Mesa Mark III

[Zachman]

Zachman, have you ever compared your coliseum to a regular mark III and if so how does it compare besides all the extra power.

Oh yes. I currently also have a MKIII Blue stripe combo, and used to run the MKIII Coli-- in a stereo rig w/ a racked MKIII head. I have had several MKII, and MKIII heads and combos.

mentoneman says my Coli is a magic amp. I agree.

I am the original owner and have had this amp since 1986. It's the 13th one they made (no stripe). I really love the combo too. Not exactly the same as the Coli, but pretty obvious that they share the same heritage. I run all 6L6's in the combo, but run 4 6L6's and 2 EL34's in the Coli. When the combo is run w/ a 4x12 it becomes a whole other monster. Very aggressive when cracked open on the Lead channel, and very pretty to grunting on the Rhythm and Rhythm2 settings.

My combo suffers from a volume drop, when engaging R2 (common). There is a R2 mod that the factory does, putting a separate volume control for R2 on the amp, to address that (I haven't bothered to get the mod done). My Coli doesn't suffer from that issue.

The Graphic eq option is a MUST for me.

 

[sjk]

Zachman, have you ever compared your coliseum to a regular mark III and if so how does it compare besides all the extra power.

Oh yes. I currently also have a MKIII Blue stripe combo, and used to run the MKIII Coli-- in a stereo rig w/ a racked MKIII head. I have had several MKII, and MKIII heads and combos.

mentoneman says my Coli is a magic amp. I agree.

I am the original owner and have had this amp since 1986. It's the 13th one they made (no stripe). I really love the combo too. Not exactly the same as the Coli, but pretty obvious that they share the same heritage. I run all 6L6's in the combo, but run 4 6L6's and 2 EL34's in the Coli. When the combo is run w/ a 4x12 it becomes a whole other monster. Very aggressive when cracked open on the Lead channel, and very pretty to grunting on the Rhythm and Rhythm2 settings.

My combo suffers from a volume drop, when engaging R2 (common). There is a R2 mod that the factory does, putting a separate volume control for R2 on the amp, to address that (I haven't bothered to get the mod done). My Coli doesn't suffer from that issue.

The Graphic eq option is a MUST for me.

Good info Zach, interesting stuff. I've got the blue stripe simul eq head and run it with all 6L6s as well, seems to get a little muddy with the mix of 34s and 6L6s and does not sound as big to my ears. I like it so much I'm half tempted to buy a red stripe just for a little different flavor, for the price I'm not sure they can be beat.

 

[Zachman]

Zachman, have you ever compared your coliseum to a regular mark III and if so how does it compare besides all the extra power.

Oh yes. I currently also have a MKIII Blue stripe combo, and used to run the MKIII Coli-- in a stereo rig w/ a racked MKIII head. I have had several MKII, and MKIII heads and combos.

mentoneman says my Coli is a magic amp. I agree.

I am the original owner and have had this amp since 1986. It's the 13th one they made (no stripe). I really love the combo too. Not exactly the same as the Coli, but pretty obvious that they share the same heritage. I run all 6L6's in the combo, but run 4 6L6's and 2 EL34's in the Coli. When the combo is run w/ a 4x12 it becomes a whole other monster. Very aggressive when cracked open on the Lead channel, and very pretty to grunting on the Rhythm and Rhythm2 settings.

My combo suffers from a volume drop, when engaging R2 (common). There is a R2 mod that the factory does, putting a separate volume control for R2 on the amp, to address that (I haven't bothered to get the mod done). My Coli doesn't suffer from that issue.

The Graphic eq option is a MUST for me.

Good info Zach, interesting stuff. I've got the blue stripe simul eq head and run it with all 6L6s as well, seems to get a little muddy with the mix of 34s and 6L6s and does not sound as big to my ears. I like it so much I'm half tempted to buy a red stripe just for a little different flavor, for the price I'm not sure they can be beat.

Right on!

To me, price not withstanding... I think the MKIII Coli stands up TALL among all of the elite and boutiques, in it's own right. The affordable price is a HUGE bonus

 

[Valtyr]

Ok guys, thanks for all the info!

I tried really hard to talk myself out of it and failed miserably. It's mine.

I'll be running a Nova Delay through the loop, and sometimes an EH Electric Mistress out front.

I see you guys mentioning "red stripe" etc. How can I tell what I've got?

