Does Anyone Enjoy the Mark III for clean tones or for blues

[express50express]

Does anyone use there amp for clean tones and blues? If so, curious how you think it compares to other amps that are known for great cleans.

I feel most people think this amp is best for metal or hard rock only.

Also, what setting do you find work best for blues with a strat or tele.

Thanks

 

[Markedman]

I did today and the others who used my amp loved the clean tone my Mark lll produces. I played at an old, ca. 1883 theatre where I prefer a ridiculously low stage volume and let the sound man provide the level to the audience. I had the volume at 9, treble 8, bass 3, mid 3, drive 1.5, lead master 7, presence 4, simul-class, master was at 1.5 pulled or barely audible over the drums. Class A sounds empty and hollow to my ears no matter what the volume is at, and the amp won't sing IMO in class A. It was a memorial for a friend so a few different guys played my set-up and I played a super wide variety of songs with a bunch of different friends. It was good for me to hear the amp from a distance. The amp had a very rich, bold complex flavor to it and tons of sustain. I used a single Boogafunk EV thiele for a speaker cabinet. I have Marshalls and Fenders I could have used, but they're one trick ponies when compared to a Mark lll.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Sssssssh! Everybody will want one!

 

[express50express]

Does anyone use the Mark III as a clean platform and play through it primarily clean with some overdrive.

 

[Snottyboy]

I live mostly on R1 with my Blue Stripe. Great clean or as a platform. I especially like a RAT set to low gain for bluesy slight breakup tones. A couple TS9s will take you into Trey-type tones. Clean with a comp and you have great funk tones. Endless possibilities, really, but most importantly understand how the controls interact to find your basis. And that's only R1! Enjoy your amp!

 

[megavoice]

Does anyone use there amp for clean tones and blues? If so, curious how you think it compares to other amps that are known for great cleans.

I feel most people think this amp is best for metal or hard rock only.

Also, what setting do you find work best for blues with a strat or tele.

Thanks

There is NO DOUBT about it, since it`s appearance now for nearly 30 years I`ve ALWAYS heard from musicians and all of the guitar players of all my bands up to now, that it`s clean sounds are unbeatable and the best of the world !!! AND STLL DO !!!
Those who don`t agree, don`t know about or are not willing to agree.......

And it`s great secret is, anyway what you`ll dial in, you won`t can do anything wrong..... :wink:

 

[kdorsey]

There are only about 6 of us, but yes, I live on ch1 with a choice OD to do the classic rock/blues thing. With an El Capstan in the loop you will crap yourself. Then stomp on ch3 with the neck pup with the tone dropped off on the guitar. More pooping will ensue.

But what do I know?

 

[Snottyboy]

There are only about 6 of us, but yes, I live on ch1 with a choice OD to do the classic rock/blues thing. With an El Capstan in the loop you will crap yourself. Then stomp on ch3 with the neck pup with the tone dropped off on the guitar. More pooping will ensue.

But what do I know?

Just an awesome post! Thanks for that!

 

[express50express]

Thanks for the replies. How does it stack up to vintage fender clean tones?

Any particular settings or advice?

Thanks

 

[Snottyboy]

Thanks for the replies. How does it stack up to vintage fender clean tones?

Any particular settings or advice?

Thanks

Slightly tighter in the low end than vintage Fenders that I've played through. A bit more modern, I suppose, but cleans are gorgeous when dialed in well. Regarding settings, depends on what guitar/speaker config you use. Digest the manual and spend a lot of time just getting used to what the controls do and how they interact. I would suggest setting the presence very low and dialing a base tone, then adjusting the presence once you've found your base.

 

[Markedman]

Last year at band practice, our bassist invited a 2 time grammy award winning keyboard player to jam with us. I started out alternating between my 1972 Marshall 100 watt super lead and my 1972 Fender twin. At some point I plugged in my Mark lll black dot because it's a "fuller" sounding amp to my ears. His eyes lit up and he immediately commented that he was unfamiliar with Boogie but that I should stick with that amp (the boogie) because the sound cut through better and was easier for him to hear over everything else. Fender and Marshall are very different to my ears the way I use them. I've never sat down and tried to make one amp sound like the other though I may do that and post a video. I would say the Fender has a "glassy" sound, the Marshall a "chimey" sound, and the boogie is just more "fuller" probably from the mids which are definitely a trademark of boogie.

