large red "R" written over the top of MB initials.

 

[CoG]

The R2 volume mod is totally worth having. I have it on my purple and I am going to do it on my green one of these weekends.

The reverb mod is worth having if you really like reverb, but I actually find it a bit much and may undo it on my purple.

 

[GIG4FUN]

The R2 volume mod is totally worth having. I have it on my purple and I am going to do it on my green one of these weekends.

The reverb mod is worth having if you really like reverb, but I actually find it a bit much and may undo it on my purple.

I use very littel reverb "3" is high for me..... I use much less than any of the players I know. I only wonder as the big R was noticed as I was preparing the guts for wrapping/shipping. It raised my curiousity! I did finally get a voodman pedal to turn the RV on/off and I would have found out if I would have put it to use as I understand it would have been different on/off, never really off....just less and then a lot with the pedal "on". The big "R" is what coused my curiousity...

 

[Nomad]

I actually like the Reverb factory stock on my Mark III.

If you think about it there is a reason it's where it's at.

If it were over bearing like a Classic Fender when channel switching there would be massive wash of Verb while playing dirty.

The way it is lends itself to gettting a good Verb level and not having to turn it off when changing channels.