Anyone convert their MKIII to a MKIII+ (IIC+)

[JOEY B.]

I recently picked up a Mark III No Stripe Coliseum that had the III+ mod done to it, and to be honest, I'm not too sure I like it yet. Compared to my unmodified Blue Stripe Coliseum, the III+ is much darker, and lacks the "edge" of the Blue Stripe. I'm still working with it, but as of right now, I could see using the III+ as a rhythm and "smooth lead" tone.

If want to lose some of the aggression of the Mark III, but have some more "useability" of the prescence knob, get the Mark III+ mod. But, you will lose some of the bite and aggression.

I think the whole pretense of the III+ mod was to rid the "bite and harshness" from the Mark III circuit. NOT to turn the amp into the IIC+/Marshall Metallica machine. But what do I know, YMMV. 8)

Stirring the pot, I know. :roll:

 

[fretout]

I recently picked up a Mark III No Stripe Coliseum that had the III+ mod done to it, and to be honest, I'm not too sure I like it yet. Compared to my unmodified Blue Stripe Coliseum, the III+ is much darker, and lacks the "edge" of the Blue Stripe. I'm still working with it, but as of right now, I could see using the III+ as a rhythm and "smooth lead" tone.

If want to lose some of the aggression of the Mark III, but have some more "useability" of the prescence knob, get the Mark III+ mod. But, you will lose some of the bite and aggression.

I think the whole pretense of the III+ mod was to rid the "bite and harshness" from the Mark III circuit. NOT to turn the amp into the IIC+/Marshall Metallica machine. But what do I know, YMMV. 8)

Stirring the pot, I know. :roll:

I always thought the "III+ mod" was to make the Mark III scope identical to a Mark IIC+, and most of the time, it's discussed by guitarists that want to make their tone like James Hetfield's, so I agree with you there. I didn't know this amp had the mod until after I bought it. I didn't but it to be a "Metallica machine", I bought it as a slightly different flavor of the Blue Stripe Coliseum I had, and man, is it ever different. I'm still trying to decide if I like it or not, but if I don't, I can always have it reversed. Right now, I'm thinking that it's just a darker tone more suited for rhythm, or smooth, sustained leads.

As for the III+ being more "Metallica-sounding", right now, I think my unmodified Mark III Coliseum sounds more Metallica-esque than the III+, but that's just me, and YMMV.

There's no problem with a stirred pot, as long as you have the right ingredients. :mrgreen:


Right now, I feel like I have a great Mark tone that's all my own, but I want to see if I can get a Modified-Marshall-mid-like tone out of my Mark IIIs. Something that gets pretty close to Jerry Cantrell's tones...

 

[JOEY B.]

As for the III+ being more "Metallica-sounding", right now, I think my unmodified Mark III Coliseum sounds more Metallica-esque than the III+, but that's just me, and YMMV.

I've been saying the same thing for years now. If you want Metallica, get a Mark III Coliseum, not a IIC+.

Right now, I feel like I have a great Mark tone that's all my own, but I want to see if I can get a Modified-Marshall-mid-like tone out of my Mark IIIs. Something that gets pretty close to Jerry Cantrell's tones...

Grab the 750Hz graphic EQ slider, and close your eyes. :wink:

 

[fretout]

As for the III+ being more "Metallica-sounding", right now, I think my unmodified Mark III Coliseum sounds more Metallica-esque than the III+, but that's just me, and YMMV.

I've been saying the same thing for years now. If you want Metallica, get a Mark III Coliseum, not a IIC+.

Right now, I feel like I have a great Mark tone that's all my own, but I want to see if I can get a Modified-Marshall-mid-like tone out of my Mark IIIs. Something that gets pretty close to Jerry Cantrell's tones...

Grab the 750Hz graphic EQ slider, and close your eyes. :wink:

Thanks for the advice! Always appreciated! Yeah, I tried that, but it seems to get a little too "full" sounding for Jerry's tone. I've had some good results on Rhythm 2, and right now I'm trying to dial in the volume/treble to get the right grit. It shouldn't be too tough considering 50% of his rig was Boogie Related (2:90 power amp), but it's getting that Bogner Fish Marshall tone that's a little tricky. I have plenty of gain, just trying to get the voicing to focus on the upper mid grind...

