Mesa Boogie MkIII - whatever stripe

Bork

I've been gassing HARD for a Mk3 this week.  It's an absolutely impractical proposition as I don't live in the UK currently and not only are they not available where I am but if they were, I'd probably have to sacrifice a kidney and left testicle.  Well probably the right one as it's half gone anyway. 

But OMG I used to think a hard driven Fender Super Champ was the sound in my head but the Mk3 green stripe  is way closer.  Just gorgeous.   I know the red stripe is slightly more desirable as it's closer to the MkIIC+ but I'd be perfectly content with a green stripe.

Any owners, past and present, out there?  Care to jump in and make my GAS considerably worse with your experiences?

welshboyo

Great Amps, I had a Hardwood Purple Stripe (IIRC) and was a glorious sounding thing provided you are prepared to share EQ's and essentially ignore R2 as a useable channel in most circumstances.

Getting old now so if you do find you will need to factor in Cap changes and some general maintenance.

Triaxis (again getting on) has most of the III sounds in it too.

Loud as f**k too, and heavy with the EV in it

Bork

welshboyo said:

Loud as f**k too, and heavy with the EV in it

Even with the lower power setting?  I was thinking about a Studio .22+ combo as well but I understand there was a component failure common to them...or maybe I'm confusing it with the Studio preamp.  I'm sure @ICBM will be along here at some point to correct me.

I already have a Burman Pro501,  Rivera era PRII and  Concert II so old amps...well, I'm kind of stuck with them. Getting them serviced would probably involve international travel unless I happen to find someone closer to home.

Bork

BTW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcW00_hCREg

Jump to 3:27.

welshboyo

They are mental loud in whatever setting, ok, the Master is useable to that extent (I used to use mine in the house as well as gigs) - the EV is so efficient as a speaker it just beams through anything and everything.

Studio 22 lovely amps too, had a few of them - slightly different flavour with the EL84's (I think!) but still had that MK sound going on - again, getting on a bit now - easily a 30+ year old amp now.

Why a MKIII? 

The IV is a better/more versatile amp

Toe_Knee

Heaviest amp I've ever come across. Weight that is.

Decent sounding. Used to be able to pick them up for about 500 but they've gone over 1k in this last year

Bork

I could go for a MkIV I guess but I've heard more about the MkIII online so confirmation bias and all that.   I thought about a V:35 instead, too.  It's got a IIC setting but what I heard sounded a bit sterile in comparison to the best clips I'd heard for the MkIII.

OK I've done a bit of nosing around.  I think the MkIV is going to be way louder than I need and prices seem to be all over the place since the middle of last year for some reason.  Damned YT influencers.  

welshboyo

Had a MKV - for me the real MK vibe ended at the early IV's (the IVa as its known, never like the later B's for some reason) - after that, they became to much of a jack of all trades and lost the whole essence of what they are about - ths V's are nice amps nonetheless they just didn't really do it for me - could just be my tastes have changed.

That Clip is classic III - the III is actually a bit rawer sounding than the IV and perhaps that is what you like about them? Just bear in mind thats a Stereo rig that you are hearing there -  I ran 2 in Stereo at one point which was verging on the edge of being ridiculous and back breaking, sounded great though....!!!!

Bork

welshboyo said:

That Clip is classic III - the III is actually a bit rawer sounding than the IV and perhaps that is what you like about them? Just bear in mind thats a Stereo rig that you are hearing there -  I ran 2 in Stereo at one point which was verging on the edge of being ridiculous and back breaking, sounded great though....!!!!

What I liked was the note definition despite the level of rich upper mid harmonic saturation.  It's a classic tone, the kind that loads of 80's session guitarists were dialling in.   I'm not keen on metal or woofy 70's sounds.

Yeah the guy in that clip normally runs the Boogie dry and uses the onboard fx in the Katana to run it wet.  Quite a neat and cost effective solution in many ways.   I actually run a stereo wet + dry mono set up with small combos at home.   It sounds gorgeous, but it doesn't do the tight screaming thing  as well as I'd like, even with the assistance of decent pedals.

Bork

Toe_Knee said:

Heaviest amp I've ever come across. Weight that is.

Compared to a Twin Reverb...or a Burman Pro2000 combo?

JohnCordy

I've got one in hardwood - purple stripe.
Weight is about 32-33kg.

Has a super useable master volume, and with the EQ sliders is very versatile.

Toe_Knee

Bork said:

Toe_Knee said:

Heaviest amp I've ever come across. Weight that is.

Compared to a Twin Reverb...or a Burman Pro2000 combo?

Not actually come across either or those that I've had to lift haha.

