Is the Mesa Mark III under rated?

[EOengineer]

Ever feel like the Mesa Mark III is the ignored middle child in the Mark series? I've owned a fully loaded blue stripe for 10 years now and I'm blown away every time I turn it on. I get everything from great punchy "fender on steroids" cleans, through juicy/greasy edge of breakup, fat mid gain , and all the different shades of high gain we know and love from the mark amps.

Is it just that the III lives in the shadow of the IIC+ or is there more? I also owned a studio pre (similar to IIC) for around 10 years, and while there are some subtle differences when compared to the III, the two circuits are shockingly similar in the tones they can achieve. Generally, I would say the studio pre is somewhat smoother in the top end with a slightly saggier feel, while the III is ever so slightly tighter and more aggressive. We are talking REALLY minor differences here though.

Any Mark III lovers here?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Love my Mark III. For me its in the sweet spot of tone vs how you dial it in. Great choice of push pulls and pretty immediate to get tones out of. The IV is great too but its even more in the territory of building your own amplifier based on how things are set up. I think the IIC+ is so famous that it overshadows the other Mark amps, even if they are way more similar to each other than people want to believe. Not saying there aren't differences, but I'm not losing sleep over them.

 

[James Freeman]

No.
The III is just a natural continuation of the IIC+ and an additional Rhythm 2 channel.
They have more in common than not.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Yes and no.... for a long time totally, but based on the prices people are trying to get for them for the last several years it seems hard to call them underrated

Amazing amps though, I miss my red stripe a lot

 

[Desertdweller]

The Mark III is criminally underrated. The loudest sound I’ve ever heard in my life was a Mark 3 on like 2 billowing out of that combo that should never have been built so loud. The Black Shadow speaker is a misdeed brought to earth by aliens and the Mark 3 combos are incredible.

Having said that, the speaker was honestly too much for me. I snagged a Mark III combo a few years back and put it in a headshell with a new reverb tank and fan. It’s one of my favorite all time amps. It has a raw energy and aggression you don’t find in a lot of more modern variants, and the ability to run EL34s and 6L6s at the same time is fabulous.

 

[RaceU4her]

I don’t think so, think it’s pretty highly regarded in the mark series actually

 

[EOengineer]

The Mark III is criminally underrated. The loudest sound I’ve ever heard in my life was a Mark 3 on like 2 billowing out of that combo that should never have been built so loud. The Black Shadow speaker is a misdeed brought to earth by aliens and the Mark 3 combos are incredible.

Having said that, the speaker was honestly too much for me. I snagged a Mark III combo a few years back and put it in a headshell with a new reverb tank and fan. It’s one of my favorite all time amps. It has a raw energy and aggression you don’t find in a lot of more modern variants, and the ability to run EL34s and 6L6s at the same time is fabulous.

I feel that volume comment in my nightmares. I purchased mine as a combo with the 12L. That combo could have knocked the planet off axis if dropped. Ungodly loud.

I finally got around to moving the chassis into a used head shell and the 12L went into an oversized sealed 1x12 vboutique cab, what an incredible combination. It’s still heavy but easier to manage in 2 trips and punches like a much larger cab. It’s still loud as hell, but the fuller sound of the big sealed cab gives me more of that I love about that amp. I don’t like Mesa’s combos, at least not for high gain.

 

[FuzzyAce]

The IV has 1 up on it.

 

[JT]

The III is weird in that it is consistently THE Mark amp I always read chatter on forums (that know). The IV has some fans with some version splitting and the V seems to kind of be out there without many champions.

 

[nicolasrivera]

My MkIII green stripe, love it to death, its a true monster amp and very versatile.

 

[EOengineer]

The III is weird in that it is consistently THE Mark amp I always read chatter on forums (that know). The IV has some fans with some version splitting and the V seems to kind of be out there without many champions.

I agree. It’s like up until maybe 2 years ago the Mark III flew under the radar. I bought mine fully loaded in ~2012 for $700 shipped. They aren’t getting 2C+ money, but the prices have really shot up post Covid. Total sleeper amps IMO.

 

[EOengineer]

The IV has 1 up on it.

In what way? I’d guess versatility?

 

[JT]

I agree. It’s like up until maybe 2 years ago the Mark III flew under the radar. I bought mine fully loaded in ~2012 for $700 shipped. They aren’t getting 2C+ money, but the prices have really shot up post Covid. Total sleeper amps IMO.

Yeah I have read nothing but great things about the IIIs. They are in this weird sort of spot where age-wise they are probably going to need serviced sooner than later. Unless you grab it from a person that keeps up on that sort of thing.

 

[JT]

In what way? I’d guess versatility?

3+1=4

 

[EOengineer]

3+1=4

Of course.

 

[DrewJD82]

I think it’s just in spot between two really, really amazing amps that doesn’t allow for it to stand on it’s own as much. Still a great f*cking amp!

It was the first amp I ever heard in person, my uncle used to rock a full stack with the old diamond grill Mesa cabs. And I still give him sh*t for selling it all so he could buy a Digitech 2101 in ‘94.

 

[Desertdweller]

My MkIII green stripe, love it to death, its a true monster amp and very versatile.

Are you the guy with those awesome green stripe videos on YT?

 

[spawnofthesith]

I agree. It’s like up until maybe 2 years ago the Mark III flew under the radar. I bought mine fully loaded in ~2012 for $700 shipped. They aren’t getting 2C+ money, but the prices have really shot up post Covid. Total sleeper amps IMO.

Yeah I got mine a few years after that for about $1300. Now I rarely see anything below $2k

 

[mk5]

I remember in the late 90s Mesa catalogs, they said they would have re-issued the Mark III, but the “fans would not let Mesa discontinue it” and it was still made in like 1996-1998ish.

I pause at the “we would’ve reissued it” comment (2C+, anyone?), but it went strong in production for probably 12+ years.

Every time I hear Sykes on 1987 or Blue Murder, I can hear that Mark III

 

[Desertdweller]

So I think there are some neat tricks to the older Mark amps, especially the III that really fly under the radar. Here’s my own rundown, as always YMMV:

1. The outer pair of power amp tube sockets are biased hotter than the inner pair. This allows for EL34 or 6L6 utilization. I believe this is only on the Simulclass models, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
2. The amp sounds extremely heavy with all knobs but the mid knob pulled. When you pull the mid knob on the lead channel, it adds yet another gain stage. Completely unnecessary and so welcomed.
3. The Volume, Treble, and Bass knobs have features modern Marks do not have. Pull Bright, Pull Treble Shift, and Pull Bass Shift are all subtle tweaks, but can have an impact on the sound and feel of the amp. Personally, if I’m playing without an overdrive I push in the bass knob as it tightens up the sound, but If I’m playing with an overdrive because I’m nuts and love tons of gain, I pull the bass knob
4. It’s alright to have the middle and bass knobs at or close to zero on the lead channel. Bass = flub, mid is basically placebo b/c you’re going to scoop the hell out of it on the GEQ anyway.
5. I love the subtle changes in tone and feel you can get from increasing the input volume and treble knobs. You can run them at 7 like everyone else, or you can push them in different directions for wildly different tones. The Lead channel on it’s own is extremely versatile.
6. Treble at 7, Bass at 3, Mid at 4, GEQ on for lead, off for Rhythm 1, and you have a killer 2 channel live setup with a great clean tone and a great lead tone.
7. Master at 1 is barely audible. Master at 1.2 is good bedroom level. Master at 1.5 or above will clear your sinuses and empty your bowels. This amp is the most efficient use of 85 watts ever established by mankind.