 

[jkkkjkhk]

I've been interested in the III+ mod for a few years but haven't bitten the bullet. I have a blue stripe long head. I don't use the reverb so I plan to send it to Mike B and get the R2 volume mod, placed onto the reverb pot. What I'm curious is if it's possible to get the III+ mod switchable, seeing it's just a couple caps I figured it could be done. Thought was to have the "reverb" R2 volume knob be push pull to engage the III+ mod, and then back to stock. I'm actually pretty happy with the gain on R2 so no need to change anything there.

Anyone here have experience comparing different stripes? I got a chance to compare my blue to a red short head a couple weeks ago. The Red stripe had all new Mesa tubes, 6l6/34's where mine is Winged C 6l6's and mixed preamps. With the same settings the red stripe was MUCH darker and less gain. The tubes make a difference but how much? Is the red stripe that different? Does the + mod essentially void the stripe color? Would all of the stripes become the same amp after the + mod or would there still be difference between them? Also so the red stripe has the 500pF cap while the blue has none, and the + mod has a 1000pF. Is it safe to assume the + mod is that much darker than the red stripe?

Lastly does anyone know of a way or company to refinish the front and rear faceplates? Mine are pretty scratched up and I'd like to get new ones or have mine refinished, possibly with the "reverb" pot relabeled, just for kicks.

Thanks

 

[fretout]

With the same settings the red stripe was MUCH darker and less gain. The tubes make a difference but how much? Is the red stripe that different? Does the + mod essentially void the stripe color? Would all of the stripes become the same amp after the + mod or would there still be difference between them? Also so the red stripe has the 500pF cap while the blue has none, and the + mod has a 1000pF. Is it safe to assume the + mod is that much darker than the red stripe?
Thanks

I've played all the Mark III Stripes, including my III+ that started it's life as a "no stripe". Let's compare lead channels specifically since there was reshaping done to the lead channel in nearly all of the stripes. As far as comparing the bone-stock stripes to each other, and all of this is just in my opinion:

No Stripe/Black Dot/Black Stripe sounds the most "raw",

Purple sounds darkest and I liked that "roundness" of channel two, and thought it would be a great gritty-clean tone

Red stripe was much more aggressive than the previous two stripes, and seemed to have a lot more treble.

Blue stripe was even more aggressive than the red. Definitely the brightest of all the Mark series, but it also had some bass response that I couldn't dial in on a red stripe. It's as if all tone controls went to "11", so it can definitely sound bad if you push it too much, but with the correct settings, it is my favorite of all the Mark IIIs

Green stripe has the same aggression as the blue stripe, but it sounds "more sterile" and "stiffer" than the blue stripe. It has the highest wattage of all Mark IIIs (except the Coliseum series) due to the fact it's wired for pentode operation (not triode as in previous Mark IIIs). The best way I can describe it is by saying it's feel is like a Mark IV, but it's much brighter than a Mark IV.

So that's my brief rundown of how the Mark IIIs sound normally. Now, with the III+ mod, there are a few caps that change. One of the caps that gets changed is the C30 cap, which I believe influences the aggressiveness and treble of the lead channel. Now, on the No stripe/Black stripe/Purple Stripe, this caps value is 500k. On a Red stripe, it gets increased to 1,000k, and on the Blue Stripe and Green Stripe, it's completely removed. So, in theory, if the C30 is changed to 1,000k during the Mark III+ mod, basically any of the stripes will have their "aggression" and "feel" tuned to that of the Red stripe.

Also, keep in mind he cap at C27 gets changed as well during the III+ upgrade, but I don't remember what each stripes value is. Sorry.

So, to answer your question, will all of the Mark IIIs that have the III+ sound the same? In short, no. Different stripes had different transformers, different circuit boards, and other different components.
I would say that the two most likely to sound the same would be a III+ Red Stripe and a III+ Blue Stripe, since they have the same circuit boards and Power Transformers (well, most likely). The following amps WITH the III+ mod will sound different because of the following unique components:

No Stripe/Black Stripe: used the CP-30 Circuit Board and many of these revisions were built with leftover 105 Power Transformers, leftover from the Mark IIC+

Purple Stripe: used another different Circuit Board, the redesigned CP-31. There was an LDR added which switched in a .47uf cap on the cathode of V2a giving it more gain.

Green Stripe: sets itself apart from all the Mark IIIs because it's got the Pentode Power section, which sounds more urgent than the "sweeter" Triode power section found in all the other Mark IIIs.