 

[sjk]

Glad we could talk you into it, keep us informed how you like it. I should state that my blue stripe is new to me as well, just got it a little over a month ago and as you can tell from all my posts about I'm blown away by it. Actually what sold me on buying one without ever trying it was some of the soundclips Zachman posted a couple months ago, the whitesnake one in particular and I'm not a whitesnake fan, but you gotta love some of their riffs.

 

[Zachman]

Glad we could talk you into it, keep us informed how you like it. I should state that my blue stripe is new to me as well, just got it a little over a month ago and as you can tell from all my posts about I'm blown away by it. Actually what sold me on buying one without ever trying it was some of the soundclips Zachman posted a couple months ago, the whitesnake one in particular and I'm not a whitesnake fan, but you gotta love some of their riffs.

 

[blackba]

Zachman, have you ever compared your coliseum to a regular mark III and if so how does it compare besides all the extra power.

Oh yes. I currently also have a MKIII Blue stripe combo, and used to run the MKIII Coli-- in a stereo rig w/ a racked MKIII head. I have had several MKII, and MKIII heads and combos.

mentoneman says my Coli is a magic amp. I agree.

I am the original owner and have had this amp since 1986. It's the 13th one they made (no stripe). I really love the combo too. Not exactly the same as the Coli, but pretty obvious that they share the same heritage. I run all 6L6's in the combo, but run 4 6L6's and 2 EL34's in the Coli. When the combo is run w/ a 4x12 it becomes a whole other monster. Very aggressive when cracked open on the Lead channel, and very pretty to grunting on the Rhythm and Rhythm2 settings.

My combo suffers from a volume drop, when engaging R2 (common). There is a R2 mod that the factory does, putting a separate volume control for R2 on the amp, to address that (I haven't bothered to get the mod done). My Coli doesn't suffer from that issue.

The Graphic eq option is a MUST for me.

Good info Zach, interesting stuff. I've got the blue stripe simul eq head and run it with all 6L6s as well, seems to get a little muddy with the mix of 34s and 6L6s and does not sound as big to my ears. I like it so much I'm half tempted to buy a red stripe just for a little different flavor, for the price I'm not sure they can be beat.

Right on!

To me, price not withstanding... I think the MKIII Coli stands up TALL among all of the elite and boutiques, in it's own right. The affordable price is a HUGE bonus

If I brought home a mark III coli I think my wife would think of it as my midlife crisis amp, I mean everyone needs a really big powerful amp that sounds killer, right?

I wonder how the markIII coli would work with a Fender Jazz bass into an ampeg bass cab? Someday hopefully I will buy one and find out...

BTW Zachman, really enjoyed your Youtube video clip. Great job, nice tone and playing. Was that smoke coming from your fretboard, cause you tore it up.

 

[Valtyr]

Zachman, have you ever compared your coliseum to a regular mark III and if so how does it compare besides all the extra power.

Oh yes. I currently also have a MKIII Blue stripe combo, and used to run the MKIII Coli-- in a stereo rig w/ a racked MKIII head. I have had several MKII, and MKIII heads and combos.

mentoneman says my Coli is a magic amp. I agree.

I am the original owner and have had this amp since 1986. It's the 13th one they made (no stripe). I really love the combo too. Not exactly the same as the Coli, but pretty obvious that they share the same heritage. I run all 6L6's in the combo, but run 4 6L6's and 2 EL34's in the Coli. When the combo is run w/ a 4x12 it becomes a whole other monster. Very aggressive when cracked open on the Lead channel, and very pretty to grunting on the Rhythm and Rhythm2 settings.

My combo suffers from a volume drop, when engaging R2 (common). There is a R2 mod that the factory does, putting a separate volume control for R2 on the amp, to address that (I haven't bothered to get the mod done). My Coli doesn't suffer from that issue.

The Graphic eq option is a MUST for me.

Good info Zach, interesting stuff. I've got the blue stripe simul eq head and run it with all 6L6s as well, seems to get a little muddy with the mix of 34s and 6L6s and does not sound as big to my ears. I like it so much I'm half tempted to buy a red stripe just for a little different flavor, for the price I'm not sure they can be beat.

Right on!

To me, price not withstanding... I think the MKIII Coli stands up TALL among all of the elite and boutiques, in it's own right. The affordable price is a HUGE bonus

If I brought home a mark III coli I think my wife would think of it as my midlife crisis amp, I mean everyone needs a really big powerful amp that sounds killer, right?

