who here has tried a mark III NO stripe?

[JimAnsell]

just curious how they are in comparison to the other III's.

i know there are very little differences between mark III's, but since these are so early, i'm just curious if there are any major differences i'm going to hear when i get mine tomorrow.

 

[boogiemon]

Couldn't tell you about the difference since i only have one, but how they got so much attitude into such a small box i'll never know.

Someday i'd like to get my hands on a loaded green stripe: it'd be neat to have the 1st & last of the series.

If you have another one you can compare your no-stripe to when you get it, i'd be interested to know what you think.

just curious how they are in comparison to the other III's.

i know there are very little differences between mark III's, but since these are so early, i'm just curious if there are any major differences i'm going to hear when i get mine tomorrow.

 

[Neptical]

eh---not a difference to these ears after 23+ years...but if ya wanna be picky about it..

 

[JimAnsell]

the serial number is 15183, so its a very early 3.
made in 5/85, and DOES have the 105 transformer.

the really cool thing, is that it has a mark IIb faceplate, with pullshift over the bass, and the pull rhythm 2 over the middle knob clearly stamped after the fact. it also says gain boost over the master 1.
and it has the PRESENCE KNOB ON THE FRONT!!1 which is the way it should be.
i hate the presence knob on the back. its the worst layout feature of any mark series amp.
so, thats awesome.

no reverb either, which is fine by me.

so far, i just got to play it at bedroom volumes, and there isn't much you can tell.
so far, just sounds like a mark III. the clean actually sounded a little bit more chimey than usual, but that might just be the tubes. its got EH 6l6's, and svetlanta 12ax7s.

full report with pics later.

 

[JimAnsell]

well i jammed on the no stripe for a while through a metal grill (both halfs closed back) boogie cab with c90s.
i tried the svetlantas as well as tung sols in the pre.
i really like tung sols, so i prefered those.
i can hear a small difference between the no and purple stripe on the lead channel.
the no stripe just seems to be a tad more agressive than the purple. the purple is slightly smoother. very slightly. both amps sound great, and really most mark III's sound slightly different anyway, due to their age, tubes, etc.

i've already traded away the purple stripe, so i didn't really spend much time playing that one today.

this one is definitly staying for a while.
i don't think i'll ever see another long head, no stripe, with the presence knob on the front.

 

[Mark Fore]

i don't think i'll ever see another long head, no stripe, with the presence knob on the front.

Could it be the "rarest boogie of all"? :wink: