Whats the deal with Mesa Boogie Mark III combos?

[AlexRaymond207]

Hey i was just wondering if there was any difference in a Mark III combo vs the Head. Would i be able to use the combo as a head?

[Jazz P Bass]

Mesa MkIII

A friend of mine did this a while back.
Bought the headcab direct from Mesa.

[Enzo]

Look at your combo. The speaker plugs into a jack on the amp. The amp chassis has no idea if it is in a cambo cab or a head cab.

[AlexRaymond207]

Well i don't have one yet, thats why i was wondering. I'm going to trade my Laney GH100L in for one.

[chipaudette]

It is very common for Mark II and Mark III owners to convert their (freakishly heavy) combos into a head + open backed cab. I've not seen many Mark IV owners do it, but I'm sure it's just as easy.

Be aware, though, that empty head shells from Mesa aren't cheap. To save some cash, you could try to make your own head shell or you can find third parties who'll make one for you. I know one guy who's made lots of head shells for Mark II and Mark III. They're sweet. You'll really like them...but, again, you'll be paying a couple of hundred bucks for it.

If you're going to build your own, the main trick is building the head shell so that you can still fit in the fan as well as the reverb tank.

Chip

[AlexRaymond207]

Thanks for the info! I have a few options open to me. Im waiting to hear back from a few options, to see what ''stripe'' the amps are. So hopefully one of the heads will be the right one.

[bob p]

one reason that Mk IV owners might prefer the Mesa sourced head shell cabinets is because they're fairly complex as far as a head shell goes -- there are cutouts on the bottom for cooling fans and brackets along the back where the footswitch mounts for travel. those features would add significantly to your fabrication time.

i bought my Mk IV as a head unit because of the weight. if i had a combo and wanted to switch over to a head, i'd just by the shell from Mesa. if you could get it for $200 that would be a good deal. considering how much time and effort would go into making a good looking copy, the price seems reasonable.

[AlexRaymond207]

I agree, and thats the road ill probably take. Do you have any opinion on the sound of the combo vs the head? I know the Wattage is different, but lets say i have the combo plugged into a cab, if i had the head plugged into that same cab, would i notice much difference in sound?