I wonder how the markIII coli would work with a Fender Jazz bass into an ampeg bass cab? Someday hopefully I will buy one and find out...

BTW Zachman, really enjoyed your Youtube video clip. Great job, nice tone and playing. Was that smoke coming from your fretboard, cause you tore it up.

I could try that something like that. It would be a Rickenbacker 4001 into an Ampeg bass cab though.

My main guitar is a Parker Fly Classic. I plan on running the Mark III through a Mesa 1X12 cab. It looks a little funny though, the head is wider than the cab.

 

[Zachman]

Zachman, have you ever compared your coliseum to a regular mark III and if so how does it compare besides all the extra power.

Oh yes. I currently also have a MKIII Blue stripe combo, and used to run the MKIII Coli-- in a stereo rig w/ a racked MKIII head. I have had several MKII, and MKIII heads and combos.

mentoneman says my Coli is a magic amp. I agree.

I am the original owner and have had this amp since 1986. It's the 13th one they made (no stripe). I really love the combo too. Not exactly the same as the Coli, but pretty obvious that they share the same heritage. I run all 6L6's in the combo, but run 4 6L6's and 2 EL34's in the Coli. When the combo is run w/ a 4x12 it becomes a whole other monster. Very aggressive when cracked open on the Lead channel, and very pretty to grunting on the Rhythm and Rhythm2 settings.

My combo suffers from a volume drop, when engaging R2 (common). There is a R2 mod that the factory does, putting a separate volume control for R2 on the amp, to address that (I haven't bothered to get the mod done). My Coli doesn't suffer from that issue.

The Graphic eq option is a MUST for me.

Good info Zach, interesting stuff. I've got the blue stripe simul eq head and run it with all 6L6s as well, seems to get a little muddy with the mix of 34s and 6L6s and does not sound as big to my ears. I like it so much I'm half tempted to buy a red stripe just for a little different flavor, for the price I'm not sure they can be beat.

Right on!

To me, price not withstanding... I think the MKIII Coli stands up TALL among all of the elite and boutiques, in it's own right. The affordable price is a HUGE bonus

If I brought home a mark III coli I think my wife would think of it as my midlife crisis amp, I mean everyone needs a really big powerful amp that sounds killer, right?

I wonder how the markIII coli would work with a Fender Jazz bass into an ampeg bass cab? Someday hopefully I will buy one and find out...

BTW Zachman, really enjoyed your Youtube video clip. Great job, nice tone and playing. Was that smoke coming from your fretboard, cause you tore it up.

Thanks bro... I have actually used the Coli w/ a Fender bass before. Worked GREAT!!!

This was the bass:

 

[Zachman]

Zachman, have you ever compared your coliseum to a regular mark III and if so how does it compare besides all the extra power.

Oh yes. I currently also have a MKIII Blue stripe combo, and used to run the MKIII Coli-- in a stereo rig w/ a racked MKIII head. I have had several MKII, and MKIII heads and combos.

mentoneman says my Coli is a magic amp. I agree.

I am the original owner and have had this amp since 1986. It's the 13th one they made (no stripe). I really love the combo too. Not exactly the same as the Coli, but pretty obvious that they share the same heritage. I run all 6L6's in the combo, but run 4 6L6's and 2 EL34's in the Coli. When the combo is run w/ a 4x12 it becomes a whole other monster. Very aggressive when cracked open on the Lead channel, and very pretty to grunting on the Rhythm and Rhythm2 settings.

My combo suffers from a volume drop, when engaging R2 (common). There is a R2 mod that the factory does, putting a separate volume control for R2 on the amp, to address that (I haven't bothered to get the mod done). My Coli doesn't suffer from that issue.

The Graphic eq option is a MUST for me.

Good info Zach, interesting stuff. I've got the blue stripe simul eq head and run it with all 6L6s as well, seems to get a little muddy with the mix of 34s and 6L6s and does not sound as big to my ears. I like it so much I'm half tempted to buy a red stripe just for a little different flavor, for the price I'm not sure they can be beat.

Right on!

To me, price not withstanding... I think the MKIII Coli stands up TALL among all of the elite and boutiques, in it's own right. The affordable price is a HUGE bonus

If I brought home a mark III coli I think my wife would think of it as my midlife crisis amp, I mean everyone needs a really big powerful amp that sounds killer, right?

I wonder how the markIII coli would work with a Fender Jazz bass into an ampeg bass cab? Someday hopefully I will buy one and find out...

