Best pedals to improve the Mark series overdrive tone

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I hate to see someone spend that kind of money on an amp to throw an overdrive out front because they don't like the overdriven tone. Please don't take that statement as criticism it was given from a place of experience. As others suggested amps you mentioned are based on Marshall tones. I tried to get Marshall tones out of Rectifiers only to realize it was a Marshall I really needed and that's OK. Here I am 10 years after ditching all of my Mesa Gear looking for a Rectifier because I want the rectifier tone lol.

What you like about that clip you should be able to tweak between the Mark's EQ and 5 band EQ without an OD.

Says the guy with an SD-1, TS9, and Maxon 808 lol. In my defense I use them on a clean channel for slight break up or a buffer in front of a wah.
 
I used to run a Keely modded SD-1 in front of my Mesa Pre/2:50 combination and it really gave me that singing violin quality sound. Major sellers remorse on that rig...sigh.
 
I hate to see someone spend that kind of money on an amp to throw an overdrive out front because they don't like the overdriven tone. Please don't take that statement as criticism it was given from a place of experience. As others suggested amps you mentioned are based on Marshall tones. I tried to get Marshall tones out of Rectifiers only to realize it was a Marshall I really needed and that's OK. Here I am 10 years after ditching all of my Mesa Gear looking for a Rectifier because I want the rectifier tone lol.

What you like about that clip you should be able to tweak between the Mark's EQ and 5 band EQ without an OD.

Says the guy with an SD-1, TS9, and Maxon 808 lol. In my defense I use them on a clean channel for slight break up or a buffer in front of a wah.
I do the same thing with an SD-1 on the Clean, but behind my Morley wah.. Acts like a 4th channel and provides a great crunch tone.
 
Learn to use the tone controls and EQ properly. Set right, the Mark III overdrive is unbeatable by ANY pedal at ANY price. If you think you need a pedal, you really need to learn to run the amp correctly instead.

Start by (A) dropping the bass control down low, two or less. And (B) start with LESS drive and work your way up in drive level. Be sure to experiment with both the input drive and preamp drive controls. They don't behave the same way. 4 on one and 7 on the other is NOT the same as 7 on one and 4 on the other.

Use less presence. Takes the ice pick out.

Midrange settings may seem kind of subtle, but they really change the feel of the overdrive.
 
I’ve had best results using both a Lovepedal Black Magic Zendrive (also the black Zen-Zen double pedal), & using one of several AM Sunface models, all sound great through an early’80s MKIIB & same pedals sound great in a Hi-Tone Lowatt with with Les Pauls, and the Strat & Tele models work great into both amps with AM King of Tone & Prince of Tone or with assorted other AM modded Boss, Ibanez, & Maxon pedals with TS808 with silver mod, both amps are very clean at the volumes I’m comfortable with and these pedals do a great job of getting the tones I want using a Fryette Power Station & help to keep the peace with my wife working from home, although if I want to drive a tube amp hard I just plug into a ‘64 blackface Vibro-Champ with or without a Sunface (using the guitar volume knob to control grit), also have multiple other amps that get played rarely, but these are my go-to combinations.
 
I'll probably open a hornets nest, but having owned almost every boogie since the iib,I cannot fathom or remotely imagine an overdrive or dist pedal into a high gain boogie,or specifically into a high gain ch.that's already set crazy high,- other than say into thier clean chnls.I use my marshall for marshall tones so no compromises.
I will say tho I'm not into the cookie munsta chugga chugga tuned to negative 5 z flat thing either.Ive seen those dudes using dist pedals into high gain boogies. Mesa's amount of gain from the amp itself is more than enough for me.To the o.p.; I bet u can put a marshall in a box pedal into a boogie clean ch el34 amp and be fine tho.
 
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Read good things about the MXR....anyone use a Flux Drive in front on Mark V CH 1?
I have used the grid slammer and flux drive in front of the Mark V and JP2C. Yes, at the same time. Grid slammer in front of the flux drive. Mostly to enhance the lead channel. As for a clean amp or clean channel, depends on the amp in question, some do not behave as good since the cleans may have more bottom end without restrictions or compression like the higher gain channels. The exception was the California Tweed, that amp takes pedals very well. GS and FD worked good in that application.
 
Based on the time of the op post, I believe this was an inquiry about Mark amps in general. The Mark VII is an interesting amp. It has the most different levels of gain structure to offer that can be tailored to fit your needs. If the amp as is has too much power tube distortion, that can be changed with a change in the bias color of the tube. Mine came with green bias color of the STR445 tubes. I found I get more note definition with a change in bias color to yellow. Mesa rates there tubes with a bias color system to identify their characteristics in terms of headroom or onset of distortion. Listed in order in terms of headroom to distortion, the colors are red, yellow, green, grey and blue. Red having the most headroom and late power tube distortion and blue having less headroom and early power tube distortion. Sorry to hit you with this up front.

