School me on the varieties of Mesa Mark IIIs

ners

ners

Well-known member
Which ones are more/less desirable?

My local tech has a rackmount (broken reverb + GEQ) sitting around for $1750 and seemed to indicate he'd probably come down a little on that price. I have zero desire to own a rackmount amp, but am open to obtaining a head shell for it if its worth it. I'll need to go back to check the stripe color and S/N.

Judging by wikipedia it seems the Black Stripes are most similar to IIC+s (same transformer) so I'm assuming those are what people want, but honestly I'm not familiar at all with the IIIs. Anything else I should be looking for if I go back?

Any cool/necessary mods for the IIIs? There's a couple IIBs listed near me as well, so also debating turning those combos into a IIB+ head shell.
 
I'm curious about this too, even though I own a couple of MkIII's (and several other Boogies). I never have figured out all the differences and intricacies of them. I just bought mine back when they were relatively cheap. They sound good.

FWIW, I suspect the rackmount started life as a combo and someone rehoused it into a rack mount fixture. Those used to be readily available from Mesa for exactly that application. I have a couple of those around here.
 
This will basically tell you what you need to know, which seems like you’ve already read.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa/Boogie_Mark_Series

Other than that;

The Boogie board forums will lay it straight to you and tell you the differences are minute, which is true in my experience. The differences are over exaggerated in true Internet forum fashion. HOWEVER, I will say the blue stripe was noticeably more aggressive in the highs than the red and purple. Haven’t played the other stripes to compare further but I would bet and trust those guys are right.

This forum will tell you don’t bother with one. It’s too aggressive in the highs that can’t be dialed out (laughable) and worlds apart from a IIC+/++ which is the only mark that matters other than a IVb. IIC+ warrants the extra 6k for the feel bro.

I own a red stripe and I love it. Super raw, aggressive and lows that shake the walls. It leans toward the vintage side of sound characteristics in terms of rawness. Best way I can explain it is if you played a MKIV, they have the same voicing but the IV has a modern polished sheen over the tone where the III has no filtering. The leads are super fluid on the IV where the III is brash but still sings.
 
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ANY Mark III is absolutely fantastic. I wouldn't get too hung up on one over the other. All of 'em have plenty of the singing qualities notorious for Boogie.

Tonally, they're all more alike than they are different. I have long owned the Red & Purple Stripe heads running through matching half back cabs.

As always, the biggest tonal change is swapping out speakers/cabs. However, no matter if it's EVM, V30, T75, etc these amps can be dialed in to absolutely pummel.
 
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Purple Stripe here ............. it's my favorite amp ...........I haven't played any others though to give an opinion on any comparison ..... so actually my post here is useless ... I guess ... lol
I do agree on speaker choice makes a huge difference ( but with any amp right ?? ) I absolutely love the way Mark's sound into a Marshall GT-75 loaded cab .... they sound good with green backs too .
With my old 80's halfback cab .... I left two of the black shadows in ..... and put two 8 Ohm GT-75's in it ..... then I made a back panel to fill the void ... these cabs sound AMAZING when you close them up ....
1730635872297.jpeg
 
My 2c...
Bought a 2 for 1 deal(not really lol) when these could be found for 6-700 bucks. A Red,and a Purple. Both DRG, loaded with 415s and Tungsram pre tubes. Internet lore would have you believe the Red was the one to get, but the purple wiped the floor with it. Much better sounding, and had plenty of gain unlike what I read on the net.
Neither though would compare to the 2C SRG combo I nabbed for 700, just a raw monster that became a + but in hindsight I should have let it be stock.
@GJgo should chime in as he's very well schooled in all things Mesa.
 
I have owned every format of mark iii multiple times and my favorite was probably the red stripe 100w, the purple stripe 180w, and a + 100w. The common factor that usually produces my favorite mark iii is the half power section over the simul. The amp does have a sort of grating high end vs the iic+ and iv, I think it’s one of the defining traits that make it “aggressive” but it can make it hard to dial in. The blue stripe is probably the harshest, green is smoother and close to a Iva. The red has the best overall tone balancing aggression and a little smoother highs, the purple and no stripe are a little more open, with the purple seeming to be the middle ground between the red and no mark. The best feel is found in the no mark through red stripe, but mostly in the 100/60 models or especially the 180w coliseum.
 
ners said:
Judging by wikipedia it seems the Black Stripes are most similar to IIC+s (same transformer) so I'm assuming those are what people want, but honestly I'm not familiar at all with the IIIs. Anything else I should be looking for if I go back?
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FYI only some of the really early black dot IIIs have the 105 power transformer from the IIC+. So even if it's a black stripe/dot, it probably doesn't have that PT.
 