Also, there is the issue of whether each amp was Simul-Class or not. In my experience, I've never seen a Green Stripe that wasn't simul-class, and all of my Mark IIIs are all simul-class, from an early Mark III No Stripe to both of my late Blue Stripes.

 

[jkkkjkhk]

With the same settings the red stripe was MUCH darker and less gain. The tubes make a difference but how much? Is the red stripe that different? Does the + mod essentially void the stripe color? Would all of the stripes become the same amp after the + mod or would there still be difference between them? Also so the red stripe has the 500pF cap while the blue has none, and the + mod has a 1000pF. Is it safe to assume the + mod is that much darker than the red stripe?
Thanks

I've played all the Mark III Stripes, including my III+ that started it's life as a "no stripe". Let's compare lead channels specifically since there was reshaping done to the lead channel in nearly all of the stripes. As far as comparing the bone-stock stripes to each other, and all of this is just in my opinion:

No Stripe/Black Dot/Black Stripe sounds the most "raw",

Purple sounds darkest and I liked that "roundness" of channel two, and thought it would be a great gritty-clean tone

Red stripe was much more aggressive than the previous two stripes, and seemed to have a lot more treble.

Blue stripe was even more aggressive than the red. Definitely the brightest of all the Mark series, but it also had some bass response that I couldn't dial in on a red stripe. It's as if all tone controls went to "11", so it can definitely sound bad if you push it too much, but with the correct settings, it is my favorite of all the Mark IIIs

Green stripe has the same aggression as the blue stripe, but it sounds "more sterile" and "stiffer" than the blue stripe. It has the highest wattage of all Mark IIIs (except the Coliseum series) due to the fact it's wired for pentode operation (not triode as in previous Mark IIIs). The best way I can describe it is by saying it's feel is like a Mark IV, but it's much brighter than a Mark IV.

So that's my brief rundown of how the Mark IIIs sound normally. Now, with the III+ mod, there are a few caps that change. One of the caps that gets changed is the C30 cap, which I believe influences the aggressiveness and treble of the lead channel. Now, on the No stripe/Black stripe/Purple Stripe, this caps value is 500k. On a Red stripe, it gets increased to 1,000k, and on the Blue Stripe and Green Stripe, it's completely removed. So, in theory, if the C30 is changed to 1,000k during the Mark III+ mod, basically any of the stripes will have their "aggression" and "feel" tuned to that of the Red stripe.

Also, keep in mind he cap at C27 gets changed as well during the III+ upgrade, but I don't remember what each stripes value is. Sorry.

So, to answer your question, will all of the Mark IIIs that have the III+ sound the same? In short, no. Different stripes had different transformers, different circuit boards, and other different components.
I would say that the two most likely to sound the same would be a III+ Red Stripe and a III+ Blue Stripe, since they have the same circuit boards and Power Transformers (well, most likely). The following amps WITH the III+ mod will sound different because of the following unique components:

No Stripe/Black Stripe: used the CP-30 Circuit Board and many of these revisions were built with leftover 105 Power Transformers, leftover from the Mark IIC+

Purple Stripe: used another different Circuit Board, the redesigned CP-31. There was an LDR added which switched in a .47uf cap on the cathode of V2a giving it more gain.

Green Stripe: sets itself apart from all the Mark IIIs because it's got the Pentode Power section, which sounds more urgent than the "sweeter" Triode power section found in all the other Mark IIIs.

Also, there is the issue of whether each amp was Simul-Class or not. In my experience, I've never seen a Green Stripe that wasn't simul-class, and all of my Mark IIIs are all simul-class, from an early Mark III No Stripe to both of my late Blue Stripes.

That was an awesome post! That helps a ton, thank you.

 

[fretout]

With the same settings the red stripe was MUCH darker and less gain. The tubes make a difference but how much? Is the red stripe that different? Does the + mod essentially void the stripe color? Would all of the stripes become the same amp after the + mod or would there still be difference between them? Also so the red stripe has the 500pF cap while the blue has none, and the + mod has a 1000pF. Is it safe to assume the + mod is that much darker than the red stripe?
Thanks

I've played all the Mark III Stripes, including my III+ that started it's life as a "no stripe". Let's compare lead channels specifically since there was reshaping done to the lead channel in nearly all of the stripes. As far as comparing the bone-stock stripes to each other, and all of this is just in my opinion:

No Stripe/Black Dot/Black Stripe sounds the most "raw",

Purple sounds darkest and I liked that "roundness" of channel two, and thought it would be a great gritty-clean tone

Red stripe was much more aggressive than the previous two stripes, and seemed to have a lot more treble.

