Snow007 said:
Thanks very much for the info guys. I think I'm headed in the right direction.
Have you guys ever seen the TV show Home Improvement where Tim Taylor is always trying to get "More power" out of his tools? That's what I was thinking with my mark III. I thought the route of going to a separate coliseum would be a good option but they seem very hard to come by so maybe the best option for me would be to try a power amp like a Strategy 400/500 and use my current mark III as a pre amp?
Yeah, any power amp rated for 100+ watts should give you the extra headroom you're looking for (remember, normal Mark IIIs are actually less than 100 watts).
As far as volume goes, a Coli will slaughter a Triple Rectifier (IMHO of course) for two simple reasons. The first (and probably most obvious) reason is the sheer amount of available headroom. The second (and I guess this comes down to your personal experiences) is the "cut" of the Coli in a band environment. Most people that have played in a two-guitarist band can tell you that volume doesn't always mean you'll be heard over the other instruments. Sometimes the mids play an important role in how well an instrument is perceived. Back when the only amp I only owned was Triple Rectifier, my co-guitarist owned a Marshall JCM 800 2203 (100 watt head). Based on numbers alone, obviously I owned the volume game (my extra 50 watts gave me an additional 2-3db over the 2203). So how was the Marshall heard over the Boogie? Well, it all came down to where our mids sat in the mix. I loved playing rhythm guitar, and I loved the girth (that's what she said) that my tone had. Many other guitarists were in awe of my tone, but my leads sounded somewhat anemic. The reason was my mids were focused more on the "low mids", and his Marshall resided in the upper mids, which my Triple had essentially dialed out in favor of that chest-pummeling, meaty tone.
So, what's the point of all this superfluous narrative? Well, to simplify the above description, if you want to be heard in a mix, maybe volume isn't the solution, maybe you need to select an amp that has some strong upper-midrange characteristics. But, you're in luck! Mark IIIs have a broad midrange character to them. If you're worried about being heard against a Triple Rectifier, I would actually reason that a 60 watt Mark III will make you stand out and be heard over a Triple Rectifier. I don't currently own a 60 watt Mark III, but I do own 3 different Dual and Triple Rectifiers (currently all 2 channels), and I currently own 4 Mark IIIs (standard and Coliseum Blue Stripes) and Mark IVs, and these little amps can be heard over a Triple Rectifier at the apex of it's a available volume! The later versions of the Marks cut through anything standing in its way, from Peavey 5150s/6505s, Bogners, Marshalls, Oranges, everything!!!!
Now, to address the difference between a Mark III Coliseum and a Mark III Standard. My Coli sounds virtually identical to my normal Mark III at a comparable volume. But, if you continue to push the Coli, it's low end starts to become more prominent, the mids hit harder and harder and the treble retains it's liquidy, sweet character. My Coli can get also get low mids so authoritative that it sounds more like a Rectifier, but with such a tight lower end, you'll think the Blue Stripe Coliseums were the start of the Rectifier tone. No joke. Seriously.
So, if you want to be heard over other guitarists, start using your mids to cut through. If you lack the mids needed to get you "out in front", start looking at clean headroom via higher wattages. Since Colis are more scarce than the IIC+ (Mesa, Can we PLEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZ have a reissue?????), you may want to slave a Mark III into a decent power amp (preferably something with Simul-Class). Yes the Mark IIIs sound identical to the Coliseums at the same decibel levels, be Colis stay cleaner and louder; longer, but when the Coli is pushed to the brink of its Power, the Low-Mids kick you in the chest, and the low end gets tighter and tighter. I hope this answers some of your questions, and hopefully gives you some possibilities to pursue to get your best tone ever!
