Guitar Gear Forum

OK, so I cracked open my trusty Mesa/Boogie Mark III blue stripe and performed a modification that I've been meaning to do for a long time. I haven't tried it out yet, but I think it will contribute to long-term playability and stage usefulness, while not altering the core tone too much.

Since I was opening stuff up anyway, I figured I would document things in photos, 17 of them to be exact. Here we go:

Here she is, in her rack case from Casesmith Customs:












Here we go, safely extracted from the rack case and flipped over. Mesa EL34s and JJ 6L6s.


Forever I thought this was a 1986. Apparently I misread Mike B's handwriting last time I opened it up. It's a 1988.


If any of you crave high-res gut shots, this photo and the next one are both pretty huge on my Flickr.


I went in planning to use compressed air or my vacuum cleaner to pick up dust, but the interior of the amp was shockingly clean considering it's pushing 30. It had been 2-3 years since I had opened it up, and it remains pretty pristine inside.






Measure twice, cut once, right?




Well...drill once.


And...voila.







Anyway, there we go. My dream amp just got a little dreamier.

Lol.

I'm always amazed at how perfect Mesa's work is.

Awesome mod!

Not sure why you took the tubes out though.......

TurboPablo wrote:Lol.

I'm always amazed at how perfect Mesa's work is.

Oh yeah. Extremely. Every one I've ever seen, from an original Mark I up to a Mini Recto.

mamberg wrote:Awesome mod!

Not sure why you took the tubes out though.......

It had to rest on the transformer and an edge of the rackmount kit for a sec, and would have been putting all its weight on the tubes had I not removed them.

Also I took the opportunity to hit the sockets with a little contact cleaner, so that I actually accomplished something during this whole project.

benjamin801 wrote:

mamberg wrote:Awesome mod!

Not sure why you took the tubes out though.......

It had to rest on the transformer and an edge of the rackmount kit for a sec, and would have been putting all its weight on the tubes had I not removed them.

Also I took the opportunity to hit the sockets with a little contact cleaner, so that I actually accomplished something during this whole project.

This thread delivered. I have been cured of my case of the Mondays.

Professor Dickweed wrote:

benjamin801 wrote:

mamberg wrote:Awesome mod!

Not sure why you took the tubes out though.......

It had to rest on the transformer and an edge of the rackmount kit for a sec, and would have been putting all its weight on the tubes had I not removed them.

Also I took the opportunity to hit the sockets with a little contact cleaner, so that I actually accomplished something during this whole project.

This thread delivered. I have been cured of my case of the Mondays.

Good! Glad I could deliver some sort of recompense for all the times Vault-Boy has brightened my day on GAB.

Hah A+ mod. You didn't wanna go full Billy Blades and put a cup holder in it too?

Beef wrote:Hah A+ mod. You didn't wanna go full Billy Blades and put a cup holder in it too?

Liquid never goes above electronics in my custom mods.

I'm a dumb ass, but I'm no Billy Blades.

This is the best amp mod I've ever seen.

Telephant wrote:This is the best amp mod I've ever seen.

Also, you see me gettin' my Greater Austin on in the last picture? (I don't know whether y'all or SA claim Blanco.)