Looking At a Mark IIb...

[CudBucket]

I've got a 2006 RKII and have a few bucks to play with so I'm looking at adding another Mesa to the collection. I'm looking at a couple of Mark IIb heads and am wondering what other Mesa amps they are similar to in terms of gain.

I want something very different from the RKII and know the Mark II amps are real smooth. Is it considered a real good lead amp?

Thanks.

Dave

 

[RR]

Fender on Steroids ...

If you are familiar with Silver Face Fenders, then its like that putting a gain pedal and adding some midrange. Fender owners cup of tea, (to me) not your Today's average Recto Boogie owners' Cup of Tea.

The (Dual) Rectifiers Series (Tri, Dual, Road King, Roadster ... ), --I have Trem-o-Verb -- you have to tweak all the tone controls since they all interact to dial in a particular tone. Very versatile at the expense not the easy to dial in.

Mark II, its "Fender" from the get go but with sustain preamp gain. BUT those with 5-band EQ, you could tailor its tone controls to something different.

Personally, I like them (I was grown on Fenders) my favorite Mark Series Amp are Mark II. I still have mine since '82 w/ Mike Benedelli's upgrade effect loop. Even if you don't use the effect loop, this upgrade is a must. The reverb doesn't sound "tubby".

 

[CudBucket]

I owned a Fender Twin Reverb back in '80 or '81. I always associated Fenders with clean tones. My friend's IIC (no EQ) gets a beautiful smooth, sustaining lead tone with plenty of gain for chords. Not a recto by any means but still plenty for hard rock and even early Dream Theater type stuff. Am I off base? Also, the one I'm looking at does not have Simul.

 

[Itsik]

To me, the Mark II is the perfect CLEAN amp. My amp is a Mark IIa from 79, no EQ, and the sound is absolutly amazing.
It's the perfect amp for using a pedal board as it takes pedals very well in the front.
If your a blues guy, or looking for a Santana sound, the dirty channel is awsome as well.
In my view, you can't go wrong with this amp.
If you do a little search on my user name, you'll find some vids I posted playing my Mk-II, which can give you a general idea of the possibilities this little beast has .

Hope this helps.

 

[gwayne]

I just picked up a Mark-IIB head last month. The cleans are the best I've heard and I've owned a II-C, couple of IIIS and a Mark-IV. Definitely a fat Fender tone with great sustain. I prefer the clean channel with a Barber DDSS over the lead channel but that's just me. The Lead will do Santana if that's your thang.

 

[gonzo]

here's a recorded example of all mark2b usage....

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=17140


or, a melodic progressive instrumental, all mark2b w/barber ddss on solo tone:
http://iacmusic.com/songs.aspx?SongID=43872&ArtistID=30211


or, here for higher gain stuff:
http://www.myspace.com/batsbrew

listen to work it out , for song format....

1st tracks, for high energy rock instrumental stuff.......

 

[Ultron]

I own one, and will be shipping it to Petaluma for the Post FX loop mod. Does anyone have clips of the lead chan after the mod? I hear it changes the voicing a bit.

 

[trem]

Gonzo's work is the best representation of a Mark IIb imo. Well, good voice, song writing, recording and production helps a lot also :lol:. Go Gonzo go!

~trem

 

[Paul Secondino]

I owned a Fender Twin Reverb back in '80 or '81. I always associated Fenders with clean tones. My friend's IIC (no EQ) gets a beautiful smooth, sustaining lead tone with plenty of gain for chords. Not a recto by any means but still plenty for hard rock and even early Dream Theater type stuff. Am I off base? Also, the one I'm looking at does not have Simul.

The simul tranny helps achieve a different sound. But a non simul will still sound good.Not a ton of difference. the simul tranny mainly helps get more of a pushed sound out of the Class A sockets / tubes

The B doesn't have quite as much gain as the 2C but still sounds pretty smooth. A mark 3 on the other hand is more aggressive in the treble and wants to be played loud.

In line with that, you may consider the Mark 2 B 60 watter. A 100 watt Mesa power section is hard to wrangle in when playing at home. And the two tube 60 watt mark B is probably going to be more friendly sounding

As a comparison, I'm using a 12 watt Fender music master to get a very pushed sound.And the 12 watts is almost enough to get above a drum set.So if something like a 60 watt 2b doesn't move you , you might try going something with a very smooth preamp voicing like a F 50 where volume doesn't matter as much. You can have a lot of fun with that kind of amp.

 

[gonzo]

thanks trem!

i agree with Paul Secondino about the 60 watter...
that was my choice, when i bought it...

and rarely, did i ever want for more volume.

granted, on a big stage, with a full hard core band, you could use the 100 watts....

but being able to push the 60 a little harder sounds smoother to me, for the saturation you can achieve at a lower volume overall, than what you'd have to do to hit the same sweet spot with the 100 watter.

for me, mostly recording these days, the 60 is plenty!


someone else mentioned the barber direct drive thru the clean channel...

i also have a barber DDSS, and occasionally run it thru the clean channel (imagine a really hot tube screamer thru a deluxe reverb that was set right at breakup) and that's an excellent sound as well!

 

[timjtitus]

how much is the going price for a IIB combo with eq?

 

[gonzo]

i know a guy that bought one for 650

it was pretty dogged, tho, worked fine.

might have had a crap speaker in it, i remember he ran it into his 4x12 instead of the combo speaker........

 

[Very Slow Hands]

I just bought a IIB Combo for $799 in good shape with extra set of tubes. My first Mesa. Am new to forum and eager to soak up some wisdom. Any ideas on where to start settings wise?

 

[Itsik]

Here's my clean / drive settings:

Vol1: 7
Treble: 8
Bass: 5.5
Mid: 4
Master1: 1-3
Lead Drive: 5.5
Lead Master: match the clean channel
Presence: 10

This should give you a beutifull clean with just a bit of break up when playing hard, and an awsome bluesy, slightly over drivven dirty channel.

Hope you find this to your liking ...

 

[gonzo]

itsik's got some good level references there!
especially for single coil setups.

again, depends on your guitar, and your personal ears/tastes...


if you favor higher gain, and humbuckers, you'll tweak the presence and treble to suit.....
that's where i am....
i have the presence on about 3 or 4, never higher...
but i'll pull the treble pull on vol 1, which adds that higher 'fender' type bite....
then i roll the bass down to 1...
then i use a slight "V" setting on my 5-band graphic (some 2b's have em, some don't)..... that's where i get my bass depth back for rolling it off on the bass knob.....

i like to run the lead drive around 6 or 7, for rhythm..... then use a boost or overdrive to push the front end when it's time to solo....

you'll find the VOL 1 to be very touchy...

between about 1.5 and 2, there's a huge volume jump, and this is quite typical of this model.

i use a weber mass to tame the output for recording at lower volumes.

i like the sound of my 2B the best thru a 2x12 closed back cab...
but it sounds awesome thru a 4x12 with greenbacks, and i actually use a single 1x12 with a greenback for recording only.


you can change the breakup characteristics of your boogie to suit, by simply changing the V1 preamp tube, to either earlier breakup, or higher headroom, depending on how much gain you're looking for...

if you're playing live, and don't have a whisper fan in the back, i'd get one installed.

also, depending on how old it is, and whether or not it's ever been 'tuned up', the caps WILL need replacing eventually...

i bought mine new in 1981, and just had it re-capped for the first time, this past month.

it DID make an improvement, both in the sound and the feel.

but it's amazing to me, after all the abuse and roadwork i put my boogie thru, that it was in such GOOD shape when we got inside of it....
and still worked perfectly, albeit a bit noisier and hissy because the caps had finally gotten out of spec.

 

[Itsik]

You're right gonzo, my settings are suited to my strat, sorry I forgot to mention it.
BTW, my combo is a 79 IIA I think.
It's a short combo with an EVM 12L inside, no reverb/EQ, and no fan what so ever.
Is it possible that it was born without the fan or do you think some one removed it?
Another Q. Any one knows where to get the grill cloth for the blond version? I've maneged to find a suitable colored tolex, but no grill cloth.

Thnx
Itsik

 

[gonzo]

http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech10.html

 

[CudBucket]

http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech10.html

Vibro World is so expensive.

 

[Itsik]

Here's a pic of my amp.

I can't seem to find a suitable cloth. Any ideas ?
I also need to find those bolts and washers used by mesa to hold the grill in place ...

 

[RR]

Its that standard black or blood oxy grill?

Parts Express has fairly good price on grills, but not the most selection. (click on links)
blood oxy
black