Mark III+ EQ question

[cpw]

I have a purple stripe Mark III (60W, no EQ, no REV) that was modded to III+ @ Mesa with R2 mod as well. It does not have EQ but I do have a Dunlop, MXR 10 band on my board. My understanding is that the EQ on a Mark III is after the effects loop and my question is, does that pedal have the right impedance/buffer to be run in the loop of that amp? If I ran it after my delay & reverb pedals in the loop, would it function essentially like a factory installed EQ or is there a better way/EQ pedal for this? I feel like I don't have a clear understanding of the difference between instrument level/line level and how the Boogie loops are set up. My delay and reverb pedals are Strymon El Cap and Flint and those are the only pedals I run in the loop.
Thx,
=CPW=

 

[meesa_jarjar]

The impedance is fine, though it is likely not specifically identical the on-board EQ. The difference is mostly trivial, but just want to give you a precise answer. However, the MXR circuit is completely different from the Mesa circuit, so it will not give you the same freq response. If you're looking to mimic the built-in EQ, you're better off getting Mesa's 5-band EQ pedal. It's not exactly the same as the built-in, technically speaking, but is very close.

Mesa makes two similar-looking versions, you want just the 5-band EQ, not the ThrottleBox.

As for placement, if you are looking to be most like the built-in, you would want to put your EQ at the end of your effects chain, where it would output directly into the FX return. Personally I prefer the EQ first, and then into a noise gate, and then to the rest of my FX.

 

[cpw]

The impedance is fine, though it is likely not specifically identical the on-board EQ. The difference is mostly trivial, but just want to give you a precise answer. However, the MXR circuit is completely different from the Mesa circuit, so it will not give you the same freq response. If you're looking to mimic the built-in EQ, you're better off getting Mesa's 5-band EQ pedal. It's not exactly the same as the built-in, technically speaking, but is very close.

Mesa makes two similar-looking versions, you want just the 5-band EQ, not the ThrottleBox.

As for placement, if you are looking to be most like the built-in, you would want to put your EQ at the end of your effects chain, where it would output directly into the FX return. Personally I prefer the EQ first, and then into a noise gate, and then to the rest of my FX.

In the loop or before the preamp? Thx.

 

[meesa_jarjar]

Everything in the loop. I prefer the EQ pedal first in the loop, but if your goal is to mimic the Mark 3 w/onboard EQ more closely, you would want to put the EQ pedal last.

 

[woodbutcher65]

I just checked the official Mesa schematic and the EQ is inserted AFTER the preamp output. So to get the same effect, the EQ should be between preamp out and power amp in.

Yes, the 5 band EQ is nice but it's kind of a crude EQ. You can do so much better. When I'm serious about tone I use a 1/3 octave (31 band) graphic EQ in the effects loop. (Or between preamp out and power amp in.) This allows you to fine tune the tone in ways you just can't do with a 5 bander.

 

[GJgo]

I would recommend looking into Parametrics before graphics. Especially before the Mesa pedal- tonally it's just not that good and clips easy. FWIW.

 

[woodbutcher65]

Finding 31 band graphic EQs is easy. Parametrics with lots of bands, not so much.

 

[meesa_jarjar]

Parametrics are nice if you understand how they work and have patience. A lot of players find them tedious and would rather not bother.
I don't find the Mesa pedal EQ crude at all, it's studio-silent and I have not had issues with it clipping, even though it only uses a 9-volt supply and I didn't see any type of power supply wizardry to to increase voltages internally when I opened it up. It has no problem handling the signal from the FX out of my Mark, but I do have to utilize the input / output level knobs to optimize everything.