Low end thump from a mark III

Hi guys. I currently play a blue stripe mark iii with simul class.
The amp is over 24 years old, and I have a few issues with it. It seems to lack gain, and the bottom end is very weak, though I usually run mine with bass knob on 0 to keep it from sounding muddy. I play through ENGL 412 cab with vintage 30s.
My question is, how much improvement can I expect from cap job and should I change the tube sockets as well?
Thanks.

Play through a different cab with different speakers.
I don't think V30's with a MkIII (or any Mark series amp) are a great match up.

GTS has a point. The Mark III is really sensitive to speaker choice. I do like the V30s in my Mesa cab, though I think I read somewhere the V30s Mesa uses are tailored differently...

Find yourself a thiele cab loaded with an EVM12L speaker, you'll get that bottom end you're looking for.

Sean

Mr.P said:

Hi guys. I currently play a blue stripe mark iii with simul class.
The amp is over 24 years old, and I have a few issues with it. It seems to lack gain, and the bottom end is very weak, though I usually run mine with bass knob on 0 to keep it from sounding muddy. I play through ENGL 412 cab with vintage 30s.
My question is, how much improvement can I expect from cap job and should I change the tube sockets as well?
Thanks.

Click to expand...

You did not say when you last replaced any of the tubes. Preamp tubes can last many years, easy. Output tubes can wimp out in less than a year with hard use. Swap them out if unsure.

Assuming you tried this already, power supply caps can and do go bad at any time. I have seen them last 40+ years with regular use (though it is not good for them if the amp sits for a long period of time). On the other hand, I bought a new amp and had a cap fail within months (fixed under warranty, fortunately).

Tube sockets can break, say if the amp fell, but generally last the life of the amp. The pins can become loose, however and a technician can "tighten" them. But they'd have to be pretty loose before affecting the sound and usually you will hear popping or crackling if that's the issue.

Good luck!

I may have missed something here, but how can you expect your bottom end NOT to be weak, if you're running your bass control on zero?

Mark amps don't need a lot of bass EQ, 'specially if running a lot of gain.
It gets flubby real quick. The Bass Shift is a good way of getting more bottom without adding a lot of pre-gain bass.
If you need that heavy, punchy, palm-muting bass you need close-back cabs. The ENGL should work.
Perhaps dialing out some mids is in order. If you have the Graphic EQ, try the usual "V" config.

I didn't notice much difference tonally when I recapped my blue stripe. Made a HUGE diff in the noise floor and a minor diff in the clarity tho. 'Pull Deep' and the 240 slider should get you close to where you wanna go.

That's why i hate combos. Get a 4x12... try a re-tube, all 6l6's if you want the full amount of bass, although i like a mix of 6l6 and el34. Push up the 80 slider way up, try the bass shift. There's lot of things you can do although Mark's are not recto's so they don't have HUGE bass... they're designed to sound tight and punchy. a nice mix of all frequencies, a great amp in a full mix.