NAD: Mesa MK3

[KnightBrolaire]

I briefly lost my mind and bought a mesa mark 3. This one's been modded III+/IIC+/IIIC+ upgrade (according to the previous owner).
He also says that "It was originally a black stripe and has the early/heavy etched face plate that is actually a IIC/+ plate with "PULL RHYTHM 2" screened on there. Was converted to blue stripe in 2003 by Mesa (reverb and R2 mods also done then), then later IIIC+ed by an unknown tech".

that's all gobbledigook to me, all I care is how it sounds.
Cleans are great, nice and chimey like my mkiv and f30
R2 channel is by far my favorite, it's perfect for still of the night era whitesnake or AJFA metallica tones.
lead channel feels a lot more bloated than the r2 channel on the low end. It's my least favorite right now, though I'm sure once I get more comfortable with the amp's controls I'll like it more.
anyways, here's some pics:
Tolex is is pretty good shape compared to some other mk3s I've seen.

soundclips recorded with torpedo captor and my ibby destroyer w/ stock pickups (download for best audio quality)
Stock 4x12 Mesa cab from WOS:
https://app.box.com/s/lp6whpk02pqu3rs45h3m1pfuyy8mz6xp
LRS 4x12 V30 IR:
https://app.box.com/s/l9chyhbo9mjg6bbk1uasy54y187y1wh9
https://app.box.com/s/zg3akbz9nmaw3trlt0nwo202noi7h1es

 

[cwhitey2]

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

You go boy. Nice score. MK3 madness is spreading.

Looks to be a late black stripe (or no stripe)... or even an early purple stripe based on the serial #. The + mods adds a couple of cap/resistor swaps... mainly the addition of a 1000uf cap at position C30 which makes the amp a bit darker/smoother. Try upping the presence to 5-6 to compensate. It also looks like an early black stripe panel, not a re-purposed MKIIC+ control plate). You can tell as the reused MKIIC+ panels have the letters "P" and "R" filled in for "Pull Rhythm 2" (the loop of the "P" & "R" are filled in/solid) as they were screened on later by hand. You can also shine a flash-light on the panel and see that the re-used panels have the "Pull-Rhythm 2" label in a darker color than the other control labels. The R2 volume mod looks to be done by Mesa at the factory though. Cool.

Enjoy.

 

[TedEH]

Cooooooooool.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I did some extreme settings with mine. Bass and mids at 0, treble at 10, shift engaged, bright engaged. Lead channel with the gain set ~3 - 4. Input vol dimed since I never use the clean channel. Doesn't sound in any way bloated or muddy.

Then again I have a stock blue stripe. The C+ mod is supposed to add more gain and apparently darken the sound.

Also fuck you Wizard of Ozz, you started all this.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

I did some extreme settings with mine. Bass and mids at 0, treble at 10, shift engaged, bright engaged. Lead channel with the gain set ~3 - 4. Input vol dimed since I never use the clean channel. Doesn't sound in any way bloated or muddy.

Then again I have a stock blue stripe. The C+ mod is supposed to add more gain and apparently darken the sound.

Also fuck you Wizard of Ozz, you started all this.

Guilty as charged.

For settings try:
Volume: 8-9 pulled
Treble: 9 pulled
Bass: 1
Mids: 0 (yes really 0)
Master: at least 1.5-2
Lead Drive: 8-9 pulled
Lead Master: 9 pulled
Presence: Around 6... if you need more high end up the 2200 slider a bit over the mid mark
Graphic Eq: Classic V... and scoop that 750 slider... almost all the way down.

The tone controls are pre preamp-gain... so they affect the signal differently than a normal tone stack... and the treble pot adds preamp gain, as well as brightness... so turn it up along with the volume pot too.

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

Is that the blue stripe that's been on Craigslist for a couple weeks? Damn near bought that thing myself (also because of wiz's thread) . HNAD!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Is that the blue stripe that's been on Craigslist for a couple weeks? Damn near bought that thing myself (also because of wiz's thread) . HNAD!

nah got this one off ebay, that blue stripe is still up there.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I did some extreme settings with mine. Bass and mids at 0, treble at 10, shift engaged, bright engaged. Lead channel with the gain set ~3 - 4. Input vol dimed since I never use the clean channel. Doesn't sound in any way bloated or muddy.

Then again I have a stock blue stripe. The C+ mod is supposed to add more gain and apparently darken the sound.

Also fuck you Wizard of Ozz, you started all this.

Just thought I'd show some clips of my settings. I actually keep the master relatively low before it starts to really effect the tone. I usually put the main master ~4 - 5 and the lead ~ 2 - 3.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_7lMk5-X1RRNW5AmbjiJxfNSOxNA9vSS
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mQUHvSRh9DH9Fv2V_2_vSoBnCAuxp61g

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I'm really liking R2 with vol1 at 8, treble 10, bass 0, mids 0, master at 4 and r2 vol at 5. lead drive at 3, lead master at 8 with bright on
might need to back off the treble it's a bit much with the afwayu
https://app.box.com/s/ocdxwds7n7vk5t4oybelamuci9so0wfw

 

[DudeManBrother]

I'm really liking R2 with vol1 at 8, treble 10, bass 0, mids 0, master at 4 and r2 vol at 5. lead drive at 3, lead master at 8 with bright on
might need to back off the treble it's a bit much with the afwayu
https://app.box.com/s/ocdxwds7n7vk5t4oybelamuci9so0wfw

Grind and saturation for days! I’d dial back the treble a hair but god damn that sounds awesome. I just got rid of my purple stripe combo. Didn’t sound bad at all but lacked that grit yours has. Still want a red stripe head at some point; but my new Tremoverb (seriously sick amp) will hold me over for a while haha.