Mark III for heavy music

[tunedown]

Hey all. Ive posted on here before, but its been a very long time...

I play "heavy music" (downtuned hardcore: runwiththehunted.bandcamp.com) and I find myself in an interesting position, as I'll be touring europe this summer with another band and we'll be using that band's gear. For me, I'm being told that I will be playing out of a Mark III (no details on the specific version) and a Marshall 1960 4x12.

I plan on asking a lot of questions and then finding Mark IIIs locally that I can try out. So, with this in mind, do you have any introductory suggestions for how I can make this work?

If it helps: I have two boost pedals (ts808 and/or OCD) that I could use to my advantage depending on what you guys suggest. Any and all suggestions are welcome, and thank you in advance.

PS: Ill be playing a Gibson LP Special with a 498T in the bridge.

 

[Mark III Madness]

I have owned at least 6 Mark III's over the years. (Yes, I know it's ridiculous.) :roll:

In short, I love 'em. I still own 2 of them. I would advise downloading the owner's manual from Mesa online. Look at the sample settings provided and use them as points of departure as you twiddle the knobs on that amp. I own a few Marshalls too - but know you cannot dream of setting the knobs on a Mark III the same way as you would a Marshall. I used to be a Mesa hater many, many moons ago before I understood it was ME inappropriately operating the tone knobs on the things.

Personally, I cannot imagine a much cooler amp for heavy music than a Mark III. They straight up slay you with wicked tone.

Enjoy your tour!

 

[Whoopysnorp]

The Mark III is capable of a lot of gain. You might have to deal with a little breakup in your clean channel to achieve levels of gain that would be considered high by modern standards, but those sounds are definitely in there. You should be fine as long as you remember a few important things: 1) the Volume knob controls the overall preamp gain level for all three modes on the amp, though on the lead channel you can add in some more with the Lead Drive control; and 2) the tone stack comes prior to the preamp distortion and radically changes the flavor of it. This is why if you crank the bass up past 1 or 2 on a Mark series amp you get a bunch of tubby mud in the lead channel. Similarly, cranking up the treble increases the overall amount of gain available from the lead channel and makes it more cutting. If you need lows, add them back in with the Pull Deep control and/or the graphic EQ.

 

[Neptical]

It'll deliver the goods in spades with absolutely no problem.. and then some. If there's some g12t-75's in that Marshall cab, it'll be perfect. I have an older one from the early 80s and they're a great match for the Mark III. If it's nice and broken in, that'll be even better. No worries.

 

[topalchohol]

If you want it to sound more recto like, try engaging R2 at the same time as lead, otherwide without it, be prepared for the tightest sounding amp you've ever heard. Mark III's sleepwalk heavy music. :twisted: :twisted:

 

[tunedown]

If you want it to sound more recto like, try engaging R2 at the same time as lead

Will you please clarify this for me? (I haven't had an opportunity to get my hands on the amp yet) but I feel like you hit the nail on the head for me. "Sound more recto like" is exactly what I will be looking for from this amp. Not "sound exactly like a recto", but just get the amp to breathe and loosen up a little. For hardcore, "the tightest sounding amp I've ever heard" is not what I'm looking for haha.

 

[jpdennis]

Here is a link with some "secret" Mark settings. I found it interesting that a fellow board member gave some of the best advice! :lol:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=938670

And here is an old sheet of settings. Note Metal and Metal II;

Remember that it is "your ear" that will make the final decision :!:

I always use suggestions as starting points then adjust for the stage/room/hall based upon what I am trying to accomplish. And going in "cold" so to speak with any Mark series will be interesting. I would definitely get to the first gig as early as possible to spend about 3 hours with the sound crew and your band to dial in the sound you want on stage and cut through the mix out front. With all the great info on this forum you may be able to cut that time down to an hour or less.

Of course, once you dial in the sound you want and the sound people are happy, you may not be able to stop playing with that big SEG on your face. :lol:

Dennis

 

[tunedown]

The Mark III is capable of a lot of gain. You might have to deal with a little breakup in your clean channel to achieve levels of gain that would be considered high by modern standards, but those sounds are definitely in there. You should be fine as long as you remember a few important things: 1) the Volume knob controls the overall preamp gain level for all three modes on the amp, though on the lead channel you can add in some more with the Lead Drive control; and 2) the tone stack comes prior to the preamp distortion and radically changes the flavor of it. This is why if you crank the bass up past 1 or 2 on a Mark series amp you get a bunch of tubby mud in the lead channel. Similarly, cranking up the treble increases the overall amount of gain available from the lead channel and makes it more cutting. If you need lows, add them back in with the Pull Deep control and/or the graphic EQ.

Thank you. This will be really helpful. I have some experience with dialing in Mesas...

When I've ran 2ch Dual Recs in the past, a clean boost was very helpful. Does the Mark III respond the same way?

 

[jpdennis]

... When I've ran 2ch Dual Recs in the past, a clean boost was very helpful. Does the Mark III respond the same way? ...

I have been able to dial in a good overall sound and then used the R2 for the clean boost. Just took a little practice. Mike B at Mesa did say my amp was "interesting" in that I did not need a R2 mod for some reason that is way beyond me.

Dennis

 

[benjamin801]

This fellow (HCAF acquaintance) crushes posers and tortures small animals with his Mark III.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=604313

 

[Rhoads]

This fellow (HCAF acquaintance) crushes posers and tortures small animals with his Mark III

Wow Great sound !!! :twisted:

 

[kdorsey]

All good tips so far. Regarding your pedals, though I don't play as hard of stuff as you, I certainly have both a modded TS-9 and an OCD on my pedalboard and they sound magnificent thru my MkIII. Another good pedal suggestion, since you mentioned a clean boost, is an Xotic EP Booster. That's a recent addition for me and it kicks total a$$!! Because I need a wide range of OD and distortion variation at a moment's notice, I have a Fulltone Fulldrive2, TS-9 and OCD in sequence and alternate between them on ch2, mostly. But using them with the EP Booster in ch1 yields fantastic results, too. For this classic rock cover band, that's what I use. I have ch3 dialed in as a true modern, high gain channel, so it doesn't get used with this project. Otherwise, with the NOS RFT 12ax7 in V3, it is dark nasty!! 8)

Is your MkIII Simul-Class? That makes a difference in settings, too.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Will you please clarify this for me? (I haven't had an opportunity to get my hands on the amp yet) but I feel like you hit the nail on the head for me. "Sound more recto like" is exactly what I will be looking for from this amp. Not "sound exactly like a recto", but just get the amp to breathe and loosen up a little. For hardcore, "the tightest sounding amp I've ever heard" is not what I'm looking for haha.

The Mark IIIs offer two different boosted "modes": R2 and Lead. There are pull knobs that engage these, or you can connect a pair of footswitches to do it. The thing that makes this not exactly a three-channel amp in the modern sense is that all of them share tone controls, and you can engage both R2 and Lead simultaneously just by pulling out both knobs or engaging both footswitches (whichever applies). Personally I prefer the clarity that you get by just using Lead on its own, but R2+Lead does offer the most gainy sound available from a Mark III.