Amp Difference

[guitar_kid]

Well I've been wantin me a boogie amp and I really like the looks and some of the tones I have heard from the mark III and the dc-5. I was wonderin what the main difference are between these amps, both tone wise and function wise?

I am lookin for a nice smooth lead tone and maybe sumthin that can do a bit of a british flavored crunch...gotta have nice cleans too of course.

 

[ianvomsaal]

If you want to be able to get it all at one time don't get a Mark III (I have a Blue Stripe Mark III).
You can get great OD tones, and you can get great Clean tones, but never together.
The channels are interactive . . .
If you dial in a good Clean tone, the OD channel will sound like crap.
If you switch channels from Clean to OD you'll need to tweak the knobs to get that OD sounding good.
If you get a great OD tone you'll need to mess with your settings to get a good clean tone.
Cheers . . .

- Ian

 

[ramalam]

If you want to be able to get it all at one time don't get a Mark III (I have a Blue Stripe Mark III).
You can get great OD tones, and you can get great Clean tones, but never together.
The channels are interactive . . .
If you dial in a good Clean tone, the OD channel will sound like crap.
If you switch channels from Clean to OD you'll need to tweak the knobs to get that OD sounding good.
If you get a great OD tone you'll need to mess with your settings to get a good clean tone.
Cheers . . .

- Ian

I disagree. I could always get a good clean and lead tone simultaneously by using the right settings and channel combination. The problem with the MKIII's in my opinion, is that you can't get all three channels to work well simultaneously without readjusting. There is a common mod available to fix this though.

 

[Racerboy44]

I have owned both. Get the Mark 3. In my opinion it is just better in every way except maybe the clean channel. The DC-10 clean is very good. But so is the Marks'. You would have to play both side by side to be unhappy with either one though. It's a win/win situation no matter which way you choose.

 

[Restless Rocks]

I must also speak up for the Mark III. I've played III's since they hit the market and have never had any issues with channel switching 3 very pleasing sounds even before the R2 master mod. If you're looking to go from a Fender clean to a Recto roar it is not the amp for you. Preamp tubes can make or break a III or any Mark amp for that matter, and yes the controls are very interactive. A good clean boost or compressor in front of the III is essential in my opinion. Also start with your bass control at 2 and set up your clean ch. first without any extreme settings for any of the controls. Read the manual and try the recommended settings as a starting point. These are not bedroom amps and sound best at stage levels especially R2.

 

[camsna]

If you want to be able to get it all at one time don't get a Mark III (I have a Blue Stripe Mark III).
You can get great OD tones, and you can get great Clean tones, but never together.
The channels are interactive . . .
If you dial in a good Clean tone, the OD channel will sound like crap.
If you switch channels from Clean to OD you'll need to tweak the knobs to get that OD sounding good.
If you get a great OD tone you'll need to mess with your settings to get a good clean tone.
Cheers . . .

- Ian

I disagree. I could always get a good clean and lead tone simultaneously by using the right settings and channel combination. The problem with the MKIII's in my opinion, is that you can't get all three channels to work well simultaneously without readjusting. There is a common mod available to fix this though.

Which mod do you mean?

 

[ramalam]

I agree with Restless but just say that I thing a pedal of some kind is needed in order to use all three channels, if you don't do any fine between channels. I just know that I was never satisfied with all three channels, using the same settings and just plugging straight in.

Also, I was referring to the R2 mod.

 

[CoG]

I can get four tones I like at the same time from my MkIII with the same setting, if and only if I crank the hell out of the amp. I don't need a pedal, but I use the EQ to boost R1's mids, otherwise it's too quiet.

R2's awful, even with the mod, until you really slam the power tubes and then it tightens right up and gives you a ferocious medium-to-heavy crunch that makes you want to play old Cult tunes or old school punk. Otherwise, yeah, R2 needs a boost pedal to be any use.

The MkIII is probably the best single-EQ amp I have ever played IF you can play it real loud. If you can't crank it it's not worth owning but if you can it's a steal for the $800 they are going for these days. My ears are ringing from playing mine for two hours just now

 

[Shep]

My old mk III wasn't modded and i always could get a sweet clean big rhy and smooth with the right setting's..

 

[edward]

Is it me, or does it seems like this DC vs MKIII has been coming up a lot lately? In any event, yeah, both will get you lots of great cleans, and thick/saturated Lead tone. I can't tell you which I like better since I love both for different reasons, but suffice it to say that both have earned "keeper" status with me if that says anything at all. So let me try and summarize for you:

DC5:
- Great cleans, warm and round. Always seems to have a touch of hair around the edges ...great if that's what you want, and really responds well to pick attack with more "fur" or "cleans up" depending on how you play. Nice.
- Lead channel is thick and smooth w/ a solid bottom, warm mids, and smooth top. The GEQ gives you a huge tonal palatte from which to shape.
- Overall, great tone and very versatile: the two discretely separate knobs/channel really make it easy to find your sound and has allowed me over the past many years to continually shape and reshape my tone ...not to mention has never let me down once when played out. And the standard widebody combo cab sounds better than the smaller cab of the Marks, IMHO.

MKIII:
Whether you get Simul or whatever stripe is up to you, but I'd say *definitely* get one with a GEQ. W/o it you are left with sharing the same tone stack with the R1 and Lead channels ...this really limits your ability to shape your respective channel tones. With the GEQ, you can assign it to just the Lead channel and that becomes your "OD channel's" tone stack ...THIS is where you can get really expressive.
- cleans are bigger than the DC5, period. Huge and tight bottom, sparkly top, and can remain spanky clean even loud loud loud. The DC5 always seems to have that bit of "tweed", and is more pronounced as you raise the volume. Also, the III has a brighter, more "chime-y" top end in this channel. Really a beautiful tonal foundation here.
- OD is thick, saturated, and tonally rich, like the DC. But I think has a wider "range" than the DC. The MKIII can cop that "less saturated vintage-y" OD of classic rock better than the DC's more "modern voice," which does ok, but is decidedly a more modern timbre. There is also a certain "rudeness" and aggression to the OD that simply smaks you ...in the best way possible. The DC's OD is smooth; the III is that but adds a certain "edge" that's just less polite
- Dialing in heavier saturation yields a bit more indiv note definition than the DC5. Break out the slegehammer for a more "metal tone" and the girth of the bottom here really is thick, rich, and addictive ...strange considering I am not a metal guy, but man does it sound great on that occasional foray into the dark side.
- I hated R2 at first ...then found that with some judicious tube swaps and lots of time learning how to tweak her, I now absolutely love the R2! More mids and works awesome in a band mix, the R2 really shines (for me) with the gain lower and my using it like a mild crunch channel ...it's a bit of a stretch from their marketing department to call it "Marshall-esque" but yes, this is definitely a more "british" voice than american.

Sorry for the verbose reply, but heck, it's a late saturday evening so I'm just ambling on the keyboard. Like I had said, I love both, with the DC5 as my #1 play-out amp ...maybe just because its a combo. But the MKIII has that certain something that is undeniably hot, rich, and tasty. Hope this helps you a bit

Edward

 

[Monsta-Tone]

- cleans are bigger than the DC5, period.

:lol: :lol: :lol: That's why I sold my DC-5 and got a DC-10. It sounds freaking huge.

I've tried several Mark IV's and even owned a few. The DC always wins, because it does not have a channel that I hate to use.

The cleans are as huge and thick as you want, or as chimey and Fenderish as you want. I've compared it next to my 1966 Fender Pro Reverb and Twin Reverb II, it is very close.

The leads are fat, and can cut through a mix like a chainsaw in Texas.


The combo is heavier than a bus load of penguins though.