Blue stripe was even more aggressive than the red. Definitely the brightest of all the Mark series, but it also had some bass response that I couldn't dial in on a red stripe. It's as if all tone controls went to "11", so it can definitely sound bad if you push it too much, but with the correct settings, it is my favorite of all the Mark IIIs

Green stripe has the same aggression as the blue stripe, but it sounds "more sterile" and "stiffer" than the blue stripe. It has the highest wattage of all Mark IIIs (except the Coliseum series) due to the fact it's wired for pentode operation (not triode as in previous Mark IIIs). The best way I can describe it is by saying it's feel is like a Mark IV, but it's much brighter than a Mark IV.

So that's my brief rundown of how the Mark IIIs sound normally. Now, with the III+ mod, there are a few caps that change. One of the caps that gets changed is the C30 cap, which I believe influences the aggressiveness and treble of the lead channel. Now, on the No stripe/Black stripe/Purple Stripe, this caps value is 500k. On a Red stripe, it gets increased to 1,000k, and on the Blue Stripe and Green Stripe, it's completely removed. So, in theory, if the C30 is changed to 1,000k during the Mark III+ mod, basically any of the stripes will have their "aggression" and "feel" tuned to that of the Red stripe.

Also, keep in mind he cap at C27 gets changed as well during the III+ upgrade, but I don't remember what each stripes value is. Sorry.

So, to answer your question, will all of the Mark IIIs that have the III+ sound the same? In short, no. Different stripes had different transformers, different circuit boards, and other different components.
I would say that the two most likely to sound the same would be a III+ Red Stripe and a III+ Blue Stripe, since they have the same circuit boards and Power Transformers (well, most likely). The following amps WITH the III+ mod will sound different because of the following unique components:

No Stripe/Black Stripe: used the CP-30 Circuit Board and many of these revisions were built with leftover 105 Power Transformers, leftover from the Mark IIC+

Purple Stripe: used another different Circuit Board, the redesigned CP-31. There was an LDR added which switched in a .47uf cap on the cathode of V2a giving it more gain.

Green Stripe: sets itself apart from all the Mark IIIs because it's got the Pentode Power section, which sounds more urgent than the "sweeter" Triode power section found in all the other Mark IIIs.

Also, there is the issue of whether each amp was Simul-Class or not. In my experience, I've never seen a Green Stripe that wasn't simul-class, and all of my Mark IIIs are all simul-class, from an early Mark III No Stripe to both of my late Blue Stripes.

That was an awesome post! That helps a ton, thank you.

Anytime man! These Mark IIIs are killer amps, and they are plenty aggressive for rock and metal, and they clean up pretty nice and can deliver great cleans. After having pretty extensive experience playing these amps, there isn't a bad revision, there's just subtle differences that make them unique.

 

[kkanne20]

I can +1 the iii+ mod being a good idea as I have a blue stripe combo, GEQ, SIMUL-CLASS

I've posted this in other threads and at the risk of sounding like a broken record/mesa plant, lol, I'll briefly describe my experience with the blue stripe and "iii+" mod

I've wanted a mark iic+ forever. we all have. they're expensive, though.
SO, I bought a Blue stripe mark iii last year and it came in a 1x12 combo setup with a EVM12L speaker inside (from previous user)
The amp sounded like CRAP, to be honest. Like, a chainsaw, haha. Shrill, loud, rough, awful sounding. Like a terrible imitation of a Mark sound. I was heartbroken.
Instead of giving up, I thought "what the hell, I've already screwed the pooch on this investment, why not go all out?...time for a hail-mary!"

SO, I brought the amp to Rich in Petaluma (advantages to living in SF )
asked for the fabled III+ mod, hoping for a miracle and he modded it for me, also switching out the "Line out port" for a "R2 volume knob", which was fine with me.
I got home, played it and....it still sounded like poop, but less smelly poop than before. I was slightly encouraged. The sound had been slightly improved, i.e. smoother, fuller, more musical..."slightly" being the operative word, though.

My next step was to replace the godawful EVM12L with a V30.
THAT REALLY changed things even more, and now my amp sounded like it was in the ballpark of Petrucci glory, just not on the same team. It was still weaksauce, but it was MUCH warmer, fuller, smoother, with that beautiful mid spike that the V30 has that accentuates the upper-midrange.

