NAD Mark III, Never thought I'd own one.

MadAsAHatter

MadAsAHatter

Well-known member
Tracking shows it's loaded on the delivery vehicle and hopefully will be delivered and waiting for me when I get home from work today.

Though I've glanced at them a time or two this is an amp that wasn't really on my radar to get. After missing 3 deals in one day on gear I've been hunting I had a fit of buying rage. It became a 'fuck it I'm buying something moment'.

I spotted the post in the classifieds section here. It was one of the more desirable models at a reasonable price so I worked out a sale with the seller before someone else decided to grab it. I never though I'd ever own an amp from this maker as I've never gelled with their other popular amp. I've been playing a clone/modular version of the amp I bought and have really enjoyed and bonded with the sound. That was actually good enough for me to not really give the full amp much of a thought anymore. Even though I hadn't looked at it much and it was an impulse purchase I'm excited to add it to the stable.

What amp did I get you may ask? I'll let you guys take a guess and post pictures of the answer when I get home this afternoon.
Here's a small hint... Someone marked the chassis with a sharpie and it's likely to make @JackBootedThug a little jealous.

Edit: Changed title, scroll down for pictures.
 
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MadAsAHatter said:
Tracking shows it's loaded on the delivery vehicle and hopefully will be delivered and waiting for me when I get home from work today.

Though I've glanced at them a time or two this is an amp that wasn't really on my radar to get. After missing 3 deals in one day on gear I've been hunting I had a fit of buying rage. It became a 'fuck it I'm buying something moment'.

I spotted the post in the classifieds section here. It was one of the more desirable models at a reasonable price so I worked out a sale with the seller before someone else decided to grab it. I never though I'd ever own an amp from this maker as I've never gelled with their other popular amp. I've been playing a clone/modular version of the amp I bought and have really enjoyed and bonded with the sound. That was actually good enough for me to not really give the full amp much of a thought anymore. Even though I hadn't looked at it much and it was an impulse purchase I'm excited to add it to the stable.

What amp did I get you may ask? I'll let you guys take a guess and post pictures of the answer when I get home this afternoon.
Here's a small hint... Someone marked the chassis with a sharpie and it's likely to make @JackBootedThug a little jealous.
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Bugera?
 
Everyone mostly guessed correctly, but @Chubbs hit it on the nose. Mark III red stripe wide chassis.

The tolex isn't battered by any means but is showing it's age. The headshell may have slightly separated at the top left joint also. It's hard to tell but kind of feels like it. Not a big deal, that can be easily fixed. What I'll likely do though is make a new shell & new wrap for a fresh look. I'll put the original shell aside keeping it as is so I could put it back if I ever wanted to.

I do have a small dilemma though. I'm not sure what to do for the wrap. Should I redo it like the original wrap? Do black crocodile kind of like the Stiletto is done? Or do some other color. Maybe white/cream as a contrast to the black face, or red because it's a red stripe? What do you all think?

*EDIT* I almost forgot to give @Blackened a big shout out for making this an easy stress free purchase. He packed it up extremely well, sent pictures of it in the box before shipping, and got it out the next morning. Definitely recommended as an honest trustworthy seller.

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John4021 said:
Congrats. Leave it alone unless your OCD and want pristeen.
Does that year have the "SUS 4 top shock mounts?
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I'm not necessarily OCD for pristine, I'm just one for something a little more different/unique. But I could go either way.
It didn't appear to have the SUS 4.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
Everyone mostly guessed correctly, but @Chubbs hit it on the nose. Mark III red stripe wide chassis.

The tolex isn't battered by any means but is showing it's age. The headshell may have slightly separated at the top left joint also. It's hard to tell but kind of feels like it. Not a big deal, that can be easily fixed. What I'll likely do though is make a new shell & new wrap for a fresh look. I'll put the original shell aside keeping it as is so I could put it back if I ever wanted to.

I do have a small dilemma though. I'm not sure what to do for the wrap. Should I redo it like the original wrap? Do black crocodile kind of like the Stiletto is done? Or do some other color. Maybe white/cream as a contrast to the black face, or red because it's a red stripe? What do you all think?

*EDIT* I almost forgot to give @Blackened a big shout out for making this an easy stress free purchase. He packed it up extremely well, sent pictures of it in the box before shipping, and got it out the next morning. Definitely recommended as an honest trustworthy seller.

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Great amps congrats !
 
