NAD mesa mark iii blue stripe HRG and NCD!!!

[Techdeth]

Agreed, the Blue is more aggressive with better clarity.

See I like the green better for riffs . It’s thicker to me . Like a thick fat chunk . The ++ green I have reminds me of what hetfield got after he added the eqs to it . I love Justice . It’s very thick like that , over the top but clear . I like extra extreme ness to it

 

[mentoneman]

Man as great as the green sounds, I just love the sound of your mark iii blue stripe so much more. The gain is just cleaner and like you said it has an aggressive attack that is opposite of the green stripe. The leads on the green are amazing but I just don’t jive with the rhythm like I do for the blue.

they’re both great and i’d be equally happy with either tbh. what’s odd is i played another friend’s IIC+ combo w/extension 1x12 during the time i was babysitting the green stripe combo and vastly preferred the green and my blue in hindsight.

inevitably all this boogie talk makes me miss my IIB series 300/coli / halfback 4x12 with 90s/EVs and i think these clips do a nice job of capturing some of the IIB unrefined wallop.





the second clips hits close to home as it reminded me of what my amp looked like and sounded like crunching through a marshall 1960A cab loaded with g12-75Ts.

however i do not miss the weight of that boat anchor, and the ridiculous master volume taper where you can’t turn the pot like how any other volume pot in the history of the world works. you have to “float” it with a surgeon’s touch outside of the normal resistance of the wiper to go from 1 to 2 or else you take down the grid.

the IIB clean and reverb was amazing and i notice it has a lot in common with the mark III green stripe clean and crunch, as well as the clean on the IV, but the IIIs have a little extra refinement regarding aggression and effortless sustain on the single notes that my IIB didn’t have unless i pushed the master to a place that flattened cities. and even then it was more santana than sykes so for me going from IIB to III was the logical evolution. when the IV came i was a bit disappointed by the crunch of the lead channel. i like my III gain a bit sharper and hairier than the IV could offer.

 

[glpg80]

See I like the green better for riffs . It’s thicker to me . Like a thick fat chunk . The ++ green I have reminds me of what hetfield got after he added the eqs to it . I love Justice . It’s very thick like that , over the top but clear . I like extra extreme ness to it

I think your ++ would have me leaning towards a green more but it’s hard to say. I know my III++ still isn’t solo friendly plugged straight in. The complaints blue stripes get about being too ice picky come back in the solo notes even with a +/++.

 

[Techdeth]

I think your ++ would have me leaning towards a green more but it’s hard to say. I know my III++ still isn’t solo friendly plugged straight in. The complaints blue stripes get about being too ice picky come back in the solo notes even with a +/++.

Interesting stuff . They all are great though that’s for sure .

 

[ClintN667]

I think next year I'm going to just wait until before buying another amp until a blue stripe head pops up somewhere. There was a guy selling one for 800 last year in town and he didnt respond to me until like a month/6 weeks later. By then I was broke.

 

[mooncobra]

i’m stoked for you! it’s a milestone in boogie evolution that still sounds great today. i remember seeing the ads when they first came out and wanting one sooo bad!

take the quality with a grain of salt--iphone across the room recording—here’s my 2023 attempt at sounding like Rik’s 1979 marshall with a 1988 boogie blue III ! ?



i was using a dd-2 into a dd-500 for looping the rhythm, in the loop of the boogie, and sending the other side of the stereo output of the pedal into my peacemaker. i ran the boogie presence knob on 7 and shaved the geq highs off to compensate trying to recreate some marshall raw brashness. v30 in the orange cab and warehouse et65 in the evh cab

the bogner blue wasn’t on in the vid, but it does sound good for a little extra zing in front when needed!

View attachment 251192

Whoa! The mighty Tyler! What pickups are in that? Sounds great.

 

[glpg80]

they’re both great and i’d be equally happy with either tbh. what’s odd is i played another friend’s IIC+ combo w/extension 1x12 during the time i was babysitting the green stripe combo and vastly preferred the green and my blue in hindsight.

inevitably all this boogie talk makes me miss my IIB series 300/coli / halfback 4x12 with 90s/EVs and i think these clips do a nice job of capturing some of the IIB unrefined wallop.





the second clips hits close to home as it reminded me of what my amp looked like and sounded like crunching through a marshall 1960A cab loaded with g12-75Ts.

however i do not miss the weight of that boat anchor, and the ridiculous master volume taper where you can’t turn the pot like how any other volume pot in the history of the world works. you have to “float” it with a surgeon’s touch outside of the normal resistance of the wiper to go from 1 to 2 or else you take down the grid.

the IIB clean and reverb was amazing and i notice it has a lot in common with the mark III green stripe clean and crunch, as well as the clean on the IV, but the IIIs have a little extra refinement regarding aggression and effortless sustain on the single notes that my IIB didn’t have unless i pushed the master to a place that flattened cities. and even then it was more santana than sykes so for me going from IIB to III was the logical evolution. when the IV came i was a bit disappointed by the crunch of the lead channel. i like my III gain a bit sharper and hairier than the IV could offer.

That mark IIB Coli sounds massive and solid as a brick wall but it just doesn’t have that over the top almost going to make itself fall apart character I love about amps tuned right with assloads of gain and mids. If playing the amp doesn’t feel like trying to tame a wild animal it isn’t an amp for me. That’s just my opinion though I’ve never played a IIB Coli.

 

[mentoneman]

Whoa! The mighty Tyler! What pickups are in that? Sounds great.

it’s a happy pairing!
the singles are suhr fletcher-landau standards and bridge is a tom holmes 450.

 

[mentoneman]

That mark IIB Coli sounds massive and solid as a brick wall but it just doesn’t have that over the top almost going to make itself fall apart character I love about amps tuned right with assloads of gain and mids. If playing the amp doesn’t feel like trying to tame a wild animal it isn’t an amp for me. That’s just my opinion though I’ve never played a IIB Coli.

i’m picking up what you’re laying down. the chainsaw grind factor of the III is high, where every chord is a rich fire breathing event. there were a few times playing some of zachman’s stereo coli III rigs with his jackson Rhoads that sounded like a Concorde jet taking off!

 

[mentoneman]

is the III becoming the new IIC+?
quite the hefty asking price:

https://reverb.com/item/67769451-1988-mesa-boogie-mark-iii-3-guitar-amp-head-close-to-ii-c

Mark III​

The Mark III was launched by Mesa/Boogie in 1985. It introduced a third channel, a "crunch" rhythm sound right in between the rhythm and lead channels. This amp has a dual footswitch system: one footswitch alternates between the current rhythm mode and the lead mode, and the other selects either the clean rhythm mode or the crunch rhythm mode. The two rhythm modes share all of their controls, while the lead mode only shares the rhythm modes' tone stack, featuring independent gain and master volume controls. The physical switch for the crunch rhythm mode was implemented as a push/pull switch above the Middle frequency control. Most Mark IIIs have presence and reverb on the back (except for long chassis') unless not desired by the buyer; Graphic EQ was also optional all in either head or combo format.

The Mark III went through multiple revisions, similar to the Mark II. Each revision had a slightly different voicing, but identical functionality. Non-Simulclass versions of the Mark III came in either 60w RMS with two 6L6s or 60w/100w with four 6L6s in the power section. Mark IIIs contain either four or five 12AX7 tubes in the pre-amp section, depending on if they have the reverb option. Simul-class Mark IIIs usually contain two 6L6s in the inner sockets and two EL34s in the outer sockets for 15w/75w use.

Black Stripe (1985)​

These are distinguished by either the absence of a marking, a black dot, or a black marker stripe above the power cord entry. Early 100W and Simul US Voltage Black Stripes retained the same 105 power transformer as the IIC+, which is easily distinguished by its larger physical size than the later-introduced Mark III transformer. IIC+ non US voltage export power transformers and IIC+ output transformers are also seen in these models.

Most Black Stripes also re-used the faceplate from the Mark IIC+. This resulted in the first pot being labelled with Volume 1 in instead of the later Volume label. Furthermore, the pull function label above Middle knob was hand-etched onto the face plate resulting in a slightly different look than the other labels on the faceplate. Towards 1986, a new PCB revision was installed which enabled an additional component to be switched on when R2 was activated. This board was re-used in the Purple Stripes, although with a different revision number and different lead circuit component values.

Purple Stripe (1986)​

The second revision was the "Purple Stripe" Mark III, which featured a purple marker stripe above the power cord. This amplifier was identical in component values and R2 channel as the later Black Stripes, but had a lead section much closer to a IIC+

Red Stripe (1987)​

The third revision was the "Red Stripe" Mark III which featured a red marker stripe above the power cord. The amplifier had lead mode circuitry almost identical to the IIC+ and some minor changes in the preamp to make it similar in circuitry to a IIC+. A further PCB board revision with revised R2 channel was introduced which forces Treble Shift on when in R2 mode. The power circuitry and presence cap remained identical to the previous stripes however.

Blue Stripe (1988)​

The fourth revision was the "Blue Stripe" Mark III which featured a blue marker stripe above the power cord. The lead channel was voiced so brightly, it is considered to be the most aggressive Mark Series Boogie ever introduced. The presence cap and voltage rating of some of the orange drops in the power section were also altered to mirror that of the IIC+

Green Stripe (1989)​

The final revision was the "Green Stripe" Mark III, which was only available in a Simul-Class format. It was identical to the Blue Stripe, apart from having its overall gain reduced, except for the wiring of the outer two Class A power amp tubes which were switched to Pentode operation instead of Triode for a 10w RMS increase over previous Simul-Class amplifiers (15w/75w) making 25w/85w.

Mesa ultimately ended the Mark III's production since it overlapped with production of its successor, the Mark IV, which was introduced in 1990. Mark IIIs were still in steady production around 1994, and finally ceased as late as 1997, 11 years after their launch

 

[Deleted member 21113]

I have a Mark III Blue stripe, my precious was born 10/90

 

[mentoneman]

I think your ++ would have me leaning towards a green more but it’s hard to say. I know my III++ still isn’t solo friendly plugged straight in. The complaints blue stripes get about being too ice picky come back in the solo notes even with a +/++.

between lowering presence in the 2-4 range and running the geq top 2 bands below the halfway mark there should be ample ice pick control at your fingertips!

or you could get a green stripe and this one looks clean but $$$

https://reverb.com/item/72721318-me...-green-stripe-warm-mod-larry-cragg-1990-black