Finally, saying one final "F*CK it, why not", I did a whole lot of forum-scouring and purchased what I thought to be the best NOS preamp tubes for achieving the tone I wanted (some even from germany or england, heh) and I stuck them into my amp in various configurations until I had done it...

I had achieved something glorious. My mark III had now achieved its full potential.
It sounds F*CKING amazing now. I can recreate virtually any Petrucci tone (and I am an audiophile with an incredibly discerning ear, growing up in a musical family listening to classical music, playing multiple instruments, etc). It can be raw, tight, loose, chunky, heavy, smooth, liquid, whatever I want depending on the eq and GEQ settings I choose. I can get SFAM tones, SC tones, Octavarium tones, you name it. I wouldn't go so far as to say that my amp is as good as a Mark IIc+ because it isn;t...but it's quite **** close.

Feel free to ask any questions!

*edit* for extra convincing, if anyone needs any, I will never sell this amp and will do everything it takes to keep it in great condition so I can play until my guitar disintegrates, lol. The Mark III+ mod is worth it, but it may not be all you need to make your mark iii sound amazing, see my above text for details.
Also, I can get other tones besides Petrucci ones, obviously. Turn down the gain a bit (Petrucci loves his gain) and you can play any metal you want - Periphery, Opeth, whatever. If you have a 7-string there's plenty of twang for djent if you want it too, lol. OH, and the clean channel is great too, only you have to change about 6 different knobs and ruin your lead channel settings to get it, lol :twisted: Also, "Rhythm 2" is useless as it has nowhere near enough gain to play metal rhythms, lol. Oh well, turn down the gain on Lead channel for rhythms

 

[jkkkjkhk]

I can +1 the iii+ mod being a good idea as I have a blue stripe combo, GEQ, SIMUL-CLASS

I've posted this in other threads and at the risk of sounding like a broken record/mesa plant, lol, I'll briefly describe my experience with the blue stripe and "iii+" mod

I've wanted a mark iic+ forever. we all have. they're expensive, though.
SO, I bought a Blue stripe mark iii last year and it came in a 1x12 combo setup with a EVM12L speaker inside (from previous user)
The amp sounded like CRAP, to be honest. Like, a chainsaw, haha. Shrill, loud, rough, awful sounding. Like a terrible imitation of a Mark sound. I was heartbroken.
Instead of giving up, I thought "what the hell, I've already screwed the pooch on this investment, why not go all out?...time for a hail-mary!"

SO, I brought the amp to Rich in Petaluma (advantages to living in SF )
asked for the fabled III+ mod, hoping for a miracle and he modded it for me, also switching out the "Line out port" for a "R2 volume knob", which was fine with me.
I got home, played it and....it still sounded like poop, but less smelly poop than before. I was slightly encouraged. The sound had been slightly improved, i.e. smoother, fuller, more musical..."slightly" being the operative word, though.

My next step was to replace the godawful EVM12L with a V30.
THAT REALLY changed things even more, and now my amp sounded like it was in the ballpark of Petrucci glory, just not on the same team. It was still weaksauce, but it was MUCH warmer, fuller, smoother, with that beautiful mid spike that the V30 has that accentuates the upper-midrange.

Finally, saying one final "F*CK it, why not", I did a whole lot of forum-scouring and purchased what I thought to be the best NOS preamp tubes for achieving the tone I wanted (some even from germany or england, heh) and I stuck them into my amp in various configurations until I had done it...

I had achieved something glorious. My mark III had now achieved its full potential.
It sounds F*CKING amazing now. I can recreate virtually any Petrucci tone (and I am an audiophile with an incredibly discerning ear, growing up in a musical family listening to classical music, playing multiple instruments, etc). It can be raw, tight, loose, chunky, heavy, smooth, liquid, whatever I want depending on the eq and GEQ settings I choose. I can get SFAM tones, SC tones, Octavarium tones, you name it. I wouldn't go so far as to say that my amp is as good as a Mark IIc+ because it isn;t...but it's quite **** close.

Feel free to ask any questions!

