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

[GJgo]

I've been cranking the amp tonight, and chatting with @Racerxrated and @Beyond Black about it. I have this OCD thing where I send all my old Marks in to Mike B. for service & modding, which he would do at about 2 months right now, but on the surface the amp seems to need nothing.

In addition to the presence hack & the OD1X in front I identified one more trick that has really brought the amp into that Mark II tone & feels ballpark. It's now very squishy & satisfying to play, and has a tight cutting tone. The final piece of the pie was to downjack the speaker jack to darken & tighten the tone (because IIIs are inherently more fizzy). IOW, 16 ohm cab -> 8 ohm jack or 8 ohm cab -> 4 ohm jack. Try it, seriously.

 

[Strandberg Junkie]

IOW, 16 ohm cab -> 8 ohm jack or 8 ohm cab -> 4 ohm jack. Try it, seriously.

Been using a single 16 ohm Scumback 12" with 8 ohm amp outs for a few years now.
Did it first for the slight attenuation and then realized the tone benefit too.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

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

Previous owner or tech.

 

[Dave L]

In addition to the presence hack & the OD1X in front I identified one more trick that has really brought the amp into that Mark II tone & feels ballpark. It's now very squishy & satisfying to play, and has a tight cutting tone. The final piece of the pie was to downjack the speaker jack to darken & tighten the tone (because IIIs are inherently more fizzy). IOW, 16 ohm cab -> 8 ohm jack or 8 ohm cab -> 4 ohm jack. Try it, seriously.

I´d entirely forgotten about this, I did it with my old blue Coli but haven´t tried it with the III+ I have now. Thanks for the tip.

 

[dcburn]

Been using a single 16 ohm Scumback 12" with 8 ohm amp outs for a few years now.
Did it first for the slight attenuation and then realized the tone benefit too.

Could you possibly expand on this a little?

I run a Scumback 16 ohm with my JTM45, at 16 ohm.
There are benefits to running amp at 8 ohm?

 

[Strandberg Junkie]

Could you possibly expand on this a little?

I run a Scumback 16 ohm with my JTM45, at 16 ohm.
There are benefits to running amp at 8 ohm?

Rule of thumb is it's safe to use higher impedance loads and not safe at all to use lower.

Using 16 ohm on the 8 ohm out gives you about -3dB of volume attenuation and it rolls off a bit of high end fuzziness as a result.

 

[dcburn]

Rule of thumb is it's safe to use higher impedance loads and not safe at all to use lower.

Using 16 ohm on the 8 ohm out gives me about -3dB of volume attenuation and it rolls off a bit of high end fuzziness as a result.

Ok, appreciate it.
Already run a PS2, was just wondering if i would notice any difference...
Thank you.

 

[Strandberg Junkie]

Ok, appreciate it.
Already run a PS2, was just wondering if i would notice any difference...
Thank you.

I've used it this way with the original Power Station and didn't notice any negative impact.

 

[dcburn]

I've used it this way with the original Power Station and didn't notice any negative impact.

Oh, I was just wondering aloud if used in conjunction with the PS, would be redundant?
I'll have to try it out for myself...

Appreciate your time and experience!

 

[lespaul6]

are they about to reissue these? like today? edit... I guess they are previewing each mark model each day this week and maybe end up with a new mark model 6 or 7 when its done? will see

 

[GJgo]

Alright here's tone test #1. A blind preamp test. See if you can spot the lowly MkIII.

Preamp 1 - 0:00
Preamp 2 - 0:32
Preamp 3 - 1:04
Preamp 4 - 1:35
Settings - 2:08
Reveal - 2:15

 

[Dave M]

Alright here's tone test #1. A blind preamp test. See if you can spot the lowly MkIII.

Maybe do a favor and don't double track/delay each one. Just a straight mono track, no BS.

When I had a Quad preamp the MK III mode (Ch2 Lead) reminded me of the MK III combo I once had - either into a sealed 4x12, or 2x12, or its combo 1x12 speaker. The Quad's MK II(C+?) mode (Ch1, Lead) sounded and felt different. The differences were noticeable with a dew different power amp arrangements.

 

[GJgo]

Maybe do a favor and don't double track/delay each one. Just a straight mono track, no BS.

When I had a Quad preamp the MK III mode (Ch2 Lead) reminded me of the MK III combo I once had - either into a sealed 4x12, or 2x12, or its combo 1x12 speaker. The Quad's MK II(C+?) mode (Ch1, Lead) sounded and felt different. The differences were noticeable with a dew different power amp arrangements.

Ok, here you go.

P.S. there's no delay in the YT one. It's just triple tracked and not time-aligned in post.

 

[Dave M]

Ok, here you go.

P.S. there's no delay in the YT one. It's just triple tracked and not time-aligned in post.

Thanks. I'll check it out!

"not time aligned" is a time delay, and correct terminology, even if only 8-16ms, etc.
I'm not talking about "echo", if that's what you might have been thinking.

 

[GJgo]

Ok here's test #2. Eeking an actual tone with clarity out of a MKIII.

All Amp- 3:32
Presence Trick- 3:57
W/ OD1X Boost- 4:22
W/ Fortin TS9 Boost- 4:47

 

[SBlue]

Alright here's tone test #1. A blind preamp test. See if you can spot the lowly MkIII.

Preamp 1 - 0:00
Preamp 2 - 0:32
Preamp 3 - 1:04
Preamp 4 - 1:35
Settings - 2:08
Reveal - 2:15

I've guessed the MK-3 wrong.
I thought it was the Preamp 2.
I liked them in this order:
1- Preamp 3
2- Preamp 4
3- Preamp 1
4- Preamp 2
The smooth aggression of the C+ always get it's spot as my favorite.

 

[braintheory]

Ok, here you go.

P.S. there's no delay in the YT one. It's just triple tracked and not time-aligned in post.

This link is imo much better for discerning and hearing the sound of them. 3 was the clear favorite for me. It sounded most together, firm and aggressive. 2 & 4 were close for me, but I slightly preferred 2. 2 sounds lighter/airy/less dense than 4, but more clarity & detail/tonal nuance aka a little more 3D. 1 was a clear last place for me. Noticeably less nuance/tonal complexity, detail, less clarity, kinda washed out vs the other 3

In the first clip posted it was harder to discern, but I also only have access for o my iPhone at the moment for listening. I much prefer this more straight shooter type clip in the future like this SoundCloud link

 

[anomaly]

I like the sound of that Fortin ts-9 boosting the Mark III.

 

[braintheory]

I like the sound of that Fortin ts-9 boosting the Mark III.

It’s for me one of the top 4 or 5 boosts I’ve had of the 150+ pedals I’ve been through. The one thing Fortin got right lol. I even had it next to a vintage TS808 & OD9 that I borrowed from a friend. I like the extra aggression & punch of the Fortin TS808 over the TS9 version, but it’s noisier

 

[CrystalSky]

are they about to reissue these? like today? edit... I guess they are previewing each mark model each day this week and maybe end up with a new mark model 6 or 7 when its done? will see

They ended up with 7 it comes out