Early Mark IIB coliseum serials

[GJgo]

The guts are completely different between the II and the III. It's a totally different sound, really. Did you play the amp?

Generally speaking I'd take any Mark II over any Mark III.

 

[glpg80]

The guts are completely different between the II and the III. It's a totally different sound, really. Did you play the amp?

Generally speaking I'd take any Mark II over any Mark III.

I did not. It’s a collectors type thrift store with 40k plus valued gibsons and such. The owner isn’t normally a collector of that type of amp but he has it because he knows they’re worth something.

Do they sound as aggressive and gainy as a mark III?

 

[GJgo]

No, but they have more clarity & the gain structure is a lot sweeter.

Mark III red-blue-green are very aggressive amps. They are organic like the Mark II, but lack the MKII clarity.

 

[Racerxrated]

No, but they have more clarity & the gain structure is a lot sweeter.

Mark III red-blue-green are very aggressive amps. They are organic like the Mark II, but lack the MKII clarity.

I would disagree a little; all the 2Bs I owned (3 Coli, 1 HRG) had plentiful gain, maybe a little less than a 3 but the tone was far better, like you said..no harshness at all like 3s can be. Rounder, sweeter more pleasing all the way around. The only issue is getting a tight response...they are picky with pedals.

 

[GJgo]

I agree with you in the quality aspect, but he didn't ask if they had ENOUGH gain, he asked if they had as much as a III- which compared to a red/blue/green, they do not. Those are arguably better thrash amps but they all give me ear strain that the IIs do not.

 

[IIBornotIIB]

There‘s no modding to take a 2 channel IIB and make it a 3 channel III. Topology is completely different. Personally, I’d take a loop-modded IIB over a III, for overall tone. But.. that’s just me. The only exception would be my friend’s III Blue Stripe long head which was ++’d and R2 mod… best III I’ve ever played.

 

[glpg80]

I can snag some more info if anyone is interested. I’ll see if I can stop by and see if it’s still around and get an asking price and some pictures. I know they aren’t common and I know for a fact his regular customers won’t know what it is. He’s more vintage fender and vox type of amps - a mark IIB sticks out

I could see adding a mark III with graphic EQ into my arsenal. I really love the tone of them. All of my amps are at or close to that level of gain Including the modded 74 when it’s boosted.

 

[Racerxrated]

I can snag some more info if anyone is interested. I’ll see if I can stop by and see if it’s still around and get an asking price and some pictures. I know they aren’t common and I know for a fact his regular customers won’t know what it is. He’s more vintage fender and vox type of amps - a mark IIB sticks out

I could see adding a mark III with graphic EQ into my arsenal. I really love the tone of them. All of my amps are at or close to that level of gain Including the modded 74 when it’s boosted.

Then IMO you should grab that 2B (if it's reasonably priced) and with your skills, try the loop mod. I'm not sure if it's out there on the net, but the main thing is it makes the loop usable...that alone gives it far more gain. A stock or loop modded B will sound far better than the harsh flat and sometimes very sterile Mark IIIs. I had a purple and red stripe, DRG IIIs in house at the same time when they could be had for 700 bucks. Then I got a 2C and quickly sold the 2 Mk IIIs.

 

[glpg80]

So I went back to the store and found some information. The mark IIB near me is from 1978 and is an original 1 owner amp. The dude is wanting to sell it for $3500.

You can see the serial number is 10473

I’m not sure whether it’s a good price or not? It has a 12” EV speaker and can be switched from 120W to 60W.

I’m not sure if it’s modded. It does come with an original spare preamp tube made in Hungary. I haven’t seen a halo getter like that before.

He was firm on the price as it was on consignment and he is friends with the owner.

I need my Mesa friends to help me out here. I don’t know much about them or whether this is a good deal or not.

 

[Racerxrated]

The glass alone is worth a bunch…those are Mesa 415s and in this market maybe 200 per tube. The pre should all be Tungsrams; great tubes as well. That one is a late version so it may be very tight and closer to a 2C with the last B preamp board the 9C. And, it’s an export version which is very desirable, wood/wicker combo also a plus. In this market 3500 is fair. Go play it and bring a boost pedal, but it may not need one..my old late 2B Coli was tight like a Mk 3.

 

[GJgo]

I'm pretty tickled that people are starting to see the awesomeness of IIBs.

 

[IIBornotIIB]

I had one very similar to that, about 200 units before it, with x101 PT, but no voltage selector (hard wired for 117V). Was a great amp. I had Mike B loop mod it, thinking it would be even better: one of the handful I modded that I regretted - it lost its mojo. There’s about $800 worth of glass in it: STR415’s and Tungsram pre’s throughout,I presume? (some of my faves for Mesa Marks). Key would be: 1.) Play it, and if it speaks to you just do it, and, 2.) see the guts, or at least know if it’s been recently serviced by Mesa. If so, it will be good to go for a long time. They don’t make ‘em like that any more. IIB’s are awesome!

 

[glpg80]

I’m a little confused though. In post 46 you mention you’d take a loop modded IIB over a III but then mentioned you regretted loop modding a IIB in post 52?

For 3500 it better sound righteous. I have no use for the tubes or the cab/EV and would be selling them both in the classifieds to recoup some of the cost. I’d likely get a head cabinet to convert.

Do they play nicely with greenbacks? How about taking pedals well? I’ve read some marks are picky with both?

