Picked up an early Mark III...

[Raoul Duke]

Seems real early: SR12, no stripe, CP10 circuit board dated 1984, SN: 150XX, white tolex with leather corners secured with horse shoe nails, Build date 4/85. Got some bulging caps and smells like it needs service. It’s going back to Cali as soon as I can get a RMA. Pics coming...

 

[Raoul Duke]

Just realized I didn’t throw my question into the post. Quick one:

Did the MkIII production really start at 15000?

Thanks!

 

[Markedman]

Yep. Well, the numbers are not in sequence, they jump around, the date inside is your best estimate as to when it was made.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Sharpie date on the chassis is “4/85”.
Sent it to Petaluma 2 days ago. Powered up fine and everything glowed, but no sound. Tried all the obvious stuff to no avail. Had a fried pre-amp tube (tip broken with white scorching inside). Looked untouched inside the chassis, so it needed servicing anyway. Looking forward to what I get back!

 

[xdg999]

Are you getting the R2 mod? All of my Mark III's have the 3+\R2 mods. I highly recommend it.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Not sure. I’m certainly open to improvements. Not a gain seeker, so not sure which mods to consider.

 

[xdg999]

For the R2 mod Mike B. installs a volume pot for the Rhythm 2 channel. This gives you 3 usable channels. I had Mike install the pot on the underside of the chassis of my SRG's.

 

[Raoul Duke]

So that’s what the R2 mod is then? Sounds useful. Probably get that if it makes all 3 channels useful at once.

 

[xdg999]

I had Mike B. install a pentode/triode switch on my 3+ Blue Stripe SRG. It drops the wattage down to around 15 watts and softens the attack. The 3+ mod makes the amp smoother and closer to a c+.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Excellent suggestion as well, thanks!

 

[Raoul Duke]

Got my Mark III back last week and have to say that it sounds great! Got the R2 mod and now have 3 balanced and useful channels; got a full “going over”, got the reverb fixed, and got a friendly follow-up email from Mike B explaining everything he did in detail. Great customer service, great sounding amp! Almost unheard of in this day and age.

Sending my Mark IIB back as soon as I get my RMA #. Thinking of the effects loop mod for that amp, but don’t want to change it’s sound too much. Any advice on what that might do to the sound?

 

[skelt101]

You might want to send GJgo a message. He has a IIB+ that I believe is his Mark of choice. You can also check him out on YouTube where he demos it along with many other Boogies:
https://www.youtube.com/user/fast13b

 

[Raoul Duke]

His vids are super informative. I think I’ve watched them all twice.
The more I research, the more I think the loop mod isn’t really what I need because:

1. I don’t want more gain.
2. I don’t want to sacrifice any clean tone.
3. I can balance both channels pretty well.
4. I like the IIB as is, so if the service gets it to a better version of what I already have; that’d be **** near perfect for what I do.

Still waiting to hear back from Mike B. to confirm which way to go. Hopefully Monday so Garey can give me the RMA and I can get it headed cross-country.