Mesa boogie on ebay...what do you think?

TheSeeker · July 09, 2014, 06:43:54 AM

Hey guys, I saw this on ebay and was wondering what you think. It looks like it's in pretty rough shape, but if I can talk him in to selling it for $700 do you think I should jump on it?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mesa-Boogie-Mark-III-Red-stripe-wide-head-simulclass-EQ-sounds-great/271540923442?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D23772%26meid%3D8190754216390465704%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D10164%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D151348250888&rt=nc

Hoody · July 09, 2014, 07:42:00 AM

Looks pretty beat up, and buying on eBay should get you a pretty good discount. I've actually bought most of my amps from guitar center, they let you take them home for 30 days and you can make sure there is nothing wrong with it or it wasn't modded. Local places can also put you on a want list and usually find what you need.

Just seems a little crazy for an amp to basically get full book value when sold over eBay. My view is there are tons of risks there and should therefore be discounted 15-20%. That amp should prob be about 800-900 at top dollar. The heads alone are usually a less than the combos, too. If you got it for around 700 it would be pretty good, more than that seems too high. The red stripes pop up pretty often and some of the others sound even better. Keep in mind this is a real loud amp, so it might not work great for your purposes. Hard to get it to sound great or get the sweet spot at lower volumes

I've also found local Craig's lists to work well, more of a pain to check but helpful.

Buffered · July 09, 2014, 08:41:21 AM

Mesa's are built like tanks, and they still service even the real old ones. That being said I don't really have a ton of interest in amps THAT powerful unless I am using them as a clean platform.

Hoody · July 09, 2014, 05:15:40 PM

I tend to agree with Buffered, for what most of us are doing with these amps something like this actually hurts our quest to get a trey like tone (which I believe is a very worthy pursuit). You just can't dial them in easily, and they're so loud that you can't get them up to their sweet spot. They may sound ok at low volumes, but they don't sound incredible and they certainly aren't where they're supposed to be to get that sweet sustain and fat chords.

I think there is a really good reason deluxe reverbs are the most popular amp with Nashville pros, club players, and the star guitarists. Portable, light weight, easy to dial in (everything sounds great!), and they are a perfect volume at their breakup point. Strum lightly and they're entirely clean. Attack it a bit and it's just slightly overdriven and compressed. You can't get that natural compression and mild break up on a mark iii unless you're running it hot. Trey loves his deluxes, for good reason.

Get a silver face for about the same price and never worry about your amp again. Or pony up for a blackface and you'll be a very proud poppa.

That said, 650-700 isn't bad for a mark iii, if it runs fine and has been well cared for over it's 30 year life.
Just probably isn't the best amp for non touring professional players in huge venues.

Jkendrick · July 09, 2014, 05:32:16 PM

To echo what others have said, I had a mkIII in the late '80s until about '92. I found it incredibly difficult to dial in. I even once talked to Trey about it at a Telluride gig in '91. I jotted his settings down on a cocktail napkin. To Trey's credit he told me that was kind of pointless since my solid body PRS was so different from his Doc. (Interesting side note: he never mentioned a compressor). This was a small gig and Trey still got great tones from his. How I'll never know. I gave up shortly after and sold mine. I'm often curious with how much more I understand this stuff (I'm still not ALL that knowledgeable) and the wealth of info available online if I would fare better now. But it's a tough amp to dial no matter how you slice it.

TheSeeker · July 09, 2014, 06:38:12 PM

Thanks guys, I appreciate all of your advice! I was actually thinking that the mark iii would be waaaaayyyyy too loud for me also. I'm probably gonna pass on it, and look for something else. Do any of you have any experience with the Express 5:25 or 5:50?

seriesnuns · July 09, 2014, 07:24:15 PM

I'm a recent Mesa Lone star special owner. Pretty happy. It came used with a reeder mod on channel 2. I didn't care for the speaker and upgraded to a weber blue dog. It's getting broken in now and I'm digging it. Before that I had a reverend hellhound that I really had dialed in but wanted more options hence the Lonestar.

I don't get why anyone would really need more than 40 watts.

Hoody · July 09, 2014, 08:38:45 PM

I have an express 5-25, I think it's great. A really solid amp, sounds better once you get the speaker broken in and the tubes hot. Depends on your guitar, but with mine I found almost no treble works best.

Definitely get it with the GEQ, makes a huge difference. I'm lucky to have some nice amps, and I find this one to be really fun and really smooth sounding. Just plays great big fat warm chords, which I love.

tsbot · July 10, 2014, 01:22:03 AM

I totally agree with everything said above - I had an Express 5:25 a few years back - seemed like every day I'd play it there would be a different sound and I'd have to F with the EQ - I googled it and seemed like a lot of others had the same problem so I sold it. Had a twin reverb for awhile (still do), got a Mark III red stripe - about 8 months ago - kindof liked the sounds, pretty loud, always messing with the Eq more than playing, took it back (guitar center used), bought a Vintage Sound Vintage 22 (think handwired deluxe reverb usa built) and haven't been happier! Great pedal platform, great cleans, great at ALL volumes, keeps up with drummer just fine! I think I'm done with Mesa's, I do hear the lonestar classic is nice and would like to try one, but all I've had have too many 'touchy' EQ issues - could've been me (haha) but too much tweaking!

Hoody · July 10, 2014, 08:07:07 AM

I have had days where I play my express and I think "wow this is the best sounding amp I've ever heard.". Then others where it's not there, but I've found over time that it's just a matter of getting the tubes hot enough. If its early and not warmed up I can't get the same sounds.

I haven't found that to be a solution on a mark iii though:

If I were you I'd offer a low amount and see if you can get it at a good price. Always nice to have one, but I wouldn't expect it to be your every day amp and if you don't have the extra funds then I'd wait for a good deluxe.

Buffered · July 10, 2014, 08:57:15 AM

That's funny you guys are mentioning the EQ issues, as I kind of experience the same with my 5:25+. It's a great amp, it just takes some tweaking every time I play. I don't drastically change settings but there's a little bit of shift. I never really use the GEQ, i'll have to dig into that more. The cleans are great on the Express, and I like the D-style tones from the burn channel (drive set low with a lot of mids). I only really use the 5 watt setting at my apartment but it still sounds great.

Yeah, there are definitely deals to be had on a 5:25+. I got my head for $899 as a floor model. Don't let the different power tubes scare you away either, as I think a circuit has much more to do with the overall tone of an amp than the power tubes. Look at ODS style amps, some have EL34's , some 6L6's. I can't really tell the difference but YT videos are different than being in a room with the amps. YMMV though!