Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

[horns666]

Re: Mesa Mark III gig review!!!!

I had a Mrk III years ago...amoung the many tubes amps I bought at that same time...including Ampeg Lee Jacksons., 5150s , Mashalls up the ying yang , the newly unvieled "Recto" ( [img]/images/graemlins/eviltongue.gif[/img]) , Soldanos , Randalls..and so many more I can't even count..

The Mrk III was one of the better amps that crossed my path...but I knew immediately it wasn't one I was intending to keep..but it was a very good sounding amp..just not good enough....in comparison to it's buddies in the same room..

I just remember being very partial to my Marshal 800s and a new beast called a 5150.. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III update..

I tried another suggestion and it seems to work!!!
I tried two 1 x 12 cabinets and I angled them towards each other. I was able to turn the amp up much louder. I then tried a 16 ohm cabinet into the 4 ohm jack on the Boogie. I was able to turn the amp up to around 4. It came alive. I am not at tone nirvana yet but I believe I am close. The answer seems to be possibly speaker impedance and selection. I also found something out while I was turning knobs and plugging in cabinets. I had the master volume on the Mark III WAY too loud. I had it set that way because it seriously increases the headroom on the clean channel. I found that I don't need nearly that much headroom. I think a viable solution is to dial in the Boogie for 1 semi clean, 1 crunch and 1 heavy channels and use an amp switcher to my GT-6 back to the board for clean and my acoustic simulator. I think its time to get an amp switch. This is getting kind of fun.

[nor]

Re: Mesa Mark III update..

John - you should form a band with Chuckles and call it...

"The Backline Nomads - Never the same tone twice!!"
[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III update..

[ QUOTE ]
John - you should form a band with Chuckles and call it...

"The Backline Nomads - Never the same tone twice!!"
[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Your right. Thats why I like Chuck so much. We are very similar when it comes to amp tone. I think they call it fickle.

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III update..

Well, the Mark III is certainly getting better. I have had many Boogies and this one is certainly the most touchy. 1 number...heck.. 1/2 a number in either direction on most of controls changes the entire sound of the amp. I can't imagine how difficult dialing in a Mark IV could be. I am really learning alot from this amp. What I am learning is that I don't know shit about dialing in a Mark III.
I have officially removed it from the closet and it has become my main amp at home. I am gonna force myself to learn how to tweak it on the fly by playing it for hours everyday while I am learning all our bands new songs. If it doesn't work out I always have my rack system all ready to go at a minutes notice.

[Chuckracer]

Re: Mesa Mark III update..

That's not true, Ron. The entire time I was with Article 13 and gigging (over a year), I was using the same SLO through the same two Marshall 4x12's and the same Marshall JFX in my rack controlled by the same MIDI controller. My rig never changed.

Not to get all serious in a fun thread, but...I will anyway.

It seems I have a reputation as a 'gear flipper' that is rather undeserved. There are several folks on this board who flip gear more often than I do. It's not a big deal, and I know it's all in fun, but honestly that shit gets old. Some folks here who aren't 'in' on the joke take this crap seriously. I talk with them about something and they are concerned I'm just gonna flip it. WTF? Enough, please.

[jgcable]

Re: Mesa Mark III update..

Chuck, what I meant by the statement that we are similar is in the amp tone we like. I certainly have had several live rigs over the years but they all share the same common thing. They all have basically the same tone. SS, tube or modeling, it doesn't matter to me, as long as the tone is there. I don't like a crushing nu-metal/death metal tone.
When I gigged weekly I only had 1 rig for 5 years. Hiwatt Head, 2 Red Marshall 4 x 12's that I bought from The Buddy Miles Band, an MXR Distortion +, Phase 90 and a real tape driven Echoplex. I also used an old Boss tuner. I still have it. When my amp crapped out (it did a few times in 5 years) I had to have it repaired for the next show. I didn't have a backup. I also only owned 2 guitars. 1 good one and 1 not good one. Back then the only flipper was the one on TV.

[nor]

Re: Mesa Mark III update..

Chuck - my apologies. You will never see any such statement from me in a public forum again.