Good trade? Mesa Boogie MKIII Head Green Stripe vs VHT UL?

[Nachorc90]

Hey guys! hope you´re doing fine. I´m new posting here, but long time lurker of this forum. Here´s the thing:

A guy is offering me a VHT Ultra Lead WITHOUT Graphic EQ on a trade for my Mesa Boogie Mark III Green Stripe (with Graphic EQ and reverb, tho, the reverb isn´t very noticiable on the Mark Series) head plus money (or my guitar, a Yamaha SG1500).

I use cleans quite a bit and high gain, mostly rythm playing but I do a lot of leads. Not so much into mid gain tones. I play and write a lot in my room, so the volume could be something to notice.

Hope you can help me with my decision, great forum by the way.

Best Regards.

 

[fretout]

Hey man! Welcome to the forum!

As far as the Mark IIIs go, you can see what I think of them in my sig below. The green stripes usually sell for anything between $750 - $1,000 depending on condition, and it seems like the long heads are priced higher.

I guess it depends how much more the seller wants you to kick in, and what condition the VHT is, but both are decent amps!

 

[Nachorc90]

Hey man! Welcome to the forum!

As far as the Mark IIIs go, you can see what I think of them in my sig below. The green stripes usually sell for anything between $750 - $1,000 depending on condition, and it seems like the long heads are priced higher.

I guess it depends how much more the seller wants you to kick in, and what condition the VHT is, but both are decent amps!

Hey buddy, thanks for your reply !

The seller wants the Mark III and my Yamaha SG 1500 (refinished by a pro luthiers, like new condition) from 1977.

I like quite a bit the amp, according to the seller, it´s in great condition. The only thing that buggers me is that there´s no graphic EQ on the VHT.

On a side note: what´s the going rate for a Mark IV? and obviously subjective, but do you prefer your Mark IV´s or III´s? I´ve jonesing about getting a IV, but I don´t know if I should...

Thanks again!

 

[Crunchtime]

I would pass on that trade. An Ultralead with EQ is worth around 1600. Without an EQ I'm not sure but it has to be less and would be a hard sell. I'm just guessing 1300.

Unless you place a value of less than $500 on your guitar, I would pass on that trade.

On top of that, The Mark III sounds better anyway, IMO.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Keep the Mark.

 

[Nachorc90]

Hey guys, thanks for your answers! so far, the Mark III seems to be the one to keep.

 

[jsp]

I'd rather have the Mark, personally.

 

[FourT6and2]

If the UL had an EQ, I might consider a trade. But no EQ... no deal.

They are both good amps. From my limited experience with both amps, the VHT might be more usable at lower volumes though. The Mark III is a LOUD amp, no? Like 1 on the master is crazy loud. At least with the combo amps I've tried.

 

[Nachorc90]

the mark III is a loud amp, but Ive read that the VHT is louder even at bedroom volumes, I didnt use the Mark III too much (I bought the amp a month ago and my tech friend is doing routinary service) but as far as I know, many people use it as a bedroom amp. Mind you that I have the long Green Stripe head, which is 85 or 15 watts, the vht as far as i know is 60 or 120 watts. Anybody could chime in and give your opinion about this?

 

[Anonymous]

Only way this deal would happen for me if it's I got a straight trade; UL w/ EQ for Mark III
No EQ forget about it
Adding cash forget about it

I've owned both amps... I still own the Mark III

 

[fretout]

Hey man! Welcome to the forum!

As far as the Mark IIIs go, you can see what I think of them in my sig below. The green stripes usually sell for anything between $750 - $1,000 depending on condition, and it seems like the long heads are priced higher.

I guess it depends how much more the seller wants you to kick in, and what condition the VHT is, but both are decent amps!

Hey buddy, thanks for your reply !

The seller wants the Mark III and my Yamaha SG 1500 (refinished by a pro luthiers, like new condition) from 1977.

I like quite a bit the amp, according to the seller, it´s in great condition. The only thing that buggers me is that there´s no graphic EQ on the VHT.