Holy-diver said:
I have owned every format of mark iii multiple times and my favorite was probably the red stripe 100w, the purple stripe 180w, and a + 100w. The common factor that usually produces my favorite mark iii is the half power section over the simul. The amp does have a sort of grating high end vs the iic+ and iv, I think it’s one of the defining traits that make it “aggressive” but it can make it hard to dial in. The blue stripe is probably the harshest, green is smoother and close to a Iva. The red has the best overall tone balancing aggression and a little smoother highs, the purple and no stripe are a little more open, with the purple seeming to be the middle ground between the red and no mark. The best feel is found in the no mark through red stripe, but mostly in the 100/60 models or especially the 180w coliseum.
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My 180W blue stripe coliseum is still stiff for solos. It’s just naturally fast tracking in general so that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Your playing has to be on point for soloing. It’s not like a 5150 IIIS where there’s gain to hide behind. The extra bright character makes notes stay out front at all times.
 
I've had all the stripes, some many times over. In a nutshell what I've gathered is a few thoughts. I've got demos of most of them on my YT.
  • The black and purple are more raw / IIC+ like.
  • The red, blue & green were a departure more towards hair metal. More gain & aggression. Still raw, but more IIC++ like.
  • That said, IIIs are not IIs and have their own thing going on. IIBs and IIIs can be very good, and there's a reason IIC+ sell for 3X what these do.
  • The blues are often pretty damn harsh, other than the 1999 60W I had. That one was sweet. It had a Green preamp though so who knows.
  • At the end of the day my favorite has ALWAYS been a III+, regardless of stripe. This is the way.
  • With any of these vintage amps there's just as much difference amp to amp as components have aged as there is in stripes, revisions etc.. Need to own a bunch to start to see the big picture.
Until I got a green I thought reds were the sweet spot, but they're now my #2. (...Maybe since I'm a pentode guy) this green I picked up is without question my favorite of the 10 IIIs I've had and the first one that's made my permanent keeper list. Just gigged it the other night, working on uploading a vid now.

Side note, a loop modded IIB with the RP9C preamp is a monster amp, possibly my favorite rhythm amp of all time.
 
So sounds like I'll have to get real lucky on the PT front if I'm looking for closer to a IIC+ sound but black/purple still worth investing in. Not sure if picking up a IIB would be cheaper/better to get a Headshell and a "+" mod...

Googling around seems like there are some "+" mods for the IIIs as well but from what I can tell they're basically just to fix some volume inconsistencies or depending upon the model a less desirable variation in cap value.
 
GJgo said:
Side note, a loop modded IIB with the RP9C preamp is a monster amp, possibly my favorite rhythm amp of all time.
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IIB+ vs III+ for non-solo tones? Probably use it for thrashy and chuggy riffs since I'm garbage at leads.

There are two IIB combos by me for $1000 & $1300, and I'm positive I can talk the $1k guy down since he's been sitting on it for a while based on my prior chats. Given I'd plan to buy a head shell and probably do some + mods on either choice this seems the cheaper route, but I don't mind spending a little more for a III if tone is a better fit.
 
GJgo said:
IIBs have a big range in how aggressive they are as the preamps updated over the years. The early ones are loose in the ass & very classic rock. Example here-


The later ones with the RP9C preamp can kick some serious ass, especially when loop modded. Examples here-
https://www.youtube.com/@TIGHTENmetal/search?query=Mark IIB III
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Heh I've definitely watched your channel before...

In this video I'm finding I like the III+ the best actually.


In this video I'm torn between the III+ and the 2C+, the IIB+ seems brightest and loses some chug. Not sure how much the boost effects comparison though.
 
The thing about close micing is it doesn't pick up the pummeling in the room that an amp can produce. That particular IIB+ will assasinate any other Mark in existence in terms of sheer devastation. Clips are tough to judge in that regard.

All that said, this green stripe III+ is becomig my #1 fav amp in the live band mix just because of how good R2 sits.
 
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