Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

[Twisteramps]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

John - are you missing 'power tube' overdrive or just the sheer volume that makes playing through a tube amp fun? To really make the power tubes work, you'd probably have to be running the master on that thing at 5 or more... Sounds to me like you enjoy running the Mesa loud enough that you get all the cool interactions between your amp and guitar, right?

Pete

[Deneb]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

Yeah, there isn't going to be much "power tube" distortion at 3 (unless he means 3 oclock...then that's almost maxed).

John, don't sell it, because it's going to piss me off...since I just bought a modeler.

[Stinkbug]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

I have a Mark IIC+ head and I know that problem. It sounds great at ~3 and good at under 3. I solved it by turning the cab sidways or towards the drummer (some like to hear the guitar) then I picked up a 1X12 and ran that as a monitor in front of me. That head is my soul mate! I may add other amps from time to time, but this one is constant.

I am surprised you play that loud at home! My ears are so torn up now I can't play that loud anymore. It isn't worth the additional pain and ringing. However, when I do play the occasional show now and then I deal with it. Ear plugs just don't work for me.

[khabibissell]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

That's why I always laugh when people say things like "A 50 watt tube amp is not enough" [img]/images/graemlins/eyes.gif[/img] Most places that are worth playing mike everything anyway, so stage volume is not as critical. Or, you may play a place that is small and though things aren't miked, you still can't crank it up.

At any rate, you are a good enough player that it probably didn't matter much. I'm sure you still sounded great.

Don't sell the Mesa. Even though the chances of using it in a live situation may be few and far between, you can still use it at practice. Not only that, when you are feeling a little down, nothing helps you feel better more than cranking a half stack. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

[ QUOTE ]
John - are you missing 'power tube' overdrive or just the sheer volume that makes playing through a tube amp fun? To really make the power tubes work, you'd probably have to be running the master on that thing at 5 or more... Sounds to me like you enjoy running the Mesa loud enough that you get all the cool interactions between your amp and guitar, right?

Pete

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes Pete, exactly. To my old ears, my Mesa Mark III is not fun to play through under 3. I miss the sheer volume. On my rack/modeling system, I can get that cranked tube amp sound and most importantly... feel at any volume. By the time the Mark III gets to that sound I have already blown the entire band away. I suppose I could try a 1 x 12 cabinet or a 2 x 12. I have both. I hesitate to bring a 1 x 12 cabinet to a gig only because Jim uses a 4 x 12 but the Mark III is just so damn IN YOUR FACE, I might be able to get away with it.
I will tell you honestly though, I enjoy playing through my rack mount modeling system better and since I have one and it is so dialed in I just can't see the point of using the Mark III unless my band gets HUGE and we start playing some big venues with big stages. Dude's, thats not gonna happen. We are a good band but at 44 years old on Aug 11th, it ain't gonna happen for me and I actually don't want it to anymore. I like opening up for large acts and doing the occassional solo gig at the local club. We have already played 3 times in the last 6 weeks and we booked another warm up gig last night. I just don't need the power of the Mark III. I sort of figured it was too much of an amp and doing this LOUD friggin gig I was right. I haven't played this loud of a gig since the 80's. It was too loud for me. All the tattoo'd crazy young pissed off metal heads were loving it. I was looking forward to leaving. When the sound man told us that we had to cut our set short because the 1st few bands took too long to set up I was actually relieved. My band CHASE does kick mucho ass though. Jim (Sambencuda)is a real pro and is a pleasure to be in a band with. He is one solid guitarist. Actually, the whole band is good.

[charvelguy]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

Well, if you are not in the mix because the soundman says you're to loud, you are in a sense not helping your band at the gig at all. I ran sound for a few years as well...hey, soundmen like to open up the mains to concert volume when we can as there is usually alot of headroom to do so, but we also want the band to not get fired. Some clubs are worse than others where the owner will have the DB meter in his hand standing right by the board and telling you how loud it is going to be.

Plus a really loud amp makes mixing and bleed a pain in the ass. I'm not saying 3 is over the top on a 100watt, but it is probably like running a 50 watter on 5 or 6, and that is a problem for some sound guys.

