Tell me about my Mark III!

[Bleak]

Hey guys,

For the longest time, I had a Nomad (Which I think I tried to offload here :lol: ) and finally sold it to get a Mark III - the tone I was looking to get out of the Nomad originally.
Anyways, I've done some research, but there seems to be so many different versions, revisions, etc. that I'm not 100% on what I have.

The reverb doesn't work, but I do have the Rhythm 2 mod (which, to my understanding, makes the reverb useless, right?) It also has an "R" written in red sharpie near the power cord in the back, but as far as I can tell, there's no stripe. I've also never noticed another Mark III with a Full Power - 1/2 power switch on the front.

I don't have any of the footswitches. After reading several TERRIBLE reviews, and an F rating from the better business bureau, I don't want to order an all-in-one footswitch from voodooman. Any other reputable places to order an all-in-one switch for this amp around the same price?

Here are some pictures, maybe you can make more sense of it than me.

If you need any more pictures to figure something out, just let me know!

Thanks in advance for the help

-Frank

 

[holy-diver]

Can you get a better pic of the back? (Near the power cable)
The r stands for reverb mod, making it more present. Any idea on the year? What's the serial?

 

[holy-diver]

Saw the serial starting in 24,000, that's a blue or green stripe, but I would assume blue because green was simul only. Does yours have a simulclass sticker in back?

 

[MrMarkIII]

No stripe means it's early. The "R" means the reverb was modded at the factory. Many, many Mark IIIs have this.
I have personally never seen a wide chassis head that did NOT have the Full/Half Power switch on the front.
By the way, it is actually the Simul-Class switch.
UP is 75 watts (85 for the Green Stripe), all four power tubes.
DOWN is 15 watts (25 Green Stripe), outer pair only. The outer pair can be 6L6s or EL-34s.
Payne Labs, advertised at the top of the page you are reading, makes compatible foot switches. He can set you up.

 

[Bleak]

Thanks for the help so far, guys.

I'll get to the pictures the second I get back home. Everything so far has been very helpful - especially about the red R and the half power switch. Awesome

 

[droptrd]

So my purple stripe with a simul/class A switch on the back is 75/15 watts? Duechbag at the store told me it was 100/40

No stripe means it's early. The "R" means the reverb was modded at the factory. Many, many Mark IIIs have this.
I have personally never seen a wide chassis head that did NOT have the Full/Half Power switch on the front.
By the way, it is actually the Simul-Class switch.
UP is 75 watts (85 for the Green Stripe), all four power tubes.
DOWN is 15 watts (25 Green Stripe), outer pair only. The outer pair can be 6L6s or EL-34s.
Payne Labs, advertised at the top of the page you are reading, makes compatible foot switches. He can set you up.

 

[>Photi G<]

That's odd, the reverb should be working. No, the R2 Volume mod shouldn't make the 'verb useless, since you have the long head, the reverb knob is on the front panel. Make sure the cables are hooked up to the reverb pan properly, and to the reverb jacks on the chassis, and replace V4 (the reverb driver). If it still doesn't work, you may have to replace either the pan, the cables, the drive transformer, or any combination of the 3. With a serial in the 24000's, I'd imagine it's either late blue, or early green. I believe you could specify when ordered if you wanted the blue-style Simul-Circuit, or green-style (15/75 or 25/85 respectively).

 

[MrMarkIII]

So my purple stripe with a simul/class A switch on the back is 75/15 watts? Duechbag at the store told me it was 100/40

You are correct, sir! That man at the store is indeed a douchebag! :lol:

 

[droptrd]

Well, it was GC :lol:

 

[MrMarkIII]

Well, it was GC :lol:

I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!! :lol: :lol:

 

[Neptical]

I can say that your Mark III is a MF'er of an amp!

24,42X serial number with not a single swipe of a magic marker eh? Looks like someone forgot to pick up the marker and give it the ole *** wipe. :lol:

I would call it a blue stripe.

Kind of funny ( and not even sure how I even recognized this), but looks like you got forum member 'danyeo1' 's old amp? Scroll down to the 11th thread here and read his description. Sounds identical to the one you just bought. He appears to be located in Central Jersey.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19256&start=15



~Nep~

 

[danyeo1]

That sounds like one of my old amps. Do you remember who you bought it from? I remember that i sold a Mark III to a guy in Brooklyn who was moving to North Carolina, this may have been that amp.

I did the R2 mod myself, it's pretty easy and it's a must have for the amp IMHO. It's a Blue stripe, go by the serial number and NOT what color stripe is on that back since they can be faked. You can't fake the serial number.

I remember i bought that head in a Guitar Center and it did sound great. I don't remember what the deal was with the reverb, R2 should not affect the verb. But, i suggest not using the stock verb on a Mark III and use a reverb unit in the effects loop for better results.