BTW Zachman, really enjoyed your Youtube video clip. Great job, nice tone and playing. Was that smoke coming from your fretboard, cause you tore it up.

I could try that something like that. It would be a Rickenbacker 4001 into an Ampeg bass cab though.

My main guitar is a Parker Fly Classic. I plan on running the Mark III through a Mesa 1X12 cab. It looks a little funny though, the head is wider than the cab.

How's this for funny looking:

 

[Valtyr]

I might have to try that with the books. LOL

I tried the amp through some sort of Fender cab at the store. I have only messed around on the clean channel so far but it sounds way better at home through my mesa cab.

 

[sjk]

Zachman how do you like that intellifex, there is one on ebay that keeps getting put up for sale with the price at starting at $130 and nobody ever buys it.

 

[Zachman]

Zachman how do you like that intellifex, there is one on ebay that keeps getting put up for sale with the price at starting at $130 and nobody ever buys it.

I like it. It's nice sounding. It's got limitations by today's fx unit standards, as far as running multiple algorithms simultaneously, but I think they're terrific. It's a 24 Bit processor and wasn't cheap in it's day.

 

[stratotone]

You can find the R2 level mod for the Mark IIIs online and it's easy to do - I did it on my Coli. Turned it about halfway up and I thought my entire house was going to fall down. Seriously loud amps and the clean channel is like an embiggened fender twin.

Pete

 

[Valtyr]

Being a telecommuter has certain advantages. There isn't much going on at work today so I've been able play with the amp.

Holy shit this thing is awesome!

 

[mboogman]

Ok guys, thanks for all the info!

I tried really hard to talk myself out of it and failed miserably. It's mine.

I'll be running a Nova Delay through the loop, and sometimes an EH Electric Mistress out front.

I see you guys mentioning "red stripe" etc. How can I tell what I've got?

Welcome to the club!

 

[srommes]

Hey Zach,
Do you guys ever play Vegas? My wife is a huge Journey fan and it would be cool to take her to see you guys. You guys sound spot on by the way.

I bought mine like a year ago and i still have it. Its awesome!

Like you said, the clean is pretty good, i like it. The lead channel with the eq on is one of the greatest lead tones i ever heard, imo its really, really good.

If you want that Marshall crunch... Well, you are not going to find it here. For me its a great amp for lead playing and solos, but i dont think its that good for rhytm (unless you play metal, which i dont). You dont even need a boost, just the footswitch and thats it. Really cool when it comes to playing live.

I have actually had some success getting a Marshall vibe out of my MKIII Coliseum Simul-Class head (180 Watts), on the R2 channel, with and without using a boost). I was using this at the beginning of the song below, and then the heavier parts are the Marshall SLP, Solo section is the Boogie on the Lead channel, Out of the solo is a Marshall SLP until the end of the song and the intro to Stay Awhile (Solo section is Boogie... and the intro and verses are the R2 channel of the Boogie

 

[Zachman]

Hey Zach,
Do you guys ever play Vegas? My wife is a huge Journey fan and it would be cool to take her to see you guys. You guys sound spot on by the way.

I bought mine like a year ago and i still have it. Its awesome!

Like you said, the clean is pretty good, i like it. The lead channel with the eq on is one of the greatest lead tones i ever heard, imo its really, really good.

If you want that Marshall crunch... Well, you are not going to find it here. For me its a great amp for lead playing and solos, but i dont think its that good for rhytm (unless you play metal, which i dont). You dont even need a boost, just the footswitch and thats it. Really cool when it comes to playing live.

I have actually had some success getting a Marshall vibe out of my MKIII Coliseum Simul-Class head (180 Watts), on the R2 channel, with and without using a boost). I was using this at the beginning of the song below, and then the heavier parts are the Marshall SLP, Solo section is the Boogie on the Lead channel, Out of the solo is a Marshall SLP until the end of the song and the intro to Stay Awhile (Solo section is Boogie... and the intro and verses are the R2 channel of the Boogie

Thanks bro... We were negotiating a Vegas deal but couldn't agree on certain terms. That band is no longer. It was a fun and profitable 3 year run.

 

[petejt]

It's great to hear your rig in action Zach.

 

[shreddr69]

So, I had a Mark III red stripe which I was told was the holy grail of the Mark III's and the only problem I had with it was the fact that you can get a great overdrive tone OR a great clean, not both at the same time. It became so frustrating that I sold it after a few months as I could not perform live with it. So there's my 2 cents. Great studio amp crappy live amp