School me on the varieties of Mesa Mark IIIs

  • Thread starter Thread starter ners
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GJgo mentioned another very true point, particular amp to amp makes as much of a difference as any stripe. There is definitely special amps in any version.
 
Preferring the IIB+ on this video, making me think that if the III doesn't have the 2C+ transformer then maybe the IIB is a better investment (especially since it's probably $500+ cheaper).
 
Man, the transformers just aren't all that important. Do a swap A/B test in the same amp at the same bias and you'd be hard pressed to tell a difference. IMO this is just part of the natural amp to amp variance.

Here are a couple live clips for a room sound- First the IIB+ (camo guitar), and then next the III+ (black guitar).



 
I call this one the 3+ Hybrid. It started its life as a No Stripe DRG with the 105 transformer. As soon as I plugged in I knew something was wrong so off it went to Mesa. Mike said someone butchered the board and it was easier to just replace it. The only board he had was a CP1H so R2 has a little more gain. I'll probably never sell it.
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tons of boogie experience since the 81-82 IIB fetron era, heavily into the III era when my besty bought a no stripe loaded coli new to add to his IIB combo and rack III, owned an early RS signed IIB loaded coli woody, non eq/verb/stripe III, triaxis-395 rig and currently own a blue III geq/verb head.

i like the comments regarding the blue being more aggressive as it’s kind of the catch all quintessential boogie mark III experience.

but a greenstripe combo my friend let me hang onto for a year was really sweet in the deep cleans and singing velvet legato horn lead tone department. different kind of tight and aggressive in the chunky rock rhythm grind. the coli and then the blue are way better at that.

green


blue


given those pros and cons for my tastes green is probably my favorite III, i greatly prefer III’s over IVs which i have used, or rectos having mixed single/dual/triple rectos live.
also really dig the VII.
 
The VII is actually what has sent me down this rabbit hole, but used prices on those are only going to continue dropping.

And with how the used market is I figured I could probably get a deal on a vintage model and mod it to more desirable specs; so in case I ever want to move it on at worse I'll break even (I'm more of a Marshall guy but Marks still sound sick).
 
I have a IIC+ DRGX and a Mark III Blue Stripe DRGX++. The Mark III is a fantastic amp. Mine has the R2 mod, so four channels and fully footswitchable. More saturated and brighter than my IIC+ ("hair metal"). Trick is to keep the presence around 2. I think a lot of people don't read the manual. It explicitly says that 3 on the Presence control is "unity." When you go above 3, both high and low frequencies increase. When you go below 3, the highs and lows will both be rolled off and the amp will be much smoother with a more present midrange. Use the 6600 slider to compensate for any treble you want.
 
You're right about the presence & the frequencies, however I look at it differently. When you run a low presence and compensate with 6600, the amp's feel is more 2D and flat. When you run a high presence and compensate with 6600, the amp feels more 3D & punchy. I run mine on 7. Try it sometime.

That said, I have had a number of IIIs that were harsh / unusable with the presence over 3-4, and that has been a deal breaker for me on those amps. I've also had a number of IIIs that I could dime the presence and it was fine with a 6600 offset, those to me were better specimens. Again, amp to amp variance.
 
Op: if you dig all things boogie you're gonna like the iiis.But they do have a rawness to them that u might need to get used to.Ive settled on a regular iii red stripe but would like to try a green sometime.
My keepers for life tho are my iii red and blue colis,+ my iic+.The ryth 2 mod on iiis really make it nicer and easier to use.
When I do the 80s band stuff I'll often stay in ryth.2 on the iiis most of the night unless I wanna kick in ch 3 for more gain.
Lately I've been running my iic+ w/ my red stripe coli into a head switcher and completely switching between the 2.Its awesome. I love it.
 
GJgo said:
Pull Deep hardwired on the JP2C is IMO why it sounds boxy. Depending on the cab, I'd recommend trying pull deep vs. pushed with more 80 to see which amount of those mid mids work better for you.

That's the nice thing about push / pulls, it gives you options.
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I don’t pull the bass knob on my coliseum. Sounds too woofy with my cabs. Rather keep it in and push the pre mids to get more punch.
 
glpg80 said:
I don’t pull the bass knob on my coliseum. Sounds too woofy with my cabs. Rather keep it in and push the pre mids to get more punch.
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Agreed, and I do like the bass pull option for when I'm going for Fendery cleans.

I find I move around a lot on the push pulls depending on my cab and mood. They really add a lot to the amp's ability. For example, right now I'm trying a new tone with everything pushed (but the lead channel pull) for better note seperation and some cocked wah 5150 style mids. While the push pulls do make their thing more aggressive, I find they also mud it up just a little to where I can get more clarity under high gain with them pushed, so long as I can still get the aggression I want in other ways.

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ners said:
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.
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Had a Mark III black stripe combo with the + mod for about a dozen years as my only amplifier with little desire for anything else. Sold it a few years after acquiring a blue stripe coliseum. Maybe one stripe or some options are more ideal to you than others but I'd like to think they're all excellent amplifiers. If you see a great functioning Mark III at a fair price then go for it and it'll probably work out.

Keep a little more of that 720 than the classic V. Every knob 2 or 8. Pull deep always pulled. :D
 
GJgo said:
You're right about the presence & the frequencies, however I look at it differently. When you run a low presence and compensate with 6600, the amp's feel is more 2D and flat. When you run a high presence and compensate with 6600, the amp feels more 3D & punchy. I run mine on 7. Try it sometime.

That said, I have had a number of IIIs that were harsh / unusable with the presence over 3-4, and that has been a deal breaker for me on those amps. I've also had a number of IIIs that I could dime the presence and it was fine with a 6600 offset, those to me were better specimens. Again, amp to amp variance.
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When I got my red stripe about 2 years ago I set it with the more typical presence on 3 and the 6600 bumped up and left it that way for a while. After watching your video I gave that suggestion a try. I have the presence on 7 and 6600 pushed down to where the top of the slider is touching the middle line. I like it much better this way. It does sound more 3D and punchy. At least on my red stripe, I also find the highs aren't as harsh, but doesn't compromise the aggressive top end when set this way.
 
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