Just scored a 1999 Mark III. (w/ preamp rev check)

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GJgo

GJgo

Well-known member
I pounced on a CG piece last week, from the (front only) picture I thought I was getting a late Mark III green stripe (new style Tolex & black GEQ panel). Well it arrived & not exactly- it's a blue stripe SRG. It's in showroom condition though so I'm not mad about it. Plus it's pentode which is what I was going for. The cool part is that based on the s/n it's the 6th to last MKIII made, from July '99. Betcha didn't know they made them that late!

Also interesting is the preamp board is a Rev H. All my previous red & blue stripes were a Rev G. Can anyone with a green stripe confirm what rev their preamp board is? @dr teeth ?
 
That's really weird that it's a blue stripe?? It should be a green, since that was the last stripe they made. Shouldn't it?
 
Right, and if it's wired pentode it would be a green stripe...unless it's been modded? I have a pair of green stripes but I'm all laid up from hip surgery so I can't get to them at the moment. Sorry I'm no help, but congrats on the SRG!
 
anomaly said:
That's really weird that it's a blue stripe?? It should be a green, since that was the last stripe they made. Shouldn't it?
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Green stripes were ONLY SimulClass. During the green run, if they built a Class A/B amp (mostly 60s) they still blue striped it. My question now revolves around a potential preamp board change for the green run, and what the blues of the era were using..?
 
Meeotch said:
Right, and if it's wired pentode it would be a green stripe...unless it's been modded? I have a pair of green stripes but I'm all laid up from hip surgery so I can't get to them at the moment. Sorry I'm no help, but congrats on the SRG!
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All green stripe Simul amps had the Class A pair wired in pentode. However, all H & S amps for all MKII and MKIII have always been pentode.
 
GJgo said:
from July '99. Betcha didn't know they made them that late!
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I'd read that somewhere, but have never seen a 90's mark III, out of the dozen or so i owned. I think they may have all been custom ordered after the mark IV came out, but i'm not sure.
 
JimAnsell said:
I'd read that somewhere, but have never seen a 90's mark III, out of the dozen or so i owned. I think they may have all been custom ordered after the mark IV came out, but i'm not sure.
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I've heard that was the case. They must have had a pile of parts around still.

This is my 8th III and the first one from the 90s. It's still more raw & brash than the MKIVs I had, though not as much so as the earlier reds & blues I've owned. That's what's got me wondering about this Rev H preamp.

Honestly it doesn't sound very good at low volume under high gain. The gain structure falls apart a little which is weird, then again MkIIIs aren't as smooth as IIs so... When you crank it to band volume though it's very ripping! Like all other IIIs it does naturally have that "has a blanket over it" sound when compared to IIs, but I can really mitigate that & make it sound killer with two tricks-

- Run the presence WAY up & compensate with bringing 6600 down. This really "opens up" the IIIs.
- Run a good boost. My trusty old OD1X is killing it here.

So far so good, looking forward to seeing how it sits in the band. I'm sure I'll get sound clips too.
 
Pics!
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Yes- the "Super 60s" are consistently the most aggressive of the IIs and IIIs. Super pissed off and aggressive. Honestly I think they have the best cut of all the power sections, and are plenty loud still. They don't have the girth of the bigger Marks, but listening to this clip, they are still a lot more girthy in the room than the phone is picking up on.
 
Is there any resource for this rumor that all greens are simil?
I have a green HRGX and I'm pretty sure it's not. But maybe i need to go look again. It has a 60/100W switch on the back

Capacitors are dated 1998 so story checks out, just odd that it's a blue stripe as I also thought greens were the last edition, and mine is from 1989 or something
 
GJgo said:
Green stripes were ONLY SimulClass. During the green run, if they built a Class A/B amp (mostly 60s) they still blue striped it. My question now revolves around a potential preamp board change for the green run, and what the blues of the era were using..?
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ah just read this. Makes sense

The preamp circuit differences between blue and green are well documented. The c30 capacitor is really the only major difference - should be 500pf on the blue and nothing on the green. I put 1nF (IIC+ selection) into my green on a switch and it's good. Blue sits somewhere in the middle.
 
WarHed said:
Is there any resource for this rumor that all greens are simil?
I have a green HRGX and I'm pretty sure it's not. But maybe i need to go look again. It has a 60/100W switch on the back

Capacitors are dated 1998 so story checks out, just odd that it's a blue stripe as I also thought greens were the last edition, and mine is from 1989 or something
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Take a look at your OT & see if it says Simul or not. And / or check the bias- on the Simul amps, the outer Class A slots are much hotter than the inner A/B slots. I'd be curious to know.
 
anomaly said:
That's really weird that it's a blue stripe?? It should be a green, since that was the last stripe they made. Shouldn't it?
Click to expand...

Blue stripe HRG and SRG MKIII amps were made right up until the end of the MKIII line. The Blue stripe DRG was discontinued when the Green stripe DRG was released (some overlap occurred as there was a transitional period).
 
Wizard of Ozz said:
Blue stripe HRG and SRG MKIII amps were made right up until the end of the MKIII line. The Blue stripe DRG was discontinued when the Green stripe DRG was released (some overlap occurred as there was a transitional period).
Click to expand...

You know your Marks. Any significance to this etching?
I'm assuming it's just a previous owner but figured it's worth asking.

gl4T1KE.jpg
 
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