New (old) Mark III owner, School me please!

[fishyfishfish]

Moving on up in the world of Boogie! Went from a old Mark 1 to a F30, to a Lone Star to a Dual Recto now I think I found what I have been looking for in a Mark III fully loaded, Great shape. One thing I noticed is the loop giving me a little hum when used. Second, Volume controls are a little touchy and seem to have dead spots from one to two. Clean or replace? Third, what kind of cable do I use for the foot switch in the front? stereo or mono.
Thanks in advance, Fish.

 

[EleventhHour2139]

Moving on up in the world of Boogie! Went from a old Mark 1 to a F30, to a Lone Star to a Dual Recto now I think I found what I have been looking for in a Mark III fully loaded, Great shape. One thing I noticed is the loop giving me a little hum when used. Second, Volume controls are a little touchy and seem to have dead spots from one to two. Clean or replace? Third, what kind of cable do I use for the foot switch in the front? stereo or mono.
Thanks in advance, Fish.

Congrats on the III, great amps indeed! Afraid I can't help on the hum, but from what I understand/have experienced with my III concerning the touchy-ness of the volume controls is that that's just the nature of the beast, odd tapers just seem to be what they were using back in the day. Also for the foot switch, not sure if it depends on the foot switch used but I use one of our local conman's (I'm sure you know who, not giving him the benefit of another mention. He-who-must-not-be-named, if you prefer :wink: ) two button versions and I use a mono cable, works just fine. Enjoy her! Oh btw, what stripe/configuration did you score if you don't mind me asking?

 

[MrMarkIII]

The loop hum may be a ground loop if your effects are A/C powered. Do you get the same hum running pedals into the front of the amp? If not, it could be loop-specific. Sometimes the loop jacks need to be adjusted (bent) back into shape in order to make contact. Be aware of dangerous high voltages inside the amp even when it's off, even when it's unplugged. Don't touch those big blue cylindrical things.
Other ground loop remedies can be Googled.
Both channel changing switches are mono and may use unshielded cable, like speaker cable. The EQ/Reverb double footswitch requires a stereo shielded cable.
Hope this helps
Oh, and Mark IIIs ROOL

 

[fishyfishfish]

Many thanks! I had a bad cable for the single channel switch that had me puzzled for a while. Worked with my guitar and then would quit for the switch. Takes me a while to get smart-ur.
It is a perfect specimen Mark III fully loaded red stripe with a EV speaker that I traded my Dual Recto with Sixtonoise here on the board. I forgot about the build quality on these old Boogies, and spent all day getting tones out of this beast. It's giving my Shiva a run for the money.
Will give the loop jacks a good look when I open it up, and my ears stop ringing!

 

[CoG]

Don't be afraid to try EQ settings besides the V! One of my favourites is a moderate bump to about halfway between the top and the centre line for 750, *very slightly* less for 2200, a bit less still for 240, 80 just barely above the centre line and 6000 just below the centre line. Turn the Presence all the way off and use the 6000 slider to control the bite-versus-fizz equation. With humbuckers and moderate amounts of gain on the Lead channel (Vol 7.5 Treble 7 MV 2 Lead Drive 5.5 LM 5-6) it's fairly close to Matt Pike (High On Fire)'s really aggressive lead sounds.

 

[Boogiebabies]

Do you mean dead spots as in the signal dies or the pots feel loose and don't do much ?

 

[fishyfishfish]

Dead spots where the signal drops, then comes back up when I keep turning. Only on Master Volume between 1 and 2. Pots feel solid.

 

[EleventhHour2139]

Dead spots where the signal drops, then comes back up when I keep turning. Only on Master Volume between 1 and 2. Pots feel solid.

Not what I was referring to
That sounds like something that needs fixed for sure though!

 

[Boogiebabies]

I would first try to clean the pots with De-Oxit and then Fader Lube. If that does not help you can try to swap the wafer/element with another
pot to rebuild it. I have also had luck in the past with using the Caig Circuit Writer to bridge the dead spot in the pot.

 

[fishyfishfish]

Cool info thanks!