Mark IIC for DC3 trade?

[m_rambler]

Hey Boogie fiends.
Guy wants to swap a 60watt Mark IIC combo for my Trusty DC3.

He's bringing the IIC round for me to play my Les Paul through. Don't know much about this amp, its not a +. What can I expect from it and how do the two compare value wise? I love the DC3 except that it's fiddly as hell and sounds a little harsh without an extension cab.

any comments greatly appreciated.

 

[m_rambler]

what, no takers? No love for the IIC?

 

[Tuna141]

I have a IIC and have had it for years. I also have a III blue stripe, and a IV, so hopefully I can give you an idea what to expect.

The C has an awesome clean channel. It's very Fendery. IMO, it is better than the III, and IV. It's very lush, full sounding, and chimey. The reverb is mild, though.

THe C's lead channel harsh/brash and in your face. It cuts through any mix. The Lead channel has less available gain than the C+, III, or IV. It does have great sustain and full harmonics.

The C is perfectly suited for classic rock. I love soloing with this amp.

I also want to mention that I think a graphic EQ is an important tone shaper for the Mark series. It allows for some very good tone shaping. It is especially important for the lead channel of the IIC due to it's lower gain and brashness. You can get more perceived gain out of it with the EQ and can tweak some of the harshness out of the lead channel.

Tha IIC is a very tight sounding amp and not the greatest for heavy chord chugging.

The IIC can be sent to Boogie for an upgrade to a C+ if you desire.

 

[disassembled]

If you look at it from a financial standpoint:

A Mark IIC in good condition is worth more than a DC regardless of options and are much rarer than DC3's.


If you like the IIC then you should go for it but maybe you should see if you can use it in a band setting before deciding. Playing any amp alone is going to be very different than playing in a mix.


Greg

 

[m_rambler]

Cool , thanks for the comments guys. I'm more of a classic rock player, so the IIC might be my amp at that. I like the DC3 but like I said, it's a real tweakers amp. This guy really wants the DC3 back (he used to own it) so he might just let me audition it with my band. as far as value goes, they are even rarer down here in Australia I beleive. Is it only Boogie techs who can do the c+ mod or do I have a chance at getting it done locally? any Australian users know?

 

[Tuna141]

With the excpetion of possibly Boogie Babies, I would only trust Mike B. at Mesa to perfrom the C+ upgrade, if it were my amp. That way, you know everything will be done properly and you're amp will have been gone over thoroughly by its designer.

One thing that I forgot to mention is that the Mark II has shared controls, not seperate like on the DC-3. The only inconvenience that I find with this is that is is sometimes difficult to get a pristine clean tone along with a fully distorted tone on the second channel. This is because the Channel 1 volume is also the drive for the lead channel. If you back off on the clean drive, you lose gain on the lead channel.

I think you really need to try the amp to see if the trade will be worth it for you.

 

[vic]

im in aus and i would do it to me the mark sounds are better i would say there about the same price or the 2c would be a bit more

 

[m_rambler]

OK, thanks for the comments guys. I'm looking forward to auditioning it!

 

[Mulemasta]

I put a keeley compressor in front of the iic went I want to fatten it up with a bit more gain, but otherwise it sounds great. I usually play a nomad and the c is way better, more focused, and tighter. So I'm sticking with it. If your mate's iic has eq and wants to trade outright I'd definitely go with it (of course after playing it that is to be sure).