megavoice said:
tony777 said:
kingcrimson84 said:
Yeah, so I'll probably save a few hundred bucks and get a 3. Is any stripe" better" than another? From the little info I've gathered, the purple has the least amount of gain; red has a lead circuit closely resembling the 2 c+; blue is the most aggressive. I know little about green and black.
Thanks everyone.
As long as money is an issue I wouldn't care too much about the stripes, you ned to compare the different stripes yourself before you know if any of them is better or worse for your taste, and they all sound great. I would definitely get one with GEQ and if you look for the class a option, you need simul class configuration as well.
dodger916 said:
I bookmarked a couple of websites that described the history and differences of the Mark III stripes very well, but the links are not working now!
Here's the info from the webpages dodger916 is trying to offer you.
(I have the webpages and am waiting to find a place to upload and have the website active once again - All with Ian Dickey's involvement and blessing)
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MESA/Boogie Mark III
The Dot Series of the Mark III
The Mark I provided two very different and separate voices with its two inputs. Although MESA provided an A/B box to footswitch between them, the volume jump and the tweaking needed between each mode made this somewhat unpractical. The answer to this was the evolution of the Mark IIA, the first footswitchable amplifier with two distinct modes. Early Mark IIA's suffered from noisy reverb and an irritating popping when switching modes. The two modes were refined with the IIB, but the popping was still present, however the reverb was better. One should note that this popping was only audible when switching modes while the guitar was ringing out. if one uses the footswitch while the guitar is silent, there is no sound. As an aside, this must be a difficult problem, as the solution created other problems. In the Mark IIC/IIC+ switching from clean to lead was silent and instantaneous, but when switching in the other direction, there is an audible drop in volume, slight delay and then return to the previous level. In the Mark III Green dot, there is actually a transient swell in the R1 volume when switching from Lead mode.
The IIC followed with the majority of bugs worked out, further tone shaping with pull shift on the bass, and a better effects loop,and reverb levels but it was not until the IIC+ that the Lead mode was evolved to the point that it set the standard for what lead tone could be.
MESA however was not content to rest on their laurels and after only ~1500 Mark IIC+'s, they introduced the Mark III, the world's first tri-modal amplifier. As with all things MESA, this was a work in evolution that went through five folios or "stripes" until the final product was reached. The Mark III series represents the most extensive line of amplifier evolution and tweaking in the history of Mark amps. The five "stripes" represent the chronology of the evolution of the Mark III. Widely received, the option of three modes was openly accepted but with lofty expectations. When it was first brought out, several people complained that they wanted a bold R2 and the IIC+ lead sound (much debate has surrounded the R2 sound and its relation to R1 but we won't cover that here). The various "stripes" of the Mark III represent the attempts at this request. In reality MESA could have called them the Mark IIIA, IIIB, IIIC, IIID and IIIE.
Like the IIC+ with its famous plus, these stripes were located over the power cord with Mike B.'s initials below. They are merely a swipe with a Jiffy Marker of the appropriate color. The five stripes were as follows:
In order, the stripes were:
None or Black Stripe
Purple Stripe
Red Stripe
Blue Stripe
Green Stripe
As with all things MESA, what these various stages represent are a matter of opinion with respect of the sound character.
Don't let anyone pass on a bunch of bullshit about one being better than the other. They represent snapshots in time of the development of an amplifier line. If the amplifier gets you the tone you want, the jiffy marker is nothing more than a mark of its vintage. Much anxiety is generated in the Mark III group by this extensive evolution, much because of misinformation about what these stripes represent.
#1 - No mark or a little dot. Only a few hundred then some black marks or "+"'s .
- Lean and powerful amp with more output power than a IIC+
#2 - Purple: reshaping of R2
- R2 was shaped to be more "rounded" and less gain, with improved level
#3 - Red: R2 is like current Mark III
- R2 further developed and very hot. Lead mode is also tweaked to close in on the IIC+ sound
#4 - Blue: Reshaping of R1
- More aggressive preamp gain - reshaping of R1, Power section made akin to IIC+
#5 - Green/Simul-Class: Final R1 and Lead Channel reshaping
- Cleaner R1, Lead channel reshaping, and unlike other Simul amps, these Mark III's were wired in Pentode - NOT triode in the Class A sockets for more power. Power section is same as Blue otherwise.
So there you have it, the story of the dot series. More legend than reality, they are all great amps, just find the one that is right for you. I hope that you find this helpful.