*edit* for extra convincing, if anyone needs any, I will never sell this amp and will do everything it takes to keep it in great condition so I can play until my guitar disintegrates, lol. The Mark III+ mod is worth it, but it may not be all you need to make your mark iii sound amazing, see my above text for details.
Also, I can get other tones besides Petrucci ones, obviously. Turn down the gain a bit (Petrucci loves his gain) and you can play any metal you want - Periphery, Opeth, whatever. If you have a 7-string there's plenty of twang for djent if you want it too, lol. OH, and the clean channel is great too, only you have to change about 6 different knobs and ruin your lead channel settings to get it, lol :twisted: Also, "Rhythm 2" is useless as it has nowhere near enough gain to play metal rhythms, lol. Oh well, turn down the gain on Lead channel for rhythms

Nice post... but you didn't try it with a 4x12? :mrgreen: :lol: One thing though is it confuses me how people say it basically becomes a single channel amp because of shared controls... I know the common settings are very high input volume and lower lead drive, but if you reverse that and have input volume around 6 and turn the lead drive to about 8, then you get your lead gain (although it does have different gain character), and cleans. I personally like R2 so I have no complaints but I understand people saying theres not enough gain.

 

[kkanne20]

I play at bedroom levels, and can get really great tones at low volumes, so the 1x12 is ok for me. I would actually LOVE a 4x12 some day, but I think at present if I cranked a 4x12 I might blow a hole through my wall to the neighbor's house lol. :twisted:

 

[themisfit138]

I can +1 the iii+ mod being a good idea as I have a blue stripe combo, GEQ, SIMUL-CLASS

I've posted this in other threads and at the risk of sounding like a broken record/mesa plant, lol, I'll briefly describe my experience with the blue stripe and "iii+" mod

I've wanted a mark iic+ forever. we all have. they're expensive, though.
SO, I bought a Blue stripe mark iii last year and it came in a 1x12 combo setup with a EVM12L speaker inside (from previous user)
The amp sounded like CRAP, to be honest. Like, a chainsaw, haha. Shrill, loud, rough, awful sounding. Like a terrible imitation of a Mark sound. I was heartbroken.
Instead of giving up, I thought "what the hell, I've already screwed the pooch on this investment, why not go all out?...time for a hail-mary!"

SO, I brought the amp to Rich in Petaluma (advantages to living in SF )
asked for the fabled III+ mod, hoping for a miracle and he modded it for me, also switching out the "Line out port" for a "R2 volume knob", which was fine with me.
I got home, played it and....it still sounded like poop, but less smelly poop than before. I was slightly encouraged. The sound had been slightly improved, i.e. smoother, fuller, more musical..."slightly" being the operative word, though.

My next step was to replace the godawful EVM12L with a V30.
THAT REALLY changed things even more, and now my amp sounded like it was in the ballpark of Petrucci glory, just not on the same team. It was still weaksauce, but it was MUCH warmer, fuller, smoother, with that beautiful mid spike that the V30 has that accentuates the upper-midrange.

Finally, saying one final "F*CK it, why not", I did a whole lot of forum-scouring and purchased what I thought to be the best NOS preamp tubes for achieving the tone I wanted (some even from germany or england, heh) and I stuck them into my amp in various configurations until I had done it...

I had achieved something glorious. My mark III had now achieved its full potential.
It sounds F*CKING amazing now. I can recreate virtually any Petrucci tone (and I am an audiophile with an incredibly discerning ear, growing up in a musical family listening to classical music, playing multiple instruments, etc). It can be raw, tight, loose, chunky, heavy, smooth, liquid, whatever I want depending on the eq and GEQ settings I choose. I can get SFAM tones, SC tones, Octavarium tones, you name it. I wouldn't go so far as to say that my amp is as good as a Mark IIc+ because it isn;t...but it's quite **** close.

Feel free to ask any questions!

*edit* for extra convincing, if anyone needs any, I will never sell this amp and will do everything it takes to keep it in great condition so I can play until my guitar disintegrates, lol. The Mark III+ mod is worth it, but it may not be all you need to make your mark iii sound amazing, see my above text for details.
Also, I can get other tones besides Petrucci ones, obviously. Turn down the gain a bit (Petrucci loves his gain) and you can play any metal you want - Periphery, Opeth, whatever. If you have a 7-string there's plenty of twang for djent if you want it too, lol. OH, and the clean channel is great too, only you have to change about 6 different knobs and ruin your lead channel settings to get it, lol :twisted: Also, "Rhythm 2" is useless as it has nowhere near enough gain to play metal rhythms, lol. Oh well, turn down the gain on Lead channel for rhythms

That is sad that you would subject a blue stripe to the III+ mod. The blue is perfect in its original form. The + mod takes away the best parts of the blue stripe, the gain and aggression, but if you like it. To each his own.