Since I have the IICP synergy module I was messing around comparing it to the Mark III. The IICP was being run through my Randall RM100. I used my amp head switcher to hop back and forth between them. I got the the Mark III dialed in where I wanted it. I didn't have to do too much dialing in since Blackened left his settings mostly where he used them before packing it up. So it was pretty much set just right from the start. Then I tweaked the setting on the IICP to match the Mark III as best as possible.

I have to say, the difference between the two was pretty marginal. No more different than say a Mark III to a Mark IV. There was even a few times I lost track of which one I was on. I'd think I was on the Mark III, go to adjust something, and didn't realize I was playing through the IICP and vice-versa they were so similar. The main difference that I could hear was the IICP was a bit smoother than the Mark III. I felt the Mark III had just a little more hair on it's balls. I have to give credit to Mr. Fryette for designing a module that sounds so similar to the real thing. But I'm still ecstatic about having the Mark III
 
Congrats. I used to have a Mark III red stripe as well. I got a lot of use out of that amp. I got lots of compliments on my tone at gigs. Kinda miss that amp sometimes.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
Since I have the IICP synergy module I was messing around comparing it to the Mark III. The IICP was being run through my Randall RM100. I used my amp head switcher to hop back and forth between them. I got the the Mark III dialed in where I wanted it. I didn't have to do too much dialing in since Blackened left his settings mostly where he used them before packing it up. So it was pretty much set just right from the start. Then I tweaked the setting on the IICP to match the Mark III as best as possible.

I have to say, the difference between the two was pretty marginal. No more different than say a Mark III to a Mark IV. There was even a few times I lost track of which one I was on. I'd think I was on the Mark III, go to adjust something, and didn't realize I was playing through the IICP and vice-versa they were so similar. The main difference that I could hear was the IICP was a bit smoother than the Mark III. I felt the Mark III had just a little more hair on it's balls. I have to give credit to Mr. Fryette for designing a module that sounds so similar to the real thing. But I'm still ecstatic about having the Mark III
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Wow, that’s really interesting. I bought the IICP Synergy module when it first came out and gave up on it pretty quick. I’ve had it sitting in the box it came in since. I purchased a 2nd SYN2 that’s arriving tomorrow so will spend some time with it. Pretty excited to have 4 modules at the ready, the IICP, Ecstasy, VH4 and the Vai module.
The Vai and the IICP have been boxed up for about a year.
 
I've decided to freshen up the aesthetics a bit. You all should know by now I can't leave well enough alone and like to put my own flavor on things. Don't worry I'm not going to butcher the original shell. I'm going to keep it as is and put it aside so it can go back to stock if I ever want/need.

I'm making a new shell. The wrap will be a distressed red vinyl and red/black houndstooth fabric on the face. So far I got the basic form of the shell done and ordered the fabric. On a quick tangent warning... while I was at it I ordered a bunch of different fabrics to customize several of my other amps. So expect some more threads on that as I complete those projects.

For now, here's a pic of the new shell as it stands and sample of the covering.

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Great amp, congrats! And kudos for doing something unique with the looks, even if beauty really is in the eye of the beholder :giggle:
 
stratjacket said:
Wow, that’s really interesting. I bought the IICP Synergy module when it first came out and gave up on it pretty quick. I’ve had it sitting in the box it came in since. I purchased a 2nd SYN2 that’s arriving tomorrow so will spend some time with it. Pretty excited to have 4 modules at the ready, the IICP, Ecstasy, VH4 and the Vai module.
The Vai and the IICP have been boxed up for about a year.
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Me too man, most things about the IICP were close but the graphic EQ was fucked. I had to have 2200 bottomed out to keep 6600 from being too harsh but it was still not quite right. Ditched it pretty quick. Anyways congrats OP!
 
Did a little more work on the shell yesterday evening. Did the round overs, drilled mounting holes, and test fit the chassis. Really don't have too much left to do on the woodworking part. The fabric is scheduled to be delivered this week so I should have everything finished up by the end of the upcoming weekend.

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Finished up the last of the wood working and started covering the new sell yesterday. I was able to finish up everything today. It's not 100% perfect, though I've seen worse jobs on professional headshells. The seams where it's angled could have been a little bit cleaner, but it's not terrible by any means. I'm especially happy with the way the top front corners came out. The other shells I've covered used corner protectors so any imperfections would be covered. This is the first one I've done that has corners exposed. The seams blend extremely well.

Overall I'm very pleased with the final results.

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