Help me tweak my Mark III plus a couple issues.

[Nomad]

Did some checking the EV Speaker weighs in around 19 lbs and the Eminence V128 weighs in at 8 lbs. Thats just a no brainer.


As far as making a Mark IV brighter I would consider Tubes and Speaker before trying something on the Amp. I know from previous amp tweaking experience its hard to make a circuit brighter but easy to make it darker.

Preamp Tubes

The New Sensor Tung Sol 12AX7's are really bright.

Power Tubes

The Winged C power Tubes are plenty bright also.

Speakers

The EV is a really bright speaker as well as a number of others out there.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO the best tone is reached with the master at 2.5. Any louder than that and the gain just goes crazy. And besides, that was as loud as I ever needed to go when playing live.

 

[CoG]

seriously? I wonder if that's a tube choice or stripe thing. Lead on mine is pretty loose until 3 and sounds best around 4, that's with the volume around 7, lead drive at 6.5 or 7 and lead master at 5, deep out, trebla and bass shifts out but bright and lead bright in. There's seriously a spot on the master knob just before 3.5 where it suddenly flips into YES.

Then just below 5 it gets uncontrollable and harsh.

Of course, I'm a big Neurosis fan so my YES may be other people's OW OW OW :wink:

 

[Nomad]

There can definately be big differences from amp to amp. Sometimes minor differences in component tolerances can all add to up to making an amp lean a certain way.

I saw a custom built 18 watt Marshall style amp a friend bought. He had had the Sozo Premium hand made caps in it and because of the loose tolerances that thing was so bright it would peel the paint off the wall.

 

[JOEY B.]

Oh yeah, don't forget to try the 4 ohm output with an 8 ohm speaker. It will help to smooth things out in both channels. 8)

 

[Nomad]

I will definately try that.

 

[awgriffey]

In regards to the reverb, mine was non-existent for about 10 years until I sent it in to Mike B for a tune up. He told me he made a few tweaks to it to improve what was originally a pretty weak reverb. Now with a 12AX7 the reverb sounds great.

In regards to brightening things up, I actually played through a Marshall cab with 3 EVL 200 watt speakers for over 5 years, at all my live gigs. ( one speaker was double wired somehow)I couldn't turn my Mark III up over about 3 without blowing a hole through the wall of whatever club we were playing at, but it gave my Les Paul Custom great definition, even with the gain constantly at about 8.

 

[smgrimes]

I found an EQ in the effects loop has a tremendous influence on the overall tone of my Mark III. You can take scooping to an absolute sickness, or just use it to take the edge off your rhythm tone when going for lead.

...or something like that

 

[Nomad]

OK after playing it a little more. Here is what I'm thinking.

You guys check me on this.

Right before the Lead Master a simple Passive Tone Pot with a Cap that lets me adjust the Brightness/Fizziness out of the Lead Channel only. Now after I find the Sweet Spot I measure the amount of resistence the pot has at the point its adjusted to and add a resistor with the cap, take the pot out, and whamo, fixed Post OD Lead Channel EQ.

 

[Nomad]

OK hear is what I did.

See the mini pot and yellow cap.

 

[edward]

Alrighty Greg; nice thought there ...waiting here with baited breath. How's she sound in the Lead?

Oh, and while you're there, you also need to experiment with cap values, don't you think? Try leaving the pot at one value, and trading diff caps (with alligator clips for quick change) and see which value works best to eliminate just the "fizz" you want, and not attenuate more of the signal than you want. Then play with the pot to fine tune the amount. Eager to hear your findings.


Edward

 

[Nomad]

Havent yet got to take her around the block with this I will let you know how it does. I did get to play it for a few but it was late and my Honey wasnt to happy about all the racket. :lol:

It did seem to help a bunch but finding where the sweet spot is can be time consuming. I'm gonna try to play it tonight some if I can get by with it.