[metallicarocks]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

Mess around with the phasing on two cabs. If you can get it just right, you can decrease the volume drastically. (Take note that you can also increase the sound drastically!). Face the two cabs (probably 2x12's) towards each other and find the angle where the sound waves meet just right. If the two waves oppose eachother just right, you can cancel out a lot of the volume.

HTH

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

I am going to try all these kick ass suggestions.

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

[ QUOTE ]
Well, if you are not in the mix because the soundman says you're to loud, you are in a sense not helping your band at the gig at all. I ran sound for a few years as well...hey, soundmen like to open up the mains to concert volume when we can as there is usually alot of headroom to do so, but we also want the band to not get fired. Some clubs are worse than others where the owner will have the DB meter in his hand standing right by the board and telling you how loud it is going to be.

Plus a really loud amp makes mixing and bleed a pain in the ass. I'm not saying 3 is over the top on a 100watt, but it is probably like running a 50 watter on 5 or 6, and that is a problem for some sound guys.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hear you. Throughout the years, I have typically been the "good" guitarist that most soundguys liked. My stage volume was always loud enough for me to hear but never loud enough to make the band sound like crap or make the soundguy rip his hair out. This was one of the first times for me. I just couldn't get over how loud the Mark III is in a live band situation. I also was surprised at how the feel of the amp changed when I had to turn it down to 1.5 I have been using modeling for so long live that I come to expect studio quality sound in a live setting. Call me spoiled I guess but I like being able to switch amps for different songs. I also like to be able to step on only 1 button to completely change my guitar sound. In addition, I got used to not touching my guitars volume or tone knobs because if there is a part in the song that requires tht guitar to be lower, louder or more or less gain I just creat a patch for it and save it. This way I can go from a clean sound with chorus and reverb with an acoustic simulator and by stepping on 1 button I can go to a Matchless Cheftain with a Marshall Guv-nor in front of it with a delay and a solo boost.
Hey, the Mark III is amazing. Really. Its everything that everybody said it is. Its just not for me live.
Now that I think about it... all I really need live is a Vetta 2 x 12" combo and the footcontroller. I wouldn't need my rack, the GT-6, any cabinets, my Mark 3 or any of my pedals. Actually, I could use my Carvin T-100 and the rack to power my EMU Proteus.
Maybe I should just look into a Vetta combo and be done with it.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

*cough* get a vetta *cough*

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Chuckracer]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

[ QUOTE ]
*cough* get a vetta *cough*

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

+1.

[metallicarocks]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

if (you can rip it)
{keep the tube amp}
else
{get a modeler}

[Deneb]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

Get the Vetta, and give me the Mesa. I'll even give you a POD XT Live for it! :P

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

I was thinking, I was running the Mark III into my 4 x 12 cabinet which is wired in stereo, 8 ohms per side. I had the 2 speaker cables plugged into the 4 ohm jacks on the back of the Mark III. Also, because the 1/2 power switch was removed I was running on full power 100 watts. I spoke to several Boogie players who all seem to ply their Boogies on 1/2 power. There also seems to be alot of players who intentionally mismatch the speaker impedance to cut down the power even more. Most of them seem to use a 16 ohm cabinet plugged into the 8 ohm jack. If I returned my Mark III back to stock by reinstalling the 1/2 power switch (60w) and I ran it into a 16 ohm cabinet do you think that would tone the volume down? Another thing I did wrong at the gig was I had the master volume set on 7. I did this because I get a better balance between Channel 1 and 3 when it is this loud and the clean channel is cleaner. I am thinking that maybe I should have had the master volume set on around 5 so that I could turn the lead channel volume up. I don't even use channel 2 which is the rhythm channel. Maybe I should look into that too.
I know that on my Carvin X100B and my XV112E the 25%,50% and 100% power switch comes in really handy if you want to turn the amp up. Its still crazy loud regardless but you have to turn the volume up alot more when you lower the power setting. This gives me the "feel" that I need when playing live.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

Don't worry about putting the switch back in - just pull the two inside or outside tubes. Same thing as that switch would do I think.

Pete