With that said, the Mark VII is very flexible and may not actually need any external boosting but does not mean you cannot use it either. From Clean, Fat-clean, IIB, Crunch, VII, IIC+ and IV modes, they all have some variation to the gain structure and can be used with the gain control where ever you want to set it. Clean with the gain pushed all the way does sound really good as an alternate crunch. I would highly recommend the Mark VII over the Mark V model, they may seem similar, they are tuned differently and do not compare. The Mark VII is more of a fall back to a tone and character before the Mark V90 era. At one point, I thought that good sound was gone for good but the JP2C changed my opinion as that is a more modern take on a throwback design based on the IIC+. Sure there are differences to the real deal. If it is the real IIC+ you are after, seek that out. If you want something very close but a little different, the JP2C is the way to go. Choice of power tubes will also alter its overall gain characteristics. If you want that IIC+ sound, it is achievable if you spend the money on NOS STR415, they can be difficult to get. There are other current production tubes that will sound similar, STR445 (green) and the STR448 (grey). When buying Mesa tubes, always state the bias color you are after. JP2C is on the pricey side as is the Mark VII. Both will deliver incredible sound. Both of these can be run at any gain setting and will sound great.

There are two other amps Mesa provides that are different. I will start with the Mark VII closest cousin, the Badlander. It may have the Rectifier name on its front panel, it is not a true Rectifier amp in terms of its preamp design. It is more of a hybrid, part Mark VII and part rectifier. This amp works quite well and seems to have more note definition to its character than the Mark VII as it is a Class A/B amp and not Simul-Class (this adds in more power tube distortion or saturation). In some ways it sounds like a hot-rodded Marshall and some ways it does not. It has two power modes, full power or variac power (reduces the internal voltage of the amp that will change the dynamic and harmonic content). EL34 based amp so it has a different overall tone than a Mark amp, but yet sounds very close. Clean channel has a wide range of gain and can be driven hard into that plexi sound. Crunch is sort of similar to a rectifier sound but does not have the sub harmonic content like a Rectifier circuit. Crush is more of a Mark like sound. Similar to the VII mode but can sound like the IV mode of the Mark VII amp. Very dynamic amp. No need to push the gain all the way up either but you can do that too, it just sounds good. I have found it difficult to make this amp sound terrible, It has a remarkable range of gain structure on all three modes but only two channels. No reverb so that would need to be external in pedal form.

The second amp that is a bit more removed from the Badlander but does have a reference to the Mark VII as it was stated in the Mark VII manual in reference to the crunch characteristic. A different sonic footprint that is more akin to a Marshal or Vox (depends on what channel you are describing). It is also different than the Badlander as well. The clean channel on the TC is probably one of its best features since it can double as a crunch channel if using the drive switch. From clean to Plexi to a bit more body in sound to the 2nd channel (Lo Gain), it is also the channel with the most dynamic response. Lo gain is a bit on the thin side but sounds good depending on how you dial it in. Hi gain does have some similar traits to the Mark tone or even the Badlander crush but yet it is different. If I were to select what British amp the Triple Crown sounds like the most, it would be the Silver Jubliee 2555. The TC comes in two different power ranges. TC100 will have more low end character. The amp may still sound dry compared to the others above but the TC100 is more wet in tone considering the low end response. TC50 has the same tone but the low end is rather dry, tight and not as wet or saturated. TC50 is also one I would recommend the 6V6 tube as an alternative but the TC100 can get muddy with those tubes. Both are fun amps to use.

The Mark VII has the most variations of voices to choose from with its combined 3 channel setup. The JP2C may seem limited but it is not, both gain channels have a pull-pot with the gain and presence controls. It is like having a different voice for each of the pull-pots. Then there is the shred switch to alter the low end characteristic. Badlander is the simplest of the 4 amps mentioned. It is a gig machine as it has a wide range of usable volume (three power modes on the 100W and two on the 50W, not to mention the full power/Variac power feature). The one that is different in tone is the TC as it is more of a British voiced amp than the BAD, VII or JP2C. They all work great for a wide variety of music styles. Chugging not required, but, yes, they can Chugg too but that was not their specific purpose in mind.
 
^^^^^ Excellent commentary Bandit!!
I love reading all them.Especially important for anyone who needs info on the differences of all the models and features.
 
Was not sure if the OP bought a Mark VII or still in debate to get one. The question was on gain, not to give it more, but to use it with clean as an alternative to the high gain channels.