But this thing weighed more than a 4x22. The evm speaker + massive import pt are an unpleasant combo. The cabinet itself with no speaker was heavier than my slo clone

JohnCordy

@Toe_Knee right it's definitely a heavy one. 32-33kg, only amp I've lifted that is heavier is the lonestar classic 2*12

CoffeeAndTV

MKIV owner here too. Not used it for ages, it’s languishing at my parents as is the other gear I don’t use that much.  It’s amazing though, but so heavy

TTBZ

Funnily I've been gas'ing hard for a IIC+ this week haha - not that I'll ever afford or buy one. I'd never really paid them much attention before but all the demos I can find sound awesome. Hoping they'll add a IIC+ model to the Helix as that's likely the closest I'll get to one!

ICBM

I remember going into Chandlers in about 1986 and seeing the classic combination of a flame maple cabinet MkIII and a PRS Custom together, and wanting both of them but not being able to afford either! I think they were about £1,500 each.

They aren't *that* heavy compared to the real monster Mesa 2x12" combos like the Trem-o-verb, Lone Star, Road King, HeartBackbreaker etc - those are all in the 45Kg region - but the Marks *seem* heavier because they're half the size, so feel like they're made from depleted uranium or something. (And the Burman Pro 2000 might top all of them.)

I like the MkIII best, personally - although the low-gain input on the MkI is the best single sound of all - I don't get the hype about the MkII (any version), and didn't like the MkIV - but they are an absolute pig to dial in, certainly if you want to use more than one channel, and I could never get R2 to sound good even in isolation. R1 and Lead with the graphic auto-assigned is a usable combination though.

I have to confess I have no idea what the difference between the 'stripes' is - every one I've played has sounded different, but the controls are so microscopically sensitive that I'm not convinced I've ever set two of them quite the same anyway...

ThorpyFX

I have a MKIII blue stripe.. it’s honestly awesome. Cleans are magic, crunch is ace, high gain is monster too… heavier than the sun though 

spirit7

Mark IVB owner here and it’s not complicated to dial in once you’re used to it the best high gain sound I’ve ever heard. 

Bork

ICBM said:

I have to confess I have no idea what the difference between the 'stripes' is - every one I've played has sounded different, but the controls are so microscopically sensitive that I'm not convinced I've ever set two of them quite the same anyway...

I'm not sure about the precise differences between each colour but the later models (green stripe) were said to have a little more aggressive high gain whereas the earlier models (black dot/stripe, red stripe) were said to be modelled more closely on their immediate predecessor, MKIIC+.  The oversized transformer was said to be a key improvement to the MkIII.  I'm kind of like you, I can hear some slight differences (recording conditions not withstanding) but nothing that would make me choose one over the other.

Bork

ICBM said:

I remember going into Chandlers in about 1986 and seeing the classic combination of a flame maple cabinet MkIII and a PRS Custom together, and wanting both of them but not being able to afford either! I think they were about £1,500 each.

Yeah that IS a classic combination.  I was playing bass in a band once in the early-mid 90's in the middle of nowhere.  Most musicians in the scene had Fender Strats or Les Pauls and played through Marshall, Peavey or Roland with Boss effects.  The guitarist in THIS band was a TV cameraman who, presumably during his travels shooting overseas, had bagged both a late 80's PRS Custom 24 in vintage yellow and a hardwood cabinet Mk IIC or MkIII...I wasn't that interested in Boogies enough at that time to know the differences but hell, it sounded amazing even to my untutored ears.  

Stratavarious

My MKIII is stunning... was my number one gigging amp for a lot of years and still is recording most days in my studio. EV, graphic, simulclass.  Had it from new from importer.

  I have modded it for three channel balancing/switching which is a great mod. Recapped it a while back. It sounds massive through my half back cab with EVs if I want to flatten the venue. Neutron star weight though.

killer cleans, killer R2 crunch.. hit R2 with a boost for even more fab Marshallesque tones... and the really fluid lead channel just sings.

The way they sit in a live mix is astounding.  They can sound mid heavy on their own but really cut against marshals and other high gain amps that just sound like flies buzzing.

i recently found some old footage of us from 25 odd years ago and it was absolutely rocking.  THE best gear purchase I ever made.

I could never connect with the MKV the same way.  The whole interactive, cascading gain design is just so great in the MKIII.  Few bother to understand it and dial it in wrong.  The input and treble set the whole voice and aggressiveness of all the channels.  The rest subtly moulds it.... then you have the amazing 5 band EQ which you can put in a V shape for huge thunderous rhythm or shape as a switchable lead boost.