Boogie Mark III Coliseum

[Big Al]

I will be ordering tubes today but I have some questions:

1. Endrik suggested JJ tubes, is this for preamp and power amp sections?

2. Anything I need to know about the 12AX7's as far as any variations (SPAX7)?

3. When buying the matched set of 6L6's, should the pair of EL34's be matched to the 6L6's in anyway?

4. Any variations in the power tubes? I have a set of EL34 STR 440 but I have seen STR XXX (some other number).

[Endrik]

yup, it is brutal, no room for mistakes, I'd put all JJ's in it.... pre and power amp tubes.... and I'd use all 6 6L6's.

[GodOfRhythm]

I'd get an additional pair of EL34's, so you've at least got the chance to put them in there and hear how you like that.

[charvelguy]

I'd ask Boogie a few of these questions. It sounds like the power section can be independantly biased in pairs. If thats the case, then a quad or sextet of 6L6 equally matched and a pair of EL34's eqally matched to themselves. I'd consider using the big bottle 6CA7's tho.

Some guys like the 9th Gen Chinese in some slots, namely V1, again, the Boogie forum for MK3 preamp configs may help be a guide.

Mesa tubes are probably rebranded Russian Svets, Sovtek or Chinese brands. I buy em at GC when they're like 6.00/pr on clearance.

[Big Al]

Thanks for all the help.
Now I have another question concerning Mesa half back cabinets. A friend of mine found the Coliseum full stack but he only wanted the cabinets so I got the head at a third of the total price. He just called me and asked if I wanted to buy the cabinets. I am going to check them out tonight, is there anything special I should look for besides condition and working order? I read on the Mesa forum that the closed part of the cabinet may have EV speakers. Is this desireable and what other speakers could there be. Also the big question...fair price?

Thanks again!

[GodOfRhythm]

The EV 200 speakers are VERY desirable. They were a very pricey option on combos and ext cabs.

And realistically you'll need powerful cabs to keep up with your coli. That thing'll be putting out close to 200W if sufficiently cranked. A couple of V30's aren't going to cut it. Though in a full stack they might do the trick.

As of worth, no real idea. That's one aspect of vintage Boogie-dom I've not yet really gotten into, but if they've got the EV's I'd be prepared to pay a fair amount for 'em.

[nsubulysses]

800 for both cabs. I'd say that's reasonable

[Big Al]

I have the cabs to try for a few days. No EV's. Black Shadow 90's & 50's. The covering on the cabinets is pretty rough. I haven't tried them yet. I wonder how the Road King cabinets would sound with this head?

[charvelguy]

How much does he want to charge for the cabs?

[Big Al]

He wants $800 for the pair.

[nsubulysses]

tell him 700

[charvelguy]

probably a bit high for rough Mesa cabs. Not sure what the difference is between recto cabs and these in construction. If they're the Coliseum cabs, they might be worth the price, but given the condition, you could probably negotiate.

[straycat]

Ask him to drop the price because you will have to re-tolex the cabs.

[ADR]

My good friend Brian bought a Coliseum 300 brand new back in the 80's. Special order too.They are 150 watts with Simul-class.I was just talking to him the other night about it and how only once, only once he turned it up to "3" on full power and still to this day thats the loudest and baddest boogie. His room would actually get hot after turning the beast on.
I loved the lead channel with "pull deep" with my old Jackson. Keep the thing they are bad ass. I had .50 cals back then.

[nor]

6 tubes = Coli.
4 tubes = MkIII
Simul-Class was an add-on option, like the reverb or eq.

Good luck finding a place to use it without pissing someone off....lol... my MKIII Simul pissed off soundmen, bar owners, neighbors, and Marshall owners all over the West. And that was on the 15w setting.


Nice score!