Mark iii Red Stripe on top of a Black dot?

The Boogie Board

Help Support The Boogie Board:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BoogieHog

Well-known member
Boogie Supporter
Joined
Dec 23, 2015
Messages
107
Reaction score
0
I recently purchased a Mesa Boogie Mark 3 red stripe where the red stripe is actually over the top of a black dot. Has anyone very heard of that? It is a combo, wood cabinet and wicker grill with the Grey on the faceplate at the EQ. ANY input would be appreciated!
 
What's the 1st two numbers of the serial #. That would determine if it is in fact a red stripe or a early mark lll that someone tried to make it appear as if it were a red stripe. Some early mark 3's had just a black dot above the power cord. The red stripes are a more desirable version of the mark 3 in most peoples opinion including myself. It's like the mark 2C's that on occasion someone would make a + above the cord so they could sell it for more $ as a C+ . It didn't happen a lot to my knowledge but I've heard of it happening on occasion. That was before the loop test became common knowledge. But the serial # on your mark 3 will help you determine if it's a true red stripe.
 
The serial number is 158xx which puts it in the Black Dot era. I met a guy on here who has one made right next to mine that was upgraded to a red stripe. I wonder if mine got an upgrade as well. The stripe looks as age worn as my other red stripe. If it is it would explain the tone. This is the best sounding amp I have ever owned! And it's gorgeous!
 
I have an early no stripe that has a red sharpie line on the back too but my red line is further down toward the output jacks. The amps not here at the moment so I can't post a pic but I remember doing a search on the early no and black stripe dots and reading that a red line was a factory mod ? It might have been on the forum here or elsewhere but if I recall I think it had to do with the channel switching ? The early mark iii's had a small issue with something and the red stripe was to note that an update or fix had already been done. Its been so long since I've seen the post please don't take this as a hard fact but maybe someone can chime in with more info.
 
I bought a black stripe (same as no stripe and black dot) and sent it to Petaluma for Mike Bendinelli to convert it to red stripe. That is the same thing that many people did and, apparently, it is what happened to your amp.
Congrats because a red stripe sounds so much better than a black dot/stripe!
 
I have another question as well.

It has just been re-capped and re-tubed. No the tubes that he put in there are nearly all Rubys. All of the 12ax7's are Ruby and in the Power section the two outside tubes are JJ El34s and the Center ones are some kind of REALLY fat Ruby 6l6s.

I have never been a big fan of Rubys in fact anytime I've heard an amp with them in there I hated the tone. I seemed scratchy and hollow.

Actually I have 2 Questions:
1. Should I go ahead and change out the Ruby's and put Mesa's in there. And perhaps go 6L6's across the board?
2. Can I run it at full power with these weird 6L6's and EL34's? Or do I have to stay in Simulcast?
 
If the tech you brought your amp to for recapping is reputable and he retubed it, I would think the fat rubys would be correct for your amp and matched as well. I don't know a lot about the newer tubes but many board members do I'm sure someone will tell you more about those fat rubys. If I'm not mistakin the Mesa 440's are Rubys hand picked for proper bias in boogie amps. Back to ". can I use it in simulclass". Class A is the two outter tubes, simulclass is all 4 tubes. If it just came back to you from a tech you trust I can't see any reason why running full power(simulclass)would be unsafe. It never occurred to me your amp could have been an upgrade from a black dot to a red stripe. My mark lll knowledge is somewhat limited. I had a purple stripe back in the day and thought it sounded much better with all 6L6's although I never tried STR 416's in the outter tube sockets. I thought 6l6's sounded better in c+ simuls until I got a set of 416's then there was no going back. I don't know if the same applies to a mark lll or not but they're very hard to come by anyway. Someone will probably suggest EL34's that work well in a mark lll
 
I sent pics into Mesa and Mike B said it looked like a Red Stripe to him! WHOOOO! :mrgreen:

I got a gem here! A Black Dot upgraded to the Red Stripe!
 
Back
Top