I’ll definitely take a Les Paul, an SD-1, and 3500 cash. If I could sell the power tubes for $700 and the cabinet for $300 Id be happy.

My question is why is this model fetching so much more than other marks I see online? Is it the features? Just seems steep…I’m hoping it gives up the goods and has been refreshed but honestly given it’s condition it likely has not been seen by Mike B at Mesa. The damage on the front was from the original owners dog.

 

[IIBornotIIB]

Yes, I’d still prefer a IIB over a III. My comment was based on the before/after comparison of modding that particular amp. It was still real good after modding, but I felt it was better before modding. Thats where the regret comment came in. I’ve modded quite a few Mark amps, with varying degrees of success. Some have turned out stellar, while a few cases did not. so, Lesson learned by me: if it sounds great as-is, don’t mess with it.

Give the amp a test run. It may be just what you’re looking for, or, maybe not. As for greenbacks, I‘ve tried higher-power variants, but revert back to EVM’s - the amp was made around those, IMHO.

Regarding the price - it seems a bit steep, but is a hardwood, full-featured model with nice glass. You could probably part it out and recover over $1K. Or, if you think you really want a III, there’s a hardwood blue stripe that popped up on reverb with local pick up in NJ (not sure where you’re at?) for considerably less. Good luck…

 

[GJgo]

One of the best tones I ever had was with a Mark IIC++, an ESP Kamikaze (low output pickups) and a 1960TV Greenback cab.

Weezer's Blue Album was a Mark I Super 60 and a Greenback cab.

One of the nice things about a good Mark II is that they sound awesome with pretty much any speaker.

 

[Racerxrated]

Yes, I’d still prefer a IIB over a III. My comment was based on the before/after comparison of modding that particular amp. It was still real good after modding, but I felt it was better before modding. Thats where the regret comment came in. I’ve modded quite a few Mark amps, with varying degrees of success. Some have turned out stellar, while a few cases did not. so, Lesson learned by me: if it sounds great as-is, don’t mess with it.

Give the amp a test run. It may be just what you’re looking for, or, maybe not. As for greenbacks, I‘ve tried higher-power variants, but revert back to EVM’s - the amp was made around those, IMHO.

Regarding the price - it seems a bit steep, but is a hardwood, full-featured model with nice glass. You could probably part it out and recover over $1K. Or, if you think you really want a III, there’s a hardwood blue stripe that popped up on reverb with local pick up in NJ (not sure where you’re at?) for considerably less. Good luck…

The regret you had reminds me of my very first 2C+...a 2C SRG. Picked it up for 750 from a NY GC. That thing was INCREDIBLE as a stock 2C...open, raw with just a touch of compression. I gigged a few times with it and my old sound guy said it was the best tone he's ever heard, and he used to go out and run sound every summer in one of the Sturgis campgrounds. Amazing amp. Of course, being a 2C meant I HAD to + it....and I did. Still sounded great but it lost a bit of that unreal tone I heard. But I should have left it alone and waited for another C+.

 

[Racerxrated]

One of the best tones I ever had was with a Mark IIC++, an ESP Kamikaze (low output pickups) and a 1960TV Greenback cab.

Weezer's Blue Album was a Mark I Super 60 and a Greenback cab.

One of the nice things about a good Mark II is that they sound awesome with pretty much any speaker.

Mesas in general, at least the F Triples and C+s have sounded great with any speaker I have....GBs, 65s, Marshall Vintages, and of course V30s/MC90-EV.

 

[dr teeth]

My 2 cents are pass on that 82-83 (not 78 which would be IIA and much lower serial) IIB. I just went thru all my 415's and 416's that I had around loose and some are unusable and the readings (using a weber bias rite in a DRG red stripe) were all over the map.

Now I'm not in GJgo's camp being tickled that so many people are waking up to the IIB. I recently mentioned to Jeremy (when commenting on nomads and stilettos going up in price when so many black faces are dirt cheap) that all the forum speak about the IIC+ being better than Charlie's angels naked feeding you grapes over the decades has kept the lowly IIB as an also ran.

 

[GJgo]

I know a guy in Chicago that will buy any working 415, he has 100 + of them hoarded so he can always match sets. I've stayed away from them in general because at this age, if you can't afford to do that you generally aren't going to get good matched sets.

I'm stretching at the moment to find a good set of reliable tubes for the 105 C+ I just picked up. Short supply these days. I may have found an A/B pair but I'm coming up short on a Class A pair. My spare stash are all 440s which aren't the best choice for the hot iron.

 

[dr teeth]

So for the record even though I have 6 B's currently is they suck and everyone should focus back on the IIC+ please to stop the B prices from becoming a relevant amp.

That said there are still some deals since the general population hasn't come around completely to much higher prices. I'd say grab one cheap and as said mod it if it doesn't sound great with the caveat of making sure you have V1 and v2 tubes that are known good and to your liking and put some quality time in with it.

My S IIC sounds so great with the 4FB redbacks I never wanted to mod it to plus though recent prices made me think about it.

I'm not tossing my III's anytime soon and the blue stripe is a venerable gigging amp. Well I'll prob sell my DRG blue stripe but that's only because I have a blue stripe KRG. Since the blue stripe was available (S, H, K) through the entire green stripe production there are plenty out there and is a good place to start if you want the highest gain amp mesa ever made. The red stripe is the chased (due to C+ references if you ask me). I only hope I land the purple stripe K before people start liking that amp. So far the purple is my favorite but that's not a popular opinion.