Red Strip vs Blue Stripe

[FourT6and2]

This has probably been asked many times before. And I have done some preliminary research.

I know the Blue is "more aggressive" and brighter than the Red Stripe. Whereas the Red Stripe is fairly close to the IIC+. I'm looking at the Simul-Class versions with EQ, by the way.

My questions is how different are these two amps, really? Is the Blue noticeably brighter? By "aggressive" does that mean in terms of brightness/presence? Or gain and mids? I always attributed aggressiveness to the mid range of an amp, not the high-end. And what speaker works best with these in the combo versions? It came with the EV Black Shadow stock? I see a lot of different ones with various speakers in 'em: EV, V30, CL80, etc.

I have a Diezel Einstein 1x12 combo right now that is great. Just looking for another amp to go with it that's got a different flavor. And I play a lot of modern rock and hard rock (Tool, APC, Killswitch Engage, Muse, and so on).

 

[megavoice]

I've never compared my two reds with any blue, but as for the agression for me they're far beyound any imagination.
I'm playing two Paulas with Burstbuckers in bridge-position. I don't know if this adds aditional agression to, but I think there are more possibilities to have an influence on when you'll take the "right" guitar for your tastes.
I dont know what kind of music you play and I don't think you want to put some wheels on your amp and use it for dragster-racing. I'd advise you to compare both amps if you have a chance as the reds a VERY tonal and melodic. Maybe the blues are less. But as I said, I hadn't any blue in my hands.
As for the speaker I'm going for EVs. They sound very clear, but once upon a time I used a 4 X Marshall cab with vintage 30s and it sounded great.

 

[Heady Jam Fan]

There is going to be a lot of overlap between different stripe models, sometimes more difference can be found between two amps of the same stripe than two amps of a different stripe (remember, these amps are 30 years old).

The Blue is attributed with having an aggressive top-end, but the EQ section of the Mark Series amps are so effective that there will be a lot of overlap - you could run a Blue darker/mellower than a Red. These are not super-aggressive thrash-metal machines; they can get some moderate distortion when cranked up for sure, but, IMO, are designed more for a fat singing sustain than extreme distortion. IMO, the 'aggression' of the Blue's top-end just allows you to dial in more of that sizzle in the distortion.

The EVM12L is an excellent speaker, especially when in a separate cab (because of the weight of a stock MKIII combo and the small size of the combo cab). The old 'OEM' EV's with the plain metal magnet back are smoother/creamier sounding (at the risk of being bland to some ears) while the newer EV's have more 'sizzle' - a crisper top-end. I found my old EV a bit bland and switched to Celestion speakers, but missed it and now have a newer EV. I love both EV's, but sometimes still miss the original one.

A pair of broken-in V30's is also a great match for the amp. C90's have a similar bass response, less beamy (because of the larger dust cap) and creamier/smoother (attenuated compared to the V30) upper-mids / treble. The C90 might be dark for some people, the V30's upper-mids might get annoying to some people, a 212 with one of each sounds **** good though! I like how these speakers have a big enough magnet (H size) to handle the Bass of a MK Mesa running 6L6's, but don't have as much bass as the EV (which has a bit too much IMO, but that bass lets it sound good in a 112 too). However, I find the speakers with a ribbed cone are less articulate than a flat cone speaker (Celestion being an example of the former, EV of the latter). I like how Mesa's don't hide anything and I think the EV contributes to this. I also preferred the portability of a 112 - I was playing at three different places per day a while back. So I went with an EV in a 112 - the amp was designed for this!

I also liked Golds - kinda between the C90 and V30; both creamy but also chimey. However, I prefer Ceramic Magnets - when the Alnico compresses, you can lose articulation and things get muddy.

All of the speakers mentioned play well together too! I really liked the EV and V30 in a 212, but it was too heavy for how much lugging I was doing at the time.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

The legacy of Mark 3’s:
In order, the stripes were:
None or Black Stripe
Purple Stripe
Red Stripe
Blue Stripe
Green Stripe
As with all things MESA, what these various stages represent are a matter of opinion with respect of the sound character. They represent snapshots in time of the development of an amplifier line. If the amplifier gets you the tone you want, the jiffy marker is nothing more than a mark of its vintage.
#1 - No mark, or a little dot. Only a few hundred then some black marks or "+" 's.
- Lean and powerful amp with more output power than a IIC+
#2 - Purple: reshaping of R2
- R2 was shaped to be more "rounded" and less gain, with improved level
#3 - Red: R2 is like current Mark III
- R2 further developed and very hot. Lead mode is also tweaked to close in on the IIC+ sound
#4 - Blue: Reshaping of R1
- More aggressive preamp gain - reshaping of R1, Power section made akin to IIC+
#5 - Green/Simul-Class: Final R1 and Lead Channel reshaping
- Cleaner R1, Lead channel reshaping, and unlike other Simul-Class amps, these Mark III's were wired in Pentode - NOT triode in the Class A sockets for more power. Power section is same as Blue otherwise.