On a side note: what´s the going rate for a Mark IV? and obviously subjective, but do you prefer your Mark IV´s or III´s? I´ve jonesing about getting a IV, but I don´t know if I should...

Thanks again!

Between the Mark III and the Mark IV, it's a pretty tough decision that comes down to what you use the amp for. My Mark IVs are much darker than my Mark IIIs, and they are nowhere near as aggressive (and I have a simulclass normal blue stripe in addition to the Colis).

The areas where the Mark IV shines over the Mark III is in it's versatility. You can pretty much have 3 separate channels, but some of the controls are shared, whereas the Mark III's channels are all shared. I've been able to balance my tone across all three channels and make them all sound great, but channel 2 gets used the least.

So, my philosophy today is this: I've I'm auditioning or playing with new musicians, I'll be the Mark IV, but I'll definitely bring my Mark III to the next jam. I will never get rid of my Mark IIIs.

 

[rabies]

I had a Mark III green and it was the only amp that made me literally kick the walls of the studio, it was that mean/aggressive sounding. keep it, i sold mine and they're hard to find...

 

[Nachorc90]

oh boy, you guys are great, thats it. Im keeping my mark for good. And also my Yammy

Thanks a lot for the replies!

Also, do you know how is this Mark at low volumes and how good its the FX loop?

thanks so much guys!

 

[Nachorc90]

Oh, another question, which of those amps would serve best for metal and cleans?

 

[RJF]

Not real sure about some of these responses. A mark 3 is a $650 amp. A UL is a $1400+ amp, more like $1600+ with GEQ. So no question, the UL non EQ is still worth a lot more than a mk3.

 

[Nachorc90]

Not real sure about some of these responses. A mark 3 is a $650 amp. A UL is a $1400+ amp, more like $1600+ with GEQ. So no question, the UL non EQ is still worth a lot more than a mk3.

I think the Mark III is about 900-1000 dollars (a couple of weeks one green stripe was sold on $1200 according to a forum) now on a regular basis and depending the stripe and head/combo. 650$ was the price a couple years ago, and in general, that was the purple stripe. But I don´t know, the price difference is fair? I would like to know that.

 

[Nachorc90]

Somebody who had the two amps maybe could give us some input.

 

[Crunchtime]

Not real sure about some of these responses. A mark 3 is a $650 amp. A UL is a $1400+ amp, more like $1600+ with GEQ. So no question, the UL non EQ is still worth a lot more than a mk3.

Good luck finding a green stripe mark with geq for 650.

 

[Crunchtime]

Somebody who had the two amps maybe could give us some input.

I've had both. Mark is still here. One of the best amps ever made even if they can be had for less than 1000.

One thing I hated about the UL EQ was that it had a very narrow useable range on the sliders. It seemed if you were more than a millimeter from the center line it would be such an extreme setting it would be unusable and sound like shit. The UL had a lot of fancy buttons but seemed a waste. The edge button on the red channel added so much hiss it was a joke.

Also build quality on the Mesa is way better. I don't get why people say build quality is so great on the Fryette. I didn't see it. Nothing stood out to me like it does on a Diezel, Rivera, or Mesa. It Has plastic shaft pots! Come on!

 

[fretout]

oh boy, you guys are great, thats it. Im keeping my mark for good. And also my Yammy

Thanks a lot for the replies!

Also, do you know how is this Mark at low volumes and how good its the FX loop?

thanks so much guys!

Well, it was referred to as a "giant killer" back when they were released because of how loud they were. As with many tube amps, they sound better the louder they're run. You can get usable lower-volume tones out of them, but you'll be below "1" on your master setting. To me, the lower volume settings are a hundred times more usable than...say...a rectifier.

The FX loops are good. Basic and direct. Not sure how else to describe them.

As far as tones, as I said before, the Mark III is one of the most aggressive amps ever made, IMHO, and on Rhythm 1 you can get Fender-type cleans, and on the lead channel you can get more than enough gain for metal.