About to purchase a mark III - Am I doing the right thing?

So, I'm about to pick up a mark III soon, eventually.

It's a 24-26year old mark III. red stripe.

60watt head without EQ, but it has reverb.

It's owned by a luthier so its supposedly serviced regularily and in very good shape and condition.

Now I am really out after the EQ on the marks, but since I've never owned one, i could compensate with an mxr 10band for a similar effect - keep in mind that i don't know what kind of EQ curves I want yet, so it might be a good enough option.

the price for this would be about 680€, or about 700dollars give or take.

what I'm using now is a boosted peavey Valveking, and I play Lamb of God-influenced music, aswell as some HEAILY downtuned meshuggah stuff from time to time.

Would this be a good purchase?

thanks alot

sounds like you would really need that EQ, But you can stick a out board one through the fx loop just as good!

it is a Very brutal amp with the Eq in scooping some of the mid's! very tight very clear Very Thick!

The price seems pretty good (though I am not a Mark series re-sale value expert).
This may seem like a "duh" question, but have you tried it? I mean, if it sounds good to you and makes you smile when you play it. then it is a good deal!

You would definitely get tones that no Peavey can, but what your ears tell you is all that matters. And, assuming it is in good working order, not beat up, etc......
I wish you good luck in your decision making process!

Don't buy it.
Get a Mark III simulclass (15/75 or 25/85)with GEQ instead of it or you will wish you would have eventually. That's my opinion. Also I would go on to say... "get a green stripe". I love mine.

There should be about 13000 mark III's out there, so I would do as Gig4fun said, and wait til you get one with the EQ.
The outboard eq will do the job, but you will eventually get tired of bringing it with you all the time, and wishing you got one with eq.
I wouldn't care too much of the stripes though, since I believe all of them sound great. You can only tell the difference if you compare them, or else you will never know.

Anyway,
Good luck
Tony

I have to say no, wait for a simul with GEQ on board. You really want it built in. Less hassle, no "setup" required with cables, and you can assign it to both channels, or to the Lead channel only (what I had done) so it offers you you true separate EQs for the R1 an Lead channels. IMHO, of course.

Edward

heck yeah... any of the stripes would be cool. (I just happen to have the green)

I have the blue stripe and it is one of the most amazing amps Ive ever owned. I cant see ever getting rid of this.

I don't know how common MkIII's are in your area but if you think you have a choice, wait for one with an EQ if you are playing mostly very heavy stuff.

But if this is the only MkIII you have seen for sale all year, pick it up and use the MXR... this is a great amp for metal even w/o the EQ. It would just be more convenient to have the EQ onboard.

i have to echo the thought that ... if this is the only one you have seen available "in your area" for a long time ... then I would try it out first. download the "settings page" from Mesa or one of the Mark III threads here and go in with a pre-planned setting for your style as a started as well as the speakers you plan to use.

personally - simul and built-in EQ are the way to go ... but if you play "thrash" and it makes your tone ... it's a wonderful amp.

the simul and GEQ options simply (to me) make it as good an ANY other amp ever made - for the price. your price of $700 AM is good to me.

I have yet to find an EQ that works in the same manner as the built in EQ...save yourself the headache and wait for the one you want to pop up.

To be honest I can't see how anyone can play metal on this amp without GEQ. I dearly love my Mark III, but I hate the sounds it makes when the GEQ isn't active. Maybe it's just me haha.

Get one with the GEQ!