 

[Bleak]

That sounds like one of my old amps. Do you remember who you bought it from? I remember that i sold a Mark III to a guy in Brooklyn who was moving to North Carolina, this may have been that amp.

I did the R2 mod myself, it's pretty easy and it's a must have for the amp IMHO. It's a Blue stripe, go by the serial number and NOT what color stripe is on that back since they can be faked. You can't fake the serial number.

I remember i bought that head in a Guitar Center and it did sound great. I don't remember what the deal was with the reverb, R2 should not affect the verb. But, i suggest not using the stock verb on a Mark III and use a reverb unit in the effects loop for better results.

Well, it's a small world then after all, ain't it? I'm pretty sure this is your amp, I bought here in North Carolina used at GC. Pretty cool


In reference to the Reverb not working - it actually changes the tone quite a bit when I move the knob around. At first, it adds a whole lot of high end, then around 10 it starts to even out a little more. Very weird. I'll change V4 now, seeing as I have no idea how to check on the other things that Photi G told me :lol:
I've also noticed that when I have my effects loop plugged in, a lot of the high end is cut down quite a bit. To be totally honest, I like it better that way, but I'm wondering if that's normal as well. If anything, it may be some of the crappy pedals that get plugged into the loop

Thanks for everything so far guys, here are a couple more pics of the back:

You guys rule!

EDIT: I checked out Payne Labs' website. Looks good, and I'll likely go with those, but I'm still hoping I can find an all-in-one enclosure. Hopefully keep the pedal board a bit tidier. Will Payne Labs make me one if I contact them, or are there other people that make them?

 

[danyeo1]

Yes, that was my amp, i remember putting that R2 sticker on it, and i remember the reverb issue now. Since i never used the amps reverb it never bothered me.

The guy i sold it to was in a wheelchair, he was in the middle of moving out of an apartment in Brooklyn to North Carolina. He took me out to breakfast and bullshitted amps for an hour.

 

[Neptical]

Wow, what a small world. This amp has made its way a bit south.

Sometimes I wonder who both of my Mark IIIs were in the hands of, how many tours, how many people that didn't realize the III is a killer amp. :lol:

...and a big THANKS for letting it be the last stop at my 'crib'. :lol:

~Nep~

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Late model "no-stripe"? Or has it been de-striped I assume?

I love my late model, very modern sounding! These days I kinda wanna pick up a 105 equipped III for the more IIC+ sound though...

 

[>Photi G<]

Oh, sorry. I was talking some technical stuff. Sometimes, if the cables connecting the reverb pan to the chassis aren't hooked up right, it won't behave correctly. This is because one of the jacks are grounded, and the other is insulated. By the looks of the second picture, it looks as if the connections are made correctly to the pan (the grounded (white) is on the left and the insulated (grey) is on the right). I can't say about the chassis connection, since you didn't have a picture. The grey connector should be closer to the front of the chassis, though, and the white should be closer to the power transformer.

You will know if your reverb pan is busted if either you don't hear any reverb, or if you open it up and see that the springs are broken.

You will know if your reverb transformer is cooked if there are strange fluctuations in tone, or an odd sort of distorted sound. The reverb transformer is the smallest one, located in the center of the chassis.

 

[Bleak]

Oh, sorry. I was talking some technical stuff. Sometimes, if the cables connecting the reverb pan to the chassis aren't hooked up right, it won't behave correctly. This is because one of the jacks are grounded, and the other is insulated. By the looks of the second picture, it looks as if the connections are made correctly to the pan (the grounded (white) is on the left and the insulated (grey) is on the right). I can't say about the chassis connection, since you didn't have a picture. The grey connector should be closer to the front of the chassis, though, and the white should be closer to the power transformer.

You will know if your reverb pan is busted if either you don't hear any reverb, or if you open it up and see that the springs are broken.

You will know if your reverb transformer is cooked if there are strange fluctuations in tone, or an odd sort of distorted sound. The reverb transformer is the smallest one, located in the center of the chassis.

No worries on the technical terms - it's all a learning experience

I'm pretty sure it's the second one - the tone definitely changes as I add/remove the reverb on the knob. Seeing as it's a transformer, I'm assuming that wouldn't be too easy of a fix, right? I may take it by the local amp guru to see what he says about it.

Thanks again everybody for filling me in on the amp, it's way cooler knowing a little better on what I actually have.

 

[mefgames]

Try the Switch Doctor for that all in one switch.

http://www.boogieauctions.com/switch-doctor-quad-footswitch-for-mesa-mark-iii-amp-3/


Good Luck. Mike

 

[Bleak]

Try the Switch Doctor for that all in one switch.

http://www.boogieauctions.com/switch-doctor-quad-footswitch-for-mesa-mark-iii-amp-3/


Good Luck. Mike

Thanks!


Just noticed the two outer 6L6's were glowing blue pretty heavily. It actually looks pretty cool