What MKIII?

[ursinus]

I saw a MKIII that looked to have a blue stripe, but it only had a 100/60 selector. It this a green stripe that faded or is it a blue with a custom option? I thought all blue stripes were simul-class. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this amp sounded awesome and I'm thinking of getting it.... 8)

 

[phyrexia]

Mine's 60w.

 

[Anonymous]

No idea, but if it sounded good to you, don't let the fact of which stripe it is stop you from buying it.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

My blue stripe was simul and had the 100/60 switch instead of simul/class A switch.

 

[ursinus]

No idea, but if it sounded good to you, don't let the fact of which stripe it is stop you from buying it.

I just like to know what it is I'm getting, that's all. I was amazed how much more in your face sounding was the MKIII compared to the MKIV. I loved my MKIV, but the MKIII would fill out my current arsenal
nicely...... 8)

 

[ursinus]

Well, I'm back.

I'm now the proud owner of a NOS 100 Watt MKIII blue stripe from a reputable MESA dealer. I can't wait to see the response from MESA when they recieve my warranty registration.... :shock:

 

[ursinus]

Here are the guts. You will notice that this is not a simul-class version. Also, the ID's don't make sense to me, but I know someone will tell me what it is. I think it is a transition between blue stripe and green stipe. Regardless, I love the tones more than my previous MKIVb. Transformer is a 56110 (EIA606-033), The board shows: S/HRG This is the SN#27156

The internals looked fairly clean, but I cleaned everything, checked the caps, voltages, everything looks good. I was worried about the caps because of the age, but the store told me they have had it on the shelf since they got it 16 years ago! It has been demoed quite a bit! They tested well. I got a ridiculous deal on it. :shock:

 

[Snottyboy]

Congratulations on the blue-stripe!

Tim

 

[ursinus]

I spent more time with this amp over the weekend and set up an a/b between it and my Fuchs TDS100. Each running through an EV loaded Mesa Theile and the MKIII really holds it own with the Fuchs. There are differences for sure, but the differences are not as stark as they were with the MKIV. The MKIII has the same style of gritty distortion like the Fuchs, but has a tighter low end, the Fuchs is still more touch sensitive, but is more focused to the mids. the cleans of the TDS are much cleaner and bouncy than the MKIII's, but the MKIII's cleans break up in a very soft traditional way, like an old Fender. MY old MKIV seemed to break up in a more harsh manner in the clean channel. The reverb on the Fuchs is miles better, but you would expect that from a 3K+ amp. All in all, I am very happy with the MKIII. My settings are from left to right: 7 pulled, 7 1/2 pulled, 5, 3, 1-3 pulled, 5, 4-5, EQ in a short "v", pres 5, rev 0. So my set up now consists of A: Fuchs TDS 100> EV Theile; B: MKIII> 2-EV Theiles; C: Red Iron T-Rex> Emi CR Port City Wave Cab; Wet for TDS: LSC open Back 2X12