 

[megavoice]

Last year at band practice, our bassist invited a 2 time grammy award winning keyboard player to jam with us. I started out alternating between my 1972 Marshall 100 watt super lead and my 1972 Fender twin. At some point I plugged in my Mark lll black dot because it's a "fuller" sounding amp to my ears. His eyes lit up and he immediately commented that he was unfamiliar with Boogie but that I should stick with that amp (the boogie) because the sound cut through better and was easier for him to hear over everything else. Fender and Marshall are very different to my ears the way I use them. I've never sat down and tried to make one amp sound like the other though I may do that and post a video. I would say the Fender has a "glassy" sound, the Marshall a "chimey" sound, and the boogie is just more "fuller" probably from the mids which are definitely a trademark of boogie.

SEE !!!!!

Many people say Marshalls in general are not at all suited for Clean sounds (mostly the vintage ones). I cannot comment this as I never sat down with one for experiencing and practising........

 

[dlpasco]

Yes! Here's a sample I recorded today using my Mark III and my Fender Stratocaster https://soundcloud.com/dlpasco/mark-iii-blues. I used the Blues - Clean Rhythm/Sweet Lead settings listed here: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29738.

For most of the track I'm using the Clean Rhythm settings for, well, rhythm, and the Sweet Lead settings for improvising, but I switch it around for awhile at about 2:08.

 

[Seanboy]

Yes! Here's a sample I recorded today using my Mark III and my Fender Stratocaster https://soundcloud.com/dlpasco/mark-iii-blues. I used the Blues - Clean Rhythm/Sweet Lead settings listed here: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29738.

For most of the track I'm using the Clean Rhythm settings for, well, rhythm, and the Sweet Lead settings for improvising, but I switch it around for awhile at about 2:08.

Wow! That sounded amazing! How did you have the EQ set?

 

[dlpasco]

I was getting a little bit of flub for the lead sound, so for that I turned down the bass a little and then raised the lowest slider to just under the 3/4ths position and kept all the other sliders at the mid position.

Otherwise I didn't use the eq at all. I'm trying to get used to using the Mark III without the eq more and using that as a starting point for my tones.

[Edit]

Sometimes image sharing sites go away over time, so I'll list the settings explicitly here:

Power setting: Simulclass

Blues - Clean Rhythm/Sweet Lead
Volume: 7 (pulled)
Treble: 7
Bass: 4 (Pulled) (Note: I set it to zero and brought it back in using the eq)
Mid: 5
Master: about 1.2 (pulled)
Lead Drive: 5
Lead master 3.2
Presence: 7

Eq: 80 Hz (the bass slider) nudged to just under the upper line, which puts it pretty much dead center vertically in the top half of the equalizer. Everything else at the center line.

Eq: In (always engaged)

 

[mott555]

My Mark III has great clean tones which is one of the reasons I bought it. My Marshall doesn't do clean well and I was looking at getting a Fender, but when a Mark III popped up on Craigslist I just had to have it. Fender-style cleans and bone-crushing Metallica tones, neither of which I could do before.

 

[dlpasco]

Fender-style cleans and bone-crushing Metallica tones

*yoink*

I'm afraid that I'm going to have to steal that description for my own use. That's awesome.

 

[dlpasco]

Btw - here's another recording using the dirty blues settings. I really like the rhythm sound you can get out of the Mark III https://soundcloud.com/dlpasco/mark-iii-dirty-blues

 

[Markedman]

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1537312 Howard Roberts. When I was attending school at G.I.T. in 1982, Howard received a standing ovation just checking his tuning, that always stood out to me for some reason. He's playing a Mark lll half stack in this video. Jeff Berlin on bass. That video was taken at G.I.T., just years later because in the end he say's "that's the kind of quality of guys you're looking at here."

 

[Snottyboy]

^^^^^^^

Excellent example of clean Mark III for jazz. Thanks for sharing!