Nobody seems to mention compressor/sustainer pedals. Sometimes that is all it needs without having to boost it. I had felt it was a must with the Mark III or Mark IVB I had back in the day. I do not it as much but when I do it is one of those devices you leave on and forget about it. Strymon OB.1 which is an optical compressor so it is not intrusive and very quiet, practically noise free unless you have a noisy guitar. They stopped making that I believe. Now they have something different. Compadre was its replacement. Then there is the Riverside and Sunset pedals. Not exactly over the top gain like some of the units from the 1980-1990. Thought about getting the Riverside but have not had any need for it.
 
oops, I did it again. Wrote another book. (added before posting). I tried to refrain from my personal opinion as I prefer a more direct line of signal path (i.e. guitar + cable + amp and nothing in between. I will make an exception when running multiple amps though. Some are buffered like the Mesa Switch Track or Radial Engineering ABY or even the EarthQuaker Devices Swiss Things, or non-buffered isolator units like the Lehel P-Split.). Then again, a double tracker effect is a cool thing to use too like the Strymon Deco, TS Mimiq and others, never tried a Boss Harmonist or Keely 30MS. I have used the Deco and Mimiq but more so with a multiple amp setup than mono.

I have to stop doing this... TMI post stuff. My apology in advance. (added before posting).

Just for reference: I never saw this website but it has some videos on the products.

https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/g...-double-tracker-pedals-for-your-consideration

https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/18-of-the-best-distortion-pedals-for-your-consideration

Mesa used to have videos of their pedals, this was before the Gibson takeover. Search for Mesa Boogie Legacy and you will find this: Most of the pedal videos may be with the Filmore, or TransAtlanic. I have not seen many with the Mark series of amps though. It could be at the time they only had the Mark V90 when the videos were made. The grid slammer and flux drive pedals do work really well with the JP2C but not necessary (this is with the two gain channels, did not focus any attention using them with clean except for the Badlander).

https://legacy.mesaboogie.com/pedals--related/drive-pedals/index.html

https://legacy.mesaboogie.com/pedals--related/boost-pedals/tone-burst.html#

Flux Drive will give you much more compression and gain structure. I have used it with the Mark V90 and the JP2C. Grid slammer, got that one too. Same, Mark V90 and JP2C. Both the Flux drive and Grid slammer have some really nice effect on the JP2C, all channels too. Same with the Badlander. I have not tried them with the Mark VII yet. I am sure it will work just fine with that too. As for the compressor/sustainer, I like them but, again do not use them much. Combo amps may benefit more with some pedals on the front end vs the head with cab (212 or 412). Compressor/sustain pedals seem to be more useful with combo amps as that amp-guitar coupling is not as apparent than say with a head and a 412 cab. If you have a Strat SSS, a compressor/sustain pedal may be of a benefit. HSS perhaps not as much.

As for OD or distortion pedals, most will lack the dynamics you get from just direct to amp characteristics. Depends on the end goal. If you are one who just maxes out the guitar volume then it probably does not matter. I tend to be more of an expressionistic player so I want that dynamic character in my sound, roll back guitar volume and the amp cleans up, play on the hard side and it grinds due to change in signal strength or roll the guitar volume up for that full tilt distortion of the amp. Sometimes the front end pedals will take that away from the player so I can understand why many are just guitar + cable+ amp and nothing in between.

The other factors that come up but often get ignored in general are the type of pickups. Passive or active. Actives may have more output signal level than passive pickups. It varies. Some guitars that have passive pickups may also have active tone controls like a Carvin DC400 series, or Charvel 1986 Model 4 as an example.

I get the point, just pointing out the other aspects that may be in the mix and not disclosed as why this pedal is better than that. Does it have a dynamic response or is it flat out fizz, fuzz, or distorted sound that does not change in respect to signal level.

Then there is studio/practice or just by yourself indulgent or are you in a band and need to stand out ? Some amps may get lost in the mix when it comes to a full band setting. It gets more complicated when there is more than one guitar player. What comes up most often are the Boss Super overdrive SD-1 and the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9 (akin to Ibanez TS808 made by Maxon), probably more common with the Rectifier users than Mark users.

https://boogieforum.com/threads/mesa-grid-slammer-vs-maxon-od808.66570/
 
I'm with Woodbutcher65 on this one.
I have a Mark IV early "B" and a Splawn Supersport EL-34 50 watt head and a peavey 6505MH (back up head)
The tonality between the Splawn (which is basically a boutique JCM 800 2203) and the Mark IV is pretty big. The OP described the tones he was looking for. those are in the Splawn as soon as you turn it on. I play in a classic hard rock cover band, what you described is what we do. The Splawn kills for that.
I love my Mark IV but it doesn't cop a Marshall type of tone at all , no matter what I throw in front of it, which is good , I don't want it to, that's what the Splawn is for, so I ask this, are you a gigging guitarist or just a jam at home? if you're not gigging the marshal studio jcm800 would give you what you described without breaking the bank. the only amp I've ever been able to get a meal Mesa tone and Marshall tone out of at once was the Axe FX II LOL!
 

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