New MARK III owner here!!

[MrSmitty]

Just bought a near mint Mk III BLUE strip on C.L. the other day for $700. It's a short head, Simul-class, EQ and Reverb. It even came with foot switches... The seller was the original owner and obviously didn't play it much. He said it was in storage for about 8 yrs. I'm not willing to drop $2500 on a IIC+, so I figured the III would be the next best thing...

I have been tweaking it for the past day, and I'm really digging the tones! I'm quite surprised how good the different channels sound despite they all share the same tone control settings. The clean channel sounds sweet and the lead channel with EQ engaged is amazing. Not a big fan of the Rhythm 2 channel...but I don't plan on using it anyway.

So I did a side by side comparison of the (lead mode) MkIII with my Mk V (IIC+ mode) and they sound very, very similar. Granted, I've never played a IIC+ before...but to my ears, the V(C+mode) and the MkIII sound close enough. I did notice one thing...the MkIII had a slightly different feel/vibe to it. I guess some have refered to it as "organic"? Does that sound accurate?

Anyway, I will continue tweaking and look forward to seeing how it sounds at gig volume. I did notice one thing tonight, the amp does get pretty hot...is that normal? The top of the head was very warm to the touch.

 

[Anonymous]

Post removed.

 

[effitall]

I just did the same thing only mine is a green stripe. Congrats! Play around with it for a bit and if you feel it's "lead" sound has a bit too much high-end hash, try the C30 mod.

This thread was very informative to me:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27879

There's tons of tones in these amps. I'm diggin' mine.

 

[kdorsey]

...if you feel it's "lead" sound has a bit too much high-end hash, try the C30 mod.

Or, change preamp tube V3 to a NOS RFT and get a similar result without modding the amp.

That's a hellova score, MrSmitty. Congrats...you're gonna like the way you Boogie. :wink:

 

[MrSmitty]

Thanks for the tips and link(s). I called Mesa today to inquire about sending the amp in for service soon. I figured after 20+ years, the amp might benefit from a good tune-up. Once I get get a chance next week to play it at "band" level...then I'll get a better feel if any mods are in order. Can anyone provide info about the "III +" mod? I'm curious about it, but can't seem to search/find it on the forum... Thanks!