Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

[Hellraiser6502]

Would be interested in opinions on the MEsa Boogie Mark III amp (head with 4x12's not the combo).

Good? Bad? What are the pros & cons.

Thanks in advance! [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

There is nothing bad about a Mark I, II, IIc, IIc+, III or IV. The only negative thing that I could say about all of them is that they are too darn expensive for me to own 1 of each. There are many versions of each so do your research. They area all good though.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

great fucking amp! very dark sounding.
i wish i hadn't sold mine.

not as much bottom as a recto, but tighter. cuts a little more i think.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

I liked the III I had, but I preferred the lead channel of the .22+ I had through a 4x12 better. Also, the III is a 2 channel amp in reality... you're never going to get three channels to sound good and have the volume levels you want all at the same time.

Pete

[Hellraiser6502]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Hey Pete...which tubes do you think would sound best in one?

6L6's or EL34's ?

Also what is your opinion of their 'Simul-Class' feature on these?

[nor]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Yeah, what Pete said.

MkIII's don't do the modern ultra-saturated-low-end tone - but cover just about eveything else really well. I've used mine on hundreds of gigs - never failed me.

And at almost every gig I've used it on, I've recieved compliments on my tone - just like the welcome letter from Mesa said I would. That never happened with my Marshalls, Ampeg, Peavey, or Traynor.

Running my J-Station into the effects return sounds kick-ass. Best of both worlds!

Finding parts can be a pain, but the Hollywood store can usually get you set up.

[nor]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Oh, yeah - the Simul-Class feature...

[snip]
TUBE SWITCH

This is the "Class A/Simul-Class" switch or the "60/100" watt switch, depending on amplifier type. In the Simul-Class amplifiers the power (before clip) is much less in the Class A position - mere 15 watts. But the unique way the system is wired allows you to achieve a much greater degree of power tube distortion than with most other amplifiers ... and it is still very loud!

In Class A, only the outside (outer left & outer right) pair of tubes - the EL-34's will be on. The inner pair - which are 6L6's - will also be turned on when the switch is in the Simul-Class position. In addition to this obvious difference, the biasing and control circuitry of the socket pairs are radically different ... and this is the heart of the now famous (and patented) Simul-Class circuitry.
[/snip]

http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/Mark%20III.pdf

[Twisteramps]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Boogie has gone back and forth regarding using the simulclass feature... I seem to recall they were advising against it later on. I'd probably just run 4 6L6 tubes in it all the time, since Mark series boogies are hotrodded fenders, and it's more in line with the classic boogie tones you'd expect from a mark III. John Sykes used a III (coliseum model though) for the Whitesnake album, which was a KILLER tone.

One thing I did forget to mention is that the IIIs have the best blackface fender clean of any boogie I've ever owned (Dual Recto, Single Recto, (2)22+, EL84 .50, DC5, DC3, Mk III, Quad, Studio preamp). Use the EQ to dial in the overdrive channel and you have a really killer 80s metal amp with plenty of gain for just about anything.

If you don't want to support Boogie's tube reseller program, just let your tube vendor know the tubes are going in a Mark III and they can send you a set that will bias properly... this model has fixed biasing from the factory, so unless it's been modded you're stuck with how boogie set it up.

Pete

Originally posted by Hellraiser6502:
Hey Pete...which tubes do you think would sound best in one?

6L6's or EL34's ?

Also what is your opinion of their 'Simul-Class' feature on these?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[Twisteramps]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Oops, found this online...

"NOTE: In the past, MESA/Boogie advertised the "interchangeable power tubes"
feature of the Mark III Simul-Class. We told players that they could use
either EL-34's or 6L6's in the outer (Class A) power sockets. However, in
recent years we've observed a much greater reliability factor with the use
of EL-34's in these outer sockets, with much fewer incidents of tube
failure. Therefore, today we strongly recommend using EL-34's in the outer
sockets and 6L6's in the inner sockets of your Simul-Class Boogie."

So go EL34 on the outside. BTW, I've also read that these outer tubes are biased ICE COLD... it's what boogie wanted to do, and cuts power down for sure, but just seems kinda wrong.

Pete

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

i had my MKIII re-biased. i didn't like the cold outer sockets. so my dude, went in there and made my cry and sing. damn i should never have sold it!
~JW

[Hellraiser6502]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Cool! Thanks for all of the comments & info! [img]graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]

How about their earlier/smaller (and HEAVY!) 4x12 half back cabinets?

Some came loaded with Mesa Black Shadow Celestions, some with EV's & some with Eminence. Sometimes a mix of 2 different kinds top & bottom.

What speakers preferred & why?

[Tetsuo]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Mark III's are very nice you can do more with a Mark IV but I don't know that is a good thing. Mark III's are pretty affordable too and built very well.

If you are looking though for a high gain amp in that price range look 5150 or Triple XXX but as said the MArk III should get you enough gain for almost everything besides the ultra modern tones and also have a lot of great tones in between

[mr426]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

Hey hey. I have used a MKIII since 1990. I love this amp. Currently I am using a Boss GX 700 strait thru the power section with nothing else. If you want to try-it can get the new Recto sound with the Boss PQ 4 eq.Turn all the EQ's off and let the PQ 4 do the EQ work. Sounds great. But alone it can emulate many sounds clean, dirty, heavy and beyond. The one thing about this amp (and all Boogies) is how tempramental it can be. Sounds great one day-like hell the next. Other than that they kill hard. Very versitile and you can't break em either. I will always own at least one.
LATER!!!

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

How about their earlier/smaller (and HEAVY!) 4x12 half back cabinets?

Some came loaded with Mesa Black Shadow Celestions, some with EV's & some with Eminence. Sometimes a mix of 2 different kinds top & bottom.

What speakers preferred & why?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">they are great sounding cabs.
the preferred setup is bottom cab with EV's and top cab with vitage 30's. the open top's of each half back have cel 90's witch really scream, while the combo of closed vin30's and EV's give you a good combo of tight wolf from the 30's and fuzzy wolf from the EV's, in the low end.
on stage the preferred speaker to mic is the vin 30. it seems to go through the pa cleaner.
~JW

[Enigma]

Re: Mesa Boogie Mark III -your opinions??

I just bought a MKIII head with Marshall 1936 and 1960A cabinets. Talk about bad-ass!!! I had half of the Guitar Center employees come over just to listen to this freakin' thing. It has the most killer lead sound ever and everything is top shelf also. I guess the MKIV has more EQ choices but the MKIII has everything I want tonewise.

If you are a completely sick distortion freak, you could always add a MXR 10-band EQ pedal or something like that, but the MKIII has more than plenty gain already!!!

A+ from me for this amp. [img]/images/graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]