Mods for MKIII & IV Whats your favorite?

[little-b]

Just curious as to what are the best mods for the mk III and MK IV, and who did them? Thanks

 

[Mongo1]

My favorite MKIV mod is to add a cable disconnect at the FU-3 footswitch. If you are good with a soldering iron, it's very easy to do. I modified my MKIV footswitch cable years ago because I thought it should disconnect at both ends. It was a simple fix and fixed the problem of cramming it's cable into a hot amp on tear down. Been like this for 15+ years and works like a champ!

Here's a thread where I mentioned it.
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=39995

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Victor (phyrexia) did my R2 volume mod on my Mark III. Works like a charm, and balances my amp out great...too bad I hardly ever use R2 lol.

The amp was originally his, but he was funding his Mark V, so now it sees gratuitous amounts of service under me. :wink:

 

[little-b]

im digging both those mods!...and I keep hearing about 2nd master vol,improving r2 on mkIV,increasing gain on the mkIIIs,mkIIc+mods, etc...improving reverb on both...but has anybody got all these mods?

 

[SonicProvocateur]

I've seen some other interesting mods on the Mark IV like an R2 Fat mod too (but that switch replaces something else too, so I dunno really how great that one is unless your style just demanded it).

 

[boogieslayer]

on the III rackmount bluestripe i had the r2/c+ mod and i loved it - sounded really really good , lotsa punch !

 

[little-b]

Cool, cool, mods!!!! I guess too, it looks like no one really is modding any mk III or IV for more gain?...so Im assuming w/ a good pickup, theres no need for more gain from these tone monsters?

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Yeah...my Mark III has crushing gain. The IIC+, III's and IV's all do. They are pretty much the epitome of tone and finesse. When mated with the right guitar all you need is "magic hands". 8)

 

[CoG]

I cannot imagine how more gain than a Mark III has could actually be useful.

On Mark IIIs:
Agreed that the R2 volume is absolutely necessary to use all three channels.

There's also a reverb mod (changing one resistor) which makes the "dry" sound wetter and the "wet" sound really wet. I got this one on one of my Mark IIIs and I am not sure if this is really worth bothering with. The reverb isn't so awesome that a bunch more sounds really good, and with the mod there is no "off" for the reverb any more so you can only have really 'verby and somewhat less 'verby. It doesn't sound bad but have no desire to have it done on my other III.

On pre-green-stripe Simuls you can have the EL34 sockets modded to pentode from triode, which gives you more headroom on the EL34s and more volume in 'class A' mode (in theory more volume overall, but you won't notice in full power mode.) This cleans up your cleans some, depending on your tubes, but also puts more EL34 into the mix on your cleans, so it's kind of a mixed blessing.

 

[rvschulz]

r2 mod on both of my Mk IIIs ...

 

[fretout]

R2 Mods on the Mark IIIs make sense, but I would still prefer to have a bone-stock Mark III.

As for the Mark IVs, why would you mod them? They sound great as-is, IMO. The cord on the footswitch should be removable IMO, but I wouldn't consider modding it.

 

[Neptical]

As an owner of a Mark III head the past few weeks, I see no reason why I would want to even think of modding it. I think it sounds pretty crushing in it's original form.

 

[Mongo1]

The cord on the footswitch should be removable IMO, but I wouldn't consider modding it.

I look at it as making it the way it should be.
It's as close to a 'home brew/factory update' as you can get.

 

[little-b]

Has anyone gotten the 2nd master vol. mod and where would the knob for that go?.......

 

[CoG]

"Mesa Mk IV B
Mesa roadking II
Mesa Triaxis
Diezel VH 4
Badcat blackcat R
Bogner Shiva 20th anniv.
4 Diezel 2x12's
4 Diezel 4x12's
Bogner Fish
Soldano x-88R
Badcat custom shop preamp
TC.Electronics 2290
TC.G-Force
Switchblade GL
VHT 2150
VHT Classic "

damn bro...

 

[SonicProvocateur]

no joke...how bout you slide one of them Diezel 4x12's my way

 

[Facelift]

The only mod I would consider on my mark III is to put a separate volume knob for the clean channel. I dont like the fact that in order to dial in a crushing lead channel tone, you have to compromise the clean by it being overly loud and distorted.

I thought I saw on here somewhere about that mod but I cant seem to find it anymore. If anyone has detailed info on this mod, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fretout]

"Mesa Mk IV B
Mesa roadking II
Mesa Triaxis
Diezel VH 4
Badcat blackcat R
Bogner Shiva 20th anniv.
4 Diezel 2x12's
4 Diezel 4x12's
Bogner Fish
Soldano x-88R
Badcat custom shop preamp
TC.Electronics 2290
TC.G-Force
Switchblade GL
VHT 2150
VHT Classic "

damn bro...

Dealer?

 

[little-b]

Ive never been a dealer, but Ive thought many times about opening up a no-compromise kicking music store.....I do get a lot of session work in my area, hence all the gear...Im waiting for the new Elmwood preamp to come out..I'll add that one for sure....Ive just been rediscovering all my mk. series boogie roots.....I dont know if its just me, but it seems like theres been a pretty intense buzz about all things mk. series lately...I bought a mk III in 1987, and that was my first real quality pro-built amp....Great amps indeed!...as for the guy asking about the diezel cabs,..not selling any at this point.( it took me forever to